Just About Ready

Posted on January 2, 2021 by SusanG

I think I am ready for the new year and to jump back into things. The idea of taking the holidays for reading and not trying to work on anything else has been really helpful and mostly motivating.

I haven’t finished quite as many books as I had hoped when I started out with the idea of spending the holidays reading. Though, as of this writing, they aren’t quite over and I consider the time between New Year’s Day and the next workday to be part of the holiday as well, so I still have some time. I did finish up a couple of books that I had been working of for a while. I was really glad of that. One of them was a re-read. I was reading the first Harry Potter book again because even though I have seen the movie dozens of times since I read the book, the book is different than the movie and since I want to try to ready Harry Potter in German I thought I should read the English version again. Of course, English vs. American is possibly up for a debate. I’m not going to go there.

Adventures in cooking: What’s in the refrigerator vegetable soup.

One of the things I have been working at, consistently since I got my iPad is learning German. There are a few reasons for this and probably the best one is because I have been trying to learn to speak and read German since I was in high school and I am determined to do it. I’ve been using duolingo.com to learn and I am making progress. At least I am being consistent. I finally figured out that the way I approach my lessons there will work for other things I’m trying to learn. And yes, I have started Harry Potter in German. It’s going to take a while. There are a lot of words I still don’t know and have to figure out, guess at, or look up as I go.

The way I approach my German lessons is to do just two lessons a day, minimum. I can do more if I feel like it, but if I’m not up to it I just get in the two lessons. This is working out really well for me. Much better than how I had been trying to approach things where I was trying to assign an amount of time that I had to spend on whatever I was studying. And for whatever reason, the amount of time I thought I had to spend on something each day was at least an hour. I don’t know about you, I really only have 24 hours in my day and a good chunk of that is taken up by either sleeping or working and I also have to feed myself. So, if I have 3 things I want to learn and think I should put and hour to each every day, well during the week, that doesn’t really leave time to even eat most days. So I’m going to try doing what I do for German for my other studies. This only just clicked with me. I haven’t been doing it long enough to know yet how well it’s going to work. Given I have study for work I need to get going on starting next week, and I have so many Udemy courses that I want to work through, I figure it is worth a try. And I am trying to keep it reasonable. I’ve got the German, the study for work, and one other course, whatever it is. Right now I’m finishing, or trying to finish up the Rhythm Guitar course on Udemy. I’m almost half way through it so I might as well.

Mantis Shrimp wanted some attention.
Still a work in progress.

The reading has been interesting. I finished the Harry Potter book and a book on the future outlook of the Space industry. I also started and finished a book on the history of the Bayes Theorem. That was really fascinating. It is even relevant to my day job. Its history and recent events and events involving it, I think, have a lot to do with some of the amazing improvements, and progress we have seen in the last 25 or so years. It was worth the read.

I started one book that, while it did keep me reading it, it turned out to be a bit demotivating for me. Instead of being inspired by it, or fascinated, or energized by it, it was enthralling the way a train wreck is. You can’t look away and yet it isn’t an uplifting thing. When I realized that I decided I didn’t need to finish the book. I have moved on. I now have three books that argue for my attention each time I sit down to read. And that’s about the norm for me. So things are currently right with my literary world.

Even though I said I was spending the holiday time focusing on my reading, it isn’t the only thing I have done. I have done a bit of experimental cooking, with a few more experiments still to come. And I have worked on a couple of pieces of art that tugged at me and said either, come work on me, or you need to draw me now. I’m really pleased with both. The one that has tugged at me to be worked on is the painting of the Mantis Shrimp. I have it now to the point that I am ready to start on the background. I was a little surprised as I worked on it and made areas darker and more saturated, how it was coming along and how nice and bold it looks. That makes me feel good about the direction it is going.

Those blobs are my blue, blue cheese dressing.
I’ll add more blue next time.

The other piece of art, the one that said draw me now, was an anthropomorphized carrot. Yes. A carrot. With a face. It also said it wanted me to use Procreate on the iPad. So I did. Hey, some pieces know exactly how they want you to approach them. When that happens, it is best not to argue. It was a really fun thing to do and to use Procreate because though it is one of the reasons I wanted the iPad and learning to use it is a goal of mine, it isn’t always the most intuitive tool for me to pickup and work with. Doing that piece also inspired me to look for some digital painting courses or tutorials. I found a couple that look interesting at Udemy and watched some of the previews, and learned something. Just from the previews. So I’ll be looking into one or two of those for either Procreate or Photoshop or both.

I also came across an artist on Instagram whose work I have really enjoyed watching in speed up mode. It has me reconsidering my feelings on painting. And thinking about, considering, giving it a try again. Though not right away. I think I’ll learn digital painting first, less mess. I think that is the key to trying most things. Finding something about it that makes you think or wonder if maybe you could do something like that, or if that style, technique, skill, whatever, might be the answer to what you needed for something you wanted to do. I have had that happen with cooking for sure.

That piece that just knew how it wanted to be created.

I generally cook to feed myself. I don’t treat it really as a creative expression. Though my sister does. Oh my. It’s a good thing we are several hours from each other or my scales and my jeans would be groaning. Anyway. Though I will get in a routine eating the same handful of meals for days or weeks, I get a little bored with that. A couple of years ago, I happened on a cookbook that has recipes from the game World of Warcraft. Having played the game, I thought this was fun and some of the recipes looked interesting. I got the book and I have tried a few of the recipes and some more than once. Like the bread recipe. That is one of my favorites. I recently came across a cookbook for Star Wars Galaxy Edge, which from what I have read is the Star Wars area at Disneyland and it’s a big hit. I’m not a major Star Wars fan, I have seen the main nine movies as well as Rogue One, and I have been watching The Mandalorian. So when I first saw the book, I was thinking of it for someone else. Then I poked at the contents and some of the recipes looked fun and interesting. Like Polystarch Portion Bread. It’s a single serving of bread made in the microwave. Really. So I ordered the cookbook and have been trying a few of the recipes.  And I think the bread is pretty good. I have also tried one of the drinks. It’s non-alcoholic and I won’t be drinking that again. I might make it for someone, I won’t drink it. It tastes ok. The ingredients are migraine inducing for me. So, no. Now the blue, blue cheese dressing is quite tasty and a nice change from the lemon vinaigrette I have been making for a couple of years now.  In fact, I’ll be having on my salad again this week because, yum.

Of the movies that were premiering of various formats over the holidays the one I have been looking forward to the most was ‘Soul’ from Disney and Pixar. This did not disappoint. I was originally drawn to it because of its musical, jazz in particular, theme. And the previews looked interesting. Then Disney+ had a show about some of the creators and artists behind some of the different animations and I found that interesting. There are at least two people featured in that who worked on ‘Soul’. The story is great. It’s impactful and inspirational. And the music is great. I will be watching ‘Soul’ again at least two more times and probably more. I want to watch it and focus on the art, the visual style, and animation. And I want to watch it to pay attention to the music. The background and ambient music as well as the music when it is the focus of the scene. Jazz is the style of music that I aspire to be able to play on guitar. I don’t spend enough time practicing it. Maybe I will start to change that.

I had one final success to finish off the year. That project to mount the bicycle racks is complete. My neighbor picked up the requisite drill bits and we were able to get the holes drilled and the screws in and the bikes on the racks. And then they came to my garage and helped me with mine. So. Three bike racks successfully mounted and three bikes off the floor. That was a big win. Now I need to clean my garage.

Still a work in progress.
This one has wanted a lot of attention lately.

Going back to the music from ‘Soul’ for a moment. One of the things I lamented after I moved to Charlotte, was that I couldn’t seem to find a good Jazz station on the radio. Over the air radio has a lot of things here, including a really good Classical Music station. I just haven’t found a good Jazz station. I had not really recognized what a loss this was for me until recently. I have some CDs, yes, CDs of different Jazz artists and they work for short bursts but if I want to put on music to just listen to with a variety and not have to worry about they don’t quite do it. Yes, Spotify has Jazz as well, and that is ok. What I like about radio is the thing that I think some people must not like. I like the occasional commentary offered by the DJs. In a lot of cases I get to learn something that adds to my appreciation of the music. I finally gave in and added my SiriusXM to my Alexa and get to see how that works out. It has, so far, been a nice treat.

And that’s the year ended and a new one started. There is no telling how things will go this year. I hope for everyone that it is a good year, happy, prosperous, and peaceful. As for what I have in mind next. As I mentioned, I have studies for work to get started on. I want to be a bit more ambitious with that this year and I think with a new study approach it can happen. I have art pieces that I want to do, and new things I want to learn there as well. After some of the things I’ve worked on recently, and some of the things I would like to learn, I am reconsidering pieces that I had planned on creating. I may choose not to create them, or I may approach them differently. As for the music. I’m not sure yet. I’ll of course keep playing and practicing because I like to do that. I may spend more time with the surf guitar music that I so enjoy, and I may start to dip my fingers into learning to play jazz. Those are just the main things I’m looking at for the near future. I have no doubt I will find additional things to get into.

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Nothing Cool

Posted on December 21, 2020 by SusanG

I’ve tried a couple of times to write this blog post and have not been able to finish it. I get part way through it and realize that I don’t like the way it reads or that it’s a bit boring. I finally realized why I have been having so much trouble. It’s because in my brain, I’m not working on anything cool so why would I write about it.

Christmas Stocking I had in mind.

It isn’t completely true that I haven’t been working on cool things. I have, just not quite the same and not as consistently. I kept getting stuck. It was having trouble figuring out why I was getting stuck until just recently. First some of the cool things that I have been working on.

It started with a shower. I was in the shower and for some reason my mind drifted to how to model a Christmas stocking. I was thinking of how to start it and all of that. So, of course, when I finished my shower and dressed, I had to try it out. I sat down at the computer and opened Blender and before I new it several hours had gone by. At the end, I had a stocking, just not quite the Christmas stocking I had intended. I forgot to use a reference photo or two.

Stocking I got when using no reference

I still wanted to model a Christmas stocking. You know, the one that looks a bit like a snow boot. This time I looked up some reference photos before I started. I’ve got something much closer to what I want. This time I used a cube to get started, the first time I used a cylinder and had some weirdness with the end cap as I was trying to model the toe area.

I learned with the first one, from finishing the tree more recently to starting it, that if I wanted to use the cloth sculpt brush I was better off to not add a solidify modifier to it before using that brush. I forgot that when I made the second stocking so I ended up fighting with the cloth sculpt brush to get it to do anything helpful.

I may try the stocking again with what I have learned and remembered. Hopefully I will get closer to what I want for it.

Tree up!

I have also done something cool that isn’t on the computer. Or music related. I met some of my neighbors when I was out for a walk. I try to take a walk through part of the neighborhood or at least to the mailbox daily. I try, it doesn’t always happen. And yes, I do wear my mask. Because you never know when you might meet someone or come across someone who needs help. Anyway, I met a neighbor and her daughters. After quite a long chat we exchanged phone numbers for texting and so I could send her some links. A couple days later, she texted me to ask if I know how to put together a bicycle. Not specifically. I can read instructions and figure things out. So off I went to help her. We got it half done that evening before it got too dark and finished the rest the next evening just as it got dark. It turns out that this was the daughter’s holiday project. She wanted to learn to ride a bike on just two wheels. She pretty much nailed it. The next day after we finished it, I got a video from my neighbor of her daughter riding the bike. The next project is to hang the bike racks.

Tree decorated too!

I have managed to setup my Christmas tree. I got it out of the storage and put it together and placed it on the table. It sat like that for at least a week. I considered leaving it that way. Then I decided to pull the box of decorations down off the shelf in the closet. I wanted to see it the lights work. They do. I ended up fluffing out the tree, putting the lights on it and decorating it at lunch one day. Now not only is my tree up, it’s decorated.

So what kept getting me stuck? A cool project that I was working on. I haven’t finished it. It is still stuck. Remember that leaf I did? Well I have this cool idea of something I want to use it for. I need a digital version of it. I don’t want to try to scan or photograph my picture of it to use. So I thought I would make a new version of it starting in digital, using something like Photoshop. I’ve started it twice now. Once I was trying to use my Cintiq and found that frustrating. And just last week I decided to try using my Intuos tablet, which is like the Cintiq only not a monitor, just a drawing tablet.

That was an interesting experiment. I setup my laptop and the Intuos on my dresser in my bedroom. It turns out that it is the perfect height for me to be able to work standing. I did this for a few days. It was kind of interesting and I felt very productive. I also felt like I was doing a lot of work and not getting what I had in mind. So I stopped. And I haven’t gotten much else cool or creative done since. Very frustrating.

Make shift workstation

I don’t consider getting my new desktop setup to do the Microsoft lessons really that cool. Though, I should. I did do that. I was able to install the software that I needed as well as activate the sandbox for the lesson that I am on. I really should consider that a cool thing. I just see it as normal stuff that needs doing. I still have other training stuff that needs to be setup on it and if I can get it to work, that will be cool. Not just because of what it is, also because it was a pain to set it up on my laptop.

I know, so why set it up on the desktop? Because I realized that, as much as I like working on my laptop and find it really convenient when I am comfortable on the couch, for really digging in and working on something, my desk and my desktop are really more comfortable. And the screen is bigger.

What’s next? At first I wasn’t sure because I had only just figured out what had me stuck and what to do about it. I was still shifting my thinking around and moving the leaf project into the area of my brain where it doesn’t get forgotten, it just gets low power and fewer processing cycles.  Now, I think, for the next couple of weeks I’m going to follow a modified version of the Icelandic tradition where they give books for Christmas and then spend Christmas Day reading. I think I’m going to focus the next couple of weeks on some reading. I have a few books started and a few more lined up to read once I finish those. It’s quite an eclectic selection too. I’m excited about it.

After that I think I will be ready to jump back into other things. Like my studies, Blender scenes, art pieces, and some music.

Some of my favorite Christmas ornaments.
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Now Available: 2020 Holiday Card

Posted on November 27, 2020 by SusanG

This year’s holiday card is complete and available at:

I have left it blank inside so that you can include your own message for this season.

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Not Quite What I Intended

Posted on November 27, 2020 by SusanG

With the exception of last year, for the past 5 or 6 years I’ve created a holiday card and shared it and even posted it on my Zazzle site. I have had it on my list of things to do for this year and hadn’t really got to working on it. At least not that I thought. As it turns out. I have completed this year’s holiday card.

That aluminum Christmas tree is complete. I’m quite pleased with it. I even found a nice texture for the tree skirt. And I figured out how to add it and get it to look right. Without looking at a tutorial. I was so pleased with myself. I did have a few struggles. The cloth for that skirt was the first one.

Tree skirt not quite right

I played around with the cloth simulation and the cloth brush a few months ago and thought I remembered how to use it. Apparently not. Well the brushes yes, the simulation, not quite. The reason for the simulation is that it makes it easy to get the cloth to drape properly as opposed to manually shifting each vertex. The cloth brush then lets you add some extra details, at least for how I used it. For other purposes it does so much more. To use the simulation you actually have to use animation so you can watch it drop. Then you stop it at the frame that you like how it looks. At that point, if you want to use it for a still image or to edit and sculpt on from there, you have to apply the cloth modifier. It ends the simulation and then makes it just another object basically. At least that’s how I’ve figured out how to use it. I may need a tutorial for it to learn more tips and tricks because I have a couple more projects that I think I’m going to need it for and I expect there is a more efficient way to work with it.

The other struggle I had was what to do about the background. For a while I thought about making a scene with cookies and a plate and some milk and maybe a small gift. Before I did that I wanted to create a really basic, plain scene. Nothing fancy, just something to showcase the tree. As I was working on that I struggled with the background. How did I want it to look? Busy? Plain? Light? Dark? I finally went for the product photo shoot look. I added a black wall behind it and adjusted the lights. It works great. And just like that, I have my holiday card for this year.

That’s better, but the skirt still needs something.

As soon as it is live on my Zazzle site I will post an announcement and a link to it.

After I finished the tree, I thought I would revisit the last card I did. I like the concept but the execution turned out not as good as I would like. So, since I was going to upload a new card, I thought I’d see if I could address a few things in the previous one and maybe upload a new and improved image. And of course, you know that isn’t what happened. As I got into the file in the newer version of Blender and adjusted the renderer to use Cycles, instead of Eevee which is what I originally used due to lack of information and knowledge, I started to see some serious issues. I suspect, the difference in Eevee from two years ago to today is part of why I see the problems now but didn’t see them then. And also the difference in Blender itself from two years ago to today. Which leaves me with the really unhappy prospect of possibly re-modeling a good portion of the scene.

There we go. Now, the back ground, and the surface.

As disappointing as that is, when I think about some of the many things I have learned this year I know I could do a much better job all the way around. So maybe it’s not such a bad thing. And, if I do it right, I might be able to use a slightly different way of combining models in a scene. And that would be way more efficient. But… I’m going to have to get more information on it.

How/why would I build my scenes a different way? Well, efficiency. What I have been doing is appending the models to the scene I’m working in. And that has worked out fine. Well for the most part. I append them and they become a part of the new scene and I don’t have to worry about any adjustments made to the original. There is a way, and I have known this from when I was using 3DS Max and Maya, to add your model into the scene in a manner that when you make edits to the original model it updates in your scene, or any scene you have it in. This can be really great, or not so great. If you make updates to it that don’t work in every other file you have it in, then you have a small problem. At least I think it’s small. Anyway, this is called Linking. I did see it in the menu when I added the tree stand to the tree, but I didn’t think to try it. I was just looking for how to “import” the stand into my scene. As I was listening to the Blender Today episode where they released Blender 2.91 Pablo talked about it. And small light came on.

Well, the table is better. Not digging the background.

What I’ve been doing for the last few years really has been to create a scene at a time and then if I could reuse some of the models from a previous scene I would by essentially importing them into the new scene. With the exception of the time I created a series of models, in their own files, of bows and gifts, I haven’t really just “created assets” for a library. That has worked fine up to now. But, as far as I can tell, that isn’t how a studio, game or animation, works. Each “asset” is its own file. So, with the mention of linking, and recognizing that some of my older work may need to be re-modeled, I am starting to think that it might be worth it to look at that and change how I work. Creating a tree in one file and decorations in another and a table in yet another, and then combining them all in a different file doesn’t take any of the fun away from modeling or building a scene. It just means working differently. That’s sort of what I started doing when I started creating the different sprinkles in the summer. I just need to continue down that path.

How I model things and build scenes is not the only methodology that I am changing. I’m also slowly starting to warm up to the cloud synching and saving of files. I have a local network connected drive that I can access from all my devices so you would think I would be using the cloud synching, like One Drive, and iCloud, and Creative Cloud, all over the place. I also use Google Drive so why not these others. I had reasons at one point, I don’t doubt, and now I suspect some of those were based on misinformation or a misunderstanding. I’m not sure. What I do know is that I am starting to come around, ever so slowly. What changed?

Working on the Mantis Shrimp

Well, as I finished up working on the tree project that I just finished, I started to get inspired to get back to work on the digital version of the leaf I did. I have something I want to do with it and I’m interested and excited to see how it turns out. And I’m just excited to work on it. Originally, I worked on the digital leaf on my iPad using Fresco. I didn’t pay attention to where it saved. I’m not even sure I had a choice. When I opened it on the iPad again, I found the option to send it to Illustrator on my desktop. That’s not where I want to work on it though. So I happened to open Photoshop in my desktop, and guess what, there in my recent items was my leaf from Fresco. I was able to open it from the creative cloud, in Photoshop, and I have all my layers right there and it’s ready for me to work on it. So I’m coming around to this thing about being able to access my files from anywhere.

Looking like a Mantis Shrimp

I finally made my decision on my office software solution. I decided to go with Office 365 and to subscribe to it instead of sticking with one of the open source options. I have nothing against the open source options, and if I didn’t have the ability to pay for the subscription to Office 365, I would certainly be using one of them and donating what I could. Since I do have the option of using, and subscribing to Office 365, and more importantly, it has what I need and I am more familiar with it because I use Microsoft Office at the day job, it is the solution I have chosen. I think I’m going to be very happy with that choice. I’ve found a few benefits already.

It is the Thanksgiving holiday and weekend in the US. Mine looks a bit different this year than in years past. I imagine that is the case for many people this year. In addition to doing the food event differently, I have adjusted the time I take off from the day job this year. In the past I took the days of the week leading up to Thanksgiving as well as the Monday after. This year, I am taking the entire week after the holiday off from the day job. I’m looking forward to it. I have several projects and ideas I am either working on or ready to start and that seems like an opportune time to work on them. I might even get back to a book or two that I started reading before I got lost in studying for my test. I don’t have much of a variety of pictures this week so I’m including a few in-progress renders of the tree as well as what I finally ended up with. Oh, and an in-progress picture or two of my Mantis Shrimp piece. Enjoy.  

Finally!
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Full Week

Posted on November 20, 2020 by SusanG

It has been another full week. I have managed to fit in a lot of art, as well as some music, some injury recognition and treatment, a dental appointment, and a new computer arriving. I’m definitely ready for a weekend.

The small guy is the new computer

I’ll get the not as cool stuff out of the way first just because. While I have had luck and treatment for the elbow/arm injury, I haven’t gotten around to dealing with the leg/hip and have continued to do Taekwondo. I was under the impression that stretching and staying active would keep it from getting too stiff and losing strength. After a bit of a breakthrough in what the problem probably is I have finally come to understand that stretching is actually bad for this, and I need to rest it. I’m not happy about that. However, as I told my Master when I spoke with him, though I enjoy Taekwondo immensely, I can’t enjoy it nearly as much if I’m in pain. So, no class for a while. Which leaves me with even more time right now to work on other things. 

I was moving right along with working on other things this week. Right up until the Dentist appointment. I’m one of those people that going to the Dentist is an exhausting experience. I like the people just fine, but the poking and scraping and drilling, and even the cleaning, leave me totally wiped out. And it’s even worse if they have to numb some portion of me. So if I ever tell you I would rather go to the Dentist instead of do something you’re suggesting, now you know just how much I do not want to do what you are suggesting.

screw threaded cylinder

The fun bit. The new computer arrived this week. It arrived about a week earlier than anticipated. That’s awesome in my books. I thought about waiting until the weekend to set it up but really, that wasn’t going to happen. It took hardly any time to disconnect the old one and connect the new one. And the introductory setup took less time and effort than I expected. I was able to get set up and functional that first day. I still have things I need and want to install to get everything available. For example, I don’t really have an office program yet. I have to figure that piece out. I will probably go with the Microsoft Office 365 thing. I just haven’t made the purchase and downloaded it yet. I can do Photoshop and Blender on the computer and I’m using Google Docs to put together this post so I can function. I’m quite pleased with it so far.

Insanely satisfying render

The other fun stuff. So before I got the new computer I was messing around in Blender. And decided to try to make a screw thread. This is something I have wanted to figure out how to do since I first started with Blender about 10 years ago. I wanted to make a salt shaker that had a screw cap on it that you could see the threading. I couldn’t figure out how to do it easily so I left it and hadn’t gone back to it. I saw Pablo Vasquez do something with it I think on one of his Blender Today shows and realized it should be really easy now. So I decided to try it. I looked up some videos on how to do it except they were either not very clear or they were using an older version of Blender and components that are not there anymore. But they did give me a big clue. There is a Spiral modifier. That’s the key. You also kind of need to get the shape right and a few other things. But the key is that modifier. 

Christmas tree stand

So first I made a cylinder with a screw thread. I was so excited by that. I felt so good. Then, I decided to try to create an object with the opposite threading, that it would thread into. That was the Boolean modifier. I had already figured out how to use that so I created a block and added the boolean modifier to remove the equivalent of the screw and it worked. That was so insanely satisfying that I can’t even tell you. And now I have what I need to move forward on yet another project, or two. Cool!

Tree and stand together.

That wasn’t the only Blender fun I had this week. I pulled up my reference pictures and figured out how to model the stand for the aluminum Christmas tree. That was an interesting challenge. And another accomplishment that I felt really good about. It took me a few hours over a couple of evenings. I modeled the leg first and then had to make two more. Which is just a duplication function. But to get them in the right places required a little bit of math and some geometry. Yep. Who would have thought I’d be using my high school geometry to model a stand for a Christmas tree. Actually, I thought it was kind of cool. I used the same skills after I modeled the brace to go in between the legs to get the duplicates of that in place. That brace was a bit trickier to model to the right shape. And yet it was so cool for it all to come together. 

The next step was to get the tree and the stand in the same scene. Which I did manage. It took a try or two. And it turned out that my stand was huge compared to the tree. Also, I needed to do something about locking in my transforms before I imported it, but I’ll just not animate it and I think it will be ok for now. I modeled the stand in a separate blend file that’s why I had to import it. Once I got things linked up right and then scaled correctly it was easier to move them into place with each other. And time to start decorating. I’ve got a hook and a little red Christmas ball modeled now. I just need to finish that part up. I’m getting close to having the whole tree part done. I haven’t quite decided how far I want to go with the scene. I don’t know if I want to keep it simple or if I want to go more elaborate. I’ll figure that out once I figure out the cloth. 

Starting to decorate the tree

I am working on a pastel piece of a Mantis Shrimp. I’m learning the advantages of pastel, and not really being able to do super fine detail. It keeps me from getting too caught up in the super super fine detail and getting bogged down in the technicality versus getting the essence of the subject matter. I’ve also figured out that, for this, if I’m careful, I can use the texture of the paper to help create the illusion of that detail. So I’m making progress. I’m excited about it. 

It feels really good to have a bunch of projects that I’m excited about. The biggest challenge is getting to them all. I’m having that problem again where I will be working on something and look at the clock and realize that I have run out of day. The cool thing is, that even with all the art, I’m also working on some Christmas songs on the guitar. I started that Christmas Songs on Guitar course that I got and I like it. I’m past the lecture and up to the actual songs now. While he got a few things not quite right about the history of Christmas, I thought the part about how old some of the songs we sing and play are, was really cool. 

In all that, I also did a few things for some learning I am working on for the day job. I’m busy and getting things done all over the place. I’ve even got pictures this week. Enjoy those. And check back again. We have a short work week next week and then I’ll be on vacation from the day job for a week so no telling what I’ll get up to in that time. Stay safe.

A Mantis Shrimp checking things out.
Posted in 3D Art, 3D Modeling, Art, Music, Other Stuff, Weekly Updates | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Full Week