Lens and Rickshaw

This one day project is a remake of the classic Zelda item, the Lens of Truth. I wish I could tell the creators of that game how much they have inspired me - I don't think I would be doing this job if it wasn't for Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. I was trying the style of Darksiders, an amazing game undoubtedly inspired by Zelda. All the textures are hand painted, rendered in 3DS Max.

Something I see a lot here! Also my transport to and from work most days. It's super low poly with diffuse only. Was a lot of fun to make :)

Currently working on a current-gen character which is going well!

Thanks for reading :)

It's been a while

Oops haven't updated for ages... I'm working on a new portfolio site, laura3D.com, which should be up and running in about 4 weeks. Some of my work below has been re-rendered, but most is new. Here's some of the non-commercial stuff I've been doing for the last few months. Work for Ubisoft can't be uploaded yet ;)

For the up and coming Ganapati festival!

 

 From a game I very much enjoyed, 'Rayman Origins'

 Original monster concept for VFX video (in progress)

 

 My final project for University - the Hindu Goddess, Durga.

 Textured render coming soon

 Re-rendered for the ole' folio.

Some quick 2D

 2 Hours

1 Hour

1 Hour

Real shame that India doesn't offer life drawing classes, but I'm trying to keep up the pencil work. Will upload when I get a scanner :)

Currently working on: 

Current-gen character,

Small environment in Cry Engine 3

Thanks for reading, hopefully the portfolio will be done soon!

From India!

I've been working for Ubisoft in India for the last 5 months, it's been a fantastic experience and I have learned so much, not only from the studio but from the country.

I've got permission to upload my studio work once the game is released in September, but for now I'm trying to keep personal game art projects going after I get home each evening, heres what I've managed to get done:


Queen Victoria sculpture based on a copper statue in Liverpool. I created the high poly and retopologised in Zbrush. This took eight weeks(!) but I've been exploring a beautiful foreign country and working full time :)




This old woman was very beautiful, her face had so much life and her eyes were incredible. When I first saw her, I thought she was blind, but blue eyes are a rarity here. Tried to exaggerate the complimentary colour scheme

Speed paint - 1hour 30mins
Speed paint from life, 1hour

I've been very inspired by Hindu deities, so this is the demon slaying goddess Kali. "Her sword is the destroyer of false consciousness and the eight bonds that bind us."

I also did some paintings and concepts of the Hindu God Rama. I've read two translations of the Ramayana story and made some interpretations of him. These are WIPs that I don't think I'll come back to, but they were fun :)

Just to finish up with some quick sketches - some of these were done at work while I was waiting for programs to load. I'm going to try to finish this large 3D project I'm working on now before I come back to England in March.

For my photography and other thoughts about this internship, please visit my personal and university blog at: www.laurasfmp.blogspot.com

Saris, Minerva and Indian Ink

Just a few things this week, been trying (and failing) to sort out paperwork for India. Sari studies above - this took about 3 hours.

Below are my 3D efforts from the past two weeks - practising for my first project of the third year at university - The brief is to replicate an artistic 3D sculpture, so I chose 'Minerva' from London's British museum.



Here's a photograph of the original - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ministry/4767647481/ Looking back on it, I see the nose of the sculpture is slightly more pointed. I need to find a better renderer and work further on texturing before I hit the real thing.



Got back in touch with a scanner after all these months, much more where these came from - I'm trying to fill an A5 sketchbook in two weeks!



Last week's lack of work was because I was wasting my time making a costume for Eurogamer and my leaving party. Learned new skills in the process, like how to dye faux leather with indian ink, how to make garments to fit and how to work with different types of materials. Not sure if this is related to game art but I had a lot of fun :D
It's game art in a different sense of the word. Don't think I want to go into costume making, but I got loads of free stuff and met cool new people!

Hopefully, HOPEFULLY off to India next week. My Visa came through but Ubisoft admin say it's the wrong type... Maybe next week I'll be stuck in immigration. We'll see.

Male Head, Tree, and More Practice

This head was the center of my attention for about 3 days - I was working on eyelashes when I hit my weekly deadline. On to the next one! Now I understand the process of baking normals from zbrush slightly better the process should be faster. I'd like to get the next one done to a presentable standard within 2 days.


This tree took about 2 days. I spent a long time trying to make the alphas work. Still need to watch more tutorials about this! Below is an edited version after crits from a very helpful coursemate :) I know it's still not great, and still looks like a 'fern tree', but at least I learnt a lot about alpha placement, and the next one will be better.


Bit more Zbrush practice, seeing how low poly I can go and still get general body shape. Making a new one this week because this one isn't too great and I need to work on the legs, maybe I'll make a man now. This was more about learning how to put the character in a natural pose.

For next week:
Model another game ready head (sculpture style marble, 'Minerva?')
Model another (male) low polygon character mesh.
Start on a Allosaurus model using Zbrush and Max (3 week time limit on this)
Another environment paint,
Painting from life

Head and sword models, digital paintings

I've learned lot about character modelling this week making this head. The hair is not finished at all, this was just to practise sculting and retopologising. I've got some very useful feedback from peers on my course about how I could bring more subtlety to the features. I need to learn a better rendering software to show off my textures, and overlaying a photograph at an early stage of the sculpt will help me understand facial features and proportions better.


This was a one day project. I made the master sword as low polygon as possible with a small texture size. I wanted the normal map to have all of the detail and the diffuse to be very simple, but now I understand this is too simple. You should ne'er have a flat colour anywhere on your diffuse. Last time this willl ever happen!


This is a painting from life, taking around 45 minutes. I found the foreshortening very difficult, and getting the likeness of people in such a short time is tough work! I plan to do more of these next week.


Quick speed paint, about 45 minutes. I'll ttry to do an environment paint a week as it's definitely one of my weak points.

Next week:
Model another game ready head with good textures,
Start working on a female body mesh,
More life painting,
One more environment painting (digital or watercolour)
Mid polygon model of a tree.

Sculpting Heads and Horses

Based on the Fawn in 'Pan's Labyrinth', need to learn hair and fur to add the final touches before texturing.

In reverse chronological order, here's some human heads I've made in Zbrush. Each one was completed in a day, I'm trying to get used to the interface and the tools which are available. I think I'm slowly getting there - just need to keep trying.

Attempt 3, shows I need to learn more about cheekbones and how the jaw line attaches to the neck.

Attempt 2, trying to learn Spotlight functions, it keeps crashing...

I find it interesting that no matter how many tutorials I've watched on sculpting the head, my own methods are completely different! I guess there's no right or wrong way to do it, you just need to keep trying until you find your own preferences. At the moment, it's learning the interface and tools available which is the hardest part of this process.

Working on finishing up this model of a famous horse from Ocarina of Time. I'd like to retopologize this to a game ready specification and texture it. The pose could use a little tweaking and it would look better if it was asymmetrical.



This sketch from life took an hour and a half. I think I made her feet too big, but maybe it's just foreshortening? Crits always welcome, thanks for reading :)


For next week:

Continue modelling heads, at least 3 more by next week.
Continue painting from life, try some environments too.
Finish Ganon's horse to a game ready standard with hair.
Make one low polygon model.