Artefact 4
Artefact 4 has been an exploration in realistic cloth folds,
creases and drapery. The majority of the clothing is made out of soft materials.
I gathered reference images, watched a number of tutorials to train my eye to observe
the way cloth reacts with the body's contours. Creating good looking drapery,
folds etc has got to be one of the most challenging tasks I have undertaken as
an artist. Even if they are even slightly incorrect they make the model look awkward.
This in turn reminds the viewer that there looking at something synthetic, and
less believable. Drapery reacts to gravity dependant on the weight and type of
material, and has anchor points where the folds, creases start from. It bunches
up if it is a lighter material, on the backs of the legs you get a kind of zig
zags where the material is being stretched across the surface. There a lot of
different factors which change the way the material flows and is perceived depending
on the situation.
Creating realistic hands was another big challenge; I used
my own had as reference and some literature that come with one of the tutorials
on best practises for creating heads and hands. We look at hands as regularly
as faces, so again if they are not given the right attention. This can belie
the sense of reality, and betray the model. There are so many complexities to
the anatomy of the hands, that it would be easy to make mistakes, I sculpted
that part of the model more than I would have expected.
I endeavoured to include elements that added interest and
cohesiveness with the rest of the characters attire. For example battle damage
on the leather chest area and belt, which connected the idea of the long years
of battle, this also links to that of his facial scars and weariness.
Artefact 5
This artefact focussed on how sss (sub surface scattering),
textures, colour theory and shaders work together to create a more cohesive
model. The colours from the head texture were used as a base to start the rest
of the design. Colour theory was an element I had not talked about in much
depth in the research document, I wanted to rectify this. Colour theory is the
bases of all texture work, and pushes the model further and to use colour effectively
in design you need to follow some guidelines on the implementation of it.
I used colours with a peaceful tone to them, using mostly
complimentary colours directly opposite each other on a colour wheel to emphasise
the characters peaceful, and pure demeanour. In western cultures certain
colours evoke an emotional response, creating a perception of what a character
stands for; black and red is perceived to be inherently evil, whereas white,
blues and greens, depending on the hue are generally seen as something more
calm, pure and welcoming.
Once again I tuned to a professional for their opinion about
what I had created; I gained better insight into the creation of realistic drapery
and design ideas from Adam Fisher, an Australian freelance character artist who
was nice enough to do paint over of a few shots I asked him to look at. It was an eye opening experience from his critiques
I learnt that a good percentage of the improvements he had suggested, was not
a shock to me, It was a positive outcome to know all the hard work I have been
doing in developing characters had started to pay off.
I tested sub surface scattering and shader creation for the
first time in zbrush, sss is found in when light bleeds through certain object
like skin, and bounces back out again which leaves a subtle glow like effect. CG
Skin can look lifeless without this key aspect that integrates with other
effects E.G Ambient Occlusion and specular highlights.
