Seabug tomorrow! Come visit!
And my new game Knights Vs. Aliens is out! Go buy it! http://bit.ly/GetKvA
oscarbaechler@gmail.com
View Oscar Baechler's profile
4/8/11
20 min. sketch
Seabug tomorrow! Come visit!
And my new game Knights Vs. Aliens is out! Go buy it! http://bit.ly/GetKvA
oscarbaechler@gmail.com
View Oscar Baechler's profile
4/4/11
Seabug, April 9th!
In case you forgot, my off-monthly Blender shindig is still going strong! The next Seabug (Seattle Blender User Group) is April 9th, and we'll be doing lots of fun stuff. Learn more and RSVP at the Seabug eventbrite page!
oscarbaechler@gmail.com
View Oscar Baechler's profile
oscarbaechler@gmail.com
View Oscar Baechler's profile
4/3/11
My article in BlenderArt Magazine
Check it out! I wrote up an article for BlenderArt Magazine on how to make tile-tastic naturalist 2D sprite environments. So nice to see your name in print :D
http://blenderart.org/2011/04/01/blenderart-mag-issue-32-now-available/
oscarbaechler@gmail.com
View Oscar Baechler's profile
http://blenderart.org/2011/04/01/blenderart-mag-issue-32-now-available/
oscarbaechler@gmail.com
View Oscar Baechler's profile
3/29/11
Ivan Aivazovsky speed study
I continue to approach speed painting with a completely noncommittal experimental outlook. This time I made up a new set of parameters:
•30 minute time limit
•Study of someone far greater than myself (in this case, Ivan Aivazovsky, whose ocean landscapes blow Turner out da water)
•Do mine at half the size of the original to keep it thumbnail-y
•NO COLORPICKING from the original. Had to eyeball everything.
Not perfect, alas, but acceptable for 30 minutes.
www.oscarts.org oscarbaechler@gmail.com
3/27/11
Blender splash screen contest!
Here's my 6 AM renders :D I'm a bit sleepy, to say the least.
3/15/11
Utterly misleading caricature progress
I have, in fact, NOT worked on this in about a month. But tonight I thought, "say, wasn't I going to finish that Dan Savage pic?" and opened the file. I apparently forgot that I did a complete start on a color pass :P
This in no way counts as a speed paint any more. Not only because I haven't opened it in a month, but also because I have no recollection of how much time is invested in it now. Somewhere between 3 and 6 hours is my best guess.
Anyway, on another note, I'm going to try and retire B&W starting images. The Tick drawing I did was done in straight color. This was B&W, then brought into color. The unfortunate truth is that I have so little trust for coloring via a layer mode transfer or fancy doodads like that, that I end up just painting in Normal mode, e.g. repainting the entire thing on top of itself. That wasted time is probably why I haven't looked at this in a month.
AlsoSpiresHDisoutforiPadandiPhone4sgobuyitandrateit! http://bit.ly/GetSpiresHD
www.oscarts.org oscarbaechler@gmail.com
www.oscarts.org oscarbaechler@gmail.com
3/14/11
Spires HD now available!
Hey guys! Spires HD just went live, with optimized graphics for iPads and retina iPhones. Also added a ton more Survival maps, Extreme difficulty, and the new Siege mode.
Check it out! http://bit.ly/GetSpiresHD
Here's a trailer I put together for it, edited/composited in Blender:
www.oscarts.org oscarbaechler@gmail.com
Check it out! http://bit.ly/GetSpiresHD
Here's a trailer I put together for it, edited/composited in Blender:
www.oscarts.org oscarbaechler@gmail.com
3/10/11
Playing with compositing more...
Not lovin' the pink horizon right now. Mostly just cranked it up to 11 while making sure it worked. Methinks I'll be shooting for an atmosphere akin to some of my favorite painters, ala Salomon Corrodi and Jean Leon Gerome.
Also hunted down more loose keyframe doublings, which was resulting in pop-locking, and also the foot sliding is fixed. Next up, animating him walking onto the platform thingie for a turntable.
www.oscarts.org oscarbaechler@gmail.com
Also hunted down more loose keyframe doublings, which was resulting in pop-locking, and also the foot sliding is fixed. Next up, animating him walking onto the platform thingie for a turntable.
www.oscarts.org oscarbaechler@gmail.com
2/26/11
My top 5 favorite illustration resources
A huge change between artists of my generation and older generations is the democratization of learning resources. Since time immemorial art has been a "pay to play" industry, where a significant chunk of change was needed simply to access learning resources, good teachers and educated peer feedback.
But we've got the internet baby! Forums are filled with helpful critique. Video tutorials still lack the true feedback of a face-to-face teacher, but still get you pretty far. People make tutorials to drive traffic to their personal websites. And if you're truly, desperately hungry for art, piracy provides a first rate black market education.
Now all people need is skill knowing where to look! So although I follow a gazillion fantastic blogs, forums and news sites, on various topics, here's my top 5 for illustration.
5. conceptart.org--it's finally finished!
There's a lot of great stuff on CA, but this particular forum thread is where people post finished pieces. I visit this fantastic place daily to see cutting-edge illustration in a variety of styles, in a finished format. We judge ourselves in comparison to what we're looking at, so the healthiest thing to do is be looking at the very best.
4. Art Knowledge News
Another resource that's technically not educational, AKN wins on sheer quantity. Posting press releases from galleries worldwide, they average upwards of 10 posts a day. In my opinion, no other site will leave you with an utter breadth of exposure to styles, history, culture, and namedrops.
3. Golden Age Comic Book Stories
This blog's name is a misnomer--Few of its posts are actual comic book panels. However, it is a phenomenal resource for old comic and magazine covers, and (bizarrely) illustrations from the Brandywine school, American illustration, classical painting and other goodies. I have found these guys to be consistently the best and most refreshing resource for a number of my favorite old-time artists: NC Wyeth, Howard Pyle, Frank Frazetta, Maxfield Parrish, Frank Schoonover, and many others. You might know that you like Howard Pyle, but this site will shock you with just how much content the dude put out.
2. The Gurney Journey
There's a new business model these days. You make a blog, you put content out regularly, and after a year you assemble that content and sell it as a book. James Gurney's blog uses that formula, and he deserves a gold medal for how to do it right. Gurney is the illustrator from Dinotopia, and uses his blog to showcase his production techniques, plus provide lovable anecdotes about himself and the artists that inspire him. The knowledge he drops on you is so good, you can't help but buy his books afterward, even if you already learned 80% of the info by reading his blog--it's just a way to tell him thanks.
1. The books of Andrew Loomis
Andrew Loomis was an American illustrator from the golden age of illustration. Working with peers such as Norman Rockwell, Haddon Sundblom and Gil Elvgren, he arguably outstripped these better-known contemporaries in artistic impact. How, you ask? By writing a series of art education books that still arguably have no equal. Many of the greatest illustrators alive today (Alex Ross and James Gurney, for example) credit him as a primary educational influence, and if you read his books you can see why.
His books are no longer in print. While this is tragic, they've been allowed to expire into the public domain, and thus are now freely available online in PDF form. My dad had Creative Illustration when he was a kid, and when he dug it out of storage and lent it to me, I was blown away. Later on, the internet informed me that the rabbit hole went even deeper--5 other awesome books to peruse. Not only that, but my dad's musty tome regularly goes for over $200 used on eBay!
Any other good resources out there? Lemme know!
www.oscarts.org oscarbaechler@gmail.com
But we've got the internet baby! Forums are filled with helpful critique. Video tutorials still lack the true feedback of a face-to-face teacher, but still get you pretty far. People make tutorials to drive traffic to their personal websites. And if you're truly, desperately hungry for art, piracy provides a first rate black market education.
Now all people need is skill knowing where to look! So although I follow a gazillion fantastic blogs, forums and news sites, on various topics, here's my top 5 for illustration.
5. conceptart.org--it's finally finished!
There's a lot of great stuff on CA, but this particular forum thread is where people post finished pieces. I visit this fantastic place daily to see cutting-edge illustration in a variety of styles, in a finished format. We judge ourselves in comparison to what we're looking at, so the healthiest thing to do is be looking at the very best.
4. Art Knowledge News
Another resource that's technically not educational, AKN wins on sheer quantity. Posting press releases from galleries worldwide, they average upwards of 10 posts a day. In my opinion, no other site will leave you with an utter breadth of exposure to styles, history, culture, and namedrops.
3. Golden Age Comic Book Stories
This blog's name is a misnomer--Few of its posts are actual comic book panels. However, it is a phenomenal resource for old comic and magazine covers, and (bizarrely) illustrations from the Brandywine school, American illustration, classical painting and other goodies. I have found these guys to be consistently the best and most refreshing resource for a number of my favorite old-time artists: NC Wyeth, Howard Pyle, Frank Frazetta, Maxfield Parrish, Frank Schoonover, and many others. You might know that you like Howard Pyle, but this site will shock you with just how much content the dude put out.
2. The Gurney Journey
There's a new business model these days. You make a blog, you put content out regularly, and after a year you assemble that content and sell it as a book. James Gurney's blog uses that formula, and he deserves a gold medal for how to do it right. Gurney is the illustrator from Dinotopia, and uses his blog to showcase his production techniques, plus provide lovable anecdotes about himself and the artists that inspire him. The knowledge he drops on you is so good, you can't help but buy his books afterward, even if you already learned 80% of the info by reading his blog--it's just a way to tell him thanks.
1. The books of Andrew Loomis
Andrew Loomis was an American illustrator from the golden age of illustration. Working with peers such as Norman Rockwell, Haddon Sundblom and Gil Elvgren, he arguably outstripped these better-known contemporaries in artistic impact. How, you ask? By writing a series of art education books that still arguably have no equal. Many of the greatest illustrators alive today (Alex Ross and James Gurney, for example) credit him as a primary educational influence, and if you read his books you can see why.
His books are no longer in print. While this is tragic, they've been allowed to expire into the public domain, and thus are now freely available online in PDF form. My dad had Creative Illustration when he was a kid, and when he dug it out of storage and lent it to me, I was blown away. Later on, the internet informed me that the rabbit hole went even deeper--5 other awesome books to peruse. Not only that, but my dad's musty tome regularly goes for over $200 used on eBay!
Any other good resources out there? Lemme know!
www.oscarts.org oscarbaechler@gmail.com
2/18/11
Dan Savage speedpaint WIP
About 2 and a half hours in on this one. Much of the best caricature IMHO is based on celebrities and politicians, and I wanted to do something relating to the upright citizens of our fair Seattle. So who better to start with than Dan Savage?
Here's the steps in reverse thus far. All photoshop.
1/23/11
Fashion illustrations
I find that at libraries and bookstores, I spend less time in the Art sections these days, and more time in odd reference topics, such as fashion, antiques, architecture, etc. I don't need a tenth "how to draw human anatomy" book, I need books on the flavor of human existence.
Here's some studies of illustrations in Cally Blackman's 100 Years of Fashion Illustration. I tried to name the dudes I was drawing from, but where my notation failed doublecheck the book. Good read! Also, random art theory note: People often have trouble wrapping their heads around Andy Warhol, and his ideas about multiples, mass production and pop art. Knowing he got his start in fashion illustration, it makes a lot more sense. Fashion deals a lot more with repeating textiles, and one "art piece" of a dress is designed for it to be worn by lots of people. In essence, he was applying the motives of fashion to visual art, where you normally make a singular unique painting, and that's where its value comes from.
1/17/11
Not-so-speedy Tick speed paint
You may remember this little exercise I dida while ago. I started purtying up my favorite head from then, and it's stretched beyond the restrictions of a speed painting. So here's my pic of The Tick.
Now I like it enough that, sigh, I'm going to burn even more time getting it really polished. Justice never sleeps!
Also, a quick interesting side note, I think it's fascinating how learning the technology behind something makes you a better artist, because then you draw the stuff you understand on a technical 3D level. I remember distinctly when I learned about Ambient Occlusion, and afterward tried like crazy to draw it in everywhere.
Similarly, nowadays I know a lot more about subsurface scattering. As a result, I tried to bring it out in this. All I did was brush in extra saturation on the transition from light into core shadow. It's easiest to spot on his cheeks. I'll have to play with that more.
1/16/11
Skirt cloth sim test
Here's the skirt with a cloth sim on it. The system of individual proxy cones for collisions seems to be working--they bounce as if friends with each other, but never intersect as if enemies of one another.
Also made a stop motion beard animation. The lengths I go to, just to avoid the tedium of sketchbook scanning. Sheesh.
www.oscarts.org oscarbaechler@gmail.com
1/15/11
Skirt and belt with a cheap clothsim
Here's a quick update on the skirt. I'm currently working on adding a hemline and rendering out an animation. I found that the best way to handle the two-level pleated skirt was to have them only collide with a proxy cone around her waist, one per skirt layer. It makes it go faster, and also has the added benefit of dodging intersections.
I'm reeeeaally itching to just dive into materials and texturing, but am trying to be sensible and hold off.
Stay tuned for video!
1/2/11
Production limitation goals, AO & SSS stress tests
Added more detail to the concept for her blouse, since we can't just go with a girl's ripped tank top forever. Now I'm aiming for a square neckline victorian nightgown, which IMHO will bring out a bit of "bedroom" vibe, which befits this young lass's, ahem, personality.
I modeled the blouse more toward the square neckline and straps, and also added the "damsel in distress" rips along the shirt's edge. Much as I'd like to just dive into texturing, methinks I'd better finish all the principle modeling :P
Additionally, I did some speed tests using Blender's Simplify tools for rendering. The speed jump between 100% and 75% is staggering, not so much between 75% and 50%. But in all cases, the quality suffers very little.
Long renders are the number one thing to kill my interest in a project, so I've got a number of specifics I'm holding to for this. Hopefully this should keep me to a minimal amount of watching paint dry.
- Crappy unwraps. Don't need pixel perfection. (lol, already broke this rule)
- Edge loop perfection. Don't need perfect edge loops. (wasted waaay too much time ignoring this rule already.)
- Limit of level 1 subsurfacing
- No raytracing
- Mesh reusing/rehashing
- Mirror modifiers
- No mesh intersections/fancy froo-froo stuff
Allowances
- Massage time spent on animation
- Approximation Ambient Occlusion
- Subsurface Scattering
- Heavy compositing
12/31/10
Some concept art to help with wardrobe
Trying to post a WIP update any time I get an evening to work on this. Usually the habit is I work on it all night, then am like, "ooh, if I just wait until morning when I add this one thing, then I can post a status update with a better screen shot." And we all know where that vicious cycle goes :P
Was testing some material settings for hair, and in my spare time tried to mock up where the costume would be going. So, of course, now it's 2:20 AM and I spent too much time on concept art
www.oscarts.org oscarbaechler@gmail.com
Was testing some material settings for hair, and in my spare time tried to mock up where the costume would be going. So, of course, now it's 2:20 AM and I spent too much time on concept art
www.oscarts.org oscarbaechler@gmail.com
12/29/10
New project, motha truckas!
I showed off the initial exploits for this at the last Seabug. At that point I had just finished the initial body modeling and layered SSS setup. I want to be more regular in logging exploits of this new project. Other silly goals are to first release each of the characters as individual files on Blendswap for shorter, more achievable goals that bleeds toward a longterm short film goal.
For chronology's sake, here's some earlier production pics I sent over Twitter. Here's first pass at modeling:
First progress on multilayer SSS:
And now, where I'm at currently. Eyes are improved, Hair has a start on model and texturing. Her blouse is currently just a modeling test, to get a big stack of modifiers working (Mirror, Armature, Subsurf, Shrinkwrap, Smooth, Solidify.) But chances are still high that I'll flatten it all down and just weight-paint it
Any feedback appreciated. Will try and have an outfit concept drawn up next, so I ain't modeling blind!
www.oscarts.org oscarbaechler@gmail.com
For chronology's sake, here's some earlier production pics I sent over Twitter. Here's first pass at modeling:
First progress on multilayer SSS:
And now, where I'm at currently. Eyes are improved, Hair has a start on model and texturing. Her blouse is currently just a modeling test, to get a big stack of modifiers working (Mirror, Armature, Subsurf, Shrinkwrap, Smooth, Solidify.) But chances are still high that I'll flatten it all down and just weight-paint it
Any feedback appreciated. Will try and have an outfit concept drawn up next, so I ain't modeling blind!
www.oscarts.org oscarbaechler@gmail.com
12/25/10
11/29/10
Water simulation I did over the weekend
No raytracing, some mild compositing.
If only there were some sort of venue I could show off how I made this...Oh yeah! December 4th's Seabug is fast approaching! Tickets are free but space is limited, so go and RSVP at http://seabug.eventbrite.com now!
11/3/10
Head Thumbnails
Two days ago I sat down to do an hour of photoshop calisthenics, and it wasn't flowing out for me. I've started three speedpaints since the last one, and although they're all good at the base level I lacked motivation to work them into frothy completion.
So I started thumbnailing, and I really enjoyed some of the new brushes in Photoshop CS 3. The finished project, meh, but I was on a role.
Then I got another idea: Let's just make a bunch of abstract shapes, sleep on it, then tomorrow build those into finished line drawings. Here's the abstract shapes:
And here's the new heads. Hot diggity! Next up I'm gonna throw hair on 'em all, because leaving characters bald is a bad drawing habit I should work on. Bottom row #3 is my favorite. Might work him up to a finished piece.
In addition to not drawing hair on enough, it's worth cataloging that another bad habit of mine is drawing people with their mouth closed. Food for thought.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)