Quick post, I’m hard at work at multiple projects in multiple stages and feel torn between so many things! Hard to post and do updated renders all the time. Not sure where some of these artists out there find the drive to do it!

I finished most of hellboy’s low poly pieces, I’m missing a belt on his boots and need to tweak his hooves but I was sick of modeling them. His sculpts are simple, large forms with a few small forms added around seams for some nice highly looking detailed areas. I’m utilizing a large seam all over him to bring out with a highlight later in the diffuse, I think it should really bring his look together.I’m not entirely happy with this character at the moment. I’m considering shelving him and really pressing forward with my second character but at the moment I’m just trying to salvage him through texturing. I add things in, remove them, add them, remove them. With NDO I can add in details quickly to his normal maps and remove them just as fast so it’s nice to be able to experiment in a non-destructive manner.

School is drawing near and I’m trying to get my first thesis character done. Not entirely sure if I’ll make it but the most complex bits are done. I just need to finish his pack,gun, and tweak on his textures endlessly whilst attempting to add in more detail to his diffuse/spec/normal maps. Fun times!I’m also creating a character for the comic-con challenge this year. Hellboy! I’ve always admired the style he has, and his awesome outfit with huge pouches, belts, and of course his giant gun/right arm. I’m doing a version of him all torn up and am modeling his accessories and armor in maya right now. Here’s what I have so far. Just building him up one sphere at a time until I finish his anatomy and then we get to sculpt some serious style into his clothes!

Keeping this quick, already posted today! I am just editing the diffuse, normal, and specular maps and building them up as I go. Painting out errors.. adding in details.. This will go on for quite a while. Cheers! 

Today I spent the morning doing some finances and sending out invoices (boring) and then I worked on my first thesis character a bit more. Trying to figure out what color scheme will work well for him. Really wanna get this part nailed down so I can paint out all these errors all over him and add in some more detail. Below is a screen grab from marmoset 2 showing this morning’s work. Now I have to go start a new miniature!

I’ve been plodding around in a few projects the past few days. finishing some stuff up for a few clients, sculpting on my second thesis character and still working on getting my first thesis character’s final assets done before the semester starts. (I’m a bit behind on my schedule and I need to hammer out stuff and reassess where I stand)

Anyways, I woke up early this morning and started retopologizing the Architect’s modified FNscar. I never work with guns and it was a learning experience. I think it came out great but I need to add a bit more geometry to the barrel to get rid of some hard edges. Below is a shot of the gun with base colors, and a normal map. I put it into DDO and used find edges to highlight them for my texturing. I don’t like to use DDO often, it can be a crutch but for doing simple tasks I think it’s a great piece of software!

Below that I tossed an updated diffuse for the architect. I might need to bring the colors on this gun a bit closer to the brown, yellow, or green spectrum though. Both diffuses are coming along. He’s a bit further along though.

Today I kept working the diffuse of my first thesis character. don’t have a ton of time to work on it today but I added in his knife and began painting out errors and softening some areas while making other highlights and shadows more harsh. Going to finish the port on his other shoulder tomorrow and keep painting/removing highlights. Also will be adding his facial hair and a bit more fleshy tones to his face to bring it more life. Oh and of course skin pores with dirt in them, YUMMMM. Cheers!

This year has been probably one of the biggest of my life, I think I’m going to take a step back and write a bit about what happened this past year to preserve the memories a bit.

I began freelancing full time this year and picked up a really important client to me. Sword & Board took a chance on me and I took a chance with deadlines I promised. I learned to sculpt miniatures more efficiently than I imagined I ever would and now I can crank them out with accuracy and efficiency. 2 factions were created so far for a game totaling 14 models. The second faction, the mining guild was a huge accomplishment for me, they are stylized and filled with life. I couldn’t be happier with the response I’ve gotten for these sculptures. Throughout 2013 I actually made a total of 48 models, I think that’s quite an accomplishment personally, I wonder how fast I’ll get in 2014!

What else.. what else.. Oh, how about the fact that I drove across the country with my high school sweet heart on a journey for a more exciting life than the mediocre living we felt we were doing in Hagerstown. No offense to small town charm but we seem to thrive in a big city and feed off it’s energy. San Francisco is beautiful, the people are great, and the opportunities aren’t so few and far in between as Hagerstown.

We just went for it, with metal on the stereo and wanderlust in our hearts we blasted through the US. I reflect back on the trip frequently actually, the sights we saw were just breathtaking. From the east side of the Rockies that were beautifully rich with vegetation (I was surprised about that, never pictured that to be honest.) to the arid, terrifyingly quiet deserts of Utah, and of course the grand canyon which was the most silent place I’ve ever seen. So strange how sound just seemed to go into that bottomless pit and never come out again. We also almost drove into the damn canyon at night trying to get to our hotel! Terrifying after a 15 hour drive and getting lost at the biggest hole in the world in pitch black with “WARNING: PANTHERS AND GIANT HOLES” signs all over the twisty road.

We finally made it to Cali, drove up north to our new home and started settling in! We’re still trying to figure it all out, there’s a whole lot out here and it’s a bit overwhelming. Also the fact that the rent is about 10000% higher than Hagerstown is always interesting! Just another layer to the onion that is San Francisco. Each layer is weird or new or fantastic or scary but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I suppose I should get my lazy ass back to work and deliver some miniatures to clients, eh? Cheers.

First post of the year is a short one. Quick thesis update because I’m hung over from celebrating the new year. I’ll write up my final thoughts of 2013 tomorrow!

The architect is coming along. I ened to add all his extra assets. I think those really bring the character to life. need some batons, knives and guns ready to smash up some enemies on this guy! Anyways, building his diffuse right now, adding in dirt/grime and tweaking different levels and so on. Rendered in marmoset 2 (which I love)