Tobias Wirefly's sketchbook

So I have decided to start a sketchbook, as is evidenced by the fact I have started one and you are reading it. facepalm

:confused:

I have been using blender for about six months, I’m still not great but would like to get better with the help of comments and crits from other artists on this site.

So have a look and let me know your thoughts.

Cheers :RocknRoll:

Welcome to the forum!

Start posting stuff and we’ll see what we can do. :slight_smile:

Hi amprod, thanks for the prompt and kind welcome.

Here is a render that I made yesterday of a werewolf’s transformation. I wanted to illustrate the sad pathetic tormented side of the creature and make him look more human. It was the first time I had attempted to use Blender’s hair system with the cycles renderer and I think I still have some practice ahead of me :frowning:


This is some older stuff, from before i moved to Blender. Mainly 3ds max and vray



Magical Island


Mountain sunset


Sunset Island

More old stuff:


Abandoned shack


Adam and Christopher


Sweet Water - Inspired by Voyage of the dawn treader book

Newer Blender / Cycles stuff:


Bughatti Veyron (unfinished)


Wire 1


Wire 2

More Bughatti Veyron (unfinished)




Dragon




I really do wish I could see what you are talking about, but the render you uploaded isn’t giving a lot of light. All I can see is a dark shadow behind his neck.

The description sounds very interesting, but it is difficult to interpret the picture itself with such limited visibility.

Was this intentional? If so, I will try again with that in mind.

Hi amprod, no this wasn’t intentional. It looks quite bright on my screen, I guess it needs calibrating to be more accurate. I shall re-render with this in mind and make a brighter one.
Thanks

Oh, my bad. I asked the computer to reply directly to the werewolf transformation upload, but now I see it posted my reponse at the very end of the thread.

Did you realize which one I was talking about?

Sorry about that.

It’s OK I knew which one you were talking about. It’s difficult as I have just joined and the first ten posts of a new user have to be manually and individually moderated before they appear on the site. So they appeared before your post after you wrote it. Anyway I have re-rendered a brighter werewolf, I am thinking about buying a recalibration eye to make sure my screen is accurate in future.
I hope this image is easier to see:


I see that you have skill. (I stared at your werewolf for about 20 minutes, so here’s what I’ve come up with:)

You appear to be quite accomplished in the area of modeling, but there is much more to painting a picture.

There seem to be two different types of poeple in the world: those who admire art for its emotional power and those who admire it for pleasure.

An artist needs to appeal to both.

This werefolf (besides the static charge above its arm) appeals almost entirely to the pleasure seekers. It looks cool, interesting, and fairly original. Its detail captivates and its environment is heard.

However,

It is nearly impossible to connect emotionally to this character.
The representation of both personalities (human; wolf) is unbalanced, which further prevents connection.
There is no clear intent in the character’s depiction (what is he trying to do?)

A universal issue is the lack of symbolism and drama.

So, all this being said, if I were you I would first try to add some symbolism. This would most easily take the form of a cleverly placed prop. And along the way, TELL A STORY. Think your favorite part about your favorite wherewolf movie, go the next level with it, make it original, and use your modeling experience as a TOOL; a tool to help tell the story. Let your artist’s message run the show. The rest will benefit directly from this.

Anyways, I’m pretty sure you added the chain to his leg since the last render? Nice addition, but you could maybe go the extra mile and manipulate its location and basic properties to easily add intent to the character and some drama. Do you get what I mean?

Hope this helps,

                                                                                    And would anyone else out there care to join in???     The reply button is right down there:

"So here’s what I’ve come up with:) "

Oops, I meant, "come up with : ) "

Auto correct… :spin:

Wow thanks amprod. That was a really detailed, insightful and useful post. You have hit the nail on the head and put into words something I have been feeling for a long time. Namely that I am (finally) techically proficient but still not really a proper “artist”. I think this medium can sometimes involve so much learning and technical knowledge that you forget to grow as an artist and just become a keyboard monkey :wink:

To be honest I have a bad habit of moving on to the next thing too quickly which is why I never end up with a polished piece when I start a project. Your words have inspired me to continue with the wereworld pic and see if I can inject some emotion/meaning/resonance in there. Thanks so much for taking the time to analyse and critique.

I think I need to spend some more time on creating a believable and meaningful environment and, as you rightly say, tell a story.