As you can see, there was a lot of time poured into the organization of organic shapes and how the lighting and temperature would affect the final render. Unfortunately, the dimensions of the final logo coupled with differences in creative opinion, prevented us from moving forward with these ideas and was eventually scrapped for a strategically simpler design.

Though it was unfortunate that I could not use my new techniques to render out this particular logo, I did learn a lot in terms of layer organization and blend modes. I encourage my readers to try an replicate the look and feel of everyday materials as texture cubes to become more comfortable with the use of blend modes within their own projects in the future. I also think its good practice to develop this skill to increase speed and manage workflow as well.

What do you think? What type of cube should I make next? In what ways would you improve my cube? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. As always, don't forget to like and share this post~

Until next time,
Peace

I'm not sure how well known Shohei is internationally, but I recommend everyone to view his work. No doubt, many are familiar with his father's(Katsuhiro Otomo) work as the director of the anime classic, Akira(1988). Though Shohei tends to work exclusively in ballpoint pen, the amount of graphic detail he is able to get out of the medium is always impressive. On top of that, I think his work is thought provoking and engaging. My favorite series includes Japanese police officers smoking marijuana; still regarded as a highly illegal and dangerous substance throughout the country.

Anyway, I am always happy to view his latest pieces because of his tendency to reward viewers with numerous easter eggs. He is one of the few artist whose personality and interest become readily apparent just by looking at his artwork.

What do you think? Will you become a fan of Otomo's illustrations? Who is an artist that you admire? Are there specific artistic mediums that you prefer to use or view art in? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. As always, don't forget to like and share this post~

Until next time,
Peace

Hello friends,

Today's Master Copy Monday isn't centered around one particular artist, but instead "life". A picture of salmon fillet in particular. Creating texture cubes like this, is something I've been considering adding to my regimen for the past few weeks.

At this point, you maybe asking "Why salmon?". Aside from salmon niigiri being one of my favorite dishes, I wanted to achieve the effect of a painting through blend modes and masks alone
Since flesh has a wide range of color variation based on density and translucency, I figured salmon would be a good candidate to apply my thought process. I think I was pretty successful at testing my technique.
I may have also found a way to greatly speed up my process; this render took less than 2 hrs, using only 10 layers!

Do you think I nailed it? What would be an interesting material to see cube form? "Hamburger" and "christmas tree" have already been suggested!
Leave your thoughts in the comments below. As always, don't forget to like and share this post~

Until next time,
Peace

Wassup family!

You guys are getting a double-dose of master copy Monday, but that’s cool, hope you enjoy it. This one, like all the ones before, is gonna be different.

Recently, I came across a trove of really clean gesture drawings on Pinterest and felt I needed to replicate them.

What’s a “gesture drawing”?
A gesture drawing is a quick and simple sketch that is meant to capture the movement of the model. It’s intended to be an excercise in showcasing an artists’ knowledge of anatomy and posing. Typical gesture drawings are captured within a short time frame, usually between 1,2, or 5 minutes(sometimes 30 seconds if you really bout that life).

However, the drawings I came across were on a completely different level. In fact, I would probably call them “key frames” now that I think about it from an animator’s perspective. The trend seems to be developing sketches based off dance video tutorials. My YouTube feed is occasionally littered with these videos but I never once thought about pausing to draw the poses until I saw the results below.

Breh. Is that not dope af?! So, I saw these and thought it was about to get lit. I tried it out myself but didn’t want to commit to this level of finish. I still appreciate the raw unfinished quality of the first image much more, so I combined the two styles.

What do you think? I’m considering just adding this to my regimen. It’s super good practice for character design, reminiscent of quick studies from college. Do you watch dance videos or listen to trendy music? These poses came from a dance tutorial for Ariana Grande’s Needy. Such a good song btw.

That’s all for today!
Until next time,
Peace

Hello friends!

As promised I’m delivering the master copy I promised you last Friday. It’s a week late, but it’s here and quite different than what you might have expected.

Unlike my previous MCM post, I decided to shift my focus from painting techniques to value rendering. The purpose of this was two-fold. First, I was recently commissioned to draw someone’s dead dog. The specifications requested a certain level of realism, so I figured this would be a decent warmup to get started on that project. You guys can see that progress on Wednesday. Second, I wanted to expand on the idea of what a “master copy” could be. So, I figured “why limit myself to just paintings? Photographs are just as artistic and informative-especially when the lighting is as good as the example I chose.” And that’s how we ended up with Lauren Tsai’s photo for TODS.

There isn’t much to explain here. I used a black ballpoint pen, the type you might find in a typical office, and went to work hatching out the planes. The idea was to simply get used to gradiations with a pen and inform how I approach plane changes in anatomy.

What do you think? I definitely exaggerated some features and boosted the character aspect a bit. It started with the glasses and more expressive features, but eventually moved to more frazzled hair, a lighter coat, ID badge, etc. I suppose I was imagining a doctor or a scientist, but I didn’t quite commit to anything; I think it’s still an ok render though.

Anyway, that’s all for this post.
If you are an artist, do you like rendering? I know many hate it, others love it. Who are some models I should be following on Instagram? Share your thoughts below, and always like and share this post!

See you next time,
Peace

Hello Friends!

Welcome Back to the blog.
Today is Monday, so that means a totally new post.
I think I have a thing going, dedicating each day to a special post. Therefore Monday will be for master copies.

What’s a Master Copy?
A master copy is simply copying another drawing, or creating your own reproduction of an artwork by another artist. The 'master' concept comes from the idea that the most effective artists to copy are the best or master artists.


Why do this instead of creating original content?
By copying another artist you learn different techniques to achieve different effects. This forces an artist to stray from their comfort zone and adapt new ideas for future work.


Today I chose He Lihuai’s composition to copy. I’m going to be painting a still life in a few days so it’s ideal timing for me to get the hang of it again. I had a time limit of 2hrs but I still didn’t finish. I think next time I will focus in multiple areas so that it at least looks more complete. Also, my hands look flat. I should probably paint with more curved strokes and have a more structured under sketch in the future. I really just dove in with this one.