Composition Study: Fly Me to the Moon

 

For the composition assignment, I did a rule of thirds composition inspired by the art of J. Scott Campbell and the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime. 

Barrel Proxy and High Poly Models

 

Making the chain was a learning experience, but what I ended up doing was making a torus, scaling it a bit to make it look like a chain link. I then duplicated it, and rotated the second one to make the beginning of the chain. Then I duplicated the barrel, combined the mesh and made it live which allowed me to snap curves to the model. I used the EP curve tool to make the base shape of the chain. I then selected the two chain links and the curve and used the constrain tool to attach it to the curve. Then, I used the visualize > show animation snap shot and tweaked some of the values until the chain followed the curve and looked nice. Then I combined the chain models. It was a really fun learning experience and I plan to use the same method to add some more fun details around the outside of the barrel. 

Here is my reference art, from the card game known as Gwent. They have some really cool stylized barrels that they use to help define which card set you are purchasing, and I wanted to recreate one of them in 3D. 

3 Point Lighting Exercise

 

In this exercise I used these sculpts from here: https://nickzucc.gumroad.com/l/etYgc to create some renders using the Arnold renderer in Maya. I used an Ice Lake HDR file to help create the background. I used some ambient occlusion as well. to help soften the shadows. It was really fun playing with the lighting and seeing what kind of results I could get. 

Here is a test render that I did before adding the other characters. I tried to play with the lighting in the final renders to get a more interesting result. 

Here is the HDRI File that I used, or at least a preview of it! Here is where I found my HDR files: http://www.hdrlabs.com/sibl/archive.html

Lego Kirby with Mario Hat

 

Use of Value and Contrast

 

For my value and contrast project, I drew Ryuko Matoi from Kill La Kill and then shaded it using Clip Studio Paint. 

Here is my in-progress shot of my value patterning, this was the foundation of the drawing! 

Here is the completed drawing: 

Here's my layers. I used the select tool to block out the clothes, hair, skin, accents, eyes, etc. I then locked the opacity and used the water color brush and blend tool to make the shadows and highlights. 

Kirby Lego 3D Model

 

I had a lot of fun modeling this Lego Kirby! I have the reference image I used at the bottom of the post. 

While searching for inspiration/reference art, I found this and thought it super cute so I modeled it in Maya for my 3D Art project. The construction was pretty simple but it took a lot of accuracy and a bit of guessing since the image doesn't show all angles of the Lego build. 

Silhouette/Thumbnails practice - Geralt of Rivia

 

Making a Minecraft Level using Unreal Engine 5

 

 In this project, I used Autodesk Maya, Photoshop, and Unreal Engine to create Minecraft textures (including transparent grass and flowers using an alpha map). I wanted to design a natural scene without any architecture. I think one of the most beautiful things about Minecraft is the vast expanses of empty and unexplored land, so I wanted to capture that in my level. 

I also made a shader that made the water bounce and move, but when trying to render a video it was pretty blurry, so I decided to leave it out of this post. I still think the water turned out good. 

I tried to add a good amount of variety in the landscape to make things interesting, like these hills! 

Here is a full view of what my level looks like. I have some varieties of dirt, grass, flowers, and water.

 Lastly, here is a view at my shader and how it works to move the water blocks. It uses a Sine wave, time, and multiply, similar to the material I made to animate my 3D Charizard Sprite with. 

Using Shapes for Character Design

 

Programs used: Photoshop, Clip Studio Paint 

    In this project, I used basic shapes (circle, square, triangle) to design unique creatures. I made a mermaid, a red panda seal, an ogre, and a wolf knight. It was a really fun project and I learned a great deal about how simple shapes can help define characters! 

This image shows the break down of what shapes the characters are based off of. I used the body definition of the mermaid, along with her hair and some circle beads for her character design. I also gave her a pet red panda seal that is very round and adorable. It is a stark contrast to the ogre, which is very boxy and angry looking. Lastly, I used triangle shapes to help design the armor for the wolf knight. His head shape, ears, and sword also hold many triangles.