Ode to a computer

After seven years of faithful service my PC has finally croaked. It has been "Frankensteined" several times to breathe new life into a incredibly out-of-date dual core rig. I believe it may have been laid to rest by either 3ds Max or Zbrush pushing it that tiny bit too far.

I've got a new machine today and it's a super-beast! Let's hope this machine can survive seven years too.

The Dozer - Wheels

The pieces are starting to come together, the model doesn't look so abstract anymore. On to building the cabin next, this could take some time.

The Dozer - Suspension Pt 2

That's one of the more complicated parts of the bulldozer constructed, straight on to the next step! I'd recommend Eat3D tutorials to anyone wanting to refine their 3D modeling skills, they do jump ahead at times but where's the challenge in being spoon fed every little detail?

Anatomy for the Artist

I've picked up an amazing antomy book from Future Publishing called Anatomy for the Artist Volume 1. Whenever I'm taking a break from modeling in 3ds Max or Zbrush, I'll be practicing my anatomy drawing. I'm starting with arms because I can't draw arms, Yet.

1 Point Perspective Studies

These two images are the result of trying to test myself with freehand 1 point perspective drawing. I've started with a linear 2D design and attempted to predict what it should look like in 3D space. The colour was added purely so I could distinguish between the different faces of the design. I'm really trying to push my freehand skills to improve my understanding of 3D form. The more I know, the better I can design!

Value Studies

I bought myself a set of Copic tonal markers and some rather nice Copic marker paper. I've used Kurecolor and Prismacolor markers before and they don't even compare to the quality of Copic markers. The price tag is pretty high, but they're far more forgiving than the cheaper brands.

Here's a couple of value studies I created with some help from Scott Robertson.

Freehand Perspective Practice

I've been revisting some of my foundations skills with a little help from Feng Zhu and Scott Robertson. I'm trying to do everything freehand. Scott Robertson encourages drawing thousands of freehand lines and circles until you can draw them perfectly. I've probably drawn over 500 pages of both, and inhertited some mild OCD as a result.

The Dozer - Suspension Pt 1

Here's a little work in progress on the individual high poly sections of the bulldozer I'm building in 3ds Max. I've recently been following an artist called Vitaly Bulgarov and I picked up a really good idea from him. He models tons of mechanical parts in 3d and then uses them as a starting block for new ideas. Starting next week, I'm going to do the same!

Zbrush!

I've been using some of the new sculpting tools in Pixologic Zbrush 4R5. I still can't get over how fast it is, I can't wait to start using the hard surface tools to make my own robot sculpts. Here's a couple of shots of a quick 30 minute sculpt.

The Dozer - Lower Frame

I've just completed the second part of the "Dozer part 1" tutorial. Below are the low-poly and turbosmoothed views of the model. The whole thing took me around 3-4 hours. I'm starting to speed up a little, I just need to shake the rest of this rust off!

The Dozer

This is the start of a new tutorial I'm working on called the Dozer part 1 by Eat3D. I'll be working on the second part of the tutorial tomorrow. I'm really rusty with 3ds Max but I can feel myself getting to grips with it again already. I believe if I can complete this tutorail and a few others like it, I should be well on my way to creating my own designs to a professional level!