Vopro now tries to learn 3-D modeling

VoproSTEIN

So my new years resolution was to dedicate an entire year to learning how to draw. Because I'm still a student going to school for video production, I decided there wouldn't be a better time than now, when I have so much free time on my hands.

Unfortunately I've had a major case of laziness these past two weeks. Hopefully this thread will be a constant reminder to shut up and drawwww.

I don't really know what else to post, so here's what I have so far.














The first five images were exercises done from the "Drawing On the Right Side of the Brain" book. The last one was a fun sketch I did for my D&D character.

NibCrom

Keep at it. I would suggest doing some smaller gesture-type drawings to loosen up a little.

Beltaine

I need to do the same thing myself, but I waaaaay too hyper-critical of myself to actually post up what I draw.

Unterpreiz

A noble endeavour!

Drawing on the Right-Side of the Brain exercises are a great tool to build confidence and prove to the artist that its all just about hand-eye coordination, so what you have so far is a really great start. Now that you're starting this really serious push to develop drawing skills, I'd suggest setting up a still life somewhere in your place where it won't need to be moved too often-- something square, something cylindrical, something spherical, some cloth with interesting folds (old t-shirt) underneath, maybe a candle stick or something with an interesting shape. Use this still life set up as a regular tool, and draw it once a week for a month while developing your skills on the side, and it'll be a great metric to show your progress!

Another great exercise is going to a coffee shop or some other public place where you blend in easily and drawing random strangers sitting around-- eventually progressing onto drawing gestural scribblings of people walking past. You can start by getting a friend or relative to sit with you, and aim more on nailing the over-all construction of the human figure and less on getting a likeness.

Your current efforts are a really great start, on what is such a useful life-skill to pick up, and I'd imagine a pretty useful skill to have in video production, as well. Just some thoughts on exercises for you, although you have a really solid base already, it seems. Look into life drawing classes in your area too-- drawing the nude figure is pound-for-pound the best activity you can do to develop drawing ability for time invested and gain.

The_Glad_Hatter

Good to see that you're tackling different kinds of exercises. I haven't read Drawing on the right side myself, but it sounds like it could help you out starting to draw more accurately.
I'm seconding Unterpreiz's stillifes. I'm doing a lot of life drawing now, and while i have an incredible amount of stuff to learn, i do notice that my year of still-lifes did me a lot of good, especially when i compare my work to people without similar experience.

VoproSTEIN

So the "major case of laziness" turned out to be more of a "I burned out" trying to do 3 hours of drawing every day while taking 18 hours of classes and having a part time job at the school. Once summer comes around and I get more free time, I'll start drawing once again.

In the meantime, I've been making 3-D models for my intro class, and figured it would be cool to post them here and get some feedback. The program Maya is actually free for students, so I should be able to change some things around at home.

m3nace

Post your wires, it'll make it easier to crit.

VoproSTEIN

I couldn't figure how to render out a full wire frame, so I took two different approaches. One set of images was rendered with the maya vector settings, and the others are just captured from my desktop with only wire frame showing. On the maya vector images, some of the textures are still there, and there's tessellation as well. Are either of these of any help?

Honk

Looks like good edge flow.

Did you make the lid for the toilet asymmetrical on purpose?

VoproSTEIN

I tweaked things a bit yeah. So when I put the crappy wood texture on it it didn't look quite so flat.

I'm not sure what happened to the texture on everything else...didn't save? I'll have to fix that later.

Kochikens

What are your goals with this?

VoproSTEIN

Right now these are just assignment for my intro 3-D modeling class.

But eventually I may incorporate my own 3-D models into my short films. Apparently it's a good skill to pick up for those looking to get into compositing and special effects through programs like After Effects and Nuke?