Character Modelling Experimentation

  When combined with Maya, the possibilities of Zbrush have been bonkers. I've been working fervently for a few weeks now on a character model that is taking shape to the point it is just about ready for rigging. I have lately been far more comfortable painting, texturing and drawing in 3D than I have in 2D, and I think it was mostly an issue of how to make light fall on a body.

  I have struck conversations with people online, in public and among friends about taking these skills as a custom design service. Modelled and rigged characters (player avatars initially, but also potentially monsters and bosses) offered alongside a storefront selling templates and props. Going in this direction I feel has been an enlightening experience in designing not just people, but also textures, objects and clothing. As well as various translatable tricks.

  One of the most interesting experiments was in a custom alpha for a 3D brush. I am unsure if I could have done it freehand, but using Photoshop was pretty interesting for creating a 'stamp' set upon a model. If nothing else, these past two weeks have been an interesting foray into advanced 3D modelling tricks.

Sketchbook: Plotting a Course for Year Three

  With the hot late-July Summers hitting the country I had the chance to explore and head out into the sun. During a trip into London I got back into sketching, The drawings on the left-hand side of the above image were life-drawing attempts on a miniature of a fountain commissioned sometime in the 18th century. The drawings on the right of the top picture were partially inspired by the kind of outfits that became popular at that point in time, a time when English dress (termed Côte Anglaise) was very popular on the continent.

  Later on I thought about refreshing my character design skills, building an understanding of humanoid forms that are not strictly human-like in proportion. The structural sketches, done today, were based on how I felt after last Friday's art-stream session. I tried a hand at map-making, as over the past two years I have found I like an analytical approach to designing something be it a character or a world. And city maps can demonstrate a location's character (I had the good fortune to talk about this in detail on the stream), something I may try developing further in my third-year project.

  However as the half-finished nature of both suggests, I lost steam during the broadcast. Whether or not I will work on them again will be something to decide, but the lack of momentum I felt has made me inclined towards finishing the Minotaur painting half-made on the stream before this one.

(Yes, sketch 14 is an attempt at Totoro. I am quite fascinated with Studio Ghibli's works)