Shannon Hugo 2021-2023

Shannon & Hugo is a long-form character evolution project featuring two central heroes from the same universe as Michael and Denice. The project centers on Hugo, a creature with two distinct forms—a stylized Blue Jay form and a fully realized Griffin form—and his human partner Shannon, a young girl with supernatural traits. Over the years, both characters have undergone multiple redesigns, model overhauls, topology improvements, and lookdev refinements as I explored better techniques for feathers, stylized anatomy, grooming, decals, materials, and cinematic rendering.

My Role

Responsible for the full character and creature pipeline across multiple years of evolution, redesigns, and visual upgrades.

Responsibilities:

Character Concept & Design
- Developed the personalities, silhouettes, and visual identities of both Shannon and Hugo as core protagonists of the Thibodeaux universe.
- Designed Hugo's dual forms—a stylized Blue Jay and a majestic Griffin—ensuring cohesive features across transformations.
- Created expressive facial shapes, stylized hair forms, stylized feathers, and proportions that blend cuteness with heroism.
Sculpting & Modeling
- Fully sculpted Shannon’s stylized human anatomy, clothing, and hair.
- Sculpted Hugo’s bird and Griffin forms, including face structure, wing anatomy, talons, musculature, and complex layered feather patterns.
- Built clean production-ready topology for deformation, with detailed wireframe studies included in the final presentation.
Feather & Groom System Development
- Evolved Hugo’s feather workflow over time—transitioning from early simple geo-cards to more advanced layered hard-surface hybrid feathers.
- Designed modular feather patterns for wings, chest plumage, and facial fans to enhance realism without breaking stylization.
- Created unique feather coloration inspired by Blue Jay patterning and stylized gradients.
Texturing & Lookdev
- Painted stylized textures for skin, feathers, and clothing with hand-painted shading cues for a painterly yet 3D look.
- Built materials for iridescent feathers, soft surfaces, sclera glow, stylized freckles, and cel-inspired transitions.
- Iterated lookdev on both characters across multiple years as my shader workflow improved.
Rigging & Posing
- Rigged Hugo’s wings, claws, tail, and facial expressions for dynamic poses and animation-ready behavior.
- Rigged Shannon for expressive portraits and action poses with her axe.
- Posed both characters for narrative illustrations, portraits, character sheets, and dramatic hero shots.
Cinematic Illustration & Key Art
- Created multiple story-focused compositions including:
  - Shannon linked with Hugo’s Griffin silhouette bathed in lightning.
  - Hugo and Shannon standing united as heroic silhouettes in a forest.
  - A warm, emotional scene where Shannon comforts Hugo among fireflies.
- Used lighting, atmosphere, and color to highlight mood—ranging from mystical, to heroic, to intimate.
Rendering & Compositing
- Rendered in multiple engines depending on the stage of the project (3DS Max, Toolbag, etc.).
- Composited final images with subtle bloom, color grading, depth haze, painterly overlays, and stylized rim lights.
- Produced both clean renders and wireframe versions to showcase topology, feather structure, and modeling precision.