I've concluded that the best approach to creating 3D characters is to sculpt them. We started on the puppetry and the Garden Gnomes, only to get distracted back to publishing work.
Now that the paintings for the Illustrated Storybooks is mostly finished, we started painting some of the characters to create a 360° view. But this is easier said than done. I'm finding that getting an accurate perspective with separate drawings/paintings is not so easy to do.
This leads me to realize that the best way to create a 360° view is to sculpt the character and then scan that sculpture. I know that there is an Ai program that can convert a 2D image into a 3D image file, but from what I understand the character needs to be referenced from all four sides. It might be best to take at least eight slices. By the time we go through all that, we might as well sculpt it.
I have a kiln, so we can fire the clay. After that we scan the sculpture for 3D. I'm thinking that might be the best approach, mainly because then the characters will be consistent.
There are "details" to a computerized scan of artwork that seem to make a sculpture highly desirable. Of course, a sculpted Garden Gnomes, not only gives us a master, but also allows mold making. I considered 3D printing, and I hope to explore that, but I think sculptures advance our overall cause more effectively for now.
That being said, I am looking for persons who may like to sculpt some Gnomes. Let me know if you are interested. If I can find the time, I may try my hand at it. I did some sculpting in the past and I really liked doing that and seeing the results of my efforts.
I'll post photos if I do.
AG
