3D Modelling - Wild West Town

As part of our Design for Animation module this term, we had to create a 3D environment set in a Wild Western town. So far I have modeled 5 buildings and 4 set props in Autodesk Maya that I will show you here. These models have yet to be textured but hopefully that will soon be remedied.

Building 1: General Store

 Building 2: Bathhouse

Building 3: Bank

Building 4: Lawhouse

Building 5: Gallows

Prop 1: Barrel

Prop 2: Milkchurn

Prop 3: Hitch

Prop 4: Cart Wheel

I have very much enjoyed modelling various objects in Maya, and I am very pleased with my work. The most interesting challenge I found was creating the gallows - the stairs proved to be a surprisingly difficult thing to model, and I found experimenting with different methods to create the ropes and nooses interesting whilst working within the constrains of the polygon primitive mesh tools. I am very pleased with the look of my final result for this object.

Gesture Sketches / Sketchbook Update

I got pretty down about my art a couple months ago and decided, against all odds, to actually do something about it. For 21 days I did 7 gesture sketches in my sketchbook before bed: small, loose drawings to capture a pose.

I started off a little shaky and unsure, but soon got into the swing of things.

 

 Things became smoother once again when I started referencing poses found online.

There's a notable difference between my start and end pages, and I've found it very helpful in my art - not just for sketching out poses, but getting me back into the habit of using my sketchbook again.
I've produced some bigger pieces based on some of the gesture sketches I completed during this time, and I can see its helped my characters look much more natural and relaxed:

Sorry for dropping the (bouncing) ball slightly!

Argh! I haven't updated since January because I've been so overrun with other things!
Lets catch you up-
I finished my first term of university with a decent pass - I'm not great at storyboards but I got the highest mark in the year on my essay! I also produced a showreel of all the best animation work I produced last term, including the stop motion and 3D work that I hadn't managed to show you yet:

This term has seemed both much more rushed and much more loose - we have a lot to hand in but a lot more freedom in what we produce.

We've been working on a few different projects, including producing sound for short animated film (and getting to play with Foley equipment!):

We've also been working in teams to produce a tea-themed short film. My team's film focuses on the found stories of people's experiences with tea, from those who grew up with it, to those who can't get enough of it, to those who hate it. I produced four pieces of rotoscoped animation in a stencil-like style for this project:

I'm pleased with my work on these, but if I had a little more time I would like to clean them up a little more to reduce the boil in some of the shading. My team mates, on the other hand, tell me they prefer the rough and energetic look of it as is.

To save from one ridiculously long post, I'll end out here, but I'll try and keep you up to date with my other modules, and even some non university-mandated work if you're really lucky!

2017 Summary of Art

2017 has been a mixed bag for me art-wise. It felt like I slumped most of the year but looking back I did still produce a lot of work - only it was largely for class projects.

January:

I chose this picture for January because it shows an example of something I don't always feel confident in: background art. This, along with February's piece, was something I produced for my A-level graphic design. I was making a fantasy themed pop-up book, which required backgrounds in a range of locations, including forests and caves. The style I used for the backgrounds was largely inspired by some of Tom Siddel's work creating the backgrounds for his webcomic 'Gunnerkrigg Court.' I was pleased with how this scene came out in the end, despite my initial trepidation.

February:

This piece was also a page from my pop-up book, and you'll notice the dragon is missing his head. The dragon's head was the pop-up piece for this page, and was therefore drawn and printed seperately to the main bulk of the picture.

March:

This is the first piece of work in the list that I did purely for myself. Noelle is a recurring character of mine, and you may have seen her on my blog a few other times too. I was pleased with the lighting effect that I achieved in this piece, although it was before I had quite worked out a proper style (or how to draw eyes in a way that I like).

April:

This piece was again produced for my A-level graphics class, this time on the topic of Ethical Graphics. My project was an informational campaign on the inclusion and safety of transgender students, and my friend Teddy modelled for me. This piece is inspired by the work of Vince Low, and is in a style that I love to work in since discovering it at GCSE.

May:

This piece was also produced for my Ethical Graphics project, designed as a poster for school hallways. I enjoy the simple, clear colour blocks that come from working in vectors, as well as the calmer feeling created by the loose lineart.

June:

 I didn't actually do much drawing in May it turns out, probably due to exam stress. What I did produce though is a map of the starting town for a D&D campaign I am running for friends back home. This was my first time creating a full map, and it was an interesting learning experience.

July:

Speaking of D&D, this piece is of the original four player characters in the campaign. The green elf on the left was retired before the game began and we acquired another player, but I still like this piece. It was based on one of cROXover Goddess' 'Draw the Squad' bases.

August:

This is a piece you've already heard a lot about if you've been following this blog from the beginning!
Read about it and see the progress here!

September:

Once again on the D&D train, this is my character from the first campaign I ever played in. Her name is Tye, short for Tyviana, she is a tiefling wizard, and she likes fire. A lot.

October:

This piece I produced in life drawing class when my shoulder dislocated and refused to go back to its socket (not an unusual or hospital-worthy occurrence for me, don't worry). Laptops and graphics tablets are not made for life drawing. Particularly a vertical pose on a horizontal screen. This meant that the legs and the torso became a little out of proportion with one another sadly. Aside from that though, I'm quite pleased with the results.

November:

This was a fun one! I have a selection of ridiculously coloured cartoon cats that I like to doodle from time to time, including the above Spark (left) and Mesetan (right). This is coincidentally almost a perfect redraw of a piece I produced in 2013, and you can see the improvement. I love the bright and fun designs of my cats, so this piece was very enjoyable to produce. I was quite disgruntled to realise that they look better in each other's clothes than their own, however.

December:

This is my first self portrait with a mobility aid, as well as a look to a future where I can hopefully present more masculinely. I wanted to capture the full extent of my ridiculous posture, with a sway back and hyperextended knees and hips, and I think I did quite well in that aim. Of course, what better way to finish a picture than with super intense moody lighting though?