Cute and Menacing 2

In the entry before last I presented a Rhino model of a UGV tank.  Here I brought it back into Painter to add some more details.  Now I will go back into Rhino to fill in the original model.  The ultimate goal here is to print out a model with our Makerbot at work.  Upon further review, I think this design is a bit less cute then the first iteration.  At least the Google sticker helps retain some irony.

I got nothin' profound to say...it's a robot going for a hike in the Alps...trying to take a picture of himself.  Curiosity eat your heart out.

Cute and Menacing

Awhile ago I created this drawing on my Ipad.  I liked it's simplicity enough to bother committing the time to model it in Rhino.  Someday I might buy a Makerbot and print this out.  Here is a rendering that I created in Keyshot with that model.  I think I continue to play with this one, looks like it could use some more details.  Sensor clusters, damage cages, antenna, more lights, and a cargo pack might make this more fun.  Overall, the form is inspired from the anime stylings of Masamune Shirow's Tank Police.  If you haven't heard of Mr. Shirow, he's got some fun stuff, it was big inspiration for me when I was younger.  Careful if you Google him, a lot of the content is not safe for work

Rainbows End illustration

I read the book "Rainbows End" by the writer Vernor Vinge, in it he weaves a tale that takes Augmented reality to it's ultimate fruition.  There are other sci-fi themes too, such as life extension and rail guns.  I decided to paint up something that illustrated a scene in which the main character Gu, wonders into the desert outside of San Diego.  The scene in the book is mostly about reflection on his own life (having just been revived from near death of Alzheimer's).  He catches are ride in an automated car and encounters a facility with large rail guns.   This facility is called UpEx, a  play on the company FedEx, it launches parcels into the air so that they can be air dropped with pin-point accuracy into the hands of the recipients.  Since I have a general interest in transportation and the movement of goods and people, this is one scene that sounded fun to draw (that and the one in which the USC library is made to walk about!).

Modeled a head in Blender

I sculpted this head in Blender :) It's rough in a few areas like the eyes and the ears. The polygon count got so high that my computer was really choking on it. If I'd had more power I might have done something about it. I'm rocking a pretty old Dell here at home.

I've been itching to try Mudbox or Zbrush for a few years now, but couldn't justify plopping down some cash just to play with those expensive programs. Of course, most expensive software packs usually offer a short period (usually 30 days) as a trial. I'm never quite satisfied with that experience...30 days sounds like a long time, I'm pretty busy in my free time. So 30 days isn't usually enough for me to feel like I've fully explored any given program.

Then three weeks ago I discovered Blender 3D on the Internet by accident. I had actually heard of it before. To be honest, I kind of ignored it because I assumed it was another open source program that was generally awkward to work with (I won't bad mouth any particular programs. How can any one badmouth free software?). Previous to Blender the only open source programs that I found very useful was FireFox and somewhat useful OpenOffice. Blender 3D is pretty much awesome. I haven't finished exploring it. Supposedly it isn't as good as Mudbox or Zbrush, but I've heard it's pretty darned close. Since it's free, I won't need to feel guilty about plunking down thousands of dollars for hobby use. Though I can see how this may be useful in my professional job. Fortunately my computer at work is a bit more powerful.

This Old Pole

There is an old laundry pole in our backyard and Maria (my wife), thinks it should just go. I think it would make a great stand for a birdhouse. We have Blue Jays and Cardinals that show up every now and then. So it would be great if this encouraged them even more.

Space Jet

This space racer has two main rockets (top and bottom back center) for travel in the void. During atmospheric travel it has two jet pods slung underneath. It has swing wings mostly to look cool. Overall, I wanted to create an F1 racer in the pit, kind-of-feel, with this drawing. Thus the techy paint scheme and sponsor tags.

...more from my Ipad

created in Sketchbook

drawn on paper, scanned, and colored in Sketchbook

created in Sketch Club

I had more art work for the post below this, but Blogger seemed to max out on 5 images.

Ipad 2

created in Sketchbook

created in Sketchbook

created in Sketchbook

created in Sketchbook

created in Sketchbook

It has been awhile since I have posted, partly because our baby is more active now, and partly because I also have now have an Ipad that kept me from sitting at my computer. I've made a bunch of new drawings on that Ipad. Clearly you can't be as precise "finger painting" but I do love how spontaneous I can be when I think of something to draw or am inspired. I like to think of using the Ipad as a way to create roughs. If I really like what I have created, I can then upgrade it on my computer to something high res.

FEDEXbot

I put more effort into this piece then I have on others lately. Ironically, having a baby to take care of, has freed up more time for this sort of thing. While she sleeps I work on "productive" stuff such as this. Prior to having her around, I would have gone out of the house and done something completely different :)

This drawing is about the way packages might come to your door someday. It probably wouldn't look anything like this, but I wanted to get the base idea out and have a fun picture to draw. With advances in automation such as UAVs and the Darpa Grand Challenge, perhaps we will have those swords beaten into plowshares for use in our neighborhoods.

Here this robot drives right up to the door step while pulling a package out of its back container. It might take 20 or so of these to replace one truck, but they would have other advantages like 24 hour service.

This was also the first time I feel like I made some personal progress in drawing up a contextual background. It's something that I usually struggle with, but I seek to sharpen this skill as I do more illustrations (I also need to work on drawing people).

Bird Seed

Dancing Bot

Finished this about two months ago and delayed posting it. I wasn't completely happy with the result. Couldn't think of a way of resolving my small dilema, so I just let it go.

Remote Camera

Jet

Not real happy with this one. Fussed with the colors for too long, then got tired of, so I just kicked it out the door.

Atmospheric Cruise

A starship glides over the surface of a planet with a thick atmosphere.

Happy to have my Cintiq

My Cintiq (video tablet) needed to be repaired. Which required it to be sent back to it's original distributor in Washington State. I even tried to troubleshoot it myself, without voiding the warranty, beforehand to no avail. After 3 months of little to no use, I'm happy to have it back.

Staff Meeting Scribble

Staff Meeting Scribble

Staff Meeting Scribble

Staff Meeting Scribble