Month: January 2021

Dengar on Watch

January 24, 2021

So here’s a little sketch I did using Maya with Arnold. I wanted to play with lighting scenarios and the Lighting Filters I mentioned last week.

I was originally inspired with this piece by trying to pay homage to the 19th century artists, like Jean-Leon Gerome and Ludwig Deutsch. They were part of a movement called Orientalism, which was a depiction of the Middle East thru artists from a Western culture’s perspective and interpretations.

I began researching Star Wars related elements. I wanted to incorporate, specifically a bounty hunter, but with all the attention to Boba Fett with the amazing Mandalorian I chose a more obscure one with Dengar. A friend, Brian LaFrance pointed me to a great reference gathering tool Pure Ref. You can create your own pin board of various references easily.

I was able to find low resolution models on RenderHub. There were a bunch of free Star Wars characters from a user, Rip Van Wrinkle.

From here, it was trying to figure out a layout and characters to support my main character, Dengar. For some characters and environments I swapped out textures, used megascan textures. I combined some characters together (made a jawa out of the emperor, etc).

Then just played with mood using different lights in Arnold.

It was a fun exercise. Now onto the next piece.

The Dawn of 2021

January 4, 2021

Well, we can all say we are very VERY happy to be rid of 2020. But for all of 2020’s misery and pain, it did show us how interconnected we all are still in this day and age. One person’s pains and hardships can have ramifications on so many other lives. It made me think back on one of my favorite Christmas movies (and actual all around movie), “It’s a Wonderful Life”.

It’s very appropriate now, it deals with hardship and mental health along with happiness and realization your life isn’t as bad as you think. A quote from it came to mind:

“Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?“

This has tremendous meaning in 2020, we’ve lost so many souls this year around the world. Many have suffered unimaginable heartache, mental, physical and financial loss and fatigue. But we have gotten through the year by leaning on friends, family and kindness of strangers.

As we embark into 2021, let us not forget that everyone around us is still reeling from an incredibly hard year and it will still take some effort to get 2021 going in a positive direction. We’ve learned that even the smallest gesture of gratitude can brighten someone’s day; from a clerk ringing up our groceries and risking their health to do it, to a first responder caring for our loved ones, our mail carriers delivering packages and to us trying to shelter in place and following safety protocols to keep others from harm.

Put good out in the world and let’s have some good come back. Figure out what you can do in 2021 to help others. There is no gesture to small.

As my favorite line from the end of the movie, we need to lean on those around us, to then have them lean on us when they need it as well. Be a friend to all. Happy New Year everyone!!