Well, here we are, another year. I hope 2019's proving to be a good one for you all. :)

So what have I been up to recently...?

The last few months I've been lost in the 3D world that is Blender. Learning and learning and learning and learning... (Trust me, there's a lot to learn with this software). There's so much potential in it that I'm finding it hard not to continue down this path for a while longer. I'm still a total noob, but not as much as I was three months ago and I'm excited to see where I've gotten in another three months. 

So what have I learnt during the last weeks...?

I've learnt a few tricks to incorporate my own photography into my designs and I've learnt more about textures and materials. Textures make a design 'pop'. Suddenly a flat surface can be transformed into something with depth and quality and help bring the image to life. There's some great texture sites out there and software to help make your own. These are a selection of those I'm currently exploring.

Make your own:

Photoshop (subscription)

Materialize (free)

Free (CCO Licence) (donations welcome):

CCO Textures 

CG Bookcase

Paid (annual and monthly subscriptions):

Quixel Megascans

Poliigon

Of the two subscription sites, I decided to start my first subscription with Quixel Megascans, simply due to the nature assets as that's where my mind often wanders when thinking up pictures. They've included Bridge and Mixer into the package. Bridge makes it easier to locate the textures I have and Mixer provides the means to play with these assets to create new variations and this is promising for my future work as I improve some more.

I've also been playing with Graswald for Blender. A rather neat little grass making addon. 

Anyways, enough of the writing. Here's a selection of my January creations...