The Making of “K-T”
I know of at least a couple of people who were curious how I went about making my latest art, "K-T." Here is an abbreviated walkthrough...
First came the idea. I've had the general idea of the composition in my head sometime: a view from a mammal ancestor's burrow of the distant K-T meteor.
When I decided to actually make it with the free and open-source Blender and GIMP, I first made a very quick (like 5 minute) sketch of my idea layout (Note: You can click on all images for larger versions):
Hilarious sketch up of the idea. Looks like it was made by a two-year-old.
Next up: modeling the creatures. All objects are modeled as a 3D mesh, working with them and sculpting them at times much like clay - except it's all in the computer.
Velociraptor polygonal mesh
Velociraptor Model - color and shadow to help see curvature
Next up comes the coloring, texturing, and addition of fur.
Velociraptor Texturing and Fur - an early test
In reality, the coloring and texturing is done on 2D images (using the free photoshop-like GIMP), which are then mapped onto the 3D mesh:
Velociraptor Color Map
Next up: a poseable armature has to be made and applied to the 3D mesh. Think of this as an actual skeleton that the mesh will deform with.
Velociraptor Armature Rigging
The armature has to be tested with lots of poses to make sure the mesh warps correctly.
Smile for the camera!
Rinse and repeat for the other objects:
Mammal with fur
Your great x 10 to the alot grandpa
Now start putting objects into the scene:
Basic Scene
More detail
And finally we have everything in place
Scene Mesh
Scene solid objects
At this point alot of time is put into positioning lights and tweaking textures so that everything looks good. Lighting is probably the hardest thing to get right (especially with fur).
Finally, the image is rendered and the image levels and coloring and effects are tweaked using GIMP.
Note: you can get a super high-res large poster of this artwork here.
"K-T"
"K-T" Close-up
All in all, the entire process took 3 weeks. I could have easily spent another 3 weeks tweaking and fixing many aspects of the piece and adding more details, but I was pretty much ready to move on to something else. So, I got it to the point where I was happy with it as is.
I hope you enjoyed it!
Artistic Depiction of the K-T Extinction Event
Okay - so I've been "away" for a while. What can I say? I've been busy with other things.
However, one of them is now complete. I present for your viewing pleasure, my new paleontology-inspired artwork:
"K-T"
Sixty-five million years ago, a daily struggle occurs in the midst of the world-changing event that would result in the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs and the eventual rise of our own lineage of mammals.
If you or someone you know would like a poster print of this work, you can BUY IT HERE. Or you can browse a couple of my other pieces (more forthcoming).
Note: The poster is MUCH larger and higher resolution (these web images don't do justice to the actual level of detail). I can make other sizes available (or on other products). This took me three weeks to create, using the free and opensource Blender and GIMP software packages.
Here's a cropped piece to give you an idea of the true detail level:
The Firefly and the Deer – “Moonbeam Death Ray”
Since, it seems that I've been on an art post kick for the last two days, I thought I'd toss one more out for you. This is on oldie for me, but I'm betting that few if any of my current readers have seen it.
Way back in 2006, a buddy of mine (Joshua Robertson) was in a band called "Bronze Fawn," a progressive, instrumental group based in Seattle.
One of their songs (9 minutes in length) was called "Moonbeam Death Ray". Listening to it in the car one day, I had a "vision" (i.e. a cool idea).
I had just recently picked up a copy of the 3D computer animation software, Maya 7. So I thought, "what better way to learn to animate than by practicing with my idea for Bronze Fawn. I'm sure they will appreciate the surprise video!"
That, in essence, is how the following music video was made.
Josh was more than a bit surprised.
The video was written, directed, and animated by me with Maya 7 Unlimited. It took 200 hours over 4 months plus 600 hours of computer render time (i.e. I would set up the render and let my computer crunch out the stills while I was at the lab finishing my PhD). I modeled and textured the deer and firefly based on deer in my yard and fireflies I caught. I initially mixed the song down to its current 3 minutes length.
The YouTube version of this video has currently been watched about 478,000 times.
I have many, MANY problems with the animation (like some horrible deer movements, texture problems, lighting, etc...), but overall I was pretty happy with it for a first animation.
If anyone wants to learn animation - I say just do it. Download the free and opensource Blender software and start doing tutorials!
My interest in animation started when I needed a good animation for my dissertation defense on frog heart development. This was the result (intended to be illustrative, NOT 100% accurate - and yes, that is what early Xenopus larvae look like):
And one more just for fun (no sound).
"Feeding Time"
You can see more of my animations HERE.
Tooting my Own Digital Horn – The Oyster’s Garter
I recently offered to put in a design for a new blog banner for the extraordinarily nerdy and equally awesome ocean blogger, Miriam, of The Oyster's Garter.
She didn't hate my design, which now adorns her digital abode.
If you haven't been to The Oyster's Garter, or if you find yourself thinking "what the hell is an oyster's garter?" then I highly recommend you stroll through your nearest tube over to her place to figure it out for yourself. I particularly enjoyed her recent poetic, lyrical edition of the Carnival of the Blue #21.
The Oyster's Garter
Cephalopodtastic Wooden Art!
It is well past time that I used my connection with you ocean/invertebrate blogging types to point you all to one of the most artistically talented branches of my family tree.
My cousin, Steven Garrison, has been an accomplished sculptor and artistic engineer for as far back as I can remember. My favorite of his types of work is his series of nautiloid carvings. Be sure to check them all out at his website, www.stevengarrison.com.
Update: (2/9/09) Steve has informed me that he managed to get his work in del Mano Gallery in Los Angeles (considered the premier gallery in the nation for woodwork - you'll find his work there sometime this summer). Congratulations Steve!
Eastern Red Cedar Shell - Steven Garrison
Fiddleback Nautiloid - Steven Garrison
Aromatic Red Cedar Nautiloid - Steven Garrison
He also makes all sorts of other crazy sculptures, the accomplishment and engineering of which can boggle the mind.
You MUST check out his elliptical gears about halfway through this clip.
And one of his latest pieces: wooden gear driven window blinds!
And finally, his own favorite piece:
"All Screwed Up" - Steven Garrison
Obviously, I've always harbored a bit of jealousy at Steve's talent. But that's ok - the artistic thread runs cleanly through his lineage. My Uncle Bill and Aunt Gloria are both highly accomplished artists as well, with Bill focusing on oils and Gloria on watercolors (and oils).
"Leatherwood Creek" - Bill Garrison
"A Fine Pair" - Gloria Garrison