This is a study project of the 3rd Semester (Arena Multimedia). We were learning 3D character creation, and Western Journey was our final project. Think of it like we need a characters set, ready to be used in 3D media productions. We decided to give our project the vibe of a MOBA game assets, with cool characteristic and unique theme for each character.

At first, we thought we should think outside of the book and take the story to a whole new universe, one member suggested the steampunk vibe. As the main concept artist, I looked at Bioshock: Infinite and asked myself if I could do something cool. Turned out to be like this, 'mad scientist and his crews, searching for the mysterious cure to save the humanity'. But the idea doesn't stand strong, because admittedly we don't know the American in 19th century that well. 

Now back to the traditional Chinese mythology, here we have these guys. Sun Wukong with white fur originally was my idea, but team members suggested to change it to velvet red. Still it looks cool on paper. He has the war paint which I learned from traditional Chinese opera theatre. Several changes were made to the final production but overall I kept his body shape and his light armor.

Zhu Bajie looks intense. He wears several charms, and he has kind of tattoo on his left hand. My take was the third eye on his forehead. Usually, it would close, but when full moon it opens and Zhu Bajie transform into a beast. The team were fine with him.

The original design for Sha Wujing. His inner monster was sealed by a large seastar, covering his back. When it's needed, the seastar would give him super power, and his left hand would be unsealed. I didn't think of what happens next when his arm was released, maybe an unchained kraken or a blast canon. I don't know but I think it's pretty cool to turn your arm into a lethal weapon, like Wolverine's claw. However, the team members suggested that he should looks like hunchback (due to his main job carrying all the packages). I agreed with them later on.

Old man Tang Sanzang looks like a dwarf, and has floating energy hover on his hand; he might have summoner ability or something, I don't know. However, our teacher didn't fond of this design, saying the old man was 'ordinary'. Later on, we were in a rush to meet the deadline and decided to make him even more 'ordinary', as a young dude and no notable characteristic.

Unfortunately, at that time we were not taught how to rig and bone the characters, so all the posters have the same generic pose. As the art director, I had to make sure all the poster looks cool, and it has a story behind it. I did some manipulation and redraw trick with Photoshop for the backgrounds.

When I was texturing Sha Wujing, I drew some tentacles pattern on his sealed glove. I liked the idea to unleash a Kraken, using his hand as a portal to another dimension. Moss sprang on his shoulder and his back, and he has frog skin, cool right?

I didn't have the chance to draw his third eye due to hardware fault, couldn't fix it in time for the final production. Still I would love to tell my audience about Zhu Bajie, in a full moon night...

Sun Wukong, my greatest creation in the set. I worked with my friend, Son Nguyen (the most talented one in the team), he managed to give Sun Wukong a little facial expression, Wukong looks grumpy. The sky background with warfare vibe has a story to tell: fire flares and columns, wasn't he looking at the zenith?

I also created this weapon concept for the Monkey King Bar, which has 2 states: Normally work as a nunchaku, it’ll be heated up when needed, hardened and lengthen to become a weapon which spans for thousands of miles.

Regrettably, team members thought the design wasn't fit the overall theme, it looks modern and way too mechanized. Still, I wanted to show it here because I think it's cool.