Random stuff

Hi all, its been quite a while since I uploaded a few doodles and sketches, here are some miscellaneous stuff I've fiddled with over the past few months. Mostly incomplete WIP sketches, but still worth showing I think. 

Floating Islands concept art

Decided to try my hand at a bit of concept painting in Photoshop today... it's obviously not that good, but I quite like the results. :D Enjoy!

New Website!

Hi all!
It's been a while since I did a proper post, but today I have a huge update... this blog is no longer my official space on the web. Instead I've built myself a brand new website, complete with a downloads section and a gallery! *yayay* :D

Of course, that doesn't mean I'll be taking this blog down... I'll still keep posting stuff here from time to time, but I've decided to use this as a sort of "digital sketchbook", meaning I'll be posting more WIPs and fun stuff, and not finished projects so much. From now on I'll be posting my finished projects on my website gallery.

Anyway, here's the link to my new site: http://squareyes.co.za/
So, to celebrate my new site, I've created a couple of new artworks which I hope you'll enjoy! (check my new gallery on the new site to see a full roundup of all my best works)

Morning Coffee

Ready for Anything!

Cheers,
-R

Something Big

Something BIG is lurking on my hard drive :D This is part of a much larger project, and I'm putting a lot of love into it. This is just a quick screenie to make you curious! :D ;) Enjoy!

My Little Teddy Bear

Here is a quick 2 - day project I did for the Weekly CG Challenge (on Facebook and G+). The theme this week was "Fantasy Fluffy Pet", and so this is what I saw in my mind when I read the topic. :) Enjoy!

-Rico

Madness

Here is my latest render, made in Blender 2.75, Zbrush, Mudbox, SubstancePainter and a bit of Photoshop.... Enjoy!

- Rico

Candy Tree

Another artwork for the weekly CG Challenge. This time we had to create a plant with our favorite food growing from it. Candy isn't necessarily my favorite, but its probably by far the most popular overall (especially among kids). Enjoy!

My Little Planet

Here's my entry for the weekly CG Challenge on Facebook... the theme was "My Little Planet".. this is the High-Res version. ;)

I decided to go all out to do the best I can do. Enjoy!

(Open the image in a new tab or download it to view at maximum resolution)

-R

Old Smile

Quick portrait for the day... enjoy!

Flintlock Pistol

A flintlock pistol and rapier I made as part of a larger project. Done in Blender 2.74 and rendered in Cycles. Enjoy!

Old Man Portrait

Here is my latest portrait. This was sculpted in Zbrush and blender, and textured in Mudbox and Photoshop. I used Cycles for lighting/rendering. I hope you like it!

-Rico

ThunderGod - High Res version

Here is a higher resolution render of my latest finished project. The idea behind this artwork was to try and show the awesome power of nature. Back in 2014 there was a competition on BlenderGuru.com, and the theme was "Nature's Fury"... I remember thinking  that I was "definitely going to take part in this", but unfortunately I got so busy during that time with another project, that when I returned a few weeks later I found the competition had already closed.

Now, with the new year and all, I decided to restart my "Nature's Fury" project as if I was taking part in the original competition. I started a "Work in Progress" thread on BlenderArtists.com, and thanks to the awesome input from the community (particularly from a guy named cgstrive) I was able to complete the project and render out a high-ish resolution final render. I hope this artwork makes you feel warm-and-fuzzy inside when you look at it. Enjoy! :-)

(click on the image to enlarge, or right-click and download to view it full-screen on your computer/tablet/whatever)

Gollum: Digital painting in GIMP

I decided to try my hand at digital painting. for this I used another great Open Source application :Gimp
this is my first proper digital painting actually. took me about 2 days.

I always hear people say that Photoshop is the only choice when it comes to digital painting. Well I've never really worked in Photoshop and I'm not a pro, but it seems to me that Gimp has totally got what it takes....

(click the image to enlarge)

enjoy!

More Random Modelling & Sculpting

Here are some random sculptures and 3d models I've been working on lately:
Mostly just "5-minute" doodles and exercises, but those are the most fun after all ;)

Mostly Blender, Zbrush, Mudbox.... and a little bit of Sculptris.

Enjoy!

RC

Sculpting Time-Lapse

Here's a quick upload for today, (and my first You-Tube upload *yay*)
just a quick time-lapse of a cartoon character sculture. Its a work in progress :)

And here's the finished Sculpt:

Enjoy!

Taking my Digital Art to the Next Level

Hello all,

I recently bought me a graphics tablet! Up till now, all the digital
artworks on this blog were created using a simple mouse and keyboard, (I think I
even used an old trackball mouse in some of the earlier artworks.)

Anyway, for several years I relied on a mouse to produce my art, and for most of
that time I didn't think I'd ever have a need for anything better... but some time ago
I had the opportunity to try out a real 'Pen Tablet', and it was a very cool experience.

I instantly had ten times more control over every brush-stroke and gesture, and it also
felt much more natural and comfortable. Ever since then I have been thinking about
getting one for myself, and a few days ago I finally got me a
Wacom Intuos 5 pro medium pen & touch tablet (I've attached a picture of it)...
all I can say is that its awesome! Check out this review to get a better idea of what it
can do.


It's capable of doing things no mouse can do, and I could kick myself for not getting one
earlier. Obviously it takes some time to get used to, but I'm already pretty comfortable
with most of the functions, and I'm creating stuff I would have a pretty hard time
doing with a mouse. Check out the below pics.

So I'm hoping my art will benefit from this awesome new addition to my toolset,
and I'm really excited (a bit overwhelmed actually) at all the new possibilities. :D

cheers and stay cool,
RC

Digital Sculpting

I started looking into digital sculpting some time ago.... and although I'm not a master yet, I believe
I'm making some progress. Here are a couple of faces I finished recently. I use mainly Sculptris, Blender and Autodesk Mudbox.

For those who are not familiar with it, digital sculpting is basically just
like building a clay model, except that everything is done in the computer instead of
using real clay. This method is very useful for creating stuff like faces and bodies
quickly and easily.

Enjoy!
Rico

Chev Corvette 1958

I started this a few months ago, but due to modelling problems, I never managed to finish it until now.

Its a Chevrolet Corvette 1958, and I plan to use it as
part of a bigger artwork. Done in Blender 2.67-2.68 and rendered in Cycles.
Minor post-pro color corrections etc done in photoshop.

Enjoy! :D

Rico