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sacboi high dynamic range

Hi there:

This thread will be about a selection of stuff I really dig and hopefully learn from as well.

Anyways first cab off the rank, a piece I've already made a start on via those Blender nerds, Aidy Burrows and Gleb Alexandrov's robo tutorial which for me has an intriguing workflow with a combined boolean and sub-d technique creating tight hardsurface mechanical shapes I've a penchant for, also I might add nicely presented too.

Blockout/Early Refining:


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  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range

    Tinkering with non-destructive hard surface workflows.

     

  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range

    Exploring a 2D Portraiture workflow in Blender (2.77)


  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Still researching a FOSS 2D painting alternative, at the moment experimenting with GIMP v2.10 over the last couple of weeks. Basically interested pushing the boundaries creating complex hard surface objects with precision in mind, too that end CS6 tutes are quite handy for highlighting specific workflow tool tips. So currently just a wip of my ride, a GMH 2002 VX Commodore V6 was actually waaay back in the day, an ex unmarked Police pursuit unit but sadly the go fast bits were removed prior to release for public sale : / she's also kind of a good luck charm, got me out of the shit when I was destitute/homeless in terms of travel once I'd eventually found work. Anyway she'll be a project car and the hope is getting her back too factory spec as funds become available.

    Ref (front yard smartphone pic)

    Current State (path tool selection, paint fill - blockout)

  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Well, apparently there's more too drawing with curves than I'd initially thought...and then some O_o

    So after peeping various resources, had eventually settled upon a proprietary budget option as opposed to a wholly FOSS paradigm simply to make the learning process less mind bending grindie-'ish for yours truly. However that said will definitely revisit an Inkscape vector workflow sometime in the foreseeable future once I've calibrated an intuitive, efficient, personal 2D 'painting with shapes' methodology which hopefully taking another crack at carrying *my ride* project above toward completion! that may or may not accrue  : ) 

    Anyways, resulting output thus far over (on 'n off) 2 month tinkering 'under-the-hood' session/s



       
    edit:
    at the moment working on generating front & rear 3/4 views
  • rollin
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    rollin polycounter
    Wait.. is this a vector image?
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
  • rollin
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    rollin polycounter
    Then very well done! :)
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Cheers mate, thanks for that. 

    though I'm thinking at this early stage, busting out those two further versions of the Porsche I'd mentioned above will not only test my noob level of 'competency' implementing this particular drawing technique but patience, as well...lol  :)

    edit:
    also here's the car's wip, I posted on the soft's forum I've been testing during the past mth's
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    All righty then, managed to finish masking the refs for tracing the object (...to many other projects on the boil, really not enough hrs in a day, dammit! :/ ) before making a start drawing the front & rear view of the Porsche. Just low res ones but not recommended if a 'photorealistic' aesthetic is the intended goal however these, like the profile side drawing will be more 'painterly' in aspect which I like better. Though can be a bit of a time sink, dependent upon skill level using this specific workflow to draw stuff.

    Front 3/4 View: (Reference Preparation)


    Rear 3/4 View: (Reference Preparation)


  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Quick update: want to post before another power cut happens to strike (...been unseasonably warm here downunder, f'ing 'summer storms' drenching local electricity infrastructure plus we're about to hibernate for winter, which will further compound potential issues nationwide on top of this whole awful corona virus thing - ffs :angry:)

    Anywaay regardless! it's important to note, that this vector drawing method is explicitly non-destructive, wherein the soft's layer stack is a sort of conventional 'modifier' system not unlike Max or Blender, when implementing procedural polygonal pre-sets.

    So, including but not limited to Affinity's native 'Effects' suite i.e. Gaussian Blur, Shadow, Glow, Color Overlay, Gradient Overlay...etc, or indeed calling various 'Actions' be it Transforms, Boolean, Fill, Stroke and so forth.

    Front view body shell (Shape Blockout)

    Rear view body shell (Shape Blockout)

  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Completed shape blockout:


  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Beginning to draw & further (Define Additional Shapes)



  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Continued refining of shapes & shading:

  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Wasn't that satisfied with the rear view shape at all, so silly me decided to change the angle of perspective and over a month's hard graft later, grinding out drawing a WHEEL because I'd simply liked it's design...O_o

    Current State:


    Vector Outline: (a blinking 'spaghetti junction' of curves)


    New Masked Background Reference:


  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Was playing with SculptGL today, after taking a well earned breather from vector drawing cars.

    Pretty neat little free web based app, that can be launched in any browser or from a standalone zipped directory which is not only useful and very cool but because I've a low end PC so in turn was then able too sculpt a fairly high rez triangulated object for the first time without encountering lag or crashing:

    Anyways, my attempt at making a 'blob' like SciFi helmet thingy, literally riddled with alpha's :)


    Edit:
    Alpha pack by JRO Tools - https://gumroad.com/l/paTzK
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Got hung up tweaking a few things whilst still grappling with layer management, especially shading the main body shell before moving on too final completion of both drawings...gotta say has been a proverbial journey into purgatory getting my head around this particular 2D workflow over the last two months though all the same, full on determined to nail it.


  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Ok then nearly there, only one or three remaining finishing touches to sort out prior to starting on completing the front view as well, with a slightly more optimised seamlessly acquired...lol, personalised technique progressively built upon over these past months :bleep_bloop:

    Current State:

    Vector Outline:


    Also thinking about additional inclusion of a possible wet environment reflection effect alongside bloom/glare for this "masterpiece's", rear light cluster.

    Anyway, some refs to serve as inspiration.

  • Ashervisalis
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    Ashervisalis grand marshal polycounter
    Never knew a vector drawing could look so close to a rendered model! Looks great man.
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    @Ashervisalis thanks mate, overall a fun 2D approach which basically depends a bit on how light or heavy one gets with gaussian blur :p
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Quick update, made a start on the lights which btw the one element of this entire project I could literally go nuts with Affinity's effects suite without the hassle of cleaning up shit color gradients or blending values...otherwise so far like the result.


  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Added some extra bits, probably rework a few areas until finally finishing off a complete under cover parking environment, I've in mind for this piece.


  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    On the home stretch - yippy! - an initial environment blockout and at the moment fiddling about with colour gradients before going for it...


  • Ashervisalis
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    Ashervisalis grand marshal polycounter
    Hey, I feel you need to desaturate this coloured part, it's really sticking out at the moment. Also, the red circle within the blue circle, there are 3 different colours. I think you could make that inner strip a little darker. The marker bulb in front of the front right tire looks like it could use a slight bit more complexity according to the reference. Looking forward to seeing the environment!!!


  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Thanks for the feed back, also funnily enough those area's were the ones giving me a bit of a headache just prior to posting that latest update, since I decided too darken the overall shading (re-set opacity & gaussian blur effects) plus now thinking on it, may well add a vector or two when also taking into account various background sources of light, so I'll certainly have another look.

    Cheers. 
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Continued work on various background scene elements.


  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Ah! what a nice surprise, just noticed my little vector project got front paged :) kinda makes me feel quite chuffed after all the ups and downs experienced throughout getting this illustration too at least it's current state, so needless to say I'll continue plowing ahead until completion...hopefully soon'ish.

    Thanks Team:+1:
  • Seenax
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    Seenax polycounter lvl 8
    this looks great. I can only imagine the amount of work that went into this. it looks amazing! aside from what Ashervisalis mentioned above, I feel like the left tail light looks more like a sticker than a proper tail light. hope you don't mind me altering it a bit in photoshop to make my point. great work nonetheless! Can't wait to see it finished
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Thank you, as always crits are more than welcome and I agree with your advice which btw nice looking edit on that light. In fact I'll probably make use of as a reference when converting the effect with perhaps an overlayed color gradient or something in order to convey a sense of 'depth', alongside other likely areas of the car to be eventually re-worked and/or further additional tweaks, as well.

    Cheers.
  • Seenax
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    Seenax polycounter lvl 8
    Glad you find it useful :)
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Calling this done!

    Pixel (Vector) Veiw


    Segment (Curves) Outline View

  • Ashervisalis
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    Ashervisalis grand marshal polycounter
    10/10 would drive

    Good job man! Do you use this skill in a professional setting?
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Thank you, means a lot and professionally I've limited experience in other mediums but still finding my way with this particular workflow which I'll attest for me at least is rather challenging, perhaps on par learning how too draw freehand on paper :)
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Since I've been trip'n on this whole vector 2D illustration thing throughout the past year, learning the process or more specific 'proof of concept' it's viability as a legit digital drawing technique, so thought it'll be neat too round off this unintended artistic sojourn with some good 'ole character fanart.

    At this point I'm pretty much hooked on The Mandalorian space western web series, screening over on Disney+ - created by Jon Favreau. Now my goal is to execute at least 4x portraits of just a few principle chars from the show:

    "The Child" (Baby Yoda)
    Din Djarin (Mandalorian)
    IG-11 (Bounty Hunter Droid)
    Kuiil (Former Indentured Servant) - which incidentally was dialogued by Nick Nolte

    Therein again entirely utilizing vector curves and/or Affinity Designer's pixel brush tool - Persona, oh! and by the way I'd also given myself the cutoff date of December 24th, 2020 for completion. Heh...in a matter of weeks, HUGE! call considering my normal work rate is practically 'glacial'. Anyway looks like "Warp Factor 5" from here on in, lol. 

    Current Progress

    Base Colour Blockout:


    Curves Outline:


    Beginning Initial Detailing:

    Note:
    Yeah, I know the ref mask rez via a video screencap leaves much to be desired however I'm only interested in capturing at this stage, the proportional facial volumes/forms so imo good enough.
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Update - Getting there, with further facial definition and I reckon shading is coming along nicely:


    Segment Outline:

    Persona Raster Brush Tool:

    Will be interesting using Affinity's pixel brushes for texturing, once the overall portrait's main features are finalized so really looking forward to gauge the expected result's for myself.

    EDIT:
    ...and who said you can't draw with a mouse B)
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    A few grunge & basic brush tests.

  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Done for today, probably wrap this up next session:

  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    First Portrait Complete.

    Which was fairly straightforward, less fiddly than initially thought and not bad if I may shamelessly say so myself :p



    Next one up, IG-11 mech...
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Update - Really apparent that this technique lends itself quite nicely to hard surface:

    Base Colour Blockout:

    Curves Outline:

  • sacboi
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Head is moving along at pace and should finish up shortly, as well. Perhaps in hindsight at this rate the self imposed time frame toward completion may've been a tad generous.

  • Bramski
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    Bramski polycounter lvl 5
    Really nice work, mate! :)
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
  • Ashervisalis
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    Ashervisalis grand marshal polycounter
    Yoda turned out quite nicely!
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Thanks mate :+1:

    Figurative drawing using this method, particularly if combined with raster brushes can be a bit 'finicky' in terms of staying focused, concentrating on trying to capture the subject's personality alongside technical aspects as opposed to a lesser extent, illustrating hard surface content.

    EDIT:
    Yoda turned out quite nicely!
    Oh! and it's not Yoda, these portraits are derived from the Mandalorian web series so his name is actually 'Grogu' which was finally revealed recently in ep 5 season 2, now currently screening over on Disney+
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Dave Prowse

    A Tribute

    To mark the passing of the man behind the mask.

    Born 1935 - Died 2020

    Vale



  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Second Portrait Complete:

    IG-11 - "The commission was quite specific, the asset was too be terminated..."


  • Ashervisalis
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    Ashervisalis grand marshal polycounter
    Is this last one from Star Wars too?
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    Yeah, but specifically the Mandalorian expansion and this one is a bounty hunter droid.

    Had set myself the challenge of drawing 4 character portraits from the series by Christmas eve, in the hope of increasing my work rate painting with vectors.
  • Ashervisalis
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    Ashervisalis grand marshal polycounter
    How easy is it to edit the shapes if you were super close to the image being done?
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    It depends! (sorry :) )

    Just from my limited experience working with this technique, I've noticed hard surface objects are slightly less of a hassle to edit, regardless of the stage a particular drawing would happen to be at, as apposed too chars/organic stuff which can be a time sink especially if raster layers are in there, as well. So I think that's the 'trick' wherein layer management is key when using curves to draw with.

    edit:
    Also, that Darth Vader tribute was relatively an 'easier' drawing to finish end-to-end so far, since it's workflow is exactly the same as the Porsche i.e. shading & reflective highlights etc.   
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