CGSociety

I'm off on a new tangent... nothing new about that.

Having a lot of fun modeling with the new GroBoto v3 Beta... amazing what a few simple tool enhancements can do.

If you've seen my work here, you know that most of it (3D sculpting and digiPaint) start with GroBoto. Almost always, the finish occurs elsewhere (by exporting a mesh, or image, then on to ZBrush or Photoshop). Well lately I've been using just GroBoto to hammer out concepts. The simple jeometries help keep me focused on idea vs. execution & finish. All good because because art is about invention for me. A few little image enhancement tools in GroBoto (mostly related to creating nice line renderings), are enough to hit the aesthetic I'm chasing - then it's on to the next concept.

Too many ideas, way too little time.

Here are two quick/crude crops form a couple of models.
I'll post some images in my folio here soon.





Best Wishes,
Darrel

Well, clearly not much of a blogger... but perhaps appropriate that I finally reappear now that I'm back to my 3D/2D hybrid explorations. Still feel like I'm coated in rust when it comes to painting. With luck I'll be able to shake some off.

3D has been dominating my time -- between GroBoto development, and ZBrush sculpting based on our new unified mesh output. Fun... made some progress learning ZBrush... but in the end, I still find the most joy, the most life, in painting — whether browsing folio's here or creating.

The text in the images below explains what I'm chasing here... basically using GroBoto to create visual 'triggers'. Trying to avoid literal 'paint-overs' where the paint is just a reinterpretation of the rendered image into brush strokes.

There is a pragmatic side in the sense that the renders provide great selection and masking material for Photoshop... but mostly it's about kickin' the mind into gear.

All of the 2D finishes of these images are in my CGS Gallery.

Best Wishes,
Darrel

I knew better.
After letting the render survive far too long, I finally buried this piece under some big sloppy paint and then reworked it. Much closer to the more abstract style I'm after. Renderings (or photo refs & the like) severely inhibit my ability to 'see' and engage with the medium and the image.

There's a balance for me. I never start with a blank canvas -- need something to get the mind in gear (can just be random scribbles or something more representative of the kind of image/subject I'm chasing), but nothing too definitive.

Again, a detail -- and the current working version is in on the 2D WIP forum:
environ WIP Work




...and here is a new start -- based on a GroBoto depthmap image. Much less rendered and specific -- should serve better as a kick-off.

Having some fun with one of those environments from the last post.

Here's a detail. (the current working version is in on the 2D WIP forum)
environ WIP

Has been a good piece to experiment & learn. Too ambitious (should have started with something simpler) -- and too strong/complex a render (will start with something less detailed -- again more of a trigger, less of a map).

Best Wishes,

Darrel

Thought I'd give some environments a shot with this GroBotoModel-to-DigiPaint workflow I've been playin with.

Here are three candidates I have queued up -- based on new and old GroBoto models -- already 'roughed up' a bit in Photoshop (to help me get past the clean, restrictive, rendered look)

These should show up in the WIP forum here soon.

Best Wishes,
Darrel