Matcha Dessert

This was a prop project I set out to do. I mainly design and create my own 3D characters, so this time around I wanted to try making a prop that was designed by someone else. I searched a while looking for the right prop when I came across a piece by Nadia Kim (here is her work, it is gorgeous!).

Concept by Nadia Kim

I wanted to test myself and see if I could finish this relatively quickly, since my previous projects have taken me months. Modeling went pretty quick, though positioning each piece of food relative to each other was a bit tricky and I continued to tweek it throughout the time I worked on this project.

First landmark, everything modeled

Next I UVed and took the model into 3D Coat. Nadia has such a fun artstyle, I found myself working hours straight on texturing. Since texturing normally takes me forever, I was pleasantly surprised by my progress early on. I did end up nitpicking towards the end, but in the end I'm happy the way things turned out :)

Most texturing done

With outline, a normals trick within Maya!

Matcha Dessert by Kristen Malone on Sketchfab

Gwyn Complete!

Aaaand she's done, after what feels like an eternity! I've learned a lot during this project, from better handpainted texturing techniques to better topology to additional programs, and am happy with my results :)

Gwyn by Kristen Malone on Sketchfab

Some more WIP shots below:

My next project will include either Zbrush and / or prop modeling, I'm still undecided!

Gwyn WIP Update #2 - Texturing

Lots of texturing these past couple of weeks! Following the Ultimate Career Guide: 3D Artist tutorial by Marc Brunet for a bunch of the texturing techniques :) Tutorial: https://cubebrush.co/mb/products/1jur3a-cWYR

Started off applying the simple base colors over baked low poly AO in 3D-Coat.

Once I got to the tutorial bits, I learned a great new way to combine the AO of my high poly (made in xNormal) with colors in Photoshop. Saved me lots of time with initial texture details. 

Gwyn WIP Update #1 - Work since graduation

Coming back to my blog since I've completed school! I'm trying to get back into the habit of updating weekly on my WIPs. Since then I have been working on a new character, Gwyn the monk! Her design is inspired by an old D&D character of mine. 

First came concept work. I love baggy clothes and sashes * v * I gave her a warm palette because her personality is very upbeat and perky and I felt like it fit. 

Next was modeling a base mesh in Maya 2017. This is my first time with Zbrush so I didn't want to start an entire character from scratch.  

Zbrush is a monster of a program, I hope to learn more about it the more I work in it but for now I'm satisfied with what I've done! I got really stumped by it for the longest time, but after some trial and error (and fuck ups) I eventually cranked her out! 

killmeplz

Finally I brought her back to Maya to retopo! She's sittin' at 12.8k tris. A little on the higher side, mainly because of the braid, but I couldn't find a good way to retopo the braid properly other than reducing the edge loops. I changed her design to only have one braid because of this.  

Now I'm in 3D Coat working on her bakes and textures! More updates soon!