Presenting "Lydon" - The fifth in my series of graphic meets 3D style characters for my
collectible resin figures.
Back in March of 2015, I was asked to participate in introducing the latest Makerbot Replicator Desktop 3D Printer for a national pc retailer in my area. Although as the title suggests ("Brave New World"); 3D printing/printers for the consumer is hardly new. And many of the Makerbot printers are commonly found in most retail stores; ranging from Office Depot to the big box giant, Home Depot. Nevertheless, from a traditional sculptor's point of view, (who has recently made the leap into virtual sculpting), I thought this would be a cool experience to talk about the migration, process and to see first hand how my recent digital sculpt would translate to 3D printing. Lydon will be my first printed piece. Although the date has been pushed back for this demonstration, I am eager to see how well (or not) this process will preform compared to my experience in hand sculpting toys.
stay t00ned!
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Revisiting one of my earlier designer collectible releases from the Clash "Springtime Carnage" series; I decided to have some fun recreating this digital version of "Ragin' Red" in ZBrush.
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Happy Valentines Day!
My recent 3D model of "Kisses" created in ZBrush/Rigged in Maya.
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Further exploring new vistas in 3D modeling. This is my first color rendition of
Sh-Betty Boom(& Bop)-titled "Jetpack & Diamonds" set against a general galactic wallpaper. Simple enough for my intermediate experience; I hope be able to engage in utilizing more advanced rendering engines and learn more about lighting and shaders.
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"Patience Means Never" (aka Pigs Fly).
Recently recreated this 3D model of a collectible sculpture I created in ©2012.
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Tweaking my brain from traditional to digital. While I expand my headroom, Expand the post to see a few more (modest) samplings of my virtual sculpts.....
"Ralfey"
"Jurrassic Mosquito"
Wrestling Ring-A-Lings (concept gaming characters & collectible line) "RoseBud"
Wrestling Ring-A-Lings (concept gaming characters & collectible line) "Junior"
"Wrestling Ring-A-Lings" characters ©2012 - *PTD (permission to display) concept art ©2014 *more details to come...
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Once again it has been quite some time since I posted new content. Lately I've been spending less time shaping and carving characters from physical matter and more time in front of my tablet pushing polygons. Yes - as the certainty of evolution is inevitable in order to sustain existence; Artist in the industry are neither immune to evolving and eventually have to accept and adapt to shifting their tool/mind set in order to stay current with the ever changing environment of family entertainment. Although I enjoyed dabbling in 3D with Maya now and then, it seemed more of a time consuming chore for me to model something on a virtual plane (that I could never touch or hold in my hand), than it was for me to sculpt something tangible from clay in a faction of the time. For someone who has worked with their hands throughout their career; this was exceptionally difficult to rationalize. Sculpting is my job and a love that often come with challenges as well as a sense of accomplishment. It's also a very therapeutic form of art working with your hands. Although there are parallels and as much as I hate to admit it, I usually don't enjoy spending hours sitting in front of a computer screen constantly re-working and re-crafting creative content trying to make things perfect. But I do. Then again, I also enjoy the challenge of learning something new. And like most people who's right and left brain are constantly in session in order to reconcile without sacrifice - there are often bouts of resistance for finding reasons not to ("because I don't feel like it"), Eventually you are compelled to understand why you have to. This was very much the case for me with regards to 3D modelling. That being said - "Don't" was no longer an option.
So..."Let's start"...
Working in ZBrush, I began with my character "Orbit" and the cast from my live action animated screen write "BLiP".
With an understanding that the technical learning curve may dissuade me to giving up too soon, I decided not to dive into trying to create something as ambitious as a hardcore game character for my first subject. It seemed much more practical to start off working with simple geometry and progress from there. Given my personal style, the obvious choice was to start off with something I was familiar with. Since having sculpted these characters in clay many times, I attempted to re create them digitally, from memory without reference just to add an element of artistic challenge. However seemingly simple enough primitive forms - it was challenge nonetheless for a beginner learning to use unfamiliar tools. "Queen Cosma Zarah's" ensemble will eventually have a few more embellishments as I continue to learn the tools and manage my workflow more efficiently. I am very encouraged with my results. This was truly a pleasurable learning experience every step of the way.
As an exercise, I recreated Vapor in Zbrush. Vapor was posed by creating a Zspheres rig. I will use Maya IK's for the next iteration.
"AstroFly" was to be a concept character for an intended game. From a simple concept drawing I did, he has since evolved after spending a little more time playing with the vast set of "brushes" and techniques inside of ZBrush.
These are just a few of the characters I have a created from my modest beginnings as I delve into the world of virtual sculpting. More to come...stay tOOned!
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Be sure before you flush...
cast resin, hand sculpted, mixed media and acrylic, marble and granite mount. (obscenely heavy).
It seems understandable that this current piece smacks certain overtones of trendy "zombie fandom" - but in actuality, (like many of my works), it was inspired by music. In this instance; I give a nod to Inspiral Carpets' (1992) song "Generations" from the album (by the same title as this post) which adorns the awesome photographic art of Sandy Skoglund. While the song, was motivating enough - the sculpt has nothing to do with the lyrics. In this context, "Generations", I attempt to parody "capricious evolution".... Although, I have to admit - their music video, was as equally "inspiraling"!
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something new is churning......Stay t00ned.
original - hand modeled and sculpted WED clay, annealed and finished in high gloss polyurethane paint.
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A few days ago I received an email from the folks at
Clutter magazine informing me that my
Gazuzu "Airhead" was recently nominated for best resin figure in this years
Designer Toy Awards! If you like designer toys, check out
the line up in this years competition...and by the way - don't forget to show a little love to Gazuzu by
voting for him!
Thanks!
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It seems it's been a while since I last posted anything new. I decided to take a bit of a hiatus from self producing my cold cast resin figures to focus my attention back to creating sculpture....
However, looking around my studio I soon realized, not only did I have a backlog of unfinished/(slated to be molded) figures sitting on my shelves, it also became apparent that they were also monopolizing a large amount of my sculpting material.
Unfortunately none of the figures was worth sacrificing in lieu of my desire to spend time in the studio noodling around with clay for the afternoon...
To make matters worse - It was the weekend and supply stores are closed. Frustrated yet determined; and after a few minutes of scrounging the bowels of my cluttered studio hoping to find, at least, a remnant of Chavant or even a left over fossilized bar of super sculpey, I happened upon some (forgotten) wax I had purchased several weeks prior....
I really don't enjoy sculpting in wax for leisure. It can sometimes wind up being a long and tedious effort, demanding too much focus which can suck the spontaneity and life out of a potentially cool design. Finding a good balanced wax; one that is firm yet SMOOTH and malleable enough to render a gesture quickly with the hardness that can be carved cleanly with an x-acto knife without being sticky...has always been a quest. There are some brands that I like well enough, but I still prefer to make my own (which is more like a waxy carve-able clay). At any rate I thought I'd delve in with this new brand and try to have some fun with it.
In spite of the lighthearted nature of the sculpt - working with this wax wasn't much fun at first. The product turned a bit mealy when heated to 100°F taking on the characteristics of sticky light green mashed potatoes. Trying to model with it at this stage was pretty much the same. It's tenacity and gummy like quality suggested there was a fair amount of beeswax comprised in the compound.
Although, after finding the right temperature (80°F), where it was firm enough to be workable, I did enjoy some of the advantages it offered. A low melting point, got you working quickly. While cool down was fairly rapid; the wax was seemingly hard enough, at room temperature, making it suitable for carving detail. A quick pop in the freezer offered better stability for cutting in sharper detail. Unfortunately it's tenacity made it difficult to smooth by scraping and sanding methods and became a magnet for dirt. My relentless effort to use various smoothing solutions to aid in the process...just made a dirty mess. As it is indicative of the horrendous marbling that can be seem throughout the sculpture. Despite the photos - the color of this material is mint green. That's right - MINT GREEN...go figure?
I can't say it was a horrible product to work with. Eventually I will melt down another batch of this wax and add a few more ounces of Carnauba to firm it up a bit and give it the proper color by adding in graphite powder and a few dark crayons if needed.
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"Dream" (white gloss) "Mist" (grey green)
"Destiny" (violet) "Genesis" (pearl blue)
(select an image for a larger view)
Sculpture specs: 7.5"W x 27.5"H, polystone (resin), individually hand cast, signed and numbered.
Edition size: 12 (3 ea edition)
Please refer to my
previous entry for turn around views and additional images of the original piece. Feel free to
Contact me for details and pre-ordering.
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Happy New Year - Welcome to 2013!
As we rise to embrace another day - So we begin another year. Another chapter in our lives and the journey that awaits. Awakened - The spirit within reborn...
Limited release of 12 pieces will be available for pre order 1.4.13. Contact me for details...
*sculpture specs: 7.5"W x 27.5"H, polystone (resin), individually signed and numbered.
edition size /12:
3/ white high gloss
3/ white w/light iridescent sea foam gradation (natural satin finish)
3/ white w/pearl blue gradation, high gloss finish
3/ white w/soft violet gradation, gloss finish
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Best wishes to all this holiday season!
_pierre
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