Sunday, December 25, 2005
Happy Holidays!
For those of you that celebrate it, I hope you had a great Christmas. Likewise for Hunakkah and Kwanza (both of which start tomorrow I believe)...Sorry I haven't updated in a while. The holidays are very hectic and... Okay, not really... I've been playing Resident Evil 4. If you haven't played it yet and you call yourself a gamer go get it. It's one of the best games I've ever played. I'd put it up there with my favorites of all time like Zelda and Metal Gear Solid.
I've also been tooling around with some new illustrative techniques in Photoshop. The image you see here represents the results so far. Followers of this blog (all 2 of you) will recognize this gal as the one from the sketch I posted earlier this year.
It's coming along quite nicely I think. I'm going to try to finish the entire image before my vacation ends in January. I'll do my best to post progress as I go.
My new keyboard is so sleek and quiet...
Monday, December 12, 2005
Starting to feel human again...
Aside from having almost no voice I'm pretty much back to normal.I actually spent almost a full week away from my main computer and my artwork. And I never realized before exactly how much time I spend working until I couldn't.
You'd think I'd have more finished work to show for it... But for me it's all about the process. Once I've figured out how to accomplish something and I've demonstrated to myself that I've got it down I'd rather move on to the next fresh challenge. (That loader still isn't textured now is it?)
Of course that doesn't apply to the work I do for clients and various other third parties... Just my own personal projects. I don't feel too bad though because apparently DaVinci had the same problem.
The image in this post is a small example of what I'm going to be demonstrating in my low poly character modeling workshop next quarter. The workshop is currently scheduled to take place Monday afternoons from 12:45 to 4:45 p.m. starting week 3 and running through week 6.
The workshop will demonstrate how to build a low detail humanoid character for a video game or simulation. Think Grand Theft Auto level of detail... I'm concerned with teaching everyone who attends the core modeling skills they need to find gainful employment as a novice modeler. So we won't be modeling details like eyes, ear and nose interiors, individual fingers and toes, etc.
Maybe in some future workshop we'll get into all that fun stuff.
Prior experience with 3DS Max isn't really required to enjoy the workshop and get something out of it. Just show up, watch me work and take from it what you can.
It should be fun. And if it's well attended and the interest is there I plan on following it up with a low poly character texture mapping workshop the quarter after next.
And so on, until we've covered every aspect of character creation including rigging and animation.
It'll be just like attending a college where you learn how to make video games...
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Out sick today (Wednesday December 7th)
This is a heads up to my Wednesday morning and afternoon classes.
I'm afraid I've gone and caught the flu, so I won't be in today.
To my morning class in 618:
Use the time in class to work on your final illustration. If you've already got your line work scanned in then start adding color. Also, since I'm not there to give you feedback, share your progress with one another and try to get some constructive criticism from your peers.
The final illustration is due at the beginning of class next week.
To my afternoon class in 418:
Use the time to in-between your walk cycle. Your goal is to have the walk cycle completed with all breakdowns and in-betweens in place and shot for the beginning of class week 11. Also, since I'm not there to give you feedback, share your progress with one another and try to get some constructive criticism from your peers.
If you have any questions feel free to email me, but don't send me project files as attachments. My firewall will simply gobble them up.
See you all next week.
I'm afraid I've gone and caught the flu, so I won't be in today.
To my morning class in 618:
Use the time in class to work on your final illustration. If you've already got your line work scanned in then start adding color. Also, since I'm not there to give you feedback, share your progress with one another and try to get some constructive criticism from your peers.
The final illustration is due at the beginning of class next week.
To my afternoon class in 418:
Use the time to in-between your walk cycle. Your goal is to have the walk cycle completed with all breakdowns and in-betweens in place and shot for the beginning of class week 11. Also, since I'm not there to give you feedback, share your progress with one another and try to get some constructive criticism from your peers.
If you have any questions feel free to email me, but don't send me project files as attachments. My firewall will simply gobble them up.
See you all next week.
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Hither came Conan, sword in hand...
Remember those new sketches I promised you? Well I'm a man of my word. They're both available in the sketchbook section now.I decided that Conan here deserved the front page. This sketch started out as just a few random lines that I jotted down on marker paper with a col-erase while I was waiting for my wife.
The wait ended up being a little longer than I'd expected, but I didn't mind. By then my pencil was flashing like a Cimmerian sword and I was in the zone.
I've got Conan on the brain right now because Wandering Star Press just released the quality paperback edition of Conquering Sword of Conan. This volume collects the last (and arguably the best) Conan stories that Robert E. Howard ever wrote before his suicide at age 30.
(Wipes away a tear...)
If you've never read Howard's stories then you don't know Conan. Spare me your Ahnuld impersonation. Yes, yes we all love to crush our enemies and see them driven before us... And don't even get started with the lamentations...
I have more to share but it's late... Next time I'll fill you in on my upcoming 3DS Max workshop and I'll post some images of that new model I've been working on.
Later.
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Someone's impersonating me...
Someone has seen fit to create a bogus myspace page in my name that contains information lifted from my online resume and a photo of me that was taken from my Carnegie Mellon profile.
I've already notified the website of the identity theft and I am continuing to monitor the situation. I'm told by my students that this sort of thing happens all the time to individuals who are in any way a "public figure". Even one as minor as an art teacher.
There's nothing overtly hostile about the page... It's simply there and has some erroneous information about me. I'm neither a Capricorn, nor am I 8 feet tall (Ha Ha) or 33 years of age...
But I noticed that a few of my current students have been added as "friends" on the page and I am posting this just to make them aware that the anonymous individual who created the page is not, in fact, me.
If this individual attempts to contact you pretending to be me, please notify me so that I can then in turn notify the appropriate parties and make a record of the incident.
That's it. Be safe.
Sincerely,
The REAL Jeff Styers
P.S. I have new drawings to share with you... and a new 3D model. Look for a new post containing said materials sometime later tonight or tomorrow.