Modelling Skills

I've started working with Maya (3D animating/modelling software) to develop my skills beyond the traditional 2D animation software, and so far I'm finding it pretty challenging but still lots of fun. Since I'm accustomed to this yet, I was given a very simple task of making a 3D model of a truck.

I think it went pretty well. I learned a lot about Maya during the making of this. I even made an animation of this truck, just for funsies:

Next I was tasked into making another object of my choice. I tried not to go overboard with my decision (and by I overboard, I mean I was originally going to pick the Great Sword of Artorias from Dark Souls) so I settled with making a very simple coffee mug.

I think it went pretty well. This took some trial and error, of course. I find that that's a good method for me to learn about the software. It takes some time getting used to though so I did get help from others, telling me about the different tools and reminding me of what I can do. In the end, I've learned quite a bit and I'm looking to learn how to animate as well.

Visual Language - My Sketchbook - 10

Lastly, my attempt at a Manga-esque art style. It looks okay, but boy is that neck misplaced. This is basically how my art style tends to work, I try out a way to stylise the usual Manga (moe) art style, and see if it works. This time I tried taking the generic "senpai" look and making it appear a touch westernised. Didn't work quite as well as I hoped but live and learn. Those four lines at the top were me testing out my new fine-liners and comparing the size of each line from each stroke.

Visual Language - My Sketchbook - 9

My attempt at on-the-spot fore-shortening. Again, I saw a technique online, called spiralling where you draw the arms as spirals, then draw the outline to create the pose, and thought I'd try it out. It could have been better, much better, and I have since gotten used to a different technique I call circling, where I draw circles where the joints are, then work over them. So spiralling, a good technique for some but I clearly can't pull it off as well. I also kind of like how the drawing on the page behind kind of resembles a hallway, and is quite fitting too, I actually didn't intend on that at all.

Visual Language - My Sketchbook - 8

This was supposed to be a rough outline for a character design, but I ended up turning it into a robot character. I was trying out a technique for anatomy called "lightning bolting", where you draw arms and legs as lightning bolts, then draw the outlines for the limbs and other body parts. As I was doing that I realised the figure kind of resembled a robot so I just drew that. Hardly a good attempt, as I now realise the limbs have three joints instead of just one, but an interesting direction that my automatic thinking has taken me.

Visual Language - My Sketchbook - 7

This was just a character I quickly drew. Funny story, it was supposed to look like Miyazaki, but having drawn it without a reference image, it came out looking completely different. Still a nice looking character though. I guess attempting to draw a celebrity without reference, it turns out, is a decent technique with character design. I don't know why I drew it so far to the edge of the canvas, by the way. It's actually kind of irritating me.

Visual Language - My Sketchbook - 6

This was an image I drew to test both my observational drawing skills, my skills at drawing with a loose style, and some equipment I had bought that day. I liked it at the time, but it looks unfinished. This is one of my bad drawings but I'm showing it because I think it's quite interesting that it's even remotely possible to mess up a drawing of something as simple as a cup. I should practice this a bit more though.

Visual Language - My Sketchbook - 5

This is based on something a lot of people go through when drawing. On a personal note, it is very discomforting when people start watching me draw. I drew this in a cafe at an outdoor spot because it felt appropriate. Both of which is human behaviour that you can't exactly change, because people generally feel curious around artists as they're working, particularly people that can't draw themselves, and the artists don't like being watched or feel like very personal stuff is being viewed by others. That's how I feel anyway.

Visual Language - My Sketchbook - 4

This is based on a fact on human psychology I heard, that lonely singles take notice of happy couples more than any other, and sad couples take notice of happy singles as well. So I envisioned one person viewing a happy couple, and that same couple viewing that same guy in opposite outcomes. It's sort of darkly humourous in a way, the idea that all these people are actually depressed but still see each other differently, so in the end, both that guy and the couple are depressed but think the opposite of each other.

Visual Language - My Sketchbook - 3

This is based on an idea for a film I had when I witnessed a cat getting run over near my house. It's about a black cat that got hit by a car one night and survived but was left with a broken leg, so he wants to sue God for being created in his image, because if he wasn't black then he would been noticed by the driver and therefore would have been fine. It's weird, yeah, but I liked it so much because of that, plus the idea that if we are created in God's image and if God is real, then technically we could sue him for not making us adaptable in some way. I've always wanted to eventually develop on this more.

Visual Language - My Sketchbook - 2

Another one from a while back. It's a drawing of myself, based on one of my profile pictures on Facebook. I just wanted to see if I could capture a subject in low-key lighting, and I figured by doing this I could differentiate the heavy shadows with my really dark hair.

Visual Language - My Sketchbook - 1

A sketch book can be a great place for artists to express themselves and make notes about their experiences. It is a good way to develop their fascination with drawing to a whole new level. Sketchbooks are considered the birthplace of ideas, because what started out as a small sketch could develop into something huge, even if it's an idea that was thought up on a whim, or something doodled on a sheet of paper. I have numerous examples from my own sketch book that I want to go through bit-by-bit.

This is actually something I drew a long time ago, on a different sketch book. It was just something I drew because I thought about the amount of trouble office workers, students, artists, etc go through and how it is very often taken for granted. I used a weird German Expressionist style and dutch tilt to represent the despair and stress this worker is being put through. This is just so surprisingly relevant today that I felt like showing it on this blog.