Waffle.

I know its appears that I am all over the place-- yet over and over again -- it always comes back to that same 'like it' or 'hate it' crucial piece of advice I get, and feel remorseless about giving back in return.  Do the type of art you love, I hear...

 

So I recreated my dog, Waffle, as he is, like a child is to their mother, a large source of inspiration at this point in my life since I've stopped traveling for a living.  Plus he's got a ton of character and I have a whirlwind of great ideas for some story developments! 

 

But even if the sculpt is for nothing further than a sculpt, his first birthday is coming up on November 21st--   so I wanted to make a small tribute to him.  So far his model has gotten some great feedback, which always helps!

I'm also hoping to get the piece prepared to become a strong portfolio entry.  If I can complete a polished Photoshop concept of him sitting, with all the tutorials I've been watching on the subject over the past month, I'd eventually like to circle back around to make a standing version of him too, which can be animated.

 

But for now, just it's concept to character piece.  I'm in polypainting stages.  I will also attempt to digitally paint the sketches I did of him in Photoshop, and put everything together in a package, like I want to do with my other characters!

 

I'm hoping to get this done over the next week.  I'm giving myself a ton of leeway, of course, but the look development of the fur and texturing makes it a bit of a longer trek, as its make or break decision choices.  Right now, I'm searching for reference to put together a call out sheet as to what I'd like to aim both stylistically and mood-wise.

Look Development Call Out Sheet I've come up with that's helping me feel a bit more comfortable stepping into the texturing process:

 

Also, to theme around his birthday or not?

(Well, updating to today-- today is his birthday and I'm still moving things along with this character)

 

So for his birthday?  Retopo!   To get comfortable with Maya's modeling toolkit and to eventually set him up for animation at some point....  But mostly to get the detailing and alpha work to flow right.  Toolkit was great to work with by the way!  Highly recommend.

 

 

 

Now onto UV's, texturing, and all that 3D stuff.

 

After this, I'm back to working on finishing up my Clementine model.  I've taken a leap away from retopology in order to gather up the learning resources to attempt the process myself.  I definitely know what tools I want to use and think I know how to attempt the procedure.  Like surgery right?    Hopefully I will get the topology right!  In any event, I am very excited to take on the challenge and can't wait to get back to working on that model as well-- Especially now with a firm grasp on retopo'ing.

 

As always, thanks for reading and check back soon to see the completed piece!

 

Here's a mash up on my pup in clay, too!  I miss working in clay a lot sometimes, and try to put in a little time here and there.  Thank god for non-drying clay!

 

 

Waffle.