Most of this is just self-notes for...well.. myself, but it's covering a couple lessons I've learned in my bird beast concepts/speedsculpts. I struggle with design, and a lot of other areas in 2d, and 3d is my chance to roam wild. I feel so much more comfortable in zbrush. But even then I still come across a lot of snags and don't always remember the key points.
Pine Grosbeak
2d
-I felt broken when I began- just kept drawing the bird over and over and at one point gave up and made something on top of the bird. Not sure how successful that choice was but it gave me a better start for the sculpt.
-Working on textures from AO bakes has led me to focus a lot less on details when doing 2d sketches
3d
-Fur isnt a good idea in a speed sculpt, which is obvious, what was I thinking
-Some minor details like cuts go a long way
-In this sculpt I learned it was more fun to use my concepts as general guidelines and make a different version of them rather than to actually sculpt my concepts :P
Chickadee
2d
-Sometimes it's harder to really get what I want in a drawing but I have a clear enough idea of what I'm going for it's easier in the sculpt.
3d
-Mixing ideas of what you want to do for the teeth is bad, things get sloppy and confusing fast
-Coloring in zbrush doesnt give me the results I want at all, im too used to painting in photoshop or 3dcoat at this point and my paints end up looking like base colors
Cardinal
2d
-Fighting ideas will end up looking like fighting ideas, best to pick a direction and run, not choose one and then consider others.
3d
-Asymmetry isn't always necessary and can really hurt a sculpt when going for speed (even if I do think it'll make it more interesting)
-Spraying places with an alpha to give things texture will more likely just end up looking like you just sprayed on an alpha
-Spend enough time on masks and double check your mesh after you make a move or rotate before resuming sculpt, going for speed or not
Commenting here because these are really interesting insights that got my attention. I can definitely relate to many of them myself, notably the one about having multiple unfocused ideas conflicting and muddying up a concept (happens to me with pose as well as design elements in general, and is the leading cause of me shelving a sculpt out of frustration) and the one about coloring.
ReplyDeleteOne thing a teacher I had in college taught me about color was building them up by layering on different hues, working in passes, rather than just one coat of what you imagine the end result hue should be, especially with something extra complex like skin.
I'm really glad you can relate :) that's part of why I posted this. To give people insight, see if I'm not alone, and to see if anyone had any solutions/recommendations for me XD
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty good trick with the hue, and I know that and practice it with acrylics, but I have such a weird disconnect when I'm doing things digitally. I think I might try drawing out the next concept, then coloring, I bet that'll make a world of a difference.