Tutorial lists

To make sure the topology of the model would go smoothly I had to refer back to a series of tutorials I used in the past. The serie of tutorials is created by Jonathan Williams and shows the process of how to model a female body. The same topology can be used to create a male body. The software Blender is used for this tutorials, but with a little basic knowledge of Maya or 3Ds Max it can be applied in the other 3D programs as well.

Note: the series haven't been completed but it covers all you need to know to create a body with a good topology.

The series is cut up in chapter and lasts about 7 hours:

Part 1 - Setting up reference, Blocking out shapes
Part 2 - Starting on the face
Part 3 - The Eyes
Part 4 - Eyes, Nose, Face Layout
Part 5 - The Mouth
Part 6 - The Ear
Part 7 - Finishing the head
Part 8 - The Neck
Part 9 - Upper Torso

Unfortunately the remainder of the tutorials had been discontinued, even on the main CG  Cookie site. But I found the rest of the videos by scavenging  the internet:

Part 10 - Torso
Part 11 - Arms and Legs
Part 12 - Hands Base

Other tutorials I had on while working:

Topology Overview: Male and Female Torso

Topology Review: Shoulder

Topology Overview: The Head

Curve Mesh

The design contains a lot of smooth curves. To copy this effect over to 3D, I made a curve mesh for my polygon model to connect to.

Summer second design

I adjusted the design of Summer, his shoulders are wider and the facial structure is more angular making it appear more male and less like a child. I kept the hair and costume. The puffy sleeves still appeared more girlish than I wanted to so I adjusted those slightly. The crown is also more in harmony with the rest of the character.

The first design

Here's the first design of Summer. the design has most features I looked for in the character, aside that the age was too young. This is due the shape of the face that still looks too childish and the width of the shoulders, which are too narrow. I also still need to something with the crown that suits the design.

Character Concept

For the school Assignment in Maya, I wanted to create a sort of Fairy tale character. As result I came up with my own little story:

Creation of the seasons

At the beginning of time Mother Nature and Father Time had four children. Two sons and two daughters. The eldest was Winter, a sturdy son who believed in perseverance, he believed that how harder the obstacle was, the stronger you would get. The second child was Autumn, a daughter with a gentle and responsible spirit who loved her siblings very much. The third child was also a daughter and named Spring, Spring was full of life and energy and loved nothing more than to paint colors on the white canvas her brother winter laid over the world. Winter did mind but always forgave her because she was very lovable. The youngest was a son named Summer. Unlike his brother Summer believed in paradise on earth, a place where humans could reap the benefits and beauties of life without having to work for it. Because Winter and Summer clashed so much in personality is was impossible for them to work together.

Facing a world that needed managing and four children with ambitions, Mother Nature and Father Time decided to divide the year into four parts. Each child would have its own period of time called a season. 

Because Winter and Summer got caught up in competition every time they had to work side to side, a new arrangement was made. Winter got the first season because he was the oldest, Spring got the second season because she loved to paint on the white canvas of snow so much, Summer got the third season because Spring did most of the work for him leaving little for him to do as he liked it and Autumn got the last season because she did not mind letting her siblings go first and wanted to prepare the world for Winter’s cold ideals.  The reason why most animals begin to hibernate during this time is because Autumn sings them to sleep.


Meet the character I'm going to create in 3D:

Summer

Although technically Summer is the youngest child, Spring is still considered younger because of her child-like personality and appearance.

Summer has a good heart but has the habit of being arrogant and lazy from time to time. He avoids work and spends most of his time admiring his creations or rather his finishing touches on Spring’s work.

Appearance

He has a slender posture and a refined appearance of a male in his early twenties or late teens . He looks well after himself and dresses fashionably en extravagant. His clothing show many elements of summer, such as the color yellow that resembles the sun, flower petal shapes and green of fresh grass.