Weekly Update September 22, 2015 — Totally Unproductive, Artistically

Posted on September 22, 2015 by SusanG

This last week was busy. I had stuff scheduled every day after the day job and a couple of days had more than one thing going on. I knew going into the week that getting time to work on anything was going to be tricky if it happened at all.

So I was surprised to get to the end of the weekend and find I had managed only one item in the sketchbook and no work on anything else. At least not art wise. I did manage to get a little caught up on my magazine reading. I take both 3D World and 3D Artist magazines and I am a few months behind on my reading. I’m getting close to caught up though so it must be time the the next issue of each to be out.

I thought I mentioned, but maybe not, that I was hoping to get to have a couple of my traditional type art pieces on display for the public. There is this really unique shop Charlotte called Fu Man Chu Cupcakes. They make cupcakes with a twist. They combine
interesting flavors to make their cupcakes some non-alcoholic and some alcoholic. One of
the features of this place is that along with the cupcakes, they have a whole wall or more of art for display and sale. They all appear to be relatively local to the Charlotte area. I met the person who curates this art collection at the art supply store and she said she would be interested in my having a couple of pieces on show. At the time I only had the cool pumpkin piece. She prefers at least 2 pieces not just one so I did the guitar piece. They are both all done and framed. I made a visit to Fu Man Chu Cupcakes and spoke with her again. And I will be delivering these two beauties Friday of next week to be on display for two months. I’m kind of excited.
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So my sketchbook only saw a little action this last week. I managed this snow or sledding sort of scene. I was really disappointed I didn’t get to do more stuff. But as I said it was a busy week.DSCN0525_sm_crop_CC_wm

This week isn’t much better to be honest. I have been getting ready to go out to the Zbrush Summit in Los Angeles. I know I’ve told you about this. I watched last year’s inaugural Summit via LiveStreaming and it was awesome. So much great stuff and some really
talented, informative, and entertaining presentations. So this year when it was announced early enough that I could make plans to go I started doing just that. The summit is this weekend and I’ll be arriving in Los Angeles on Thursday so I’m rested and ready to go on Friday. Once again the Gnomon School is hosting the Zbrush Summit for Pixologic. This year, in addition to the presentations they will be having a sculpt off, the Zbrush awards, and work shops. I’ve signed up for a work shop on Sunday being lead by Eric Keller and I’m really looking forward to it. I am hoping it will be that little push that will help me get past a few things I have been struggling with in Zbrush. I’m also looking forward to some of the artist presentations, particularly Ian Joyner. I watched a Live Stream of a talk he gave at Gnomon a few weeks ago and I think he will be really interesting to see. And if my eyes do not deceive me it looks like we will get to see a short presentation from the legendary VFX artist Rick Baker which should be cool.

It’s looking like a really full and awesome weekend and I am sure that my brain will be full by the end of the weekend if not by about mid day on Saturday. I hope to have lots to share, if not about the event, at least about the excitement.

So with that all said, hopefully you will indulge me for a week or two while I partake of this fun event and I will get back to rigging Sticks and creating more 3D/CG art, sketchbook pictures and regular paintings soon.

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Weekly Update September 14, 2015 — Back to the Regular World

Posted on September 15, 2015 by SusanG

Last week was back to the day job and the regular world for me. I was a little surprised how tired I was the first couple of days. But I made it through. As I suspected, I didn’t get a lot of work done on Sticks or even much sketching. Though I did get a couple of things done.

Working on Sticks was particularly interesting. As I finished up working on the foot and leg controls I was overwhelmed with the work that it looks like it is going to take to animate Sticks. This will be my first fully animated object and while I knew intellectually that it was going to be involved, I don’t think I had really internalized the scope of the work. It should be an interesting challenge and I don’t doubt that once I’ve done it a few times it won’t feel quite so overwhelming.

With the foot and leg controls complete it’s time to start on the spine. You can see that I’ve got the bones in for the spine and the Inverse Kinetic (HI-IK) solvers created and their controllers. It looks a bit odd I suppose because if you look really close you’ll see that each bone is only connected to it’s own end point (nub). This is apparently better that just creating a full spine and then applying the solver from end to end like with the hip to ankle. This way should help with the twisting that I need in the spine. I guess, I will find out just how important that is once I get started with the animating.

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As I indicated, I didn’t get much sketching in. At the moment I’m working with the idea ofDSCN0515_sm_crop_wm them being a little more quality instead of just random, think of something and put it on paper in 10 to 15 minutes. This is a good exercise and I will likely pick it back up again but right now I’m going to try this way. With that said, here’s the sketch for last week. It’s approaching Autumn here and so also Halloween. The Halloween decor has been on sale in the stores for over a month and so it’s starting to creep into my brain. This is my scene for Halloween. It’s a little more staged that what I’ve done before. And as you can see, that non-photo blue is still showing up. I’m getting used to it.

 
I finished reading the book “Creating Characters with Personality” by Tom Bancroft and started on his follow up book “Character Mentor”. It’s been interesting so far and as with the other book I think some of the information will start to seep in and spread from my Sketch09112015_1_sm_wmbrain to my fingers and out onto the characters I’ve been working on. With that in mind I think this piece is an example of some of the information from the first book starting to seep to my fingers. I started this in Sketchbook Pro on my Kindle fire. I started out with my finger and then tried using the Bamboo stylus that I got for my iPad, when I used that. It turns out the stylus works on the Kindle and on my LG Android tablet. Woot! Drawing on glass with my finger it weird and I don’t enjoy it. But this guy was a bit of a test and as I got a few of the shapes down he really started to come together. But he was really rough. So I took him into Photoshop on my PC where I could use my Cintiq and did a bit of a draw over and then refined him. He was a lot of fun. He has a companion that I did but I haven’t got that one refined.

For some reason I don’t seem to be able to get my work space just right. At the moment it’s in need of being rearranged again due to the cable outlet changing from one wall to another and now there is a CAT-5 cable laying on the floor in front of the door. In addition to the need to rearrange, I realized I have been really trying to make the room into too many things. As I was working through what it really needs to be I also figured out that there is a lot in a name. I had been calling the room my “office”. That’s not right because I do so much art in it and that’s more what the room is dedicated to. I’ve also never had an “office” it’s always been a “Studio” so I am renaming the room my “Studio” and to help with adjusting my mental processes to that I’ve decided to make a sign that says “Studio” to remind me. I just got started on it so it’s not very far along but here it is.

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I have not gotten back to the head-stock of the guitar painting. I had intended to and found I didn’t have the energy when I finally got the time. Turns out we had a bit of a
weather shift around here and it ramped up the allergy season for me. I wish I could say I will get to it this week or this weekend. Sadly, I don’t really see that as happening. It’s a busy week for me with lots of appointments and getting ready for the Zbrush Summit. In case you didn’t catch it last week. I’m really excited about the Zbrush Summit that Pixologic is holding at the Gnomon School in Los Angeles. It’s not quite two weeks away. You can watch the LiveStream of it if you are interested but can’t go. I watched the LiveStream last year and my brain was so full at the end. I can only imagine what will happen for me this year.

With all the prep for the Summit, I expect that the most I will be able to get done this week is a little more work done on the rigging of Sticks and a sketch or two. When I look at my calendar for this week I don’t have a lot of big chunks of time for much more. So…

Check back to see what I do manage to get done and what else might be coming up.

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Weekly Update September 8, 2015 — Work Avoidance

Posted on September 8, 2015 by SusanG

This was work avoidance week, also known as, vacation from the day job. As well intentioned and optimistic as I was about getting several things done this week, or at least
worked on, I just wasn’t able to make it happen to the extent I hoped. That isn’t to say that the week was a total wash out. I did finish the guitar piece, and I started a new piece. I also got in some time on Sticks, just not as much as I hoped, and I did some extra cleaning.

And while those are the basics of what I had wanted to do, truth is, I would have like to have been able to write that I finished rigging Sticks. And I would like to be able to write that I got a lot of sketches done. Neither of those things happened so I won’t be writing them.

As I said, I did get the guitar piece finished. I have it signed and framed. I have sent an email to contact the place I was hoping to hang them but have not heard back yet. I think I will need to make a trip out there and see if I can speak with someone. If not I have a couple of other places I may look into. The idea is to get some of my work out in the public where it can be seen and people can start to know some of my work. It’s looking like this may be a little tricky though. In any event, the guitar piece, and the pumpkin piece are the two that I am hoping to show, and perhaps sell. Here they are in all their beauty.

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While I was in the store searching for the frame for the guitar piece a squirrel ran across my path and I had to chase it. I was wondering, since I do the stippling on paper with acrylic ink, how it might work out if I did it on canvas or canvas art board and used acrylic paint and a brush. I purchased a few additional items towards this project and went home. Once the guitar piece was in its frame it was time to really chase this squirrel. I had to play with laying down some paint first and then I decided I didn’t want a white base to start with so I chose and odd sort of blue. I was thinking of re-doing a picture I had done many years ago, thus the blue for the base color. But I didn’t really want to repeat myself. Then I DSCN0489_sm_crop_wmdecided to try something else guitar related. I took pictures of the head-stocks of three of
my guitars and chose the one that I thought would be the cleanest and so easiest to start with, the Gibson. I then penciled in the reference so I could have something to guide my work. And then paint. As you can see, I only got some of the text done so far, but it’s a start and I think it will work out nicely.

I knew that I might have some old paints that were close to dried out and I found one right out of the gate. It was still usable though it needs replacing. I’m thinking that will be another trip to Cheap Joe’s or an order to Dick Blick’s. Not sure which yet. But, as with most things art related, it won’t be a small bill.

The sketchbook mostly got moved from room to room this week. I really didn’t put much pencil to paper there. I did get one done that I think is rather fun. I was experimenting DSCN0486_sm_crop_wmwith using a colored pencil for the rough in and then using a regular graphite pencil to finish it out and do the detailing. I used what is called a non-photo blue pencil which means that a camera isn’t supposed to be able to pick it up. However, it looks like my digital SLR didn’t get that memo because you can see some of the blue.

I took a bit more time on it than I usually do since I typically do my sketches in the morning. I think it came out much nicer because I had more time to spend working on it and as I head back to the day job it has me re-thinking some of my scheduling for my day. I may change the sketching to an evening activity. It should work out nicely even after Taekwondo class and the trainer. And then I won’t feel like I wasted my evenings. Ideas.

And I finally got to working on the rigging for Sticks. I am farther along than where I left the original one, which is progress. I’m just not as far along as I would like to be. Still, I have finished with the foot controls and the knee controls and will be starting on the spine next. The tutorial that I am following along with will cover the eyes and eyebrow controls in some of the future lessons, these I will be able to skip or just listen to since Sticks has neither. That means I may be farther along that it seems like if I were to just look at the number of lessons total compared to where I am. Here are a couple of shots of the rigging with the x-ray of Sticks and a screenshot of just the bones with the controls.

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This week will likely be taken up with the process of getting back into the flow of the day job. I know I have a couple of days of big project stuff to do. I’m guessing I will be pretty mentally spent at the ends of the days so I’m not sure how much Sticks progress I will make. I’m going to try to do one segment a night. Or the equivalent. I think that is a reasonable goal.

I will also want to start preparing for the Zbrush Summit that is coming up in just a couple of weeks. In case you are interested the 2nd Zbrush Summit is being held in Los Angeles at the Gnomon School September 25th through September 27th. If you can’t go in person the entire thing will be streamed live. To get more information go to the Pixologic website at pixologic.com. I am really looking forward to this event. And hope to have much to share afterwards. Of course, my brain will be so full it may take me weeks to get it all sorted out.

Keep checking back for more news and updates on projects and art pieces.

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Weekly Update September 1, 2015 — Still Trying to Make it All Work

Posted on September 1, 2015 by SusanG

Vacations are a blessing and a curse. The blessing part is pretty apparent for most of us. Time of from work, and chance to sleep in, catch up on projects, go visit some place new. The downsides of vacation are not always so obvious, but they are there some what disguised. Ok. Yes there are the obvious downsides when you return to work. I’m
talking about the ones during vacation. Where you stay up too late and then sleep in and get your whole schedule cock-eyed so that it then becomes difficult to get motivated to get things done. That can be very frustrating when you were planning on getting several things done.

As you can tell my vacation from my day job has not started out with quite the bang I had hoped. With some luck and a little discipline on my part, I have time to turn it
around. I last week I was so excited about vacation I was almost giddy. I felt a little silly about it. I’m not going any place. I’m staying home. But I have only 3 things I’m really hoping to accomplish instead of trying to do everything and that might be why I was so excited. Of course being so excited might be why I didn’t get done some of the stuff I wanted to last week. It was Tuesday before the weekly post went out. Though I did have it written the night before. And then it took me a couple of days to get the pictures together and the article written for the Sticks post. Those did take up most of my week. I tend to not register how much time it can really take to write the article and then get it posted. So when I get done getting a post up, I usually have run out of day.

I have been reading “Creating Characters with Personality” by Tom Bancroft and trying to experiment with what I learn. Sometimes it works out pretty good and others, not quite as I expect. It has helped a little with my understanding and it even seems to be stretching my skills some. Of course I’m not putting near the practice time in that I could. Still the concepts seep in and they start to have some influence over what comes out on the paper. The book certainly had some influence on a couple of the sketchbook pieces last week. I even had a bonus piece or two. Though the week was a little slow to get started.

I guess, when you can’t think of anything else to draw a good ol’ clay style pot will do. So that’s what we get for the first entry.

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An attempt to use one of the techniques I had been reading about. I had intended it to look like a person with a bit of a pear shaped head on top of a pear-shaped body. That
so didn’t happen. Instead I have sort of odd-looking penguin? I think?

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This is working a little better. It’s closer to what I was thinking. I kind of like the way it came out. It’s a little different from what I usually do and that’s ok.

 

 

 

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This was definitely influenced by the idea of breaking things down into primitive shapes and also using tilt and angles for posing. I was a little surprised it worked out as well as it did. And no, I’m not sure if it’s an Elf or a Vulcan. You can choose.

 

 

 

 

For this one I started with the glasses. I was going to just drawn sunglasses but it turned out there was a face behind them. So I did the face as well. I am particularly
fond of the way the lips and the nose turned out. Drawing noses and mouths or lips tend to give me tremendous angst. So for both to turn out so well for the same piece,
that’s just an awesome feeling.

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I did have some extra stuff this week. I was at work and about to go to lunch when this gem insisted on being committed to paper. Anyone know her? She looks like she might be
trying to get into some trouble.

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And after reading far enough in the Tom Bancroft book I had an urge to draw one or more of the characters from Big Hero 6. So I got out the book I have on the art of the movie and found a nice sketch of GoGo to work from. It turned out to be surprisingly easy. Though I did have some trouble with a couple of hair sections at first and right hand didn’t quite work. Still I’m very pleased with the results. Oh and the copy notice on the picture is obviously only for my rendition of the character. Disney and Marvel Studios own the copy right on the character and her design.

 

 

That was the sketchbook. I did get that promised article about Sticks posted, in case you missed it. I made a trip to the art supply store to try to find an option for the frame for the guitar piece. That was a bust. Though, I did get some good information and a better understanding of what’s available. So I will probably go with something stock and just let it be cropped to 11 inches by 14 inches.

I also got started on the finishing touches for the guitar piece. I’ve got some detailing that I’m working on and then I’ll see what areas might need an additional layer of
dots. That’s one of the small set of things I’m working on for the vacation week.

Aside from getting some chores done and making it to a third class of Taekwondo this week and going out to see a band play, the rest of the weekend was a bit of a bust. Perhaps next weekend will be more interesting or productive or successful or whatever this one wasn’t. Check back to find out.

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Prepping Sticks for Animating

Posted on August 28, 2015 by SusanG

A couple of weeks ago I introduced you to Sticks the new mascot for SusanG Productions. I had him modeled and ready to set up for animating, then I made some adjustments

thinking they would facilitate animating him. They might have, or not, but they also took away some of the character of Sticks.

When I got ready to start the process of rigging Sticks I thought all his pieces needed to be connected so he was one smooth object and not a bunch of pieces. So I attached all his parts and then went about deleting faces and welding points so that he was one object with the one element and not one object with several elements.

Then I set about starting the rigging process. For those who don’t know, rigging for animation is the process of creating bones and controls to make the animating easier. It helps, when rigging a character, to have them in a T-pose, standing straight with arms straight out to the side.

I hadn’t posed Sticks in the T-pose before I connected his parts so I had to do it after. With all his pieces and parts connected I could only get him in more of an A shaped pose without some serious pinching. This is where I could have stopped and re-evaluated but I pressed on only to discover why a T-pose for rigging and not an A-pose.
So why a T-pose and not an A-pose? It turns out to be pretty simple. With a T-pose it’s easier to see the side of the body and easier to figure out where the joints should be. With an A-pose the hands and arms block that view from the side and so make it more difficult to add the bones. Yes, you can do it from the front or back but there are some parts that are just better or more easily done from the side.

Still I persisted and got started adding bones and controls. Here I have the xray feature turned on and you can see how hard it is to see the bones through the hand and arm.

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I continued along to where I had both legs and their basic controls setup. Here’s what it looks like with Sticks in xray mode.

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Here’s what the bones and controls look like with Sticks hidden. It’s kind of interesting, and will get much more cluttered looking.

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Fortunately, I stepped away from the computer for a while. That gave me the opportunity to reconsider my approach. I didn’t like the way things were going to look and deform with everything connected. It wasn’t going to be the Sticks I designed. And I decided I need to make a small adjustment to the design.

I made my design change first. It would be easier than doing it later. In the original design Sticks had no ankles. However, I have one sketch of him where I was working out the 3D idea, and in that, I gave him ankles. When I started rigging I wondereind if maybe he should have ankles and now he does. Adding them was fairly easy. I had the foresight to save the original design of Sticks as a separate file before I connected his parts so I just went back to that file and added the ankles. I saved that and then saved it as a new file so I could adjust his pose and start rigging.

I still needed all the parts attached so he’s one object and so the skinning will work right. And that’s what I did. I just attached everything but I didn’t connect any of it. This way I have one object with several elements. I can select the individual elements and change them without deforming other parts. That’s the beauty of Sticks.

Here he is now in all his current T-pose glory ready to be rigged.

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It maybe that I’m wrong and this idea won’t work either but it’s worth a try and it should maintain the design and personality of Sticks. We’ll see how it goes.

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