Jeremy Kool’s series of digital characters are part of a project that has been recently gaining a lot of momentum. The work with the working title, ‘The Paper Fox’ started from a small personal project, beginning with just the fox.
Jeremy enjoyed it so much that he decided to expand it into a children’s story, teaming up with his sister, who is an already published fiction writer.
Not one to just sit on the idea, he was proactive with getting it off the ground, using the community fund-sourcing website, Pozible. Not only has he already exceeded his funding goal, but the project has been feature all over the place, including in Digital Arts and 3D Artist magazines. He tells us more about the actual creation of the characters and we get a sketchbook peek.
To create a character: I start with a lot of reference. I scour the web for different angles of the animal I’m creating. I collect photos, diagrams, skeletal images (where applicable) and study them. Then I take these and simply sketch over them to break out the main forms. Once this is done I take my sketches into Maya 2012 and build them in 3D.
One of the most challenging things about the paper animals is keeping them simple, it’s very easy to get carried away with details. The more detail, the less they look like paper. Simplicity is key.
Once the character is built, I apply some paper textures which convey extra detail and give those lovely paper crinkles and folds.
Finally, after I’ve tweaked the model and textures and I’m happy with the character, I go about manipulating the creature in an interesting pose and rendering it out!
© Jeremy Kool, 2012
