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This week's material studies theme was Effects, which included Lava, Slime, Glitter, Internal Organs, Sponge, and Fire. I struggled a LOT with these ones, as they took me much more time to complete. And even now, I feel that a few of them still aren't complete (namely, the slime and fire). All of them, except maybe the sponge, could use improvement, honestly. Next week's theme will be Rubber, Plastic, and Clay. Here's hoping it'll be an easy week! 
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This week's material study included foods: Chocolate, Cheese, Bread, Raw Meat, and Strawberry. I struggled a lot with this one, but I think it paid off in the end. There was actually one other material that should have been on this sheet (ice cream) but it ended up being a huge challenge for me, and I'll have to add it later. I think the only change I'll end up making to these (if I do change anything) will be the bread/bun. The highlight, especially since the bun is in cube form, is really difficult to get right. Other than that, I'm pretty happy.  Like I mentioned in my last post, Leera's Blade's engravings weren't looking as good as I think they could have. With the help of my friend Erick (www.ericksalaart.weebly.com), I was able to get the engravings looking much cleaner with the use of ZAppLink and alphas. To do this, I painted my engraving design in Photoshop using Zapplink, where it then masked my painted areas, polygrouped the area, and I was able to deflate the selection inward using deformers. I messed with the polish a little, and what you see is the result: much cleaner lines. (This is not the final color)  I managed to work on Zhul'Thuns staff a bit, just to break up repetitive shapes, and make the top piece a bit smaller, so that it didn't look too strange next to Zhul'Thun. (This is also not the final color)  Today I worked on the sculpt of Leera's blade (on stream, too!). I already had the base mesh created from earlier (extremely simple), so I sculpted start to finish. I was mainly inspired by LoTR elven daggers and swords, sleek, simple, and particularly curved. Legolas fighting knives were my strongest inspiration, and I started my base mesh with their exact silhouette. Upon studying some more knives, inclusive of Skyrim daggers, real-life weapons, and other concepts, I only tweaked the handle and curve angle to be a little more angled; aggressive. I stayed away from any crazy dagger shapes (as cool as they looked), as Leera is very simple and clean in design, as well. I want the dagger to reflect her.  I'm not sure if the engravings are too heavy handed - I just drew them in with a Dam Standard brush with 0 focal shift. I'm considering redoing it, but with a -100 focal shift and less intensity so that the engravings don't taper at the point, but I kind of like how this looks, too. I will show this for critique tomorrow and see what the consensus is.
Yay for finishing this! My next project will be Karnys, so I'll be doing character sculpting for a WHILE (approx 6 weeks?). First thing will be his concept, though, so that may be one of my next entries. I did another material study this week. This time, I did terrain materials. I can easily say this has been the most difficult study so far. I still have to improve on creating a believable light source, creating correct shadows from the light source, as well as making believable shapes. I will be going back to improve the grass and the sand for sure, and will most likely improve the asphalt and cracked stone. Next week will be food materials!! Expect a lot of cheese!  Here is the concept of the staff and the sculpt of the staff for Zhul'Thun! I like where it's going, but I feel like I will probably add some accessories on it, later. It is looking a little simple, aside from the top piece. I will probably have some straps/tassels hanging from the pole, or something to add to the silhouette in the middle region. I also included the base mesh of the staff with Zhul'Thun for scale reference. To visually tie this weapon in with Zhul'Thun, I want to include red wraps in Zhul'Thun's robes, especially because it isn't made out of wood. A lot of friends suggested that the staff be similar to Zhul'Thun, but I wanted it to be quite the opposite. Since Zhul'Thun is entirely made of wood, I thought I would like to break the materials and give him a metal weapon. I think it kind of matches his character in the respect that he is a renegade Zhorim, and stands out amongst his kin.    I recently revisited my Leera sculpt and added some better silhouette changers to her (The leg straps, leg pouch, and quiver). I also redid her face, changed her headpiece, and made minor tweaks to her overall shape. I still intend on improving the silhouette by changing her shoulderpads, wrist accessories, and maybe even completely change her existing chest armor - currently, it's all too vague. I will be touching back on her soon. 
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Kat's BlogJust some of the latest, random things I'm working on Archives
May 2024
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