Hello, I am a student working on my thesis project in video game art, for my BFA degree. I've been learning 3D modeling and animation for the past 3 years, and this latest project calls for creating two new characters based on someone else's concept art!

The normal method is to search through online art galleries until we find something we like, then message the artist for permission to use it. While I am doing that however, I decided to make this thread in case someone wanted to step up themselves. Really, I wish I could have used my own characters for this project, but the professors would like us to use someone else's art (to mimic a work situation). So I thought about giving someone else here on DA the chance to see their characters in 3D. Here are the gritty details:

What type of characters I'm looking for:
- 1 MALE character
- 1 FEMALE character (you don't need to submit both, it can be different peoples' designs for each character!)
- They must be HUMANOID (either human, or of a bipedal human-like race).
- A FANTASY/RPG theme... this is very loosely defined, it's just to help you get an idea - I am not looking for gun-toting soldiers or schoolgirls for example.
- Preferably not steampunk (I don't like it and it's overdone)
- I like magic themes (a warlock, sorceress, or necromancer maybe) and animal motifs, but it's not necessary.

What type of art I'm looking for:
The image is important because I will be presenting it to the professors, who must fall in love with the picture and give me the OK to model these characters.
- It can be ANY type of drawing, such as a painting, actual concept art, model sheet/character sheet, character schematics, etc. But if you have one of those detailed character sheets (with front/back/side views, headshots, clothing details, etc), it would be PERFECT and I would love you.
- It must be in COLOR
- It MUST BE DETAILED (no blurry speedpaints or quick sketches) and have decent anatomy. NO chibi's or super cutesy anime styles please, sorry! No MS Paint drawings either... I really apologize, but I cannot use beginner-level art for this project.
- It must NOT have already been created in 3D, or used for an existing video game.

If in doubt, pleasejust show it to me anyway. I will absolutely not shame or degrade anyone whose art I don't want to use.
There are many under-rated and under-appreciated artists here too, so don't let your popularity bring down your confidence.

What will happen to your character?!
- During the next few months, I will be sculpting, texturing, rigging, and animating the character in 3D. I will be using industry-standard programs including Autodesk Maya and Pixologic ZBrush. The character will also be imported into the UDK game engine, where it can be seen running around in an environment.
- The character will be seen by my professors, other students, and potentially other people as well.
- Your character will NOT be featured in a real game. This is simply a class for students to practice and prove their modeling skills. My work will be critiqued and graded by a panel of professors.

Rights
- You will keep ALL rights to your character's design and any concept art you send to me.
- Your name will be featured on every picture and video that the character is seen in. I can provide a link to your website or DA as well.
- The rights to the character's 3D model itself (including all files I created for it) will belong to me. (If you have serious interest in purchasing the model file for your own use, please discuss this with me in PM.)
- The character model will NOT be used for profit.
- The character model files WILL be given to the school and to the professors for grading purposes. I will NOT distribute these files to other people.
- Pictures and videos of the character model may be featured on framed posters at my school, AND on websites such as my DeviantArt gallery or YouTube.
- You are free to post these pictures and videos on your DA gallery or other websites as well, of course, as long as credit for the 3D is given to me.

Bonus: Playing with your Character
Unfortunately, I am NOT a game programmer, and my knowledge of getting codes to work is limited. Because of this, I do NOT guarantee this part. However, should it work properly, I will send you an .exe file of your character in a play-able area! Keep in mind this is NOT a real game, and there are no objectives and whatnot. But you'll be able to walk around, jump around, and explore as your character.

About the Environment
This is basically the same exact deal as the characters, so I'll keep it short and simple.
- I'm looking for concept art/ matte paintings/ etc that depict a setting which would match the characters. Since the characters are still undecided, basically just match the fantasy/RPG theme.
- A small wooden/stone village, explore-able dungeon, or magic ruins would be perfect. No plain landscapes or areas with no structures please.
- It needs to be in COLOR and have a decent amount of detail (NO speedpaints). I need to be able to tell what everything in the scene is because I will be modeling it piece by piece.
- If you have additional concept art that shows details/notes about things in your painting, that would be amazing.


Deadlines
- I will have one of the characters completed this December.
- The second character will be completed by April.
- The environment will be 50% complete by December, and 100% complete by April.
- I will show you the finished work when I'm done. You are free to request progress updates in the meantime, however.

I know many artists are lazy and sketchy about deadlines, but remember that this is my FINAL project before graduation, and I am taking it very seriously. Please be confident that I will do my best to do justice to your character.

Please note that there is no payment involved here. Most artists allow us to use their characters for this sort of non-profit student work for free. I will not charge you either, of course, to use any of the pictures/videos I create (the purchase I mentioned above is for the actual model file, akin to a .PSD for a photoshop file, and I am more wary about giving those out).

However, if you happen to have a design that I absolutely fall in love with, AND it has very skilled and detailed concept art to go along with it, I will send you a payment for letting me use it.

Note that I am NOT looking to buy characters. NO adoptables or things of that sort. I am only looking for characters owned by YOU (or your friends, or a favorite DA artist you might recommend...), so I can bring them to life for you as I complete my final year of college. :]

** THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4th (about 6 days from now) is the DEADLINE for my character choice! **

Please post here or PM me with your character art. You have no idea how happy I would be if you could help <3 It should be an exciting project! And as I said above, if it's not what I'm looking for I will NOT give you a rude response, so please don't be shy!