zBrush Round 2

Tinkering with zBrush again. Still no real homework for the class, but no excuse not to use such a fun program. I always seem to enjoy working with it. Also I notice somewhat inherently asian-like features in all my sculptures... maybe residual data in my brain from my years of watching anime in High School? Haha oh well, I'm still having a blast with zBrush, it's a really intuitive program and you can't help but have fun with it. Anyways, I don't really have any of my usual artistic rabble about why I did this and that for this. I just did what I thought would look decent. Can't wait till I get better at this thing!

Humanities & Drawing

         Gen Ed classes seem to be great places to fill my sketchbook. No where else does drawing seem to be so important. This probably stems from that fact that I would ALWAYS, doodle or sketch during classes my whole life. College just lets me do more, and I can still not get slammed for doing it, and still somehow passing the class as well. 

         Anyways, basically this is a priestess which I partially started over break (then finished today), and two warrior types Male and Female. All of which I tried to fit into a similar Civilization. Large blocky stripes, feathers, and a sort of overlapping of materials in the priestess dress I carried over into the armor sets.

         Partially inspired by the Gamestop exclusive Mass Effect 3 pre-order armor, and the Demon Hunter artwork from Diablo 3 (mostly just the spaudlers) were my jumping point for the warrior armor. A bit ridiculous and oversized but I think much more interesting visually than a pair of curved plates slapped onto the shoulder. I believe my design with the large sweeping curves overlapped makes a much more dramatic piece of armor, maybe not practical, but cool.

         Finding a placement for the feathers came from Star Wars: Episode I. Strange I know, but during the battle for Naboo with the Gungans riding those bi-pedal creatures, the way that the feathers/leaves/stalks whatever you want to call them, stood out in a way like they were attached to the Gungans, and not the animals. Which after I quickly sketched them out on the spaulders, looked good. Also I felt made the armor more mystical or spiritual. Something more than just an average set of armor.

         As far as details go, the only real thing I added was the large blocky stripes along the armor. Without which, looked pretty empty. It's surprising how a simple shape can make something look so much more chaotic/complex. It's also very bold and striking, like poisonous animals, their coloring let's you know they are there, and deadly.

         The female version I didn't change too much. I mostly scaled and shrank everything down, and tried to make it more curved and not as blocky in places. Also removed the belly armor, cause in fantasy women don't need it apparently. Also the gauntlet feathers are gone (Only one is visible on the male). The biggest change took place in the spaulders, and head. I moved the feathers so that only one is on each layer of armor, and placed one on her hood (Looks kind of like a quail). To give a different silhouette from the male armor. The hood itself is two separate pieces, the inner hood is like a normal one, and is attached to the collar piece of the armor. With a larger hood covering that, and attached to the innermost piece of the spaulders which I don't think I really conveyed that well. The last little change was a mini sort of banner that hangs from the shoulder piece, something I always used to attach to my armor drawings for years.

          I also added a lance of sorts. It is attached to the gauntlets, by fabric wrapped around the gauntlet and the lance's shaft. (She is carrying two of them if it isn't clear.) I wanted to add a weapon for the guy as well, but I couldn't find a way to make it work on the paper. So just imagine him with a large claymore or axe. 

zBrush Round 1

          So Monday I delved for the first time into zBrush, for my Character Modeling class, fully expecting it to be a harrowing and hate-filled tangle with a new program. Yet, I was pleasantly surprised when I used it that was incredibly intuitive, at least to me. Plus, it was a total blast to use I spent all my break time fiddling with different settings and brushes. I can honestly say I've never felt so... happy to use a 3d program in my life. I've used 3Ds Max, and Maya but nothing that I could pick up and run with like I did with zBrush.
          Anyways, this is starting to sound like a really lame love letter to a bit of programming, but I think this is possibly what I want to do with my major. Character Modeling, guess I'll see if that still holds true by the end of this quarter. Having a fun professor doesn't hurt either.

Merry Christmas!

...or whatever your preferred holiday of choice is. Anyways wish everyone the best, and hopefully you're enjoying time with friends and family.

So, I had been hoping to get this finished before Christmas, but Skyrim is an incredible time waster haha. I figured I should post something even if it's unfinished. My usual block of text about the work will come when I post the finished version.

Materials & Lighting Final

Here's my quick demo reel of the projects I did in my Materials and Lighting class. First was a still life, I just picked a bunch of stuff I liked. Second was an Outdoor scene, and I had a lot of trouble with that one. I did a different scene right up until the day before class, then I changed it that day and finished the railroad tracks you see in the video. Finally we have my spaceship command bridge on what my professor said was the "dirtiest f•••ing spaceship he's ever seen" which is mostly my fault haha, I'm planning on working over the whole thing, or doing a new scene over break. Cause I'm not too happy with it. Especially compared to my friend's final, his was really great. I don't feel like I deserve an A compared to what he did. Just have to put more practice into materials and lighting, just giving up cause you aren't good at something is dumb. Practice and more practice is the only way you'll get better

There be remade Dragons

Not much to say about this one. All I did was add suggestions, I got from my friends about the previous version. Added more exhaust vent spikes, some added flair to the hips, a more stumpy tail (My own suggestion), lengthened the front legs, and closed the mouth a little plus some glow-y mist as well. Anyways I do feel this one is better thanks to all my friend's comments.

There be Dragons

Close up of the head

So like Skyrim is coming out soon... and well that wasn't the reason I did these. I found out there was a contest for a Facebook game I play to kill time, and they were looking for users to create what they thought the new dragon players would get would look like. Of course I found the contest an hour and a half before it was over, and missed the deadline by an hour... but you never know. I might get lucky haha.

The basic idea was it had to be a dragon that would inhabit this macabre, dreary graveyard-like expansion in the game. Which had all these blue glowing gems/lights. The expansion was also a place that collected souls and allowed you to revive your dead troops. It would also be a powerful unit that you had to charge with souls. My dragon would have to fit those criteria.

Anyways, did this up with a few quick silhouettes. Sketched out some rough lineart, and base color (purple in this case). Then set about refining lines, anatomy (or whatever I thought looked cool), and adding/subtracting modifications as I went. Then a quick color for shadow, and a lighter blu-ish purple for the lights which I felt made it match with the color scheme of the expansion. I ended up not wanting to do the wings (no rule in the contest said it had to have wings), so I made what I already had into these sort of vents, spewing energy/smoke/steam, in an attempt to make it mesh with the gems on the chest. Which had this sort of glowing mist falling from it. Which I felt really added to the dragon since it was soul powered. Then I played around adding kind of these glowing fractures/cracks in the horns. Then I realized I was overdue for the contest haha. So, I quickly finished the tail and threw my signature on it and called it done.