Latest project! Pandaren Classroom Diorama

 My concept art / lighting practice

Wanted to get some zbrush practice on this piece, so this is where I am at now. As for the stone floor, I plan to take advantage of the guild workshop and use this as practice for that. Things are coming along smoothly (zbrush crashing not being acknowledged), so I plan to get started on UVing and texturing real soon!

Started as a warmup...

Meant to work on the stone brick workshop for the guild... OR even do some sculpts on my Pandaren diorama. OR draw some concepts for a personal project im working on. But instead I did this. I love Michael Vicente's work! He just did an art drop yesterday on the Heroes of the Storm stuff he did. AMAZING. I can't stop thinking about it! I used one of his beauty shots to practice my value on. His work...so good.  The matcap he uses on his sculpts is very attractive too. Thank you Michael Vicente aka Orb!!

Check out his work here on Artstation! https://www.artstation.com/artist/orb

This was crossposted at Tumblr: Link

Find the recorded Twitch stream here: Link to my video at Youtube
Or, watch the edited timelapse here: Link to my video at Youtube

Successful Workshop Event

The turnout at the Handpainter's Guild for the 1st Guild Workshop went very well! Had a good number of participants, and quite a few who seemed to really improve since they started workshop. I don't dare take any credit for their improvement. I try to constantly remind people that the only way to get better is through practice..And practice they did!

Shelf Practice by Esther Love on Sketchfab

This was my finished product from the workshop.

What I re-learned from doing this workshop is that I often need to do studies first before jumping into texturing. So make studies I did. A great suggestion I got was to start with a value painting since color was only distracting me from what was truly important...understanding the form.

It was great to see all the different version of the same models from the other people! It was also a very refreshing project to work on. We’ve started a new workshop today focusing around Stone Bricks. Looking forward to starting that tomorrow!

A Workshop from The HandPainter's Guild

So something that I've been doing on my free time is helping the Handpainter's Guild grow as a community, and one of the things I've done to do that is start a Workshop! I am a firm believer that to learn how to make art, is by creating art. It's more often than not always going to be rough when starting, and I see that with a few of my guild members who are very new to hand painting. 

What I've learned thru personal experience is that doing studies really helps me understand a material. And I will be making that a focus on the next workshop. It can be difficult to know how to emulate a material/style just by looking at it. You really have to train your observation skills and art muscle by just painting what you see. Grow my art vocabulary by understanding the quirks and features of an item.

Fanny's Portfolio

Used Fanny Vergne's wood for reference on my study.

This is where I am at right now, and I plan to finish by tonight. I didn't want people to overwork their textures, because this is for practice, not for a portfolio piece or contest. So the workshop will end this weekend after going for 2 weeks. I already have plans for the next one, so I am excited to finish this and move on!

I am so glad for the HandPainter's Guild. Everybody in it, art vets and newbies alike, teach me something new. Whether it is by them giving me a new perspective on things, or challenging me by making me think of ways to breakdown techniques. I am pushing myself to get better so that I can be there for them! :)

P.S. Still working on 2 other projects on top of my Guild activities (on top of full time job). :P

It's National Puppy Day!

This is on Artstation too!

National Puppy (pirate) Day by Esther Love on Sketchfab

I couldn't pass today up! I've been sick for the last week, with some sort of lung related infection..

(boo my coworkers who got me sick!)

But I am slowly and surely getting better! And to top it off, this piece just got "Staff Picked" over at Sketchfab!

I just wanna end this by saying that I am glad this week of turmoil will soon be over. And I thank my doctor for being a great physician and knowing how to help me get better. ^^

New thing! New thing!!

Hello Readers!

I'm back with a thing! I've had the urge to model a whole building, instead of the individual props that I've been doing. A building is a prop, really. Multiple props.

I am using David Harrington's concept art for Heroes of the Storm to create my scene. https://www.artstation.com/artwork/WleQX His work is great, please go check out the rest of his work on Artstation!

Finished modeling the blockout for the blacksmith building and did a quick AO using 3D Coat. I had initially intended to sculpt the detail onto the house, but then decided that the house would not be the best opportunity for using Zbrush. I really wanted to paint on this one. But if I really wanted sculpt, I found another concept art from him that would do nicely. https://www.artstation.com/artwork/WPBly

My next step from here would be to UV the housing pieces. And then after that drop base colors on the building to start painting from.

Change of topic: I will be exercising during my lunch hours now. Because I truly believe that exercising my body is as important as exercising my art skills. I can't begin to describe how terrible I feel when I think about how much sit/eat, in contrast to how much I move around and be active. You won't see anything change, but I will be a better person and artist for doing this.

A finished lantern and good news!

Japanese Stone Lantern by Esther Love on Sketchfab

It's almost been 2 months now since my last post. Things have drastically changed for the better. I started a new job only a month after being let go. It was crazy. I hardly expected to find a job so soon! I am happy and blessed that I did not have to worry about unemployment for long. Now that I am back on the working side, I lost the time that I had intended for personal projects, but I am making up for that right now. Finally decided to upload my lantern to Sketchfab (https://skfb.ly/KNoF) and Artstation (https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Zdo9N).

I am still figuring out / re-learning how to have energy at the end of the day. So far my plan is to prototype a game idea for the first real time, draw and model characters from Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series, and create a model for 3D printing.

In summary to the whole roller coaster of emotions and employment status, I am now stronger and wiser. Hopefully that'll keep me in a good spot or better in the coming future.