Barry the kobold, dnd inspired creature character

After creating Der Rüchenbrecher and learning more about 3D texturing and Marmoset, I thought about finding a way to better present future work and remembered seeing some really great work from artists that would create 2D composites of 3D work. This could be a really nice way to compliment 3D work in a portfolio and an extra skill to be utilised if needed. After some research and finding a way to learn the process I decided to start on creating a sculpted model for the compositing process later on. Thoughts towards creature character inspired by fantasy got me started on some visual referencing research.

Visual Reference Reference Research On DND Style Kobolds

The importance of these visual references is derived from the direction of my tutor as I'd initially thought about creating a fantasy character such as an Orc. However I was informed that there are many portfolio's that include an Orc type fantasy character, which led me to remembering the existence of kobold's within the fantasy genre. Not wanting to create the kind of kobold that are depicted in games such as World of Warcraft but something more fierce and strong, my reference research brought me to finding images of the types that are found in the Dungeons and Dragons descriptions and artwork.

By limiting the references to only seven, I could easily focus on important aspects such as the shape, silhouette, relationships and proportions of and between the structures that are needed to communicate the nature and style of the final piece. The reference images show common aspects of style such as the wide shoulders, lean build and a head that seems to be a mix of features derived from lizards with a snout reminiscent of some type of dog. The head seemed to be something that could throw off the proportions of what could be considered normal for that of a kind of humanoid creature. When blocking out and sculpting, I would need to be careful to keep proportions balanced.