The day that flipped everything

It's been 2 days. I am passed the initial shock and now just coping with the fact that I don't have a job anymore. It was no fault of mine. It is just how it sometimes goes in the world of startup studios. I will dearly miss my friends, who are also in the same position as me.

My morning routine is a little screwed up because of that lack of obligation, but my new routine is slow reforming. Had to call all of my loan lenders, file for unemployment, create a list of things to do, and collect job listings. I will soon be jumping into a routine of full-time game development on the project I've been working on (the Puppy Pirates), but for now.... I will be doing some important chores around the house and applying for jobs. I may even squeeze in a nice daily walk! (I say as it starts to rain here)

But my hopes are still high! Sorry if I sound otherwise, but I was just never the kind of person to enjoy idle moments. I have an extra 8 hours a day to do what I had been trying to squeeze in a 4 hour time frame after work. I aim to take advantage of that!

Last week before I realized this would happen, I bought a Cintiq. Not remorseful about my purchase, yet, but what impeccable timing on all this. hahah! I'm telling myself it's an investment. I'm not incredibly comfortable with it yet, but I plan to do more testing on it later. If I still don't like it, hopefully Amazon would allow me to return it.

Changing topics here: I was working on a Patreon page before all this, and now it's become more useful than ever before! I just launched the page, so if you are interested in following my adventures into Game Development, with some additional benefits, feel free to head over there and consider supporting me as a patron!

https://www.patreon.com/estherlove

Before I head out, I also wanted to update you all on another project I've been working on. I am collaborating with members from the Handpainters Guild, to create a diorama of a Torii gate.

Here is where the project is at currently:

And here is a close up of my part in the project:

I should sleep now, despite not really NEEDING to wake up early, but I do have my own schedule to keep! :P Goodnight!

BlizzCon Report! Part 2

Portfolio Review!

The lines for the Recruitment Table was very very short, sometimes non-existent! I was incredibly surprised to see this, since it WAS the RECRUITMENT table for BLIZZARD at BLIZZCON. One would think it would be the one play that would attract a large crowd. But I was not going to complain! I walked right up, was greeted by 2 recruiters, had a very relaxing chat with both of them, and then it was my turn to meet the art focused recruiter/reviewer.

The Critique: (take care to note this was my interpretation of the review & I went in looking for a Prop Artist review)

BlizzCon Report! Part 1

I had an amazing time at BlizzCon! It was my first BlizzCon, but I was no stranger to the Anaheim Convention Center. It was nice being back at this convention where everything seems clean, bright, and happy! Dear 'ol Disneyland was right next door, so the positive vibes between BlizzCon and Disneyland was pleasant!

Saw this magnificent costume on my way to the convention line! 

I loved the way they organized the different halls! You had a championship stage next to the demo stations for that game. Every part of the halls had the buzz of excitement! There were statues spaced throughout the halls. Most of the statues were what usually sat in the halls of the Blizzard studio. It was nice they brought them out for some air and adoration! I am a little bummed that I missed the Warcraft Movie props which were upstairs on the 3rd floor. ;'(

A photo posted by melthefishy (@melthefishy) on Nov 9, 2015 at 12:19pm PST

Winston from Overwatch

The people at the conference were extremely nice! It was probably by chance that I didn't run into anybody with a bad attitude, so I really appreciated my positive experience this year. It really felt like one big community! Like I've raided with all these people before and we had a kind respect towards each other. I was not expecting something terrible from the attendees, but was delightfully surprised anyways.

Waiting for the convention center to open on Day 1!

The big screen that counted down to the official start of BlizzCon 2015!

There was not as many "free" swag items as I had expected, but I think that was a good thing. I ended up only getting the things I actually cared about. BUT, I did get a few free things from my fellow attendees! I randomly received Thundersticks from a passerby when I asked where did he get them from (nice!) and I got 2 capsule ball head figures from a very kind girl I was standing next to in the hotdog line. (thanks, Nicole!)

Sylvannas and Winston! Hearthstone coin for scale.

You know that feeling when you randomly run into somebody you know in a public space with tons of other people?? Well that happened! I bumped into 5 friends that I wasn't expecting to see at BlizzCon. What are those chances!?

Now for the photodump!

My friend's car!

The Darkmoon Faire really does exist!!

Tyrande Cosplayer!

 "Make some room by the hearth!"

 My second home at BlizzCon.

 Need some Heroes of the Storm infographics? 

 Cosplay Panel with some Blizzard Empoyee Cosplayers and winners from the Costume Contest!

 Ever wondered what the Overwatch trailer would sound like with Heroes of the Storm characters?

The Voice Actors panel was where one could find out!

//CUE SAD MUSIC

 Leaving the convention halls for the last time for BlizzCon 2015.

 Goodbye, Anaheim. Goodbye, BlizzCon. You were amazing!!!!!!!

//END SAD MUSIC

I got to visit Blizzard to end the amazing weekend!! My motivation, determination, and focus has been renewed. One day Blizzard... 

Finished the Sword!

"This sword was forged for the most brutal puppy to ever sail the big wet pool of the world. This blade has seen many a battle, but no real puppies were harmed in the making of this story."

You can also find this on @sketchfab​ as an interactive 3D model https://skfb.ly/HFLW and at ArtStation https://www.artstation.com/artwork/stylized-pirate-sword!

As I neared the finish on the polish. I was looking at Pixelb's work for inspiration and color reference.

http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=114659

Specifically:

http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h410/Bflybabe88/curly_sword_beauty-1_zps36bc6e33.png

And... http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h410/Bflybabe88/swords_beauty_zpsd8f2a956.png

Her stuff is truly amazing. I can already see that the blade was probably the weakest part of the image, but I finished it to a point right before it started to become overworked. It started with the blade, and as I continued to paint, my rendering skills were getting alot better. Happens all the time, right??

I also learned that projecting the model from 3D Coat into Photoshop to render out some of the part was REALLY helpful. Just press ctrl + alt + P while in 3D Coat, and you will see a screenshot of your view from 3D Coat. What is awesome about that is you can paint right on the picture, save it, and then the details get projected back onto your model in 3D Coat. Love it!

I've been streaming myself working on this model, and have truly had a positive experience where I got to talk about my thought process, work thru problems outloud and experiment with techniques, reflect on my process since I am verbally elaborating on my thoughts, and also get to share my knowledge with other people while getting to know them aswell.

You can find the stream at: http://www.twitch.tv/evolvyn

I also want to take a moment to say I've started a Slack Chat group for handpainted texture artists!

It's a small and personal community for enthusiasts and artists who do handpainted texture style. The purpose is to have a small tight nit community to chat with and hangout. It is asynchronous chatting, so you don't have be in the room all the time to chat. Just pop in, post, say a few words, and back to work!

To be invited to this community, fill out my form so I can get your email to send the invite to. http://goo.gl/forms/O8GMDLyr74

You do NOT have to download another client. Slack can be viewed on your web browser by simply logging on @ https://handpaintersguild.slack.com/

Sword Finish, kinda!

I might do some minor tweaks tomorrow, but for most part it is done!

What I learned:

• If I am having trouble painting...Bring the model into Photoshop (Ctrl+Alt+P) as a 2D picture to draw on. Because sometimes I just paint things better in Photoshop than in 3D Coat.

• Sword blade looks like stone still. Need to practice rendering metal again. Someone suggested looking at Tyson Murphy's Tutorial on 3D Motive. I've seen it before, but it is definitely a good idea to revisit it.

• Metal is hard. haha!

I am moving on to pirate ship stuff tomorrow too! Very excited about that!

Happy Inktober & Sword Progress!

Learning to get more comfortable with ink!

Here were my practices before I did the sword.

And painted up a sword! Next step is to polish the detail.

Progress for tonight!

Tired face! Sword #2

Goodnight!

Sword Prop for the Pup!

Did a live stream on Twitch while I was painting this!

If you are interested in seeing me make the rest of the sword options,

follow me on Twitch! http://www.twitch.tv/evolvyn

For reference on this sword, I looked closely at Rafael Zanchetin's model on Sketchfab!

Seal of Dawn by rafazanchetin on Sketchfab

My plan is to emulate an artist's style that I really like as best as possible. Learn from their work. Study their strokes and detail. And Rafael is one of the best in my book for painting and texture painting. (Blizzard hire him!!)

Updated textures for the puppy model next to the newly painted sword!

One more day, and then I'll be done!

Just need the belt to be done now.

:3

I am le tired~

And a paintsketch I did for the Handpainted Art Jam. Testing out my new photoshop plugin the "Magic Picker", practicing my color variation (tip from Faf @ link), and just wanting to do something fun.

Clothes!

Quick 1st draft of color and shapes. Sleeping early today for reasons of needing to be up at 4am tomorrow. XP

What I learned today while texturing this, is that don't mess with the UVsets for final stuff. I don't quite understand it yet, and I messed something up. Not sure if this is the cause, but I can't paint to the edges anymore on my clothing pieces. Also, the pup's body now has patches of invisible textures. 

You know that feeling when you...

...Say you are too tired to do anything?

But then you do something...

Concepted a Pandaren classroom for World of Warcraft!

Clothes for the puppy pirate!

Clothes!! Kinda! I will texture those tomorrow! Getting cloooooose...

More Puppy Progressss!

Getting closer, I think! Omg fur. I like how the ears turned out. Need more contrast in that chest fur.

Another update on...puppy! Oops!

Wasn’t going to work on the pup so soon, but since my ship was having technical issues with 3D Coat, I figured I’d spend the time working on this.

Another puppy render!

At a perspective that is closer to what it will look like in the game.

BTW, I started up a Tumblr to spread my visibility a little bit more, and keep a watch on the artists that are currently there!

Evolvyn @ Tumblr

Join me there if you prefer that kind of blogging!

Not sure if there will be any differences in my content from here to there, but I'll do my best to keep it consistent! 

More puppy texturing...comes with a rendering!

1st iteration of the puppy standing next to my finished cannon. 

Still need better rendering, but for now I will be moving back to the ship model as I practice on rendering fur.

Here are so sketches I did as I worked on the pup:

Texturing the pup!

Puppy texture progress!

WIP texture. I am realizing how HARD it is to make fur.

Concept of the Pup Crewmen.

Just for fun! What the game will eventually contain. Pups, a captain, and a freakishly happy sun.