Title: 3D Illusttration: Wrap-Up

Notes: So, at the end of every semester we are supposed to do a (per-class) wrap-up of all that we did during the semester. Here's my booklet for everything done in 3D Illustration. I learned a ton in this class, met some great people, and ultimately discovered that I love clay, but it's hard as hell! So besides personal experiments and things, I think I will still stick with my traditional illustration for now.

Oh, and I also just recently discovered that Gears won for the Best in Class show!!!! You can actually see more details below and if you want to actually see the piece check the dates as well and go check it out! This blew my mind!

The list of artists selected for the Best in Class 2013/2014 exhibition is out! Artists were selected through faculty nominations. Each department head nominated four works from their respective departments from the past academic year. The exhibition will be on view in the Main Gallery from May 17 through July 11.
Selected artists include Jade Thiraswas, Zachary Lyles, Amanda Weidman, David Hook, Kandace Fuller, Carolina Salcedo, Mary Weber, Philip Rule, Machel Kazungu, Aminah Williams, Alexander Swilley,
Samantha Nemazie, Joshua Strydom, Matthew Ton, Rachel Stovall, Lindsey Sullinger, Spencer Laws, Ben Hancock, Jessica Vandenberg, Laura Miller, Glenn Buxton, Julie Bartlow, Ruby Zielinski, Shoni Campbell, Margaret Perez, Cecilia Reed, Colton Berretta, Mathew Kaminski, Robby Berretta, Emily Miller, April Rodriguez, Jefferson Muncy, Kelly Cook, Barrett Smyth, Nialah Brathwaite, Ashlyn Richey, Nicole Trimble,
Vanessa Gonzalez, Lyman Anderson, Christian Brown, LeKeishya Alexander, Caenina Moore, Natalie Jackson, George Brooks, Joni Miller, Mary Shore, and Elizabeth Davis.

Title: 3D Illusttration: SmartBomb

Medium: Super Sculpy, Acrylic Paint

Notes: Here was another 3D Illustration project that we did along the way. For this one we had a guest speaker come in and tell us all about the process of getting a job, the art pipeline, and what it takes to really succeed. I honestly think that given this talk was a good motivator to push forward. Stop questioning what your doing because if you're questioning it, it's just not right. My fiancee has been really pushing me forward for awhile now. And I think now it's time to really get out there and start putting myself out to do work.

Anyway, back to this piece... We were given what I thought was a mundane idea, mouthwash, and somehow it developed into this crazy ass character. I think if he were to become an actual product design, I would want him to be hollowed out and made of plastic and have the bomb's wick be a straw or something. That way he doubles as a cup too.

Title: 3D Illusttration: Gears

Medium: Mixed Media

Notes: For the final 3D illustration project we were allowed to work in teams and had to create more-or-less a scene and storyboard.

I looked to my right immediately and there was instantly like a silent agreement between Colton, Rob, and I. So off we went, just throwing around suggestions and different ideas. I think somewhere in there I was like, "Let's do a self-portrait of ourselves as adventurers trying to break into a dungeon." <we all shook our head pretty quickly to that> So we kept scribbling and searching for ideas, and I just kinda toss out this idea of, "Hey... what if we were to do robots. DRUNK ROBOTS!" <again, we all shook our head and kind of had a laugh> There was a silence over us for a few minutes. I think there was a certain hive mind brewing for a minute about this. And then I think it was Rob that looked over and was just like, "Well... what if we did Wall-E as a wanted poster.", to which I responded, "Yeah, he would be wanted for Grand Theft because he's constantly putting shit in that little drawer of his!" <laughter ensues> And literally from that moment, the project's scope just grew and grew. Looking back, I wonder if this project is a testament to see just how far and ridiculous we can go with a project.

Regardless, it was incredibly fun! I also think that after the fact, Rob looked at us and was like... I think I want to make an entire city of this stuff! Potential for future team-projects? We shall see...

So here's the breakdown of who did what:

Mat Kaminski - passed out drunkard robot,  bar stools, and all the advertisements and posters on the wall.

Colton Beretta - the bartender and all the accessories to the bar - cups, bottles, mugs.

Rob McElhaney - "wrestler bot", and the bar itself, and gears logo.

Title: 3D Illusttration: Snow Crash - Book Cover Mock-Up

Medium: Clay, Mixed Media, Photoshop CS3

Notes: It's been a minute since anything related to this project has been shown, but this is the cover mock-up for a redesign on the Snow Crash cover.

I definitely feel like the sculpt and background could have been better. I'm still definitely learning clay. It's ALOT harder than I anticipated. But that's what we do as artists, try new things and then keep messing around until we - at least remotely - figure out what we're doing.

Anyway, this was fun regardless and the photographers that showed up to take pictures of our sculpts at the end, honestly, brought the magic! They were amazing!

Title: 3D Illusttration: Y.T. Character Turn-around
Date: January 28 - 30, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Scale: Varies

Notes: For our first assignment in 3D illustration we are to make a character from a book in clay.

I decided to go with a secondary character from Snow Crash. Y.T.

Initially we were to do a bunch of sketchwork to try and search for what we wanted the character to look like and then take some sketches and render out (fully and professionally) the character into a full orthograph view. Complete with Front, Side, and Back as well as any detail shots.

In addition, the images below are part of the style exploration and questions I asked myself during creation.