The mystery woman by MollyFootman
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Description
She stood waiting at the appointed spot in a deserted alley illuminated by an overhead neon advertising sign.
"When I invited you to meet here, I really didn't expect you to show. Now we'll see what you're made of." The ghost of a bitter smile crossed her lips. The gory skull emblem glinted in the neon illumination; the sign of Lady Skull.
Molly's art notes: Set up and rendered with Poser 13.1.449 using the Superfly Cycles X rendering engine with some Postwork in Superfly and a bit in Photoshop. The character is built of very old material: a mesh called Cynthia is the base. Her costume is made of the V3 catsuit and the V4 mask, booties and gloves. I inherited Cynthia along with a ton of other stuff from my husband's interest in Poser; he says she is an incomplete figure from a guy called Baron Vlad Harkonnen who had a site called Planet Vixens. I found some remnants of the site with the internet time machine. For being incomplete, I found Cynthia's textures, rigging and morphs to be fine. She predates weight mapping but the old joint zone capsule system works fine for posing her. The background is by EVargas and is available here at Renderosity. I noted some other tools available here that I used to tweak her.
Regarding the character and possible stories: this image is a character test. I imagine her as a shadowy anti-hero. Think Cat Woman in her current, postmodern stories only a bit darker. To some she is a villain and she is wanted by the Midland City law enforcement agencies. To others she is a hero who keeps the lid on things in city. She would be a contemporary of another character I put out awhile back called "NightFall".
Of course, I'm interested in how she comes across to other viewers. If you have a moment, I'd love to know your thoughts about her appearance and the rough sketch for a back story I mentioned.
Comments (8)
RAGraphicDesign
We should expect some stories....:)
MollyFootman
I'll take that as encouragement, my dear. We'll see! I always enjoy hearing from you! <3
Molly
EVargas Online Now!
Character development seems good, she has a strong presence. I saw that she has a pistol on her leg, and also her backpack (?) does it hide some trick/weapon? I liked the facial expression, it says a lot about her too. The clothes have a consistent style, the choice of dark tones helps. Hair indicating a certain vanity, an interesting point in the construction of an evil character as well. The skull is not just the skull, it has the detail that makes it different. Also a good choice of pose, classic for a superhero character, we instantly see what she's doing, she's not messing around.
MollyFootman
Thank you so much for the detailed comment which provides a lot of validation and encouragement regarding what I had in mind with the character construction! Also, thank you for the fine content that provided a nice setting for her! <3
Molly
RodS
You really knocked this one outta the park! Looking forward to seeing what you do with her.
It's amazing how well some of that older stuff still works - in the right hands like yours.
MollyFootman
Thanks, Rod. Of course, I have a backstory and perhaps an ongoing one in mind for the character; it's how I work. I don't know how much of that I'll render up and share. She DID come out pretty well and I think is evidence that everything that's old can be made new again. ;-)
Molly
bakapo
Outfit, pose, face... she's very intriguing. I bet she has interesting back stories. Your lighting is excellent as always.
MollyFootman
Thank you, Barb. I'm always thinking of stories and characters and once and awhile I'll actually finish developing one. I don't know if I'll go on to a story. I have two stories (more 5 or 6 stories actually) that are unfinished. XD
As for your encouragement regarding pose, face, outfit and lighting? It's so lovely to hear that! =)
Molly
jdwtrxk
IU like her face an expression most. Hair suits perfectly. Wondering how her pistol rig is attached...
I'm with Rod - some of the most venerable assets have a lot of life in them when properly used.
Good to see you're posting MS. Mollz ....
MollyFootman
Thanks, JD. As with most old characters, facial expression is a bit limited but the morphing brush that is part of the Poser interface lets you modify mesh on the fly and I tweaked her expression to get a bit more than is in the original mesh. In my mind, the pistol holster has a magnetic clip to match magnets in the mesh of her tights. The idea is that it can be easily removed depending the situation. Of course, I could just say, "It's a magical holster!" or some such... XD
I've been messing about with a lot of character design and tweaking of materials. Not much of it would be of interest to anyone but me. I just got the new La Femme 2 and started messing with her. I'll likely get back to my stories or polish something enough (as I did here) to post. Thanks for the encouragement, it's always a delight to hear from you. =)
Molly
jdwtrxk
Disagree on interest in tweaking character materials - I love that stuff. Textures make or break a toon, particularly if made from scratch or blending. I've gone through twenty or more to get the right look, and a skin blending thingie went on sale in DAZ I'm up to try.
This really applies to weapons, as so few content creators know how they work or how they were finished. if only someone would do a weapons texture pack. Nelmi could handle it, including mottled case hardening :)
Curious to see how La femme R spins out. I'm mixed on DAZ Genesis 9...
MollyFootman
Trust me, you wouldn't want to see my experiments on tweaking materials until I'm satisfied that they won't make the viewer's eyes bleed. ;-P Getting a material to look good is great fun but I'm not one of those who feel compelled to show a bunch of WiP pictures unless I am soliciting feedback or advice on something I think is just about good to go.
You got me to thinking about my "magic holster" with your comments about weapons. I freely admit I'm one of those who knows next to nothing about such things (right up there with my knowledge of all things automotive XD). It did occur to me that a shoulder holster might be a bit more appealing and make more sense to the discriminating eye. I think I'm going to try another character test picture of "Lady Skull" with such a thing.
As always, it's so very nice to chat with you. =)
Molly
Shawnaloroc
Nice lighting and composition and hair looks sharp. I'm so far behind with poser, I still use 2012 pro.
MollyFootman
Thank you, Shawn! It's very kind of you to comment so; I really appreciate the feedback. I love the content you've made available for purchase; it plays very well with more recent versions of Poser. The hair benefits from Ghostship2's hair shader system which makes it pretty easy to retexture trans map prop hair for use in Poser 13 and the Superfly Cycles X rendering engine.
Molly
jdwtrxk
Shoulder holster would be a good look. No need to reply :)