Imoen head sculpt is completed and en route

Painter Mark Simpson said it looks quite good in-hand, I’ll see for myself shortly since he said last night he’s shipping it out ASAP so presumably that means today.

From Mark’s photos the skin on the sculpt looks a bit ruddier and more road-worn than the game’s portrait. It seems to lack the softness and ‘glow’ that the portrait has. Maybe in-hand not as much, it sounds like according to Mark. But anyway if so, I suppose that actually adds some verisimilitude given that most of the time your party is camping outdoors in the wilderness along the Sword Coast.

Another thing along those lines worth noting is that, like the protagonist, Imoen is a Bhaalspawn. A daughter of the Lord of Murder. And since as I use her throughout BG1 as a pure Thief (I don’t dual class her to Mage), I have her stealth and send her in to backstab enemy mages all the time with the Dagger of Venom. So she’s pretty badass in a fight in her own right. She’s a killer out there on the field of battle.

In hindsight I would have preferred that the creator of the STL, Just OneSixth Scale, had given just a touch more arch to the left eyebrow. That arched eyebrow gives Imoen her “sass.” But evidently my eye just didn’t pick it up.

The sculpt’s hair is accurate to the portrait. But when rendered in 3D it comes across as a bit like ‘helmet-head’ hair. Perhaps I should have asked the STL designer to modify the hair to have it fall more naturally at the sides. But at the time I figured we’ll stick to the source material and see what it looks like as true to the portrait as we can get it.

In all honesty I’m not feeling wowed by what I’m seeing from photos. But then again this project has never been attempted as far as I know. As Mark pointed out it’s tricky for artists to work strictly from a one 2D portrait as the sole source material. I’m hopeful that in-hand, and attached to the body I’ve assembled, and carefully photographed, etc., it will be a success overall.

Anyway, without further ado, here it is:

For reference sake, and since it’s been forever since I posted, here’s a look at the body I’ve put together for Imoen (using a Wonder Woman knock-off head sculpt as placeholder):