The Skull:

 

I created the skull from a sphere, which I shaped with dynamesh and finished the details after remeshing.

 

The Hair:

I started out with the hair by masking the scalp and creating an extrusion which I then shaped with snake hook and clay brushes in dynamesh.

To add the suction cups I created an Insert mesh brush which I then applied all over the hair.

 

The Seafish:

The starfishes were created with the same method as the hair. To add texture I applied an erosion noise.

The Barnacles:

The barnacles where shaped from a cube and created into an insert mesh brush which was applied onto the face, breast, hair and rock.

 

The rock:

I created the rock to hold the skull for two reasons:

1. I find it aesthetically more pleasing
2. to hide the fact that I couldn’t move the hands/ reposition the model and the hands weren’t holding the skull properly. (see next post)

I shaped the rock from a sphere, added barnacles with the insert mesh brush and then applied the flower.zfp  from the software’s lightbox with fibermesh to mimic underwater plants.

 

The ocean floor

The ocean floor was shaped from a cube and modified with clay and crumple brushes before I added more barnacles. The bones and ribcage are created using the IMM Dragon Bones brush that came with the software.

Posing with ZSpheres:

While posing with ZSpheres I decided to go with a symmetrical pose first, as this will make sculpting easier later on, as I can keep symmetry activated. I will then repose the model later on, when symmetry is deactivated, to create a more dynamic flow.

 

Dynamesh:

After creating the adaptive skin I further transformed the model using dynamesh, to get closer to the desired shape + adding the fins. After I was done I used the Remesher to clean up the mesh.

 

The face:

The next thing I did was work on the face. This is still quite low poly compared to what it will be in the end. I want to put in a lot more detail at a later stage

 

Chosen:

I chose this specific pose as I thought it best represented the desired action (mermaid about to kiss the skull) while being the most dynamic.

Click on image for source link

 

 

 

 

 

Thoughts (based on original story)

Plot:

• the sea witch talks about unbearable pain which the mermaid will have to endure while walking on her feet. Pain like this would probably make someone go insane in real life, ergo: Mermaid went insane
• When her sisters give her the dagger she takes the opportunity and kills the prince with it as she can’t bear the thought of him being with another woman after all that she has sacrificed for him.
• She drags his corpse down to the bottom of the ocean so he can be with him forever, which would also tie in with the mythological approach to mermaids
• When her sister and her father see what became of her, they ban her from the kingdom
• From now on she lives by herself at the border of the sea witches realm, fantazising about being with her prince

 

Looks:

• Killing the prince has corrupted her and took away her beauty: fallen in eyes, beautiful hair turned into tentacles, etc
• She was banned so she doesn’t wear the oysters anymore
• She went crazy so she doesn’t pay a lot of attention to her appearance: overgrown with sea creatures (starfish, barnacles, algae, etc)
• Long slim tail, kind of snake or eel like to make her less human looking or like she is hiding legs under it and to avoid her looking like the fish people in the aquaman movie whichs’ tails looked way too short and cut off

This post only includes adaptations in which the storyline has been changed significantly. Below is a list of different adaptations and the differences to the original story

The little mermaid 1989

• The contract: instead of dying, Ariel will belong to the sea witch once the 3 days are over
• Ariel only has 3 days to make the Prince fall in love with her
• In the original, Ariel never fought with the sea witch
• Ariel marries the prince instead of dying

 

The little mermaid (2018)

• the wizard gets to keep her soul if she fails to get a true loves kiss from the prince
• after she finds out the prince married someone else the wizard claims her soul
• she has to serve the wizard for all eternity
• the mermaid becomes an attraction in a circus
• she is freed by a young journalist
• when he kisses her, her soul returns to her body and she disappears into the ocean

 

https://www.livescience.com/39882-mermaid.html

 One source, the “Arabian Nights,” described mermaids as having “moon faces and hair like a woman’s but their hands and feet were in their bellies and they had tails like fishes.”

 

 “Traditions concerning creatures half-human and half-fish in form have existed for thousands of years, and the Babylonian deity Era or Oannes, the Fish-god … is usually depicted as having a bearded head with a crown and a body like a man, but from the waist downwards he has the shape of a fish.”  – C.J.S. Thompson, The Mystery and Lore of Monsters

 

Greek mythology contains stories of the god Triton, the merman messenger of the sea, and several modern religions including Hinduism and Candomble (an Afro-Brazilian belief) worship mermaid goddesses to this day.

 

“In the Shetland Islands, mermaids are stunningly beautiful women who live under the sea; their hybrid appearance is temporary, the effect being achieved by donning the skin of a fish. They must be very careful not to lose this while wandering about on land, because without it they would be unable to return to their underwater realm.” – Meri Lao, Seduction and the Secret Power of Women

 

In folklore, mermaids were often associated with misfortune and death, luring errant sailors off course and even onto rocky shoals

 

Japanese legends have a version of merfolk called kappa. Said to reside in Japanese lakes, coasts and rivers, these child-size water spirits appear more animal than human, with simian faces and tortoise shells on their backs. the kappa sometimes interact with humans and challenge them to games of skill in which the penalty for losing is death. Kappa are said to have an appetite for children and those foolish enough to swim alone in remote places

 

 

 

https://www.britannica.com/topic/mermaid

Though sometimes kindly, mermaids and mermen were usually dangerous to man. Their gifts brought misfortune, and, if offended, the beings caused floods or other disasters. To see one on a voyage was an omen of shipwreck. They sometimes lured mortals to death by drowning, as did the Lorelei of the Rhine, or enticed young people to live with them underwater, as did the mermaid whose image is carved on a bench in the church of Zennor, Cornwall, England.

 

 

Excerpts from the original novel about the protagonist’s looks/ looks of a mermaid:

 

 

 

The potion:

The Dagger:

 

Thoughts:

 

A lot of time has passed since I last worked on my character and there are many reasons for it. The deadline seemed very far away, I had deadlines for other courses, personal issues, Christmas break, a family member’s visit, … but all these are just excuses because the real reason I wasn’t working on my character, was that I wasn’t enjoying it. I felt like I had hit a wall. The character’s looks had already been so well established, that I had difficulties stepping away from what had already been done and try something new. I had originally chosen the character because I wanted to create a non-human protagonist, mainly because I wouldn’t have to model a human face and not because I really wanted to do it or because I had a lot of ideas how to create the character.

Eventually, I had to come to terms with the fact that I didn’t want to do the character anymore and if I continued I would probably end up not doing my best and also I wouldn’t enjoy the process. So I was faced with the decision whether I should carry on or scrap the character completely and start something else which I would then have to complete in a fraction of the time.

I chose to go with my second option and will from now on adapt the protagonist of “the little mermaid” by Hans Christian Andersen.