Pumpkinz

Well our final turned out to be a simple pumpkin. Not wanting to accept something so mundane for a final (albeit we only had a week...) I tried to make the headless horseman instead. So I banged this bad boy out and set off to build him a suit of armor.

Then Sunday night rolls up and I couldn't get anything I sculpted to look the way I wanted. I think the problem was I went ahead and didn't think this through the the get go. I should of designed my horseman as a whole before I dove in. I would of had a plan all worked out on paper as well as a defined look and goal. Alas, hindsight is 20/20 and so I just colored it up in zBrush and turned it in somewhat disappointed with myself. My professor thought it was cool, I just wished I could of made it more in the time I had.

Met Jackson Sze, and here's a door

Before my usual blurb about whatever I posted have to say I met Jackson Sze at a workshop at our school over the weekend. He's a really good artist and a damn good painter and he's worked on some cool stuff. Ended the day with a signed copy of Battle Milk 2, it was a good day haha. I really want to paint after his workshop.

Now back on topic, and something out of my comfort zone but homework is homework. Had to make a door of any type (Sci-fi, Fantasy, etc.), and originally I had planned a pretty elaborate sci-fi door. However, two days before I had to turn in the assignment I realized I had no idea how I was going to texture the whole thing let alone unwrap it.

So after a bit of freaking out I redoubled my efforts on a fantasy door. What started as a dwarf head/door I came up with this instead. Some kind of door to an otherworldly dimension of demons or miscellaneous other bad things, or good things I suppose anything's possible.

Took a lot of shortcuts to get this done as fast as I did. About 30k tris, and an texture pass greatly helped by dDO. It's all on one 2048 as well with plenty of room left to cram some smaller extras in to. When you gotta get stuff done, you have to get it done though. There was supposed to be light beams coming out of the central crack in the door. My alpha cards only rendered straight-up green, despite my alphas. I'll just ask my professor when I get to class tonight. I will admit I totally stole the Darksiders' Horsemen logo though, I had the largest mental block figuring out something to put on the door.

Also looking at it again, it should be noted the door opens inward, and thanks to my friend Chris (Same name I know.) for letting me use his lighting rig. Makes things instantly prettier haha.

Programs used: zBrush, Maya, 3Ds Max, 3dCoat, dDO, Photoshop

HUDs Up

Work in progress render for the HUD/face of Marie for First Contact. The changes from the original (albeit rushed) first version are pretty dramatic. Having actual hair for one was a pretty big deal haha. Only thing left for me to do is play with the spec map to behave more like I want, and I'm calling this done. Gonna be a nice improvement over our placeholder.

Something Cartoony

Just wanted to get something out there that wasn't 3d. Plus, I couldn't sleep. So I drew Marie without her helmet. I wanted to do it all fancy-like but I couldn't spend too long on this. As I type right now my eyes want to close so bad haha. Off to bed as soon as I post this.

Deep Blue Sky

This was a fun little gem I forgot I did way back. When I worked on our class project in Animation Studio we threw around the idea of a mock movie poster, which we never got around to. During break however I did this up in my sketchbook paying homage to Star Wars: A New Hope. It's also super small only a few inches big in my book, looking at it again I kinda want to make a proper version of this.

zBrush Preview

Hey everyone, it's been a crazy few weeks since I've gotten back to school. We're doing a massive group project over 2 quarters, and it's shaping up to be epic as hell. Got all the best in our major at the campus in the class and we're determined to see this through and succeed.

Anyways I feel terrible not posting as much as I used to here, it really is a nagging thought in my head everytime I'm on a computer. So, here's something at least. One of our characters for the short we're working on. I'll upload a complete turnaround once she's finished, also a big thanks to Eat3D's hard surface zBrush videos, they were instrumental in getting this done. Though the second video of the series is the best at explaining the process.

Can't wait to get our project done, we've all learned new programs. Vue, Topogun (New to us!), and dDO. So here's looking forward to my lil' space lady here running around and fighting stuff. Wish us luck all you anonymous visitors!

Still Alive

Hey all, sorry about not posting for like a month. Just been busy with school and more importantly the first of my portfolio classes. Which also means I will eventually be thrust out into the world to find some form of employment, kind of a scary thought the more I dwell on it.

Anyways, here's some head studies I did yesterday. One of my friends posted one the other day and it got me all fired up to do something in photoshop. It really made me see how rusty I was at painting and that faces are still something I need to focus on more. Especially since I'm aiming my portfolio for character modeling.

So, both studies are of the same girl/ref which you can check out on the poorly updated, but always useful Characterdesigns.com Did the greyscale in like 40mins, I think the color took me considerably longer. Your art skills are like a good knife, you have to take care of it or it dulls.

I'll try to update a bit more, I know I have some drawings laying around somewhere. Just have to find them. There's also a super awesome new zBrush sculpt in the works so you anonymous viewers can look forward to that.

A Pretty Face

I've realized lately, I've been drawing nothing but some really generic faces. They literally feel all the same, and while every artist develops their own sort of default face for men and women I felt like I needed to draw more of them from reference. I kind of worked myself into this spot since most of my boredom sketches are all about glorified muscular definition and I've never really focused on the face. So yesterday afternoon I had some time to kill, and

Anyways I felt like I should focus on faces for awhile when I have the chance. So yesterday afternoon I had some time to kill, and sketched this up.The reference for this comes from http://characterdesigns.com/ which is a great reference resource, and while he doesn't update much anymore there are more than plenty of images to practice anatomy, some clothes, and props. Go to the left, and click on 'photosets' under 'Archives'. I forget which set this is from but you'll recognize it if you find it haha.

Anyways that's all I got for now. I just realized I haven't slept since 6am yesterday and it's 5:30am now. Time to get some sleep. Also wow I'm at 5.5k views already and I haven't even posted for awhile. I think this is probably the most popular web-thing I've ever made on the internet haha. Thanks again to all you anonymous visitors.

Skullduggery

Well during class our professor asked us to make a skull for a demo he gave us on re-topologizing a mesh and then projecting the detail onto it. So we could have our nice sculpted mesh and save a ton of polygons. So if we wanted to we could sub-divide the mesh even further. Anyways I did the skull up in something under 10 minutes, before we all had to move on. After we finished, I went back and fixed up some things and put in the teeth, which took longer to get right than the rest of the skull haha. I'm also working on a new character for my class as well in zBrush, so look forward to that as well.

Week Old Humanities sketch!

Caved in again with the whole Paul Richard's thing. They're just fun to do, I can't really think of any other reason no matter many times I've posted these. Also a poorly drawn eyeball with accompanying disembodied head that I was checking head proportions with. On the right you can catch some random scribbles I did to help a friend with his composition homework for another class.

Art History Man-ified!

I've been drawing those, what I'm now referring to as "Paul Richard Girls" a bit too much. So I felt drawing some guys would help to counter-balance that. My Art History class as always seemed to be the perfect time to sketch and doodle. So I did up this space armor suit, I kind of wanted it to be like a beefed up armored Sith, but he ended up as a pretty run of the mill space guy with a gun on his arm. Didn't end up finishing the feet. I have to admit they are a weak point for me, I just can't seem to care about shoes... Anyways I then went cartoon-y along the side of the page. Playing with what I could do with an over extended lower lip. Which I got some fun results with.

Humanities Sketches

Well I needed to get back into sketching after being horribly sick for a week, and my Humanities class provided for me once again. Was planning out the look of my zBrush character's hair on the top. Then moved onto to some face sketches that turned into superhero busts. I did my own version of Iron Man, and a semi-futuristic Batman. Then the amazing Spider-Man! With obligatory spider sense tingling. Sketched up a gladiator... but I'm not too happy with him. Feels too feminine, probably just the waist and skirt, even if Kratos wore one I guess it doesn't mean everyone can wear one. Other tidbits include a random horse head, and a quick little Chihuahua-ish head because my Mom just got one, which means I'm stuck with it too. I will admit the dog is pretty darn cute though.

zBrush Round 3

Forgot I did this yesterday. Anyways I did this before I did Death's Mask, on Friday. I was helping a friend with homework at school, and my other friend came in and asked for some help getting to know zBrush. So I showed him the basics cause he missed the first day. So I just decided to make my effort helping him, an exercise for me. Since the mouse was the only thing I had to work with, I went from beginning to end with this face only using a mouse. Which while a bit cumbersome and slow, is manageable. I didn't get the time to make ears or the eyes, but it was a fun demo to do. Once again proving my professors right, there's is no magical brush, program, or tool that will make you good instantly.

The Mask of Death

Couldn't sleep so I fired up zBrush and sculpted the Death's mask from Darksiders 2. Which I can't wait to play. Anyways no artsy stuff out of me for this one haha, wasn't my concept. I really think I could make this whole zBrush thing work for me. I've never really done stuff for fun in a 3D program until now. I really enjoyed sculpting with real clay, spent hours working with it. Figures I'd enjoy a digital version of that just as much. Turning a circle into something like this, is just too much fun. Anyways I did a quick paintover to make this into a contest entry to win a real mask haha. I'll post a thumbnail  below.

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!

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.