Finalized the sword design and started texturing in Substance. 
Also got pretty far on the hair cards. Still needs some polish, but GS CurveTools has made the entire process so much easier than my first attempt last year. 

One of my first characters I ever made was Clare, and I meant to do Priscilla at the time too. But she sat barely blocked-out for years. Since getting laid off in Oct, I've been trying to find personal projects to test my skills. Don't get me wrong, I love stylized animals and cartoony things, but I wouldn't mind working on some more Souls-like stuff too. 

So, I decided to revamp Priscilla as if she were a boss in Elden Ring. This could have gone two ways: naked lady monster like Melenia, or fully armored with aspects of Priscilla's Awoken-form throughout the armor. I was really inspired by Keos Masons' recent Frog/Elden Ring work, so armor it is.  

At this stage, I'm focusing heavily on silhouette, trying to bring in those Awoken elements. Like her horn, the wings, the large clawed hands, and the blades on the arms. Also trying to bring in elements of the normal Claymore "outfit" like the white hair, large shoulder pads, skirt, white pants and long silver boots. 

I've been studying a ripped model of Rennala to get a good idea in terms of how From sets up their characters, textures are done, and usual poly count. Goal is to tackle this like I'm modding the game. 

End product I'm hoping for: UE5 scene using bought environmental assets for storytelling.
 
What I'm hoping to learn from this: 
1. Pushing my sculpting further, more mastery of Zbrush
2. Adapt to From's style, less cartoony that usual stuff. 
3. Use haircards on full character for first time and implement/shade properly in UE5. 
​

Don't know why I didn't think to try this earlier.
I'm working on the hand/wrist portion of the Warrior right now, which is Chrome leather. Doesn't take manipulations the same way that Veg tan does. I tested to see what was possible by hand, but the results were less than I'd hoped.   
So, stamping to the rescue. Using a ripped texture from the game, I made a black and white png, which I loaded into Zbrush, applied as an alpha to the ClayBuildup brush, drew out on a thick plane, adjusted the height and ta-da. (Make sure you have Brush > Auto Mask > Backface Mask engaged, or else it will act negatively on the back)

And I tried to press it with what I had XD

It only worked so-so. But I knew I was on the right path. I did research on legit leather presses and settled on a generic Arbor press. This guy's video really sold it for me, and I've been using his tips to adjust my own. 

I've done a variety of test using tools that normal involve the use of a hammer. It's taken a few tries, but I feel like I've figured out the best way to use the stamp with Chrome leather. While Chrome doesn't react the same way to water as Veg does, it did seem to make the impression deeper and clearer, than when I did it without. Plus, I have better luck layering the leather on top of the stamp, instead of under. So the metal square pushes against the leather itself. 

Feels good to get it working. 
I've got two more stamps currently being printed right now; one for the hand tops and one for the shoes.

Got some of the jewelry that I modeled in Zbrush, printed in resin. Plan is to mold in silicone and then cast in silverclay, and finish accordingly.

Got 95% of the head piece done. Used the deColorant for the pattern. Trimmed and hand sewed on the lace. The under layer is 13 feet long and wraps around the head multiple times, with the decorated portion wrapping it again. 

After trying bleach and just straight paint, I discovered deColourant from Jacquard. I love the faded look it gave my fabric during a test. Easy to use too. Just paint it on, wait 24 hours and then iron. Beware, kinda has a rotten egg smell when being ironed. 

Also did a series of embroidery tests. 
Right most bunch was done on the machine, middle was done by hand with no stretcher, and far left is by hand with stretcher. 

I obviously favored the far left batch. But then it came down to makeing sure the back looked as good as the front. I tried a variety of knots and tucks on the back until I figured out the two by the needle. The knot is hidden under the stitches.