Sketchbook Thread of James Tuvell

[Jimtuv]

Here is a hand I made using Blender 3d.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e210/jimtuv/Handredo4.jpg


http://gallery.mudpuddle.co.nz/d/14423-1/Handredo4.jpg

[Jimtuv]

A hand Study from the book Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist. Stephan Rogers Peck.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e210/jimtuv/Handstudy.jpg

[Jimtuv]

A little about me.

I am a 46 year old retired Computer Consultant. I have a wonderful wife and 3 children. I am disabled and have picked up art as therapy. About 2 years ago I downloaded a Thomas the Tank engine model for Microsoft Train Simulator and realized it didn't have a cab view. Well having a 2 year old son that was nuts about Thomas I went on a search for programs that would help me make a cab view for him to play with. I found Sketchup and began modeling with it but never liked the skecthy renders. So again I went in search of something better. I found Kerkythea a super render program and finished my model.


http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e210/jimtuv/Thomasfront.jpg


Next I stumbled upon Blender 3D while in the Kerkythea forum. From there I have been modeling for about 2 years. Last week while watching a video for a open source movie that the Blender foundation is doing, I saw a demo of some concept art done using Alchemy and MyPaint from the artist David Revoy. I decided to try my hand at painting. So here I am at the beginning of the journey. A bit old and worn but all for starting out into new territory. One hope that I have besides the joy of drawing is to improve my modeling and texturing skills by learning to paint.

Thanks for viewing my thread I hope you will enjoy my efforts.

[Jimtuv]

Here is my attempt at the shading tutorial by Rebecca Kimmel. 55 min MyPaint.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e210/jimtuv/Study-Anterior-Skull.png

[razz]

Welcome to the forum!

Good thing you're starting with anatomical studies. Sure is helpful. You could try making the forms more clear, individual muscles would stand out better, making it easier for you to understand where they stand. Take your time with these, they will be useful :)
Keep it up!

[Jimtuv]

Thank you so much for your visit razz. I will try hard to make the forms more clear. I do tend to get lost in the details.

[SpiritDreamer]

:) HEY James...Welcome to this forum...:)

Art has a magical way of taking the dis out of disabled, which i'm sure your finding out...:) and is a great therapy, even for those who consider themselves abled, for without it, anybody is naturally disabled, but just doesn't realize it..:D
I'm 57 and had to give up working as a Teamster and a hard life of labor in recent years due to a leg and back injury amongst a few other injuries and am now collecting a disability pension from the Veterans administration.
So now I get to watch the new grandson grow, and am also now ENABLED to do more of what i've always loved to do the most...MY ART....:)
Anyway..Just wanted to introduce myself, and to say thanks for stopping by my thread.:)

If you are going to be getting into the human anatomy part of art, which it appears you are, ..then you might want to get some of the books by an artist named Burne Hogarth...I had him as a teacher for awhile after I got out of the Navy years ago..He was a great teacher, one of the best in the field of anatomy, and also left behind some of the best books on the subject of anatomy...DYNAMIC FIGURE DRAWING being the best and most useful book on the subject that I have yet to encounter.
You can get his books on the internet, just google his name..they are not very expensive, and well worth the investment..will make your journy alot easier..guaranteed.
Anyway,...just trying to aim you in a good direction as you start out on this paths journy that you've entered onto and into.:)
Looking forward to seeing where this journy leads you to..so keep posting...:thumbsup:
TAKE CARE
Glenn

[Tasp]

James, I gotta say man, for a beginner your drawings are great! Your hand studies look good and your blender model is pretty awesome. The "flayed" sort of anatomy studies are one of my favorite things to look at to try and understand how the body is put together. Having layer after layer come off really shows you how it all works.

[Jimtuv]

I have been a bit busy lately so not much to show. I am trying to mix some 3d in here so I started a new piece I call Origins (bonsai of life).

Here is what I have done up tell now. It's still pretty rough as I just started out on it. I am blocking out the people and then roughing in from there.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e210/jimtuv/Bonsai002.png

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e210/jimtuv/Bonsai003.png

[SpiritDreamer]

Hi James..:)
I really like the concept in your last post...Lots of possibilities..Different seasons of life being just one of them. Seasons could be expressed by the color of the foilage/leaves/flowers on the branches, or absence of them to express winter....Just passing thoughts that may be useful to you.
Looking forward to seeing the progress on it..:)
TAKE CARE
Glenn

[aggie93]

Well, that is great therapy. You have strong work with your anatomy studies. And dabbling into 3D as well. I am impressed as well as encouraged by your abilities. Did you have any art experience before becoming disabled? How is Blender software? Should I look into it as a beginning 3D'er?

[mister3d]

Good works! Did you try zbrush? It's very interesting 3d-sculpting.

[Jimtuv]

Well, that is great therapy. You have strong work with your anatomy studies. And dabbling into 3D as well. I am impressed as well as encouraged by your abilities. Did you have any art experience before becoming disabled? How is Blender software? Should I look into it as a beginning 3D'er?

Thanks! I played at art as a young man painting mostly in oils but I have no training. I also apprenticed for a short time learning architectural render techniques drawing by hand but ended up going back to work in lawn sprinkling instead. I later learned programing and became a computer consultant. Then I became disabled and floundered for something to do. I am a horrible workaholic and retirement has been very hard for me. Taking up art has given me new life and kept my sanity I think. I hope one day to be able to be self supporting again and maybe art will be the avenue that will get me there.

Blender is one of the first programs I stumbled upon. It was a God send. It wasn't easy to learn and not very friendly to newbies but it is very powerful once you learn the proper techniques. My suggestion is if you chose to try Blender first find a good forum to help you along. I have chosen BlenderNewbies because it is very friendly and makes learning fun. The next piece of advice is to keep it super simple while you learn. Don't try doing complex shapes right away or you will get frustrated and quit. It's just like drawing. You should learn how to make a cube look good then move on to a sphere and so forth. Once you get good at moving things around you can start on more complex tasks.

Good works! Did you try zbrush? It's very interesting 3d-sculpting.

No I have not tried Zbrush. I just do not have that kinda cash. But Blender does have sculpting ability and I have tried that. The new version of Blender is supposed to have a much improved sculpt tool set so I am looking forward to when they release the beta version.

@SpiritDreamer Those are good ideas. I hadn't considered the season yet. Or it's implications to the meaning of the piece. I am leaning toward spring as it would fit the celebration of life theme. I do love fall color and will have a tough time not slipping those red and golden leaves in there :)

[Jimtuv]

A small update. I have been playing around with Blenders new texture painting tools. I added a tile-able bark texture and painted it right on the model (not sure if I like it yet). It's kinda cool to use images as brushes. I am sure going to have fun playing with roots in this piece. I just hope I don't over do it. I am just blocking in the next couple they will be on the shoulders of the first.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e210/jimtuv/Forum%20images/Bonsai006.png

[dscavenger]

its shaping up well man..keep at it..

[aggie93]

I just downloaded Blender 3D. I am learning the hotkeys and stuff. I have one box done so far and a background image. How long did it take you to learn it?

[Jimtuv]

I just downloaded Blender 3D. I am learning the hotkeys and stuff. I have one box done so far and a background image. How long did it take you to learn it?

I downloaded blender 2 years ago, but I modeled a lot for the first 10 months then we had a baby so I didn't have time to do anything for almost a year. I just picked it back up this last January. So in all about a year. There are some great tutorials on theses sites.

Blender Cookie (http://www.blendercookie.com/)

Blender Newbies (http://blendernewbies.blogspot.com/) (make sure to check out the forum)

Blender Underground (http://blenderunderground.com/)

Well here is my progress. I am almost done with the modeling. Just need to add a bunch of roots, twigs and leaves or needles (I am not sure which).

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e210/jimtuv/Forum%20images/Bonsai010.png

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e210/jimtuv/Forum%20images/Bonsai009.png

I am not sure which angle to use in the final render.

[aggie93]

Thanks. I will check these out later. Take for example this piece you are doing. You did not build each figure in the tree independently of each other by manipulating wire frames, did you? Is there another way to mold it like clay?


BTW this piece reminds me of the monolith statue in Oslo.

[Jimtuv]

Thanks. I will check these out later. Take for example this piece you are doing. You did not build each figure in the tree independently of each other by manipulating wire frames, did you? Is there another way to mold it like clay?


BTW this piece reminds me of the monolith statue in Oslo.

I did build each figure by itself using what they call box modeling or what you would term manipulating the wire frame. If you look back up at the images I posted you will see one with the man just started. This is how I did the whole piece. I placed box people in positions that I wanted then modeled around that box person.

There is another way to model in blender that is with sculpt tools (is like clay sculpting). It works a little like Zbrush or Mudbox but is not as advanced as those tools. However there is a major revision that will massively improve the sculpting tools.

I googled the monolith statue. I have never seen that statue before. It's remarkable how when people try to convey similar messages they tend to resort to simalar images.

Updated image
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e210/jimtuv/Bonsai014.png

[aggie93]

...I placed box people in positions that I wanted then modeled around that box person...

I hate to keep bothering you about this but when you say "modeled", what do you mean? You actually go in and manipulate each vector? That seems like a lot of work. It has taken me several days... not consistent... to get this blocky character that is on my thread.

[Jimtuv]

Yep that's what I did and yes it is a lot of work. Don't feel bad it took me forever to do my fist few models and everything seemed really hard. Once you get used to moving things around it gets quicker and quicker. It's the same with anything you want to do well it takes patients and hard work to get to the point that it comes easy. I am nowhere near that yet. It still is hard work for me and I have to do things three or four times before they look right. But the effort is worth it in the long run. Just remember to keep it as simple as you can to start and you will find that after some practice it gets easier and funner.

[Jimtuv]

I have been so busy lately with the kids I haven't had time to do much of anything. But I squeezed out some time the last few nights while everyone slept to get this mostly finished.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e210/jimtuv/Forum%20images/Bonsai032ssm.jpg

Here is the full sized 4096x2048 render
Origins Bonsai of Life (http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e210/jimtuv/Bonsai032.png)

[Jimtuv]

I just can't seem to find the right background and lighting for this. The composition just doesn't look good to me. So I tried again.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e210/jimtuv/Forum%20images/Bonsai034ssm.jpg

[mister3d]

Good work! Maybe move it a bit higher and to the left, so it does not fall out. Usually you make more space where the main lighting comes from, and where the character looks, so it has more space (the main source of interest). You can create different lighting setups, I suggest you trying several:
-two different lights from different sides, of different color and intensity
-no need to make it all uniform, make some shadowing from objects, like an accent lighting
-try to accent the lighting on the tree, making the rest less lit

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