This final week went by so fast, but I managed to get my zombie pickup truck finished on time. Modelling it didn’t take long at all, which I’m really proud of. I suppose having the base model already completed did make it easier to add to.
Week 26
Onto part 2 of the Toyota pickup truck project! This week I’ve been concepting modified Toyota pickup trucks for a zombie apocalypse. My aim is to create a truck with a full design, but not over the top. I’d like to keep a sense of realism, but at the same time make something really cool. I think I’m going for more of an advanced modifications look, keeping it realistic but hard to pull-off in real world situations. I guess you’d need a talented artist to make a real zombie proof vehicle.
I’d also like to note that my design is going to mostly be offensive rather than defensive. But of course, the people riding inside the truck will be safe.
To begin concepting, I gathered a lot of references on Pinterest, and tried to implement something from each reference into my designs. My first wave of concepts were more extreme, my first design being purposefully over-the-top. I like some of the raw concepts I came up with, later on I took some of them forward to produce plausible designs, but keeping the parts that filled the designs with character.
Week 25
This week I’ve been unwrapping and texturing my Toyota pickup truck base model. Unwrapping took quite a bit of my time up. I also spent a full day on searching for photo references. A second year I recently made friends with, suggested I look on second hand car sales websites for my textures. It was a better option than looking for new car websites, because a car will generally have wear and tear and maybe a bit of rust and dirt. I found some really good references by searching specific locations for 2nd hand Toyota pickup trucks. Some from the UK, and some from various places in Canada. I don’t know why I thought to search for Canadian locations, but hey, who cares as long as they’re the correct model! One good thing about getting them from sales websites, is that you get orthographic views of the car, since any buyer would want to see the condition of each side.
Week 24
This week I’ve been tackling the majority of my base model for the Toyota pickup truck. Some parts have been quite challenging, but overall it’s been enjoyable. While modelling I was listening to a live stream by Anthony Jones, which really made it more enjoyable. I felt like I was learning two things at once, more art knowledge from what Anthony was talking about, and also more modelling experience.
Post Mortem Character Project
To give you a brief overview of the project, I set out to design and create a character using the medieval style guide constraints as used for the village project house and trees. The character needed to have a likeness of myself, and had to be light hearted and positive, with hand painted textures to match the style guide.
Plan of Action
I’m going to be treating my course work like a job from now on. I feel like I need more control over my work flow, and for that I need dedicated time for each activity. So, I will be sharing my new personal time-table with you.
I notice that I’ve been neglecting my blog, and that isn’t a good thing. I haven’t been able to properly reflect on myself or my work in a while, and it’s made me realise how important it is to keep on top of my work, to keep that connection with myself. Keeping everything in my head made it overflow to the point where I couldn’t focus on one thing anymore.
Critical studies is just as important as visual design and game production, because without reflection there is no improvement. Each of these subjects will support one another and push me forward in the right direction.
And without further ado, I give you my new time-table. I will also reflect on this in a months’ time to see if it worked and what changes it has made to me & my work.
| Monday | 9am – 3pm lessons 3pm – 5pm work in labs |
15 minutes of reflective writing |
| Tuesday | 2pm – 5pm lessons in labs | 1 hour sketching/digital painting + 15 minutes of reflective writing |
| Wednesday | 2pm – 9pm course work in labs or on own PC/Cintiq | 15 minutes of reflective writing
Cool shit/facebook group events |
| Thursday | 11am – 5pm/2pm – 9pm work in labs | 15 minutes of reflective writing |
| Friday | 11:30 – 12:30 seminars
2pm – 9pm/2pm – 5pm work in labs |
15 minutes of reflective writing |
| Saturday | Personal work + relaxing | Reflect on personal work |
| Sunday | Shopping, cleaning | Arrange & publish blog post |
In addition to this, I have purchased a new little friend that’s going to help me keep my feedback and random jottings in order.
Week 23
This week we were given our first part of the final project for the year – the Toyota zombie pickup truck. For the first 3 weeks we are creating a normal Toyota pickup truck, as a base for the 2nd part of the project which will be more exciting. The 2nd part will be making it zombie proof, but I’ll get into that once I finish the base model over the next 3 weeks.
This is our second project with a realism style, the first was the sci-fi crate during the bootcamp at the start of the year. Since we’ve only really been doing stylized projects, this one will be a big more challenging. The model will have to be accurate, and the textures will need to be photo realistic, so no hand painting for this project!
Week 22
This week I received feedback from my tutors, and it’s confirmed where I stand in terms of passing the course or not. They seemed positive, despite my recent struggles, they seem confident that I’ll overcome them. And as Chris told me before, it’s good to make mistakes early on. In fact, in this industry we are encouraged to make mistakes, because that’s the best way to learn.
Onto the content of what my tutors said;
Week 21
This week I have continued to model my character in 3DSMax, and it’s starting to look more like my concept. I think that starting the model was the hardest part, and having to make so many decisions while modelling. I have been focusing mostly on the torso, and trying to capture the character of the outfit my character is wearing in the concept. I think it’s one of the more unique features of my character, and I’d like it to remain so in my final piece.
Week 20
On Monday, Chris looked at my re-submitted work and approved it with additional feedback. He suggested that I add an extra colour to give my character more contrast. I had a suitable pink/red colour that I had previously picked in another colour swatch, and that made a suitable addition to my character’s final look. Now that it’s been approved, I’ve moved on to modelling my character.
Game Art Journey to Unknown 