One project I have been working on recently was a hand sketching assignment with one of the components being drawing the hair of a character. And it turns out, hair is harder than it looks! Getting the overall shape of the hair right is hard enough. Factor in trying to get the shading and lines inside the general shape to a natural look, and that difficulty increases exponentially. The one way to improve at this that I have found is to try drawing what you want over and over again until it starts to look more like hair than grey spaghetti.
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While I was creating dice for the roll the dice project, one of the techniques introduced was the switching between a Nurms object and an editable poly. This had the effect of smoothing out any sharp edges on the shape, and allowed the die to look much more natural. I thought this technique was interesting, as it isn't a specific tool, but rather, it instead uses the process that occurs when you switch modes to achieve the desired results. This is a departure from what I have previously done in 3D Studio Max, and I believe it is an interesting method of accomplishing the objective, and one that departs from other techniques that I have gotten the chance to work with.
I was recently working on a sketch assignment for class, and while I did well on the actual drawings, I was graded down for having a liquid stain on my page. The stain was there because, like most people, I cannot function in the mornings without coffee. While it was only a drop, it still got ten points taken off my grade. Even so, I think I made the right call turning it in anyways, as I had gotten most of the way through the drawings. In the future, I will drink my coffee before sketching.
I have been working on a project for class recently, and one tool that it requires the use of is splines. Splines are a two dimensional shape that can be turned into a three dimensional object. This is a very useful tool, but it can be a bit... interesting to work with. You have to be very careful not to let any faces overlap when you convert it to a three dimensional shape, especially if you are using the lathe tool. Overall, however, as I said before, the ability to add a third dimension to a two dimensional shape makes life a lot easier.
Today, I took a test on the design process and how to go about landing a job. Instead of studying those materials, however, I went over the materials on 3D modeling with 3D Studio Max. This made the test considerably more difficult. This really highlights the need to double check an assignment's description, as if I had read the description of this test, I would have known which materials to study. In the future I will need to do a better job of checking things like that. Despite my error, I still got 28/30 correct, so I would say it turned out well.Recently, I did a piece of artwork for a class assignment that involved a lot of negative space being used (It is in my portfolio). While I was making it, I gave some thought to how negative space can be used. The way I used it was in creating a sense of isolation, but it could also be put to a number of other uses. You could use it to create shapes separate from the shapes and images not in the negative space. You could also build upon the positive shapes, and add to the same image instead of creating a new image within the piece of art. A third way you could use it would be to emphasize a word or image, as the absence of anything else can draw attention to something just as well, if not better, than a bunch of shapes and lines added for emphasis. In summary, there are a lot of ways to use negative space, and it is an extremely useful tool for anybody to be able to use.
Possibly the most difficult aspect of this year so far hasn't been any kind of new technique or software, but managing my time in way that lets me get all of my work done. I have had to make a lot more systems for adding structure that keeps me focused on my work. A lot of this has been planning with things like schedules and planners, which can help me keep track of what exactly I have to do. My parents have also been an extremely useful resource for keeping me focused. This year has been very strange so far, and I don't work very well without structures in place to keep me on track, and most, if not all, of these structures were taken away with the onset of lockdown.
(Note: This post and the accompanying art were created a couple days after the first deadline, and I just forgot to post them until now. It's okay if you decide not to give me credit, I just want you to know what happened. Also, what I created was a concept for a toy based off of the appearance of some weapons, not an actual weapon.)
One skill that I explored over the summer was trying to make a 3D model based off a reference image. One thing that I learned very quickly was that I need more than one image to work with, as it was tricky to get the perspective correct using just one image. This was because to make a model, you need to be able to see all of the dimensions of the object. I also had trouble not going into too much detail. This is a recurring problem for me, and I had to force myself not to be a perfectionist, and to just wrap up the model.
https://www.recoilweb.com/9mm-tommy-gun-from-auto-ordnance-now-shipping-139444.html There are a couple things that excite me about the upcoming year in DDA2. The first is that as most of our work will be with computers, and due to the current situation, most learning will be online. I think that this class will adapt well to online learning. I am also excited about doing more with 3D modeling this year. This is because I plan on having a career in engineering, and 3D modeling will be useful for that, and because it is fun. In short, I am looking forward to DDA2 because I think it will be a fun, useful class that will transition smoothly to online learning.
For this project I was trying out the program Fusion 360 from Autodesk. I was mostly trying to see what I could figure out on my own before I started looking things up. I did get some basic information when I got stuck in a couple places, but over all I ended up being able to figure most of it out on my own. The test project that I used for this was trying to make a model tanker truck.
-I tried to make a tanker truck in Fusion 360 w/out too much searching. -I think it went pretty well. Works Cited “Top 10 Tips for Fusion 360 Beginners!” Fusion 360 Blog, 5 Mar. 2020, www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/blog/top-10-tips-for-fusion-360-beginners/. |
My name is Nathaniel Cole. I am currently a student at Durham School of the Arts. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Durham School of the Arts or Durham Public Schools. Archives
November 2020
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