3D Model Project
I put together a small moodboard of gothic and victorian fashion as inspiration, plus outfits from Dishonored and Bloodborne. My plan is to create a design without too much influence from existing styles, and then revisit it with these fashions in mind to refine it.
I'm aiming to have a finished model sheet by the end of next week, so I can get started on the actual sculpt. Below are my initial silhouettes and first round of iteration. I felt the black hood was a standard for a grim reaper character, as well as some kind of cloak, which I've included here as more of a short cape or mantle. I had liked the idea of also including the skull or skeleton motif as part of the design as some kind of mask, but I found it made the character look too threatening - I want them to be seen as more of a gentle and sympathetic figure than a scary one.
As I went on, I found myself more and more drawn to the idea of something not-quite-human than an actual human being, this lending itself more to a kind of uncanniness, hence the glow. I like the idea of a grim reaper being more of a collector of lost souls than a harbinger of death, more akin to the figure of death in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series than the classical depiction. In this case, I've been considering developing the character as some kind of rogue, more of a thief of souls.
Wax Model
I've signed on for wax modelling anatomy sessions this term because I feel it will be incredibly beneficial when I come to the 3D section of the project. Having a much firmer grasp of anatomy and sculpting physically as well as digitally will, I think, be a real help in making my final sculpt feel convincing and well-developed.
This week's session was focused on creating the wire armature and ribcage. I really enjoyed the experience of sculpting the wax and the physicality of it, and I'm looking forward to future sessions.
Tasks
This week's task was to create a photobashed environment piece using a base composition made in Alchemy. I find I often avoid environments because I go too into detail or get bored, so this was a good method of making them interesting for me. It was at many points a little frustrating, as the university computers haven't been equipped with the necessary drivers for my graphics tablet, an issue I was unable to fix. This meant I was working without pen pressure or correct position calibration for the entire session, but I made do without, using a lot of the polyagonal lasso tool.
I'm still a little unsure of photobashing, as I usually prefer more destructive methods that let me work more fluidly and find this harder to keep track of my values with, but I can see the advantages of the technique as a base to work from.
To use this in my own work, I would probably merge my photos and adjustment layers into a new document and paint over the top, as I find having this many active layers very distracting and like to have a little more freedom to change things around without having masks and such to worry about.
Layer setup
Initial alchemy piece
Above is the finished rough photobash as well as the final version with a levels adjustment and gradient map. I wanted subdued colours for this piece, but went with a slight blue tint for atmosphere and to contrast the yellow lighting. I think I could take this piece much further and refine it a lot more given the time, but as an exercise I think this turned out reasonably well.
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