Ellipses and Symmetry- Traditional Art Practice Week 8

 This week I worked on constructive drawing using elipses and boxes to properly measure my subject.

First of all I studied the proportions of the objects and put them into 3D space on the paper. This stage helped me better understand the relation between the objects.

Next I made some sketches in the correct perspective to my viewing angle.

I am particularly proud of this measurement sketch which helped me to keep everything in proportion.

For my finished drawing I started with boxes and measured centres of the cylindrical objects. I added added a little of shading at the end to finish off the drawing.

House Project 2- 3D Game Production Week 8

 This week I worked on my textures as my house model was at the stage I wanted it to be. Before starting with painting, I gathered reference for the my materials. For my painting, I adhered to the non-destructive workflow as much as I could. 

I specifically tried to gather more real life reference to make my texture more grounded, and to get better color picks.  Below are the three main tiling texture materials for my house. The textures are in developement and aren't finalized yet, since I'm still experimenting with color choice.

For my stone, I wanted to focus on making different colored individual stones to keep the texture from being monotone. I also used overlapping in order to break up the shadow lines that have developed.

For my roof I decided to go for a relatively simple design with mostly square tiles. This is because I intend to add a lot of geometry to my roof, and it would be unnecessary to make the texture overly complex.

For my plaster, I decided to go for a more tan tone rather than pure white. I added subtle hue variations and removed saturation to imply shadows. I used a number of custom brushes in order to create surface details and to simulate wear on the wall. Compared to my previous design (seen below) I removed details that made the texture look too repetitive.

After working on my tiling textures, I gathered reference and made preparations to start my trim sheets and to start on my unique props.

Cube World Intro- Digital Art Practice Week 8

 This week I got started on the cube world project.  

I opened the isometric grid and defined the area in which I would confine my environment. This allowed me to create to composition that I wanted. I made a number of sketches to get a general idea of what kind of environment I wanted.

First I came up with the idea of making a farm location, with  a farmhouse and other agricultural equipment scattered around. 

In this design I didn't leave enough empty space to place objects into the scene, and it ended up feeling wrong.

I selected this sketch as my general goal for this project. The military base aesthetic will allow me to paint materials that I am familiar with, and I will be able to add a large number of props in order to liven up the scene. 

After reaching this stage, I started gathering reference in order to come up with a finalized design.

Material Painting with Colors- Digital Art Practice Week 7

  This week I focused on further improving my material studies by applying color on top of the values I previously made. I developed a workflow that made it easier to finish up my materials. For all of these materials, I started with a sketch, gathered reference, made base values, worked up the details in value through different layers, and then added layers to color.

I started the week by making vegetable material studies. I struggled with picking the colors by eyeing them, so I color picked whenever I could. 

XYZ Drawing- Traditional Art Practice Week 7

  This week I worked on constructive drawing using the three axes. The focus was on the construction and the general cleanliness of the drawings, so I didn't really focus on shading too much.

I selected two objects to draw and jumped into it. First of all I measured the objects and put them in boxes in order to figure out proportions. 

This sketch in particular was too short, and so I redid it before working on my final drawing. I measured this object again using the pencil measuring technique I learned beforehand.

This is my first finished drawing of the first object I drew.

This was my sketch for my second object. I struggled with the rotating handles, as well as the front part being circular.

I started utilizing a new method of cross hatching here, and I think it ended up improving the drawing. The construction wasn't a problem as I had the box and the sketch I made previously to help me with the proportions.

House Project 1- 3D Game Production Week 7

This week I properly started the shopfront project. Initially I was planning on a different design, but decided to change it to better express the butcher shop aesthetic. 

Here is my reference board along with notes explaining why I picked every reference.

 

I started working on my model based on the design sketches I made last week. First I measured the maximum height of 15 meters, and made a 1.7m dummy model to scale my house better.

I created a basic model of my house to get the main forms into place, and to allow the usage of tiling textures quickly as I make them later. 

I went into a little extra detail as I had time. Based on my reference I improved my model a little more. I added the beams, although for now they are only placeholders.

I optimized the model by deleting every surface that would not be visible in order to save tris.

I added some simple geometry in order to create variation.

Material Painting- Digital Art Practice Week 6

 

This week I got started on my material studies. I decided to aim for the 50 materials stretch goal for this project. My personal goal will be to get better with values, which is why for the first week I decided to work with black and white.

Before starting to draw, I gathered all the reference I needed for the material, and did a couple sketches as seen below. I first experimented with using spheres for my materials, but quickly abandoned that idea as dealing with additional perspective and turning surfaces just didn't make sense for this project. Having said that, I undestand that some materials are far better suited for a sphere shape, and I will be sure to use that whenever necessary.

My first material turned out better than I expected. I separated my workflow into separate layers and named them accordingly. Firstly, I painted the general shape and created a mask to keep paint in my selection. Then I worked big to small with a simple square painting brush. 

For my second material I went with something a little more complicated.

I went for some tree bark for my third object. I also tried using a gradient to experiment with color. 

I received feedback on my work, and according to it I decided to focus more on surface details, more reference, as well as more color post processing. Focusing on these will help me create better materials as well as achieve my personal goals.

Trim Sheets & Tiling Textures - 3D Game Production Week 6

 This week I worked on understanding trim sheets and how they can be used to texture large surfaces without creating individual maps for everything. 

I tried an exercise with the provided material to get into the basics. 

I used the wooden planks to test repeating textures.

After finishing up with this, I started sketching for my shop front project in order to get some ideas. I first did a page of sketches to get a general feel for my house.

After gathering some more reference I refined my design a little and went into more detailed parts of the building. 

Orthographic Projection- Traditional Art Practice Week 6

 

This week I worked on orthographic projection, using objects around me and depicting them from common perspectives. While searching for reference, I found an abundant amount of symmetrical objects, but very few asymmetical. 

I started with a symmetrical object first, since it was easier and would ease me into the concept more efficiently. I sketched different parts of the object first to understand how it was constructed. I also experimented with the top and three quarters perspectives here. Doing this may not have been required for the assignment, but it allowed me to gain a better understanding of what I was attempting to represent.

I worked a little more on the front and side perspectives of the object. Since the object is symmetrical, these perspectives should be enough to create a 3D model of the object.

For my asymmetrical object, I chose a conch shell. This object was markedly more difficult to define in 3D space, and I understand why it requires more camera angles than the symmetrical object.

Repeatable Forms- 3D Game Proction Blog Task 1

 

For my first blog task, I went out to town to find buildings with repeatable forms. I was specifically looking for large planes that could be reused multiple times instead of having to model every single one individually. 

I found this building to be a good subject for my first try. I took pictures from different angles before starting on the highlighting.

The two sides of the building are made of different kinds of planes, but I found that by re-using other parts of the building I could build the new sections quite simply. 

I ended up with a number of unique parts that didn't really repeat a lot, and would have to be modelled individually. But overall, I managed to condense the entire structure only into only seven individual planes. These parts could later be used like lego pieces to create more buildings of the same style to form a city or whatever I desire.

Measured Constructive Drawing - Traditional Art Practice Week 5

 This week I worked on measured constructive drawing using still life. 

These were my preliminary sketches I used to figure out the best composition. Drawing in orthographic was challenging at first, but it only made more sense as I worked on the construction. The abscense of perspective made the measuring very straightforward.  I finally settled on the far left sketch as my finished drawing.

In the other sketches, the position of the objects made it very difficult to draw a box around them in a meaningful way. 

My first try failed as I didn't measure properly and went into details and shading too soon. I decided to learn from my mistakes and improve my next drawing based on the feedback I received.

After completing a second drawing, I realised that the bottle on the left wasn't serving any purpose, so I turned it a little to emphasize the bounding box around it.

Before starting with my final drawing, I drew a thumbnail, and added notes from the feedback I had received before so as to not forget them while drawing. I placed the objects into an orthographic view, and put them into boxes to measure their centers as well as proportions. I took some creative liberty with the bottle on the left, but it was necessary to show the construction.

After completing this exercise, I can say that I now better understand the way objects are constructed and put into 3D space. This way of drawing removes perpective and allows for a more straightforward drawing. I can see myself using this kind of drawing to generate ideas for vehicles or even buildings in the future.