Developing my initial ideas on Veepees

Starting with the basics of the character, i worked on his basic body shape and clothing, from there i was able to build on smaller features and characteristics.
I played about with different body types but believe the short unappealing igor type of hunchback body shape suited the emotive design best at this point. Dressed in very basic scientist clothing, i researched this a good deal yet i kept returning to my initial ideas of a white lab coat and thick latex gloves, inspired by many movies and cartoons, especially 90's kids tv show, Dexters labratory linked and shown below.
  
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130528004316/poohadventures/images/d/d3/Dexter_(Dexter's_Lab).jpg

Though its my own interpretation of the childs drawing, it is still essentially a childs drawing and i want to keep the childs original thoughts and feelings in my interpretation and hopefully the final design.
Basic white lab coat ad gloves seem to be the simplest and most appropriate options, i did develop colours and experiment with different outfits, even chains and shackles and ratty peasant attire, but none of that suited my mad scientist, he isnt lowly or a prisoner, its his own lifestyle choice, he isnt forced into all this experimental work, its a passion (an element of my emotive design ill discuss in length later)

Once i get the clothing into 3D Studio Max i will have the opportunity to experiment in textures etc, the default cloth texture alone will be interesting to experiment with, the latex gloves might be trickier, high gloss and specular levels will be easy enough to play about with but creating a proper stretched rubber effect could prove difficult, interesting but difficult.

His body and hands are probably the simplest block shapes about my character, i played about with the idea as you can see in the sketchbook, with different body shapes and hand types, attempting to capture the sinister and creepy scientist appearance however they just didn't suit,  in the end i chose fat pudgy fingers, as if bloated and inhuman.
Also children tend to be unable to draw hands or fingers properly, its one of the last human characteristics that children learn to artistically protray, so i thought this connected the childs drawing and my own interpretation nicely.
So the shape of the hands and body shouldn't be overly difficult to create, leaving the opportunity to focus more on giving them a more realistic material/texture.

http://ec.l.thumbs.canstockphoto.com/canstock11635826.jpg

http://jjblain.pagesperso-orange.fr/cbfiches/a52main/mainscedric.gif

http://antiparrot.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/0198162246-childrens-drawings-of-human-figures-1.jpg

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTB2CH7QZocZhVf6fRjedDzPmngAJJEtT86dngJPK4pQ6YwwAQZ

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRCVRjfDTIdjegikYoEfGrngDecGxjpA77zRGNswel7eKA5aRGt

Above are just some internet acquired images and their links, for simple visual reference to back up my point at how children cant really draw hands or fingers, most ignore the hands, or use uneven lines or a circle and protruding lines, all of which represent hands but not effectively, i want the hands to look misshapen and child like but not overly out of place.

Following the tradition of many illustrators and animators i will be giving my Veepees the wrong amount of fingers, matching the inhuman appearance, and following a childs lack of ability to use the correct amount of fingers. three fingers and a thumb per hand seems appropriate, as to not confuse the viewer, i played about with the idea of different amounts of fingers on each hand but it looked too forced, as if i was over playing the misshapen human aspect. so i kept it simple for now. 

As a scientist or experiment Veepees has many animal parts attached, how are they attached? it all looks quite self inflicted so i wanted to add some gore wounds and scars on him, perhaps some crude stitching to show he isnt exactly a licensed professional, this all connects to the self harm and self inflicted etc emotive design that im gradually building on.

So i researched stitching and bloody wounds, but i have to limit them, after all i dont want him to both scare little kids and look like hes falling apart, hes meant to be sinister and physiologically worrying but not frightening. 

http://www.3dartistonline.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/cutandstitches-main.jpg

stretching the skin over an obvious gash or wound is the type of stitching im heading towards. 

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvilsTzCeCvBtl-6b4gf_XP9RYmSIE_3b7rbrIv2YmzHmNl-aFmSAQ0x_U4EfmPerWjoO3dPnbqUGVYhWAjo2D_dbVqGu1Zuht8VYnh0axrPuoH4qwSc49sMuEJj5wvZzMY9m73Jc82qQ/s320/kimono_cloth_detail.jpg

The stitching would also need to have an obvious colour of thread to make it slightly more comical than horrifying. o have researched a fair deal int crude stitching and uneven markings, since i want it to look like he hadn't much experience or help, giving off a lonesome empty emotive design.

Though its early days in the designing process i have to constantly remember this will be created in 3D Max in the end, so any time i decide on a feature i have to decide how i could or will create it in 3D Max, though i never want it to limit my designs just because i dont want the effort or difficulty of creating it, however it doesn't hurt to be realistic when creating a character. However i find knowing features will be difficult to create, i know to keep the design somewhat simple but still push myself on certain techniques. 

Hopefully picking up and developing knew techniques every new project. 

The crude stitches are an opportunity to either play about with textures and UV wrapping using bitmap stitches etc, or i could attempt to create them as separate objects or even simply create them in photoshop when the model is complete. 

Probably not a feature most would focus on when interpratating Veepees, but i cant get over the seven lines, its one of the first things i noticed, as you can see in the SKETCHBOOK, i experimented with many ideas of what it could be or what i could develop it to become.

My favourite of all was the spider legs idea, as it connects both the lines, and the animal/self experimentation, so still sticking close to the original drawing.

http://static3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121113192130/villains/images/a/a5/Mr_Waternoose_Chase.png

The spider legs also adds to the emotive design alot, Pixars, Monsters inc's good guy turned secret bad guy, Mr Waternoose is a perfect example of the creepy bug legs, plus one of the most common fears is arachnophobia (fear of spiders) so the thought of his legs tapping along in a spider like manner would give most viewers chills.

I've begun research on seven legged spiders and the type of legs they have, but want to research spider legs further, to see which ones would suit Veepees best, hairy? dark? light? fat ? thin? long? short? poisonous? scaly? theres a while range of possibilities i still have to develop and design further.