Yes, I am aware of shapeways ability to print these things, but in most cases I think they just plate in those alloys, and even getting something as small as a quarter is crazy expensive. I don’t know if anyone who would read this thread could even consider that at a 20"+. So its POSSIBLE but the barrier to entry is so high it might as well be impossible.
And about your second point, actually, since no one is commissioning a clay mackett (yet), i’m going to have to goto my default. Making games for people. I have two clients that want some serious work done, but I just got to a point in clay where I feel strong and I want to do more and more clay work, and I want to be paid to do it. My hope is I can find someone who wants something done, I get better, they get a relatively inexpensive novelty and I get more experience in clay. Everyone wins. But I’m not in here posting for 3D work, animation, or programming, because I have steady clients already who I goto when I need money and they always seem to have enough work for me. Another just offered me $1,000 to fix a game for someone else made for them. But I have the overwhelming desire to make things in clay. So I pander to the masses.
3D printing of that size would be extremely expensive, thousands of dollars in the material alone. As far as clay vs. 3D print there’s still a great amount of artistry that goes into a 3D print, it probably takes as many hours to do a 3D print as it would to do it in clay, and even doing the 3D print isn’t as simple as clicking a button, I’m working on a project right now and there’s a huge number of hours sanding/fitting/putting parts together. Though in my case I’ve got something like 200 parts to deal with.
It would also probably take as much time to print a copy of a print as it would to make a cast of a sculpture.
And those metal 3D prints–what depends on the process, for jewelers they print in a plastic that can be melted out of the mold and then they fill that with whatever metal they want. I think Shapeways does that but most of the metals get cast in brass and then plated in whatever material, some of them are solid though like the silver.
Good points Darth, and thanks for angering me until I fixed my work, I’m actually a lot more proud of it now, even if no one order one, which each of you totally should.
So, non-y’all threw your money at the screen yet so I’m starting a dragon I’m building the armature now. Hopefully as you guys see the progress it’ll make you salivate and demand your own to be commissioned.
Check it out: Next step is gathering all of the reference I need, feet, head, neck, tail, scales, wings. The pose it has right now is just a basic gesture reference the final pose won’t be decided until all of the masses are blocked in with clay. I hope you like it.
Daniel, what it looked like when you last saw it the last day of class was how it looked when the thread started, what it looks like now is the one on the first page currently. Its basically the same just with, better lighting, more of a display set up, a lot more smoothness, i fixed some anatomical problems I noticed, i still want to flush the hair out with some alcohol to get those obvious lines looking better. For the old photo its the one on my facebook with the flag and other desk like things.
Do you have a piece of concept art you are working from for the dragon? Since that’s the service you’re offering it would be cool to see how close to a reference the final product is.
Good question, Kind of? not really. As we speak I’m measuring the proportions of the limbs and putting a base layer of clay on, after that step I move onto gathering reference images. from flickr and google. I’ll take several photos of different real life animals.
But that’s where the problem starts. I’m not a strong illustrator, and since this is a personal project, this will probably end up being a ‘get out of gift free’ card that I give to a family member. But the point is, if I did have the concept art commissioned I wouldn’t spend less than $150 (which i dont have) on it, to make sure I get as much information out of the reference as possible. So, after the reference image gather step, I intend to do some iterative drawings of each appendage, and i’ll go from there, but my own skills as an illustrator are pretty weak so I’ll still be relying heavily on the photographic reference I use.
But I think the nature of your question was will I have the orthographics I request from you in the add, no I wont, But will I have reference? Of course this would impossible without some form of reference.
Well it’s worth stating that this isn’t an orthographic image, as it states in the add, I need a front and side view at least if not a back view also. This image is ‘in perspective’ meaning I can’t take accurate measurements off of the drawing. Because there is only one view I’m left to ‘guess’ at all of the information that is not displayed. Leaving room for the client to decide that I guessed wrong and ask me to undo my work and do it again. That said, this is a really simplistic image, I’m sure I could capture it pretty darned close. I will not do so for free of course. if I’m going to make a dragon sculpture in my free time it’s going to be one I find visually appealing and I don’t find that one visually appealing.
For anyone seriously considering commissioning me, proof of the quality of my skill will come seeing the quality of the sculpt, making a strong sculpture is much more important than showing I can mimic a drawing in clay. If I mimic a less than awesome concept and do it perfectly, it will still not be as good of a piece in my portfolio than if I sculpt something awesome that I concepted myself. Just like many other people I have a personal love for the dragon mythos, but I also have a personal love for concept work. The thing that sucks so hard about being an artist for hire is that we have to do work for other people, we have to make the dreams of others come true. Manny times when I’m working on a project I’m doing things I wouldn’t be doing if I was in charge of the project. I make things which I don’t think look good because that is what the client has asked for. So especially on my first ever dragon sculpt, I’m going to make something that I like, Something that I conceived and created the concept for. So even if someone were to post a really badass wizards of the coast concept image on here, as capable of capturing it as I believe I am, I wouldn’t, not for free at any rate.
There is another issue It’s easy to loose sight of here, I want orthographic designs to work from but I will not use those to create the pose. The pose I will create loosely on the non ortho concept art one provides, but the thing to keep in mind, is that in a drawing the pose only has to look good from one position. The viewing angle of the piece of paper. But in a sculpture all angles have to read well. The silhouette, energy and feeling of the sculpture must read from any point in a 360 degree range of view. Just something to keep in mind.
Okay phase 2 is done, lying on a base layer of clay, i painted the ugly wood edges black, and edited the pose more. Then I gathered the reference images I’ll need to make this thing look awesome.
Phase 3 will be illustrating each appendage in a few different iterations based on these reference images.
Now you are making a dragon, but not a dragon, based on concept art.
When you want clients and invest now so many hours, why not searching a sketch on Deviantart and do a model, based on that, to show your sketchbased skills?
Your clients will not come and tell you to model a dragon of your choice. They like to see how you do sketchbased models, not models based of dazillion fotos and you can dice out, what they get in the end.
It feels more then a showreel to me, then searching for clients.
If you wanted to commission me, and all you had to provide was that image you just posted, that would not satisfy my needs as an artist. As I said in the first post, I need a very specific type of concept art. orthographic front and side views. And if you’re about to fork over $1,500 for a sculpture, you already have the concept art, and if it’s for a game in 3D which you’re also having characters 3D modeled for, then you already have these orthographic shots ready for the 3D team. If not you will soon need it and I recommend that you purchase it from someone who is a stronger illustrator than myself. I can use ‘normal’ deviant art style concept images for gesture and pose, but it isn’t what I need to model the character, I need those orthos.
Now, this is a personal project to show off what I can do and potentially convince someone that this is a service that could make them very happy. But I have no budget to commission the orthos to be done at the level which I will need them. But I can illustrate well enough to concept the piece myself then return to the photos for specific reference. The concept work is the next phase, I’m creating my own concept art based on these reference images. it won’t be an ortho that i require but since I am the client, I can make decisions on the spot that I would normally need the ortho to clarify or I would need to call the client and ask.
But let me be clear about one more thing, even if I was doing this on commission and I even had the orthos and some great/highly detailed other pieces of concept art also on hand, I would still gather “dazillion fotos” because there is still information that those concept art pieces wouldn’t show me. Depth information is the big one: So this dragon has several scaly areas which will each need their own specific kind of scale to fit it and look right. Well, that’s fine but will those concept pieces show me EXACTLY how far each scale protrudes? Where the on the scale itself it is the most thick. how thin the thinner areas are. What about like armor or gear? how good of a look at these items am i really gonna get from the concept art? I need images of these things to reference and see at different angles on their own. How specifically will the folds in the clothing work in the pose i’m going to force it into? I cant just guess? So I hope you understand now that the photo reference gathering phase is critical, not just to me, but to all artists.
Now, onto the true nature of your question: Why dont I just capture a real piece of concept art to show that I can match it:
I will be creating the concept art myself for this piece because this is my first dragon and its a personal piece. So the ‘client’ (me), wants something new. Something that hasn’t been seen before. And frankly anyone willing to let me use their concept art for free in such short notice, probably doesn’t have any concept art that I would want to use. If its a heavy hitter illustrator, awesome, but i can’t just use their work without permission. So it probably wont be one of them, it’ll probably be a hobbyist who understands nothing about anatomy or drawing with contrast and drama. And ‘my clients’ sculpture deserves better than that.
