Dronema
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December 2022 Compilation [Download]
🕑 Added 2023-01-05 23:05:43 +0000 UTCThis month the compilation is very very small, as I mentioned in the update post, December was pretty busy, and I got started a bit late.
Also most of my focus was on the commission, which the subject was Gorrik!! It was really nice getting to draw him again, he's a character I love in the game as well, his interactions are so fun, but then I have a bit of a hard time coming up with scenarios or fun ideas for him, so I'm very thankful for this commission, for giving me the opportunity to draw him! Quite a few of the pics on the compilation are about the process of this commission!
I've already talked about the 3D pics in the update.
[12_04a1] and [12_04b1] are Homestuck ideas, about the "brooding caverns" and where the "Mother Grub" spends most of her time, also some thoughts about height/size difference between.. uhh... these creatures that are aprt of the Troll species?? at least in some fandom theories and headcanons.
I also was exploring a little idea for "His Honorable Tyranny", I think it is the first thought to think his body is similar to a "Drone", but what if he was more similar to the Mother Grub? After all... I think we haven't seen his lower half in Homestuck or Hiveswap, right?
I am conflicted about the headcanon that trolls can grow A LOT, I both like and dislike it. Like having a highgblood get super big because they are so old is cool, but I also want heights to stay similar to humans and not get too out of control... I don't know... both are cool!
I go on but I think talking any more about Homestuck headcanons in this post is not really appropriate, but a lot of these thoughts and headcanons informed by the fandom is what made me want to draw this!
[12_05a1] and [12_12a1] are design ideas, the first one for a fantroll and the second for a Fox and Crow characters of mine. Because I want to change/define their outfits.
[faces] Well, pretty self explanatory with the name, but I've tried to see how easy it is to make different expressions, Some of these were using the tweak bones only, others were using both the control and tweak bones. I hope I can make most expressions I want using only the control bones.
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[12_12a2] Ok so... There is a lot to explain for this simple little note. This is about how I plan to do the textures for Tekki, and it might be too much but I think it's worth sharing!
So this note is completely informed by this tutorial:
https://youtu.be/gG7ZoP3fd1w?t=233
The video talks about how the textures in Arcane might be "drawn from the camera", like projected textures [here's a great 1 minute video that shows how to project textures onto models]. But instead of trying to fit an already existing image to match a 3D model. It's the opposite: you would paint to match the model, like painting over a 2D picture of the model and then projecting that painted image onto the model.
Right away I can imagine that placing painted shadows onto the character will be easier this way, since when painting in 3D I overthink it, but I am more used to BS-ing lights and shadows in 2D lol. It also will be very comfortable since I'll be able to use the brushes and software I'm already comfortable with.
There's so many incredible use cases shown in the tutorial already, but seeing [this part at the end] made me realize I could have a few different textures for the body that would serve for most angles. And that's what the drawing/note is.
The default for hand-painting a 3D model is having the light come from above and the front, because that looks best and is the most natural lighting, but having a texture where the light comes from below would be super helpful especially for NSFW, as well as having lights that come from the back.
Example: If Tekki is standing up, her crotch would have to be in shadow, but if for nsfw I want her to sit and have her legs open? Then it would look bad if tha area is permanently painted as if it was in constant shadow. So painting another version where that part is lit, would improve it.
Example: The area where the upper arm is in contact with the torso is almost always in shadow, but if the character has their arms above their head, the shading changes completely.
But yeah that's what the note is for, to look into how to paint the character informed by that tutorial, because I'm definitely hand-painting the textures for Tekki!
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And that's it for this compilation post, I hope you like the drawings even though they are few, and hopefully something in here was interesting to read!
Comments
YEAHH!! Man... Ian Hubert's work is impressive, I think he is a huge source of inspiration in the Blender community for his tutorials and accomplishments! Ooohh, I think I saw him there as well a few months back? But I think I just saw him in one of those "VFX artists react" videos. Yeah!! Arcane is such a masterpiece, I wish the behind the scenes stuff was longer so they had more time to spend at Fortiche. I loved what I perceived to be a deeper dive into the emotional journey, as well as the music of the show, I wish there had been a deeper dive into the style and animation, considering how huge of a deal it was, the impact it made in the art and animation industry and communities. I hope they didn't take a deeper dive because they plan on releasing an artbook, but man... if they had at least showcased more of their rigs... Man that would've been so incredible! <3 I love this!! I love that you've shared your perspective on this, I hadn't thought of that either, how with writing you can leave it up to the reader, or choose to jump in to point out lighting in order to create an image or mood, but at the end of the day it's up to the reader's imagination. So interesting! Yeah hopefully it doesn't jump out too much visually, it shouldn't be something that you perceive too much so it doesn't take you out! --------------- I'd like to offer yet another perspective in regards to lighting: As a 2D artists, 3D lighting seems so tricky, we are so used to "cheating", meaning we can draw whatever we want and it doesn't have to obey the rules of the real world. And this can be done intentionally or even out of ignorance. But our goal and job is to use light and color to create a mood, to guide a viewer's attention or create appeal. And this can be very intuitive! [Example: maybe the character you are drawing should realistically have a sharp dark shadow right in the middle of their face, but it looks bad and it's distracting. Consciously or not, you can end up making the shadow much softer, even if it wouldn't work that way if you took a photo with natural lights.] But the mindset shifts drastically in 3D. You have to understand those "happy accidents" and be very deliberate and meticulous in order to re-create them, and you have to keep in mind how those decisions affect the rest of the scene. It feels overwhelming to think how that would work with Animation! With 3D i've realized you need more lights than you thought, or your lights need to have different colors, or maybe the face needs to be lit different than the body. [I've heard it's the same with photography and cinematography, but of course I also have 0 knowledge or experience with those] That shift in mentality became very clear with this video: https://youtu.be/W07u4S8xJXs And then I connected that information back to other material I've seen before in regards to color and lighting. I immediately remembered "Color Keys" are a thing, and it's part of the production pipeline, it's the step where color and lighting are first explored, and it serves as a guideline for the lighting and color departments. I remembered watching a video by Nathan Fowkes where he explains how he was given a screenshot from a movie, I don't remember if it was Shrek or How to Train your Dragon, where the scene wasn't working so well. And he had to paint over a screenshot to fix the readability of the scene, and the lighting department had to shift the lights and even move things in the 3D environment so the background wouldn't be so distracting from the camera's POV. This video here shows how this artist comes up with different Color Key ideas. He explains his thought process as he explores different lighting scenarios and how each creates a different feeling and even how each can have a different main subject, sometimes it's the character and sometimes it's the background: https://youtu.be/Sbz1IT_Xizk I am not experienced with backgrounds so when I start working on environments for my planned 3D animations, This is how I'll approach it, the mentality I'll try to keep! [Sorry for the rambling!! Perhaps this is something I should've made a post about when I finally get to the environment;;;]
epyon_avenger
Oh! That second video you linked to, I've seen that person's work before! It's really impressive. I think...he was on a corridor digital interview thing? I feel like he was...because I remember him talking about how a lot of the things people were raving about were just these clever hacks he did to save time, ha ha. I guess necessity being the mother of invention and all that. Interesting to see the video about Arcane though, I think that team also did an excellent job with relatively few number of people and budget compared to like, Pixar or something, where you can't afford to make an all new rendering engine just for your little project. Of course I want to ramble forever about Homestuck stuff, but I can do that in another place. As always though, love to see your interpretations of things, and ideas around them. Also, your last bit about the lighting is interesting too, both in how it relates to the videos and such you linked, and just in general to think on. I feel like, because I'm a writer and not a visual artist, I don't really have to contend with lighting sources on something I want to "show" to a reader, because...y'know, I can write whatever I want if it's from the reader's point of view. Obviously a character might not be able to see it, but if it's from behind the fourth wall, it's no big deal. I'm so used to seeing people just...y'know...make it work visually, the thoughts behind it are interesting to hear, and the techniques are always fun to understand. Thanks for writing all this up for us! ^_^
