Had an urgent request for an African toon character, and decided to document the broad steps I employed, and share the process from start to finish.

Duration: 8 hours
STEP 1:
Ideally, I would have created an image plane in all the views but the time constraint for the job prevented this.
This was a same-day delivery job.

We searched Google for similar style images, n picked a few.
I saved the images n used them for inspiration.

STEP 2
Based on the style agreed, the character was to be three heads high (the popular standard for kiddies characters)

I used primitives as guides, and using the measuring utility I marked d different sections of the character with three cubes
Head
Torso
Legs

STEP 3
Referring to the various images and basically free styling, I just modeled the head.
I did my best to keep it as African and toony as I could, without following the stereotypes for African characters.

Once modeling the head, I always use a sphere for the eyeball to aid in shaping the eye sockets.
I have a handy texture that I apply to the eyeball, early in d process.
It helps keep me connected to the character, when we see eyeball to eyeball, lol

STEP 4
The process continued for the torso.
I extruded the arms and the wrist, adding a slight twist to the forearm.

At times I got caught up and would forget to document every step of the process (apologies)

STEP 5, 6 & 7
Because I was giving live feedback to the client, I had to combine texturing with the modeling process.
As soon as I modeled a section of d character, I would create a quick texture and send it off for comments/critique.

Finally, approx 8 hours later I could send off the final render of the character.

Eventually, I will need to work on creating blend shapes for bringing him alive, and create a robust rig for him.
At the moment however, he has fulfilled the first stage of his life and I look forward to further work with him.

If there's particular interest/comments/questions in any part of the process, Id be glad to share/listen or answer.
Thanks for reading!

are u based in lagos?

Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.
Lagos is home tho.

OKX:
Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. Lagos is home tho.

Wats the software used ?

Thats obviously maya right, with mental ray rendering

Yup.
Maya 2014 and mental ray.

Where was I ?

just 8 hrs? Wow...

Love it.

can't wait to see the blendshapes.

@Nijabazaar
lol, we both know u don't dig toons as I don't dig realism.

Should start d blendshapes next week if all goes as planned.

OKX:
@Nijabazaar
lol, we both know u don't dig toons as I don't dig realism.

Should start d blendshapes next week if all goes as planned.

Can I achieve this with C4D and after effect ?

@africanman
Sure u can use Cinema4d to achieve the above, although it's real strength lies in motion graphics.

U don't really need after effects for any of what was shown above, possibly Photoshop to create d textures, but that's about it.

There are tons of YouTube videos showing how to model in Cinema4d.
You could explore them.

OKX:
@Nijabazaar
lol, we both know u don't dig toons as I don't dig realism.

Should start d blendshapes next week if all goes as planned.

Hahaaha. I really don't love toons . maybe Boss baby
But that does not mean I don't have an eye for a consummate Technical execution when I see one.

@nijabazaar
Thanks man.

Starting d blend shapes this weekend.
Will post progress.