INTRODUCTION

Hey, my title is Michael Hickman and I’m a 14-year-old residing within the US. I’m from Las Vegas, Nevada. I began utilizing Blender after I was 11 years previous, after discovering a free software that allowed me to customise the software program to my liking. Earlier than then, I used Autodesk merchandise on the age of eight for CAD modeling, which I believed appeared horrible on the time.

By utilizing Blender, I discovered similarities with polygonal modeling in different packages and was in a position to shortly get a primary understanding of the software program. I continued to study and enhance my expertise by creating one thing new in Blender each week. I swap between realism and stylization in my work, and whereas I take pleasure in each, I discover that stylized artwork has a playfulness that’s not current in some other medium. I now use Blender and Krita for all my work and infrequently use Houdini for simulation.

INSPIRATION

My work is impressed by youngsters’s ebook illustrations. I am keen on the lovable and simplistic designs of the animals with their corresponding environments. The facial options in numerous my works are a combination of various cute and kawaii arts that I discover on Pinterest, blended collectively to get my end result.

PROCESS

My course of principally begins with mapping out a baseline for my work. I then add extra complexity and develop a character for the characters. To do that, I ask myself questions reminiscent of: “The place are the ravens positioned?” “What season are they in?” “What’s the climate?” This helps me to ascertain a baseline for my work.

MODELING

Modeling is pretty easy, utilizing a dice with a subdivision-surface to make its form spherical. This makes the article extra malleable and simpler to govern.

The shrubs and grass are manufactured from a NURBS curve with subdivided cubes as leaves. I modeled the hat and raven utilizing primary shaping in sculpt mode with the elastic deform software. I goal for a glance that’s not too sharp or too easy, however excellent to make the piece look passable.

TEXTURING

For texturing, I make the most of a photograph of fingerprints, which I exploit at a low bump worth to create distortion on the mesh. Then, I’ve a noise node blended with a Voronoi node on the roughness to provide a wood distinction and develop physicality within the texture. This creates a pleasant sheen that seems like you may contact the mannequin itself. The grasses and shrubs use a shade ramp node with an object information node to create randomness within the number of crops out there, producing further distinction blended with complementary quantity shaders to generate ambiance.

COLOR SCRIPT AND DETAILS

I created a shade palette by means of utilizing saturation and distinction inside Blender’s viewport, and I ran by means of renditions of the scene to see which of them stand out and seize the viewer’s eye. That is probably the most very important a part of my work, the place I exploit the MVP (Minimal Viable Product) methodology to push out the very best work within the shortest time period. The main points are profound at this stage, the place I zoom in on particular areas to seize any doable flat areas.

Primary shade script draft with an concept of colours going by means of renditions.

LIGHTING

For lighting, I exploit a quantity blended with a Nishita sky and at last, combine it with a key mild to create a profound point of interest for the complete piece. This grabs the viewer’s consideration and enhances the textures of the atmosphere.

Lighting and atmosphere check 1:

I made a decision to take away timber for a extra festive really feel. I eliminated the timber and adjusted the Nishita sky settings.

REAVEN RAVE

Thanks for studying, and be at liberty to ask me something. Have an ideal day!

Concerning the Artist

Michael Hickman, a 14-year-old 3D artist from Las Vegas, Nevada. He’s at present freelancing and doing private work.