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Hello Again :)

If you've been reading this blog, you'll know that my path took a new direction after opening a free 3d software package called Blender. I didn't really expect this to happen, but if I look back at the months leading up to this new adventure there were clear signs pointing me in this direction. For whatever reason, the Universe was sending out signals and, instead of ignoring them indefinitely, I stopped and thought "what the heck, I've nothing to lose".

Admittedly, I expected this to be an explorative dalliance at the beginning, but the more I've travelled along this route, the more I want to stay on this path.  

So here I am, a year into something that I don't want to quit. Something I cannot seem to let go of. A slightly altered version of my previous self. 

I don't know if I'm the greatest at setting goals but I find it's helped me to consider this as a three year imaginary college course. Year one's done and it's been about learning the basics, finding my way. exploring as many possibilities as I can. Looking at various options to see where my interests lie. Seeing all the possibilities and feeling alive each day with sparks of ideas as I sit at my computer taking little steps forward.   

With the beginning of year two in front of me I want to refine some of the things I've learnt and start focussing myself more. I can't wait to see how far I've progressed by the end of next year and year three. There's still so much I cannot do, but there's now a longer list of things I can do. I'm by no means the finished article (a concept I think is impossible in any case) but I'm happy with my progress...

Here's a recap of the past three months...

August to October

I've spent a bit more time playing with characters from Daz3d. My first attempts were a bit plasticky for my liking, so I've been finding ways to improve on this. The Blender addon Diffeomorphic Daz Importer has helped loads, making it a lot easier to import my characters into Blender and saving me a lot of time and effort in general. A few minor tweaks to their node setups and they're starting to look a little more like what I'm after. 

I've also started to explore the architectural kits by Kitbash3d . Kitbash3d make highly detailed buildings and environmental details. I can import these into Blender, add my own skies and lighting and create new worlds from the comfort of my dining room. Keep an eye on their site as they've recently released affordable mini kits and they're often running sales on individual kits. 

As well as the above I've been building elevators, interiors, trees and other things. Using other elements from Daz3d ,elements from the brilliant Quixel resources and elements of my own design as part of my current modelling process. 

The past year has not only been about learning, it's also been about using these new skills to create imagery that might be suitable for the book cover industry and I'm pleased to say that some of my new 3d work has been sold over this time through Arcangel Images