ZSphere Madness

I've been experimenting with ZSphere sketching - a really handy way of constructing a model with a more painterly approach. This was about half a day of experimenting and getting my head around the process - lots of issues with the final geometry (left), but a really great starting mesh to commence sculpting detail. The two images to the right are of the actual Zspheres - with a little practice it should be relatively easy to paint down muscle banding real quick. A really handy feature is that you can build a basic skeleton rig underneath the exterior and some binding to move your model about - handing for moving arms out of the way as you're working.

Rendering Tangent

Trying here for a smoother rendering technique, while creating something for my girls to enjoy.

CryptoAnarchist

Speed Paint [ ps | painter | alchemy ] 2.5 hrs

Alchemy: Order from Chaos

It seems rare these days that something comes along and shakes you up as an artist, and presents brand new horizens that were formally out of reach. That's how I feel about Alchemy, an open source 'sketching' program designed by Andrew Jones of Massive Black. His whole motto for this application is 'order from chaos' - what you paint with is essentially random shapes, and, in the case of my first hastily scrawled image, it was using random vector typographics, warped beyond recognition.

This is a liberating tool. To give you an idea of its measure the programme has no undo. That's right - you don't need one here. Not in a place where there is no wrong. And besides, it's the 'chaos' that truely makes an image feel uncalculated, somewhat elemental and unfathomable. Andrew Jones has created an application that can inspire you, and works along the same lines as cloud gazing - the mind sees shapes in random forms, and often in ways that the logical mind struggles to reproduce.

I highly recommend this tool, and I think it's a revolution for digital artists!

From the Vault: Isaiah

tak tak tak