Two Point Perspective Practice- Traditional Art Practice Week 2

This week I worked mainly on two-point perspective still life. I had a lot of trouble at first, and I would like to include the two drawings I did in class. I completely misunderstood the approach at first, as most of my horizontal lines were parallel, the proportions were off, and I wasted all my time on shading. 

After receiving feedback, I wrote it down and later did more research on my shortcomings here. 

I also corrected my second drawing. Another issue was that my vertical lines weren't straight enough for a two point perspective drawing, and my lines in general were messy. This is my habit from doing gesture drawing and sketching a lot. I concentrated on improving this aspect specifically in my later drawings.

After observing the composition,  I created a thumbnail and then sketched the general shapes. In order to keep the proportions in check, I used the technique of measuring objects using the other objects in the scene already instead of eyeballing it. I also moved the objects closer together to have a better read.

This drawing ended up being much better than the ones I made during the practical session, but it still had a lot of things it was missing. I wasn't satisified with the general look especially.

For my last drawing, I took special care to consider the vanishing points, and not to waste time on shading. Instead, I used ghosting and erasing to get better lines. I used line weight more frequently here to imply which objects are closer to the viewer. I made sure to have the higher contrast areas be closer  as well. Overall, I am proud of this drawing considering what I had made earlier this week, although I still have much to learn.

Treasure Chest Modelling - 3D Game Production Week 2

 This week I modelled the trasure chest as part of our first project. I faced new challenges in this project, mostly related to verteces and topology errors caused by my workflow. I am not used to the process of modelling this way, as I usually work by attaching separate objects together instead. This excersize was useful as it taught me to be careful and to check my model often. I also started using the Object Selection mode after seeing how much it sped up my work.

I first started with the primitive form. From my notes last week, I also remembered to name my objects this time to keep things organized. I shaped the chest a little using the shape tool.

I faced most of my issues regarding topology as I modelled the lid. Double vertices became a problem here, and I made sure to be more careful after this.

I added a little surface inside to use later when I learn texturing. This will become the treasure part of the treasure chest. I also added the handles and hinges. Splines seem to open up many opportnities, which I am very excited to explore later on. In objects such as pipes or hoses, or even organic things of a similar nature, I believe that the spline will be a useful tool. I specifically struggled with making objects of that shape last week, and now a solution has appeared.

Digital Art Practice Week 2

 

This week I focused on adapting the techniqes I learned last week into my workflow, and in refining them. I tried shading different kinds of objects using my knowledge.

My technique needs refining, and I need more practice, specifically from references and observation in general. In order to achieve my goals with digital painting, practising values is also an integral part of the process, therefore by doing these kinds of studies, I am improving in multiple areas at the same time.

Above are some of the thumbnails I made during the practical session. I mainly used a combination of the lasso tool and the default soft air brush to create simple gradients to suggest turning surfaces or distance change in one plane. I received feedback on these. The biggest issue seemed to be my lack of layer usage, as well my values not being diverse enough. I concentrated on these points when doing work later in the week.

I first created separate layers and named them appropriately. I also used layer masks to keep everything in order. This had the additional effect of me not having to worry about damaging other parts of the painting with my lasso selections, which was a very welcome change for my workflow.

I used the same techniqes from before, paired with my new knowledge of layer masks and layers in general to create the thumbnails above. Looking at it now, I can definitely see an improvement compared to last week's work. As I continue with making thumbnails such as these, I would like to branch out into other subjects such as interiors or close up compositions as well. 

Personal Modelling Project 1

 I decided to work on a military vehicle in order to learn more about the software. On top of being my area of interest, I also have previous experience working in Blender on such models, such as the model below I made last February. 

I used the M1296 APC as a base, although I did not model this vehicle directly as I do not have the skills for yet it. Nevertheless, I hope to be able to model vehicles such as this one with far better quality that seen below in the future. 

I started with a base rectangle, which I developed into a form more suited to the core of an APC. I added some sufrace details using the extrude and bevel tools. The low poly count limited me but it also allowed me to make progress on the model instead of wasting time on details.

I modelled the turret. At this point I started taking a lot of liberties and stopped looking at the reference, as I had only intended to use it up to this point anyways.

I modelled a wheel which I would later copy and insert on both sides of the vehicle. I also added little details like the bolts and the slight curvature of the wheel.

I added a simple set of coils using the provided tools to create a basic suspension for the wheels to make the model more presentable.

Finally I added all the wheels and suspension together and made a floodlight which I copied a couple of times.

Overall, this project made me more aware of my shortcomings. I struggled with bad topology, especially where I curved the surface. This ended up causing me trouble later as well, as I had to spend a lot of time on trying to bridge open edges. However, I learned a lot from this little project, and would like to work on further excersizes such as this one. I do feel like the lack of texturing is holding the model back a lot, but it is important not to rush into everything at once. I will continue to just make models using a simpler process for now.

References: 

The AK47 was created by me, here is the ArtStation link:  https://www.artstation.com/artwork/R3OR5e

The M1296 Photo is taken from http://www.military-today.com/apc/m1296_dragoon.htm

Digital Art Practice Week 1

 This week I worked on creating gradients and learning about shading. I have been personally struggling with these topics in regards to my art recently, and so this week has been very informative. I am specifically interested in learning more about shading and coloring in order to improve my sketching and idea generation in the future.

I first created some various gradients. Creating these was eye opening for me since I never really thought about rendering in this way. This excersize became an important part of my daily repetoire almost immediately.

My first sphere I tried to render didn't go very well. I worked on the shadow in accordance with the feedback to receive a better result. Overall, the shading is not smooth enough here so I decided to work on that.

I managed to improve the smoothness by using the default soft brushes provided in Photoshop. I think this version looks far better, however there is improvement to be made.

 I also worked on some thumbnails to practice my value skills. This is one of my favorite excersizes to do even in my spare time, as it allows me to think quickly without having to draw anything at all. Furthermore it is really easy to later on develop these thumbnails into something larger.

My goals for later study this week are to insert this shading style into my own work a little more, to create more basic objects and shade them using the same style in order to cement the learning, and to develop one of the thumbnails into a larger work.

Line Drawing Practice - Traditional Art Practice Week 1

During my first session in the studio, I received feedback on my first drawings. Acting on that feedback I produced multiple new drawings, the best of which is detailed below. My biggest problems from the start were with my lines being messy, lack of a thumbnail

 and an over reliance on shading to make my drawing look good.

In preparation to the drawing, I sketched out different still life compositions using the techniques described. Out of these, I struggled the most with the blind drawing, although I understand why it is important. The exercise made me look at my subject more than my paper in general which has been a great help.

After arranging a still life, I first made a thumbnail to properly format my drawing.

I also left extra space around the piece in order to give it breathing room. 

I refined my lines by first using ghosting to get a proper and clean result.

 I also started working on my line weight in this stage.

After working on the line weight and cleaning up, I added some controur lines

to the forms in order to define them a little better. 

This week was a good opportunity to revisit some fundamentals for me, and I also learned the importance of taking proper photos of my work. 

First Steps in 3D Modelling - 3D Game Production Week 1

My first modelling excersize with some extra furtniture.

 I struggled with making handles for the cup and the thermos, and decided to work on that this week.

In general objects that are rotating give me trouble.

I also worked on the dagger excersize. I documented every step of my process by taking a screenshot and constantly referring to the provided material to keep me in check.

I started from the primitive cylinder for my dagger. The idea of a primitive always being the starting point for any model interested me very much as this is the way I approach drawing and painting.

I modelled the dagger further my manipulating the edges and vertices. At this point I also remembered to name my objects, and so I did so. I couldn't figure out the way to group objects at that time and so I skipped it for now. I also later learned how to use groups to organize better and their importance in large environment scenes and technical models that I am interested in creating.

I edited the dagger a little further.

I had previously made a simple sword as part of the excersize before reading the tutorial, and here I used the sword to get a better idea on what kind of deformation a strike would cause.

I finished up my model as such. I learned quite a lot and have noted down further topics to study in my spare time. These topics are rotating objects, specifically coils, bolts, handles; using different options in 3DS, such as the selection options and modifiers and some more little skills I will later use to work on a personal project.