This is my first, original piece. There was a time-limit, so my goat sucks. I couldn’t figure it out. I only had been using the program for 32 days. I have learned a lot, thus far. I am new to 3D modeling. I really want to learn more. Other than the goat, can I get feedback on the rest of the picture, please?
Ang
Here are some quick notes FWIW. The image seems squished (evident in the stocking and the leaning bale). The composition is a bit straight on. The dark blue background is flat, it could add some contrast to the scene. The hay floor looks so even it may be my shag carpet from the 60’s.
Looks like a lot of work went into this. Don’t get discouraged and keep on improving. Thanks for sharing.
doing so well for 32 days! The hay is really good!
- maybe add subdivide modifier to triangular roof?
- a bit more interesting background?
- since goat is subject of focus, u can always improve there
- you can make the tall structure a bit lower and render your image widescreen (for example 1280x720). Would help bring subject to better focus and remove needless space around it.
- you can try render with slight DOF (Depth of field)
- For composition add Vignette. Glow of lights.
Hey SheGeek! Thats some awesome progress for 32 days. You’ve started learning about particle hair, lighting, modelling and shading / texturing in that time. Which is more than what I managed in my first year.
So while everyone else will tell you specific things that you can look at to get better at blender or even 3D in general, I’m gonna try and give you tips that I wish someone would have told me. Cause I had no artistic background and that means Ive had to learn everything backwards. So here goes.
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Always remember that Blender (and whatever other cool new things you discover along your journey) are just tools. What you are trying to do is create art with that tool. It may seem obvious to some, but it definitely helped me to realise that I was trying to create something awesome without any understanding of visual art at all. So spend as much time as you spend in blender outside of it learning about visual art.
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Look at the old masters and learn how they created their work.
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Look at and follow amazing illustrators because what they do is the basis for any successful creation. Learning to sketch out your ideas is cruicial to working in teams.
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Look at photography and discover how lighting, camera angles, focal length, depth of field, colour and composition work and what they all do when combined in an awesome image. Because when you think about it, what you are doing when hitting F12 is taking a photograph of what you’ve created. There are good photographs and bad photographs. Knowing how photography works will make sure you are always making the good kind.
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Learn to solve problems on your own. This will come, but it wont come easy. At first you will be jacked in to the tutorials 24/7, but make a habbit of creating something completely new without referencing a tutorial. You will learn just as much. You will also learn how you work and what makes you work harder.
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And finally, learn to break down your idea from your sketch and be able to separate the image into small tasks. if you want to create a jungle castle, you need to create rocks, leaves, trees, columns, bricks, archways etc. So each of those items becomes an individual task. If you plan out these tasks right, you will work more efficienctly and it will be easier to see the light through the tunnel. Completing projects is something you should ALWAYS aim to do.
Those are the best tips I can give to a new user. You are in for such a wild ride of discovery and inspiration. I really look forward to seeing more from you.
Thank you all so much. I am still plugging a way at it. I am doing some more tutorials.
There is much to learn and never stop learning, but one thing that should help especially early on is to realize that there is a difference between design and modeling. Design is about getting the ideas, elements, style, composition etc. worked out and modeling is about executing/producing them.
If you like designing your stuff, full scenes like this or characters or whatever, it should help separating those two in how you work. That doesn’t need to be too complicated or require a lot of learning. Could for example
- start visualizing your idea by drawing thumbnail images. It works as a visual notes list and the small size forces you not to care about details or drawing ability. It’s not an image you set out to present to everyone, it’s a tool
- Look at reference photos for each item, similar images, and gather ideas. If you come across a similar image that you were thinking of and it looks nice, try and find out the reasons you like it. You can use those ideas in your artwork and still be original, just don’t copy the image
- maybe do a photobash over slightly larger version of your thumbnails if that helps the planning
Once you’ve made multiple thumbnails you can look at them and pick one, or decide there needs to be changes and then you could continue with thumbnails and/or combine elements from others to make one that you approve
That should give you a visual of what you’re set out to produce, even if rough one. If you still don’t like it, chances are others won’t either, but it’s still good news because you haven’t yet spent a lot of time modeling, adding materials, lighting, rendering to find out. Instead you can work on the problem.
Example from another thread. A thumbnail doesn’t have to be about the whole image either, it could be your notes about item placement/composition, lighting, amount of items, mood
Another example, not in thumbnail size
https://blenderartists.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=381487&d=1433004793
- is definitely not what you should be doing with thumbnails
- is more like it, not pretty nor does it have to be
- or could simplify further if it’s easier
- or even futher. Doesn’t matter if it’s just squares on there, if it helps you designing your scene
If I had these remarks when I begun, I would feel very depressed.
(Still I am, when I look what games/modern tech or just other sort of software can do, and we start of , always with a grey cube.)
To have a short response: I feel the same as Blurfoot so scale a few things in Z and change color on the goat… Put some stars in the sky, and add glare to lightbulbs, like those seen in Transformers 
Oh and put gaps on the hay that lays on the floor. Make it look like the Goat played there before going to sleep. Or hided something.
Now the long response:
Back when I was a kid a started with fotography. Then did animations on papers, then Corel + Premier and later 3ds Max. Learned with Help, books (I had 2 of them, one on max another one on maya) and later DVDs with tutorials. Used Max for school and faculty.
Nowdays, I started fresh, with Blender, and with great help of youtube. Andrew Price! Search for his tutorials. But just the ones that teach you blender 100%, but there are a few, that teach you more, and more than blender. Colors + Story.
Just like Blurfoot & DeadParrot pointed out, keep in mind is all about ClickBait. Look at the colors you used on your image then google on something different, and you will spot something. You will look at it for more that a second, maybe 2 or 3. Why? Because of how colors are filling the space. What composition you choose to make, is the one that will make a stranger, click, wow a second, like it, maybe share it and go on with his life. Because what is great, most people will find it also great. You too. So take your ideas to the next level. You have a great start so we here to assist you if needed!