Charmander, probably the most popular of the three original starters, is done. There were still a few hiccups with this model that had to be overcome like with the previous Bulbasaur model, but I managed to overcome them and in the end I think it turned out great.
The area that gave me the most grief was still the initial modeling phase. While I think I have improved quite a bit I can still tell that there is a lot more I need to learn in order to reduce the amount of time it takes me to make the base figure. As an example, I had to completely re-do the arms and hands a number times before I ended up with something I could be happy with.
One area I feel I improved though was blending shapes together. With Bulbasaur there is a seam all the way around each of its legs where the leg connects with the body. On Charmander though I feel that I was able to do a better job of blending the arms and legs into the body so that they look more natural.
I was also pleased with how relatively quick I was able to complete this design. To compare, Bulbasaur took around five months to complete while Charmander took a little over two so I nearly halved the production time. This tells me I’ve improved my process significantly which gives me greater confidence going forward. Hopefully I will be able to keep up this momentum for my third subject (I wonder who that could be :) ) and streamline the design process further.
Thanks and happy crafting!
The Papercraftsman