Art of TonCreation | Life & Times of a 3D Artist

  Warm-up Sketch & Ink in Clip Studio Paint      I wanted to take a moment and reflect. On days like today, even writing this blog post takes more effort than I care to exert.       I look at my agenda to one listed task  reading: "Post to Blog! due today". It would've been easy to disregard it, exit my home office, and sit in front of the TV. I confess I do this often when this task comes around.       Starting towards a goal is easy. I find it exciting. For me it consists of: day dreaming, pulling out a fresh 70 sheets wide ruled 1-subject notebook with a title hand-written with a black sharpie on a sticker label, and a project folder on my computer with a carefully considered sub-folder structure.      Reaching the goal typically feels great too. Seeing something through, bringing it to fruition--there is nothing like it.      Somewhere stranded in the middle is where my journey is now....

  High-poly sculpt posed in Zbrush and composited in Photoshop High-poly sculpt posed in Zbrush and composited in Photoshop High-poly sculpt posed in Zbrush and composited in Photoshop High-poly sculpt posed in Zbrush and composited in Photoshop     It's really happening! I'm doing it! It is only two in the series completed out of seven but already I'm excited. I'm notorious for not finishing things I set out to do when it comes to individual personal artwork. Wish me luck. Tuessie Harris is the second of seven. In my mind she is a representation of the amazing women I met while living in South Florida.   My focus for fast turnarounds is really getting tested with commission work ramping up and the start of my new day job.  High-poly sculpt in Zbrush

High-poly sculpt posed in Zbrush and composited in Photoshop High-poly sculpt posed in Zbrush and composited in Photoshop High-poly sculpt posed in Zbrush and composited in Photoshop  I've been wanting to do this since 2019. A series of Zbrush/Photoshop images of seven original characters. Monet Kasongo is the first of seven. The focus is fast turnaround, sculpt posing, and composition. Maybe a little story telling.   High-poly sculpt in Zbrush 

High-poly sculpt posed in Zbrush and composited in Photoshop   High-poly sculpt posed in Zbrush and composited in Photoshop High-poly sculpt posed in Zbrush and composited in Photoshop

  High-poly sculpt in Zbrush   Front and back Another personal piece I started to improve my character modeling skills. This is a work in progress. The body and face are far along.  For the armor, clothes, and hair I execute a work flow I picked up from watching 3D Character Artist and Tutor Nikolay Naydenov. I've come to call it a 3D sketch.      What is a 3D Sketch? Again not an official term, it's just what I call it. I make a copy of the body and delete its lower subdivisions. I then sculpt everything on it. All the clothes and accessories you see in the images above is one subtool. I use dynamesh when I run out of resolution. The result is a rough sketch of the entire outfit before I sculpt the individual parts.      Why work like this? Well before watching Nikolay's tutorial. Intricate looking outfits always overwhelmed me. So many items to keep track of and there always seemed to be another part you haven't done yet. And that loom...

Created in Adobe Illustrator CC 2021 Making these was always a fun hobby I did after discovering vector-based art. In the recent months as I try to formulate a strategy to make a living off art full-time, I take inventory of all my artistic talents I have taken for granted. What I mean is that it's not flashy like 3D modelling. But unlike 3D modelling requiring an enormous amount of time and a specific consumer for it, this I can do in a day for the average consumer. People like pictures of themselves as a cartoon. I'm taken back to crowds of people, myself included, waiting in line for the caricature artist. Let's just hope people are willing to pay what I charge. I'll report back.