The Confectioner

Hi, it is the first time for me participating in Rookies contest and I could not figure out how to make daily updates. So, if I will be disqualified because of this, well I'll try to do better next time.  But I decided to post my dailies here anyway.

Just want to talk a little bit about my idea. I've never been into sci-fi that much, but at the same time I really like steampunk aesthetics. Therefore, the general stylistic direction was established right away. I started remembering different robot characters from cartoons I watched as a child. I chose the cartoony style, because I wanted to make my robot look cute and goofy and I can hardly imagine this concept in realism. I also wanted to make something contrasting with the robotic nature of the character. Like they are hard and metallic outside, but soft and gentle in the inside. That is why I finally decided to make my robot a confectioner.  Because for me this profession seems to be one of the most delicate in an artistic sense. As for the reference characters I chose B.E.N. from Treasure Planet and Cubic from The mystery of the Sukharev Tower.

For this project, I'm using Maya software and Arnold rendering engine. To show the good nature of the character, I decided not to use any sharp corners in his design, only rounded shapes. The hat and cake models I also made myself from scratch. It felt like I was making a toy with accessories.

It was my first time rigging a character, but the fact that he is a robot made the process even more difficult. I had to devote a whole evening to painting the weights. Since the character is completely made of solid materials (except for the neck) which in the normal state does not stretch in any way, I had to make each part of his body move independently and not affect the shape of the other. I confess that I did not make rigs for the hands and fingers, I did not have time for this. But since this model will only be used as a picture and not an animation, I decided to simply position the GEO itself as I needed.

The texture process turned out to be the most difficult for me for the reason that I simply did not know how to correctly implement my idea. Through trial and error, as well as with the help of a detailed study of references, I finally came to the look of the character that you see. Plus, in the process, I got feedback from my cousin that if his eyes were too realistic, it would no longer be cute, but create an uncanny valley effect. So that's what I also tried to keep in mind.

And here he is