Eikthyrnir concept (2021 art test)

2021. Art test done for IFUN Games Singapore as a fresh graduate from university for their (junior) concept artist position.
The character design brief was "Norse mythology fantasy animal, western style" and the requirement was to submit concept sketches with the final design rendered. I selected Eikthyrnir, a deer character associated with water.
For the actual render submission (3rd image) I lacked time to render the water and render some parts better, but I still landed the job given the short amount of time allocated and for the junior position they were looking for as a new company.
For the touch up in 2026 (1st image), I spent about another 4 hours rendering the water, adding additional details on the deer and did colour correction.
I did not want to over-polish this as I only wanted to touch up enough to show that I understand form, and to render the water to be less goo-like. Overall I think I would need to re-design the water to show that it is live and flowing from branch to branch, and perhaps could've simplified the antlers, but that's a problem for another time. Moving on now.