This image is my first Cloud Soldier sculpt. I remember testing out the modo renderer and having a rough go at getting the glass transparent, because of the way the shader tree was set up, but this was my first successful and I'll definitely be redesigning the goggles since they a little too much like "Rock Star" shades for me, but I really like the quality of modo's Global Illumination rendering.
In terms of my general process for the material for this project I really don't do a lot in terms of sketching for these sculpts -characters or vehicles- as it allows me more freedom in the design process. In terms of Influences and inspiration it's largely a blend of a lot of research on a African Tribal arts, clothing, costume, Comic book mythology and animal structure/anatomy.