Kitsune, the nine tailed fox.

I'm happy to share my first project done at Skyup Academy, a character I designed and digitally sculpted for the first part of the academy's Master CG following the main theme: Yokai.

Let's start this story with Kitsune's final renders:

Turntable

During the process I decided to divide the model in 3 main parts: body, scrolls and mask-collar.
Here's the progress in each part:

Once I started modelling the tails, the main feature of the character, I had some problems with Zremeshing the first version of them, due to the high resolution level of the model I did.
To solve the problem I decided to model a new version of the tails with less strands but paying attention on preserving the cartoonish style I used for the body strands.

The constant studies of different references helped with the process of digitalization of the concept.

Before the digital sculpt, I studied the lines and volumes of the creature during the modules of "Character Design" and "Maquette with Monster Clay".

In the "Character Design" part I also created the story of the creature mixing the original legend with other ideas. 
Kitsune is the messenger and spy of the Japanese Gods, that's why I decided to add the scrolls and the mask to the character. 

During the transition from "Maquette with Monster Clay" to "Digital sculpting" the age of the creature has been changed: in the first module the volumes describe a baby fox while the digital sculpture describes a mid-aged animal.