Smorgasbord!

~Please be aware that this blog post includes some drawings that display artistic nudity. The last section of the post includes drawings from a Life Drawing Class.~

Update time! Finally! I know it's been such a long time since my last update. I was actually hoping to have this done before Christmas, but I got very sick the week just before vacation and was out of commission for about 10 days.
The good news is, because it's been so long, the number of drawing and random doodles that I have to share has really piled up so prepare for lots of new pictures!

I'm going to start with the best, a disney-ish illustration that I've almost finished. The style is very, very different for me, but I think that's part of what made it fun. It really started as an exploratory sketch that turned into a sort of self-challenge to see if I could actually pull it off. It's one thing to do this as a line drawing, but I don't have a lot of experience when it comes to actually coloring my drawings-which is why I've been trying to practice it.

 Overall I'm considering it a huge success, although I would like to adjust how the blanket is being held up because it doesn't really make sense for how she is gripping it. I'll probably put this one in my portfolio, since a lot of companies like to see that you can draw and in multiple styles. Like I've said it's so different from my usual style, so I think it will really stand out as a good representation of how versatile I can be.

And now for something completely different...
I've been taking a glass class this quarter, and these were my first attempts at sculptural beads (sorry for the less than great photo, I was in a hurry to take it before I left for vacation).

 I'm very proud of them. They aren't master pieces, but for my first try I think they turned out pretty good. From Left to right: Navi from Legend of Zelda, a Guinea Pig, some angry birds, a fish, and some yoshi eggs.

I have a lot of doodles and quick drawings that have accumulated over the past several weeks.  All of these were done for the sake of doing art and just taking some time to relax from all my crazy thesis work.

 The other day I felt like I really needed to just set my mind free. The image of some one with wings on their head is definitely lacking originality on my part, but for a quick drawing I really love the way the wings came out. Plus, when something's for fun, who cares if it's original? I had a lot of fun with this drawing and that's what matters.

 Not much to say about this one other than that the first thing I did was scribble on the page and then decided the scribble looked like and eye- which led to me creating the rest of the picture.

 I did this in about 5 minutes, but I absolutely love it. I kind of wish it was an actual water color and not a digital piece.

Again not much to say. I like it, I wish the perspective on the elbow coming forward had turned out right. I managed to do an okay job of faking it, but it stands out enough to bother me every time I look at it.

This one was supposed to be in my last post, but I couldn't find the file at the time.

Again, just trying something different for the sake of it. I really like this style and I want to keep playing around with it when I get some more time.

Alright, all that's left are the photos I took of some of my drawings from the Life Drawing class I took last semester.

Marker and Conte Crayon. I loved trying out different materials, and more specifically mixing different ones together. The photo/computer doesn't give a good sense of it, but I really loved the texture I got from putting the white conte crayon over the marker.

I found I enjoy drawing muscular people best, for some reason I have a much easier time re-interpreting what I see on to paper when they are. However, I really think this one turned out nice, even though I had a hard time getting the right shapes at first.

I need to re-photograph this one. This is one of my favorites because unlike most of my drawings I actually kept my pencil strokes nice and neat and it turned really great because of that.

In my defense, the reason I end up getting messy is because I have tendonitus in my hand/wrist/elbow/shoulder, and it's usually hard for me to control the pencil for small/fine details. I found that accepting the messiness and learning how to use it to my advantage tends to work better than trying to fight it.

I have the same feelings about this one. It needs to be rephotographed and I love the pencil strokes I used to shade it. I did my best to clean it up well enough to share now since I have no idea when I'll get around to photographing it again.

Whew, that was a really long update! I'm done for now, and hopefully it won't be so long before I'm back for the next post. As always, please feel free to leave feedback, ask questions, or anything else along those lines.

Busy Bee

I know I'm over due for an update, unfortunately things have been above and beyond hectic for me since I got back from the break and I just haven't had time to gather things together and clean them up for a new post.

I have another break in a week for Christmas during which I will have a HUGE update with tons of pictures from the last several weeks, plus photos of my work from my anatomical drawing class. So just sit tight for one more week, new content is comming!

Until then, feel free to check out my thesis blog and see just why it is that I have been so busy.

Thanks!

Self Reflection

I'm back and with a final update on that self portrait I was making for my Modeling Strategies class. Last time I shared any progress on it was just after I had done the initial sculpt in zbrush. Well it's finished now and I have a turn table of it from my final for the class.


Modeling Strategies Final from Madeleine Rabil on Vimeo.
So basically the turn table shows off the model with normal map applied, the wireframe, the actual normal map, and a quick paint over I did on the UVs in photoshop. We weren't required to color it, but I decided to do one anyways since I knew it'd be easy and take hardly any time. Actually the color turned out better than I was expecting, except I think I could've done a better job with the transition of the top lip. But I'm ok with it for now, since I was really only doing that part for fun.

I've got two more drawings to share, both of which are kind of just the result of a lot of self reflection lately.

 This first one I've just been calling, "Scars," for obvious reasons. I tend to reflect a lot on the past and analyze how it has affected me in the present, mostly because that's the best way to learn especially when it's something that doesn't have a clear cut answer. Although the drawing definitely has a more negative feel to it, I generally find that past experiences, good or bad, have made me a stronger person in the long run. Which is why I think this image is more about the process of healing and still coping with whatever has happened rather than the final end result of it.

It seems a little silly for me to say "I think" about my own images, but a lately a lot of my drawings are the result of just that, drawing. I haven't really sat down to think about them, I've just been kind of doing them. It's kind of a weird feeling at the end, like when you wake up from a dream and suddenly think, "Okay, what am I trying to tell myself?" Unless, I'm the only one who does that, haha.

 I kind of did this one at the last minute today. I haven't had too much to really think about it, but lately I've been feeling kind of torn between two worlds, but unable to fully partake in either one because my other self holds me back. It's actually been kind of insightful though about who I am as a person, so I don't really know that it's a bad thing, just frustrating some times.

That's all I have for now. I'm hoping to find time to take some photos of the work I did in my figure drawing class now that the quarter is over. I would scan them, but scanners and charcoal aren't really a good combination so photographs are really what I need.

I'd Like A Sanity Check, Please

It's been a while since my last post. Part of that is because I've been busy with my thesis (which if I have been updating the blog for weekly, so that's a good place to check if I don't post here) and part of that is because I've been so busy with work and school that I don't really have any other stuff to show.

My Self Portrait sculpt hasn't been updated enough to really show. My teacher told me I was the only one who was re-topologized and ready on time and because of that he gave the rest of the class an extra week to catch up. He then asked me to go over UVs in our next class, so I then got further ahead by also doing my UVs a week ahead of the rest of the class so I'd have something to show while going over my process.

I have two things I'm really excited to show, because they are more or less complete (or as complete as some one with not very much time can make things.

 

I'm the most excited about this piece because I literally just finished it about an hour ago. I basically had the phrase "Sanity Check" in my head as I drew it. I didn't have much of a plan for it, but it was one of those drawings that just kinda flowed onto the page without me really knowing why. If I could do anyhing different I'd definitely redo her torso and limbs. They work well enough, but the body language isn't quite right for the attitude she should have. I'm very pleased with her face and all the crazyness popping out of her head, I don't think I'd change it very much.

This is the first pen drawing I have done in several years. I just kind of sat down and decided I felt like drawing something decent. I spent about an hour and a half on it, just kind of made it up as I went. The proportions aren't right, but I think I'm ok with it considering I didn't really rough anything of it out before hand.

Those are the two main things I wanted to share, however, I did recently discover a drawing I thought I had lost that I'm going to hopefully work on some more and finish. 

I was really upset when I couldn't figure out where the file for this went. Turns out I saved to the default documents folder(not very useful when on a public computer) instead of switching to the desktop like I usually do. She's your typical goth punk girl, doing what else but voodoo, like all good little goth girls do. I really like the style I had going and I'm eager to see how it turns out. Hopefully I can keep it cohesive enough that I don't decide I hate it in the end.

I don't have much else other than that, so until next time!

Life Size

It's officially mid terms which means of course that the quarter is in full swing for me. I've been running around between all my different projects and my two jobs so things for the blog are naturally off schedule. I'd like to say that I can get back to weekly posts, but I don't foresee that being realistic any time soon. Nonetheless, I will be doing my best to update as often as possible.

I had a rather exciting last two-weeks art wise. I got to do my first ever life-sized figure drawing which was also live (meaning in person from a model), which was the most fun I have had drawing in a long time. 

I knew I wouldn't have enough time to shade the whole thing supper neatly and perfectly so I decided to just have fun with the materials instead. I end up doing a ton of smearing with my hands just whenever I felt like it. I then kept some of my shading untouched so that the strokes were still clearly visible and in the end it came out with a cool mixture of both.

 I am over all extremely happy with it, except I think the shoulder area and back of her kneck is not quite right. Unfortunately, that's because my view changed a little bit after the model too her first break and that was the one area I hadn't clearly mapped out in the first 30 minutes. There are a few other minor issues, but I am still extremely happy with it. It's also really cool to have a drawing that's literally as tall as I am.

 I've been working on creating a self portrait in 3D for my Modeling Strategies Class, and I've been having a lot of fun.

On the Left is the photo I took of myself. Since I'm not doing details just yet I decided to go ahead and mirror my face and work from it like that. Once I get closer to the end I can switch to working asymetrically, since no one's face it's perfectly symetrical. 

I think my profile view isn't as strong in terms of the accuracy of the model, but this has only been the first week so there is plenty of time to make adjustments. I'll be spending a lot of time fixing the nose which is almost entirely wrong in terms of shape. And I need to work on getting my cheek's bone structure right, it's a little more fleshy (for lack of a better word) than how I have it on the model at the moment.  I haven't touched the eyes at all so they are off in both the front and side views. 

I also started a new digital painting that will mostly likely end up on my never ending pile of unfinished work. In terms of time and access to the right tablets, it usually just isn't realistic for me to even be starting these, but it is something I really do want to get better at. The only way to get better is to practice, so I try and fit it in when I can.

NA big difference here though is that unlike most of my other digital drawings I started this one from a sketch I did in pencil. I'm much more comfortable and better at drawing characters from scratch in pencil. I have improved at it on the tablet, but I think it'll be a long time before I can surpass anything I can do on paper just because I have so many more years of experience with paper. It's turning out pretty well, I think her waist/hips might be a bit small for her upper body, but that's easily adjustable. I like how the fans turned out, although I'm not too sure about how convincing their angles are. We'll have to wait and see how this one turns out.

The rest of what I have this week are mostly just doodles.

I've been getting back to drawing in pencil, I think drawings done on paper always have so much more life to them than ones done digitally- at least in the case of my own work. He's unfinished as I'm still trying to visualize what he's wearing. I pretty much had the idea of the wolf hat (unoriginal, i know) and drew him because I wanted to draw that, but now I don't know what to do with the rest.

This is a Drawing I did of my friend Ben really quick. I like it because it looks exactly like him. 

And finally, whatever this thing is. Don't ask because I really don't know.

Rock Monster Man

Things have recently started to get really crazy for me school-wise, so I'm going to hopefully be keeping this short. I haven't had much time for anything other than my thesis and job so most of what I have been doing is just doodling.

 Like I said, I've mostly just been doodling. I've found it's really great to just take an hour break and just kind of let myself relax and draw something. It's been helping me keep from getting too stressed out, which is really nice.

I didn't really have any purposed for drawing this, just something I thought of that was easy enough to do. I couldn't decided how I wanted to make his legs and pretty much just drew them like legos.

This is the only thing I spent more than 1 hour on because I was feeling so stressed out I couldn't even focus on my homework. The weird thing I found out about fine art is that no matter how upset or bothered I am I can still zone out of life and just focus on doing it. I've had ADHD for a really long time, and drawing is the only thing that has ever been able to hold my complete and utter attention like that.

I absolutely love the drawing, but his neck is very clearly too long. I tend to do that with necks, but it was actually worse in this drawing before i changed it.

That's all for this week, I have to get back to doing homework.

Catching Up To Summer

Now that I'm back and ready to roll, I thought it would be nice to take a moment and post all the stuff I did over the summer. Although I was mostly busy, I did find time to fit in some artsy things every here and there.

But first, I should also mention that I did hear back about the Girl Gamers In Real Life Scholarship

Competition, unfortunately, I did not win. But that's okay, I had a lot of fun participating and the overall experience was worth it. I'm still excited to have made it to being a semi-finalist, even if I didn't win. 

Something I spent quite a bit of time on this summer was preparing for my senior thesis. I did a lot of conceptual work, mostly with quick models in Maya. 

But before I get to what I did for it over the summer, I want to mention that I am keeping a separate blog of my progress which I will be updating each week. I added a tab at the top of the page that will give easy access to anyone who's interested in following it.

That being said, I expect to be very busy with my thesis this school year, so if there's ever a week that I can't update this blog, you can check my thesis one and still see what I've been up to. I'm working two jobs on the side of school this year as well, so there's a good chance I may have to change from my weekly posts to something less frequent.

Anyways, back to the art!

As I mentioned earlier, I did a lot of conceptual modeling for my thesis, but even before that I did some experimenting in Zbrush to help me decided whether or not I wanted to go for project focused on characters or on environments.

This summer was the first time I ever got to use Zbrush, so of course I started off with some online tutorials and just playing around. My goal was to learn the basic tools and just get a feel for the program overall. So I ended up making a face from a simple sphere shape as I watched the tutorials on the different tools and tested them out.

I only had enough time to try it out for an hour when I did this, but for my first try I was pretty happy with the face I managed to sculpt into the sphere.

I felt comfortable enough to the program to decided to sculpt off of a base mesh, so I spent an hour of free time every couple of days making a bust for me to sculpt off of.

But by the time I finished and found time to work again I had decided to go with environments for my thesis and abandoned the bust for another time.

 When it comes to characters I prefer to draw rather than model in regards to conceptualizing, but I found that since I have less experience drawing architecture it was much easier and faster to model the concepts than it was to draw them. 

This was my first scene that I created in roughly 8 hours to help me visually create a style that was cohesive.
A good example of this is how I changed the bridge in the top image to the one on the bottom because I realized the first one felt too big and bulky and just didn't fit in with the rest of the scene. I was planning on remaking this scene for my thesis with better models (these were mostly just blocks that I quickly adjusted to get the look I wanted, so model-wise they are not something I would actually want to re-use), but then I realized the number of models and textures I would have to produce would just be far too much for me to actually finish in time. So instead I'm using this has a sort of style guide/inspiration for a smaller scene with the same idea. All of which you can read more about here.

After spending about two months working on my thesis whenever I had time, I decided one night to do something different and picked up that bust I had made earlier. I brought it into Zbrush and just started playing around. I didn't really have an end vision or goal, I just wanted to see what I could come up with.

I ended up making her into some sort of alien species. Again, there was no real goal other than to just have fun, and I think I spent maybe 2 hours on it.

The rest of the stuff I did consisted mainly of sketches, so there's not much to talk about. I just did them for fun.

I have another one somewhere that I'll have to find and post. I know I scanned it, but I'm not sure where I saved it to on my computer.