Decided to give it another twist, and started to work on a "Baby" hippo, and  here is the result so far:

BlenderGuru is hosting a Christmas image competition,and since i was working with hippopotamuses i thought to use them.

 Go here to find out more : Blender competition

Comments/suggestions are welcome as always.

Small adjustment... made some ridges in front of the face to insert whiskers.
First attempt at direct mesh painting.
Removed clothing items, and added modified back feet.
Made small adjustments to the glasses frame in order to allow anchoring on the back of the ears.

Added a couple of shirt cuffs and reworked the legs and feet, also added glasses , everything needs major adjustment thou :

What is would be your grade about "character nicety"  1 to 10 ?

I was not pleased with the overall look of the hippo (and the stork also, and... and...) , so i started  to sculpt a different head for my hippo.I´m aiming for a more realistic character and also it to be an "elderly" hippo.
 The body will also be "upgraded" for the more realistic look, skin sagging on the front legsand all over the body , as it is characteristic in this animal.
 So this is what i come up with , about 2 hours sculpting (head only in Blender):

I´ve also made a paintover , to start working on ideas for the environment , will start with a "forest of the fear", ence the haunting trees:

The hippo model was an early one just to get some basic proportions...

Comments/Critics are most welcome, as  i´m looking for ways to improve the main character´s appereance.

Changed the "Staff of Balloons" for a more bamboo look ,or at least i´m trying to make it look like so :o)

A small update :

- Major changes to the stork, feet, wings ,beak
- Added the "Staff of balloons"
- Changed the saddle to a saddle-branch.
- Updated the hippo teeth, mouth and tongue.

Been thinking about soap media , so doodled a simple soap bar, i think i´ll arrange several hanging on the side soap-on-a-rope/bunch-of-balloons style.

In the meantime a preview of the model: