Adventures in new dimensions
OK, so I'm not exactly new to 3D: I graduated as a model maker and specialized in sculpture for the first couple of years of my career. Sadly, scant job opportunities, low pay and a nasty bout of styrene poisoning (basically an allergic reaction to the polymer clays and styro-foam commonly used in commercial sculpture) finally put pay to my career as a 3D artist.
In the subsequent years, I have dabbled with digital 3D, but never in a serious way. The learning curve is so steep and industry-standard software prohibitively expensive, plus having eked out a rewarding career as an illustrator/animator I have never really been able to make a business-case to myself to return to 3D design as a professional venture.
However, a new year is an opportunity to try out new things, so I'm returning to Blender 3D (an excellent little piece of open-source software) to try my hand at modelling 3D subjects again! I have a series of subjects in mind, but I'm starting (somewhat inexplicably!) with Citipati osmokele. There is no particular rhyme or reason to my first choice of subject, except that I enjoyed reconstructing Heyuannia huangi a couple of years ago and rarely get the opportunity to draw oviraptorids in general, so this seemed as good an excuse as any to tackle a less-visited subject. Plus, their gorgeously wonky-looking features and languorous limbs make this family of maniraptorans a challenge enough to draw, so I'm sure if I can sculpt this little darling, I should be well set-up to tackle just about anything!
There is a long-term application for this project beyond simply wishing to expand my repertoire, but I'll be keeping the ultimate goal of these sculpts under wraps for now. Suffice to say, by the end of the year, I hope to have a selection of species sculpted in bass-relief and will be able to unveil the purpose behind their creation!
In the meantime, I must simply ask you, dear reader, to be patient and stay tuned for future updates. In the meantime I shall continue to share WIP's and any hilarious "Blender-fails" that should befall me.
In the subsequent years, I have dabbled with digital 3D, but never in a serious way. The learning curve is so steep and industry-standard software prohibitively expensive, plus having eked out a rewarding career as an illustrator/animator I have never really been able to make a business-case to myself to return to 3D design as a professional venture.
However, a new year is an opportunity to try out new things, so I'm returning to Blender 3D (an excellent little piece of open-source software) to try my hand at modelling 3D subjects again! I have a series of subjects in mind, but I'm starting (somewhat inexplicably!) with Citipati osmokele. There is no particular rhyme or reason to my first choice of subject, except that I enjoyed reconstructing Heyuannia huangi a couple of years ago and rarely get the opportunity to draw oviraptorids in general, so this seemed as good an excuse as any to tackle a less-visited subject. Plus, their gorgeously wonky-looking features and languorous limbs make this family of maniraptorans a challenge enough to draw, so I'm sure if I can sculpt this little darling, I should be well set-up to tackle just about anything!
There is a long-term application for this project beyond simply wishing to expand my repertoire, but I'll be keeping the ultimate goal of these sculpts under wraps for now. Suffice to say, by the end of the year, I hope to have a selection of species sculpted in bass-relief and will be able to unveil the purpose behind their creation!
In the meantime, I must simply ask you, dear reader, to be patient and stay tuned for future updates. In the meantime I shall continue to share WIP's and any hilarious "Blender-fails" that should befall me.
Comments
Post a Comment