Rigging Dummies by a Dummy

Oh goodness, rigging is certainly one o those little subtle nuances that takes time, patience, and LOTS of practice. There are so many minute details that, if you leave out one, it can throw a multitude of others off as well.

Of course, this little 'curse' (which is what I find I often do during this process) also becomes a blessing. As you are forced to go back, re do and undo and re do again, you begin to pick up a lot more tricks along the way. I hope to have a small animation soon.

Little Bit of Digital Sculpting

Having made the resin pour recently, I also wanted to create Olaf digitally using a program called Blender. Blender's a great program that is also open source; and for someone with a limited income, such as myself, this is a great opportunity to learn digital modeling without tearing apart the pocket book. There are numerous videos on each step of the process throughout the web. Some of the best ones I found through: CG Tuts+ and Blender Cookie

Modeling the character was pretty simple to do once I got the hang of the shortkeys. There are still some rough edges to work out, but since he is a pretty simple character and since I am just looking to use this for reference, for the moment this is fine.

A close-up of Olaf. Love the glasses!

The rigging is in and finishing up on some weight painting. Looking forward to posing this fellow, as well as adding clothing, hair, and textures [although I hear that takes a lot of patience].

Window of Time

As part of the list suggestions from the Facebook post, someone asked me to do a window of time as seen by a child...or how a child may imagine this expression.  To me, it suggests a sense of urgency as well as a little bit of self doubt. It is as though not only do you have that small window of opportunity to get something done, but all eyes are watching you.

Trying not to get locked in too much with one style, this piece is obviously much more graphic design oriented. Simple lines, quick repeated loops and choppy lettering add to this piece.

Total practice 'sketch' time: 15 minutes.

This is what happens...

Yesterday was one of those days - you know the ones. You are ready to draw and sketch away. Pencils and eraser at the ready, with a nice black pen nearby to capture some strong lines...and then...nothing.  Loops, swoops, swirls and straight lines...nothing inspires.

As much as Facebook has taken a big hit on the favorites for social media lately, it still holds tried and true for one thing: ask for suggestions on sketching and get a slew of answers, from the ridiculous to the most spiritually themed.  This one was the the first suggestion someone had: "recreate American Gothic as if inspired by Tim Burton."

So, "American Goric" by me, as inspired by Tim Burton: Total time, approximately 30 minutes - for fun.

Thank you Kathy for the kickstart!

Bomb Bay Tea Company - Research and Development

Finished this morning!

Work in Progress - Halcyon, Florida and Steampunk!

Working on a piece for a friend and her daughter in the theme of Steampunk.  Having not done this type of theme too much prior, this has been FUN!

Starting with their picture:

Taken into photoshop and slanted the perspective a bit. I also changed the daughters head position in the next sketch:

Still working, using the line art as an initial guide and now going in to create lines without creating lines. Still a bit to go, but it has come quite a ways so far:

Their mock company, Bomb Bay Tea Company, is a mock venture for the whole family. An earlier piece was done for her husband, David, and their son Max: