Blog Archives
Game Portfolio 3 Final Turn In
Rhinoceros Anatomy Study
Well I am done with finals!!! GPF3 ended last month and this was my final turn in for the month. I learned soon much over the course of these past 3 months in finals. I believe it shows in my final piece here. I can see the progression and I know that I didn’t make the same mistakes on this one that I did on the first. I just love this learning process and can’t wait to do more of these.
Just a few of the references I used to help create my final sculpt. When you look at a rhino you just think they all look the same. They are so far from the same. as you really study each image of each different rhino, you start to see all the differences. The fun of this piece was I was sculpting based on about 10 to 12 different rhinos so I was able to incorporate different things I liked about each one into one final rhinoceros. Much different then doing a sculpt of a specific female or male model. I enjoyed the artistic liberty I was able to take.
As of right now, only 1 month and 1 week left of college, I can not believe how fast things have gone and how amazing it is to look back on this blog and see some of the work I did in the beginning and compare it to now. I sure have grown as an artist and I am truly a 3D artist now. I will continue to grow and I can not wait to be in the industry soon and be able to look back on this piece and feel like I am even better than I think I am now.
Game Portfolio 2 Final Turn In
Female Anatomy Study
This is my final turn in for GPF2 Female Anatomy study. I feel I have improved a lot as a character artist and improved over last months male study. I had a lot of fun working on her all month and improving her look. I took my female from 3 months ago and re-sculpted her to look more like the reference and added a lot of detail. Re-topology went a lot better this month and I did it all by hand.My Substance Painter skills improved a lot and I feel like I did very well trying to replicate skin.
Here is my full months worth of turn ins. From first weeks final detailed sculpt to the final turn in. This shows the progression of my work over the course of the month. I am looking forward to being able to work on some new models on my own time where I can spend as much time as I want on things to really perfect my craft.
Game Portfolio 1 Final Turn In
Male Anatomy Study
This was my final turn in for my very first full character for Game Portfolio 1 class. We were tasked at completing our 80% done characters from previous month to 100%. As you can see from the first post, to now this post, I have put a lot of work into this guy. I learned a lot in this class and it feels like this was a true test of everything I have learned over the past few years.
I used ZBrush 4R7 to sculpt at around 8 million Polys, then Maya 2016 for retopology down to around 50k Polys. For color, I used Substance Painter and then Marmoset for the final render. I am finding it very fun to use so many different programs to come up with one final result. I received a B+ for my final grade and of course I would have preferred an A, but I understand that this is “Finals” It has gotten very serious when it comes to grades and critiques.
This is my model that I used for 3d.sk for this months male anatomy. I feel like i know this guy, I have stared at him for so long. haha
Block Out Month 3 for Game Technologies
Block Out – Month 3
Here is my final blackout for this month. I choose to do a Rhino and I am very excited about the way he has turned out. I can not wait to give this guy some detail. It was taking everything I had to only work on his shape and not start putting all those wrinkles and creases in where I was seeing them. I had a lot of fun working on him and had a few challenges which helped me learn other aspects of ZBrush. I choose a different background this time to go with an african sunset theme which helps him pop out. I am happy this class is over but it really doesn’t feel like it is, because up next is FINALS and I will be working on all the things I worked on this month over the next 3 months. Wish me luck!
Block Out Month 2 for Game Technologies
Block Out – Month 2
So my last weeks project of the male didn’t get nearly as good as a grade as I thought it would. Lets hope this one will do much better. *wink *wink I put a lot of hours into this one, more so this time with the body proportions then the detail. This is still just a block out, so I will be revising her in month two of finals. But I am very proud of how she has turned out. I feel confident that this time around the teacher will see the work I put into her. Next up… A RHINO!!
Block Out Month1 for Game Technologies
Block Out – Month 1
Here is my first blackout for this month. As you might remember from my previous post, I choose a Male character to get to around 80% done, just for the Block Out. Once I enter finals next month I will work all month on completing this guy and refining him to perfection. I had fun working on this guy and had many different versions. There is still a LOT of work that needs to be done but I feel that I got a good amount done for the Block Out. I will look forward to working more on him next month, but now it is on to the Female for next week.
Reference Blog Post for Game Technologies Class
This month I will be posting a blog post for each week as part of my class assignments. Good thing I already had a blog up and running huh? Full Sail is starting to “force” students to make them start using a blog and some classes, this is a requirement. I like to think my blog is part of the reason they are doing this 😉. I am not sure why most students are so against this too. They moan and groan when the teachers mention blog posts. I personally think it is great to have this blog for my personal use and so others can see what I am doing in school. I also feel it will be a great asset for securing a job in the industry after I am done.
This month will be sort of an introduction to finals. I will be tasked to model three different characters. A human male body to 80% done, a female body to 80% done, and the third I get to choose. I choose to do a Rhino as they are one of my favorite animals. The first blog post will be just of the reference I have gathered and then each week after will be one of the characters modeled. I am looking forward to working in ZBrush again and honing my skills.
Male Reference
All Images used from www.3d.sk
Female Reference
All Images used from www.3d.sk
White Rhino Reference
All images found on Bing
I will see you next week with the Male Human Body done to 80% and look forward to hearing some critiques on my work.
Bill Baxley the Bounty Hunter – Advanced Game Character – AGC 1508 – ZBrush Sculpt
Bill Baxley the Bounty Hunter
Hey everyone, Sorry it has been a while since I made a post, that will tell you how busy and serious my classes have been these last few months. But, I wanted to make sure I get this one posted because I am very proud of this one. This past month I had Advanced Game Characters AGC and our assignment was to create a character from scratch. We had to come up with a design of a character that we wanted to make and it was amazing to see how the design process can change from day-to-day. I originally wanted to do a Robot but once I got into ZBrush, this guy kinda just emerged from my digital clay. I really feel like I might have found my calling here with this one. I have been at Full Sail now for a little over 2 years and I have enjoyed almost every single class, but I have not gotten as excited about a class as I did this one. I am thinking this might be my focus, Character Design and working in ZBrush.
After the class was over and I turned in my final I decided to make a 360º Video so everyone can see the detail from front to back. I also wanted to show a few different views, some with Wireframe to show the layout, to without the mask so you can see the detail I put into his mouth and nose that you don’t see in the Main image.
Click for High Res
Please watch in Full HD and turn on Sound
Please feel free to comment below and let me know what you think. Even though the class is over I would love to hear different critiques and Ideas of what YOU think might have made him better. This is a learning process and part of that process is getting feedback from people. I would love to know what it is like to see my character with fresh eyes. Because I have looked at him for a month now and watched him morph into what he became its hard for me to see him and appreciate him to the full extent.
François Boucher’s Odalisque 1749 Remake to Bugsy 2015
CAN1 Media Center Activity
For Character Animation 1, we had to go to the Library and choose a book with some famous artwork and then re-create it in a drawing. Then we had to insert Bugsy, Our Character Rig for CAN1, into the drawing the second time. I choose François Boucher’s Odalisque simply because I thought it would be funny to see Bugsy all sprawled out looking like a 1749 French nude model. Sure enough I think it is pretty funny looking, Don’t you?
This is obviously the ordinal painting.
This is my remake of the original.
I used Sketchbook Pro and my Wacom Intuos 5 Tablet.
This is my Remake with Bugsy looking all sexy!
This was only worth 1% of my grade, and I feel I went way above and beyond what was even being asked for this assignment, but I was having too much fun because most of my work lately has been in Maya, and I have not had a lot of time to get back to drawing. So I decided to do my best. Feel free to tell me what you think in the comment section below.
After 1 year at Full Sail University
Had you asked me a year ago to do the things I have done in the past year or had you asked me where I would be in a year, I never would have imagined what I have done and how far I have come at Full Sail. I can not believe that I have completed a full year at Full Sail and when I think back to my very first day it is amazing how far I have come in such a short amount of time. I am 1/3rd of the way done with my Bachelor of Science in Game Art and at the pace it is going, I am sure the next two years will breeze by. I am so proud of myself for the grades I have gotten and the networking I have done. I am still rocking the straight A’s, which when I think of some of the classes I have had so far and the amount I had to do in 1 month per class, I am blown away at my own work ethic and determination to maximize my opportunity here. I am trying to have patience with myself as well. I have learned to not stress as much over grades. I have learned to just do my very best and work hard and the grades will reflect that. Also it is hard hearing about all the job postings at the places I want to work knowing I still have 2 years to go.
My favorite part of Full Sail so far, has been when they bring in people (Rock Stars) of the industry in to speak to us about what is going on in their position. Especially when they are Full Sail Alumni and even Hall of Famers. It feels good hearing and seeing someone who sat in the very chairs I am sitting in and taking the very courses I am in, telling me to keep at it and at the end, if you work your hardest, network, and get your name out there, “it is possible”. Of course they do not sugar coat it and they tell us it isn’t easy, but it is up to you to get it done. So that’s what I have been doing. Even with this very blog I have had industry professionals take notice. I am thankful for that.
I am looking forward to the classes I have coming up. The best part about my choice to go “extended” (one class a month), I get to make friends with people and they move forward into classes that I will soon be taking, so I get to hear all about what I have in store for me. It has helped prepare me for what to look forward to and especially the art classes, prepare for my projects. Also I am very happy that I can focus on one class at a time. I have fellow peers who I watch completely freak out because they are doing “accelerated” (two classes a month) and they have double the work load. I am thankful for that. I feel that extra time I have reflects in my work as well.
So, here is what I have been up to in the past few months.
I can not tell you how happy I was to get a 97.96 in College Mathematics! I was very nervous about Math as it has never been a strong class for me and I had not done algebra in soo long. But hard work, studying, and a lot of getting it wrong taught me to keep trying and you will get it.
Shading and Lighting I actually got a 95.05% because I was not credited for my extra credit I did in the class. This was a good class but not my forte so far. We learned how to light a scene to make it look realistic.
Then I had Methods of Design which was an AWESOME class. I got to make all kinds of stuff for this class. I found that I really enjoy working with my hands and creating tangible things. Things that can be touched and picked up. Using my art eye was so much fun to create and see things come to life. The best part of this class is that I kicked some serious butt and got my very first Course Directors Award which basically means I was the top in my class.
This may not look like a lot but let me tell you when I walked into class on the last day to pick up all my graded work, this meant the world to me. I was in shock. It is actually the second great thing that has happened to me in Full Sail. First being when My artwork was featured on the walls.
This was another great part of this class, a 99.64!! WOW! I am so proud of myself as this was a difficult class especially when I had a week-long vacation to Vegas, Grand Canyon, Sedona AZ, and Ft. Lauderdale FL. But I did get some work done while in Ft. Lauderdale. It was actually a great break to have from art.
Here are a few of my projects I made
This is my re-make of Kazimir Malevich’s Suprematist Composition (blue rectangle over the red beam) which was painted in 1916 and sold for 60 million dollars. The assignment was to choose a piece of art that we hated and reimagined it the way we would have done it.
The Original
5 Sided Tetrahedra
noun, plural tet·ra·he·drons, tet·ra·he·dra [te-truh–hee-druh].
Geometry . a solid contained by four plane faces; a triangular pyramid.
My next project was we had to create something out of cardboard that showed a good use of Positive Space and also Negative space. I choose to make a 5 sides Tetrahedra. This is actually 5 pyramids that are all interlocked with each other. This was gonna be a serious endeavor that I did not realize would be so challenging yet so fun.
Pre-Production
Going Full Size
Painting and Construction
Final
This was such a fun project to do. I decided after I started construction to go with a 3 sided Tetrahedra that way it showed more negative space. With a 5 sided Tetrahedra it would have not given me any negative space at all to show and that probably would have effected my grade. I did also start to make one out of paper to get how the construction worked before going full size. But WOW! I think it turned out amazing and it was all made with just cardboard.
This was two projects in one, I had to do an abstract along with a sculpture out of green foam. First we had to pick a household item, I choose an XBOX 360 Live Camera. We then had to sketch out close ups to try to make it an abstract look. Then once we came up with those we picked one that we liked and did it in full size and color. I choose to do mine in colored pencils which I am finding I really enjoy working with. Once we completed that we then had to carve out the item in Green Foam. This is the green foam that fake flowers are shoved into to keep them upright. What a fun project and I was a little apprehensive to work in this medium because I did not know how it would react. I found out it was very east to work with if you just used your hands and fingers. No tools, tools simple break it apart, when using your hands you can slowly mold it to what ever shape you like. Here is some of the pictures of my work.
Sketchbook Pro all done on my computer and Wacom Tablet
Final
Green Foam
Final Project
My final project we had to read Grimm’s Fairy Tales The Golden Goose and then create a scenery from the story. I didn’t get much pictures of production as this was made the final day and I was up pretty late working on getting everything finalized for turn in. But here is the final results. I feel it turned out real good. My finger is still sore from using a dull exact knife to cut out all the pieces.
So as you can see I have been very busy over the past few months. Currently I am in Geometry and Measurements… grrrr! Not feeling this math class either but I will put my rhino horn to the grind stone and get it done and hopefully get out of there with another A for the collection. Thanks so much for baring with me over the past few months and not posting here, but as you may or may not know, you can always follow me on my Facebook page as that is also where I post lots of my school fun.
www.facebook.com/MyFullSailJourney
My Full Sail Journey.com 