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Why I gravitated so strongly toward 3D art
3 years ago
I've got some time to kill tonight while I wait for an animation to finish rendering, so I thought I'd take some time to talk about something that's been on my mind lately. If you've been following me for at least a couple of years now, you've probably noticed that for a long time I was doing nearly 100% traditional 2D art, and then I started dipping my toes into 3D work out of curiosity, and then *wham* 3D suddenly just took over and now that's the majority of what I do. I thought I might tell you why this happened.
And to do that, we're going to have to talk a little bit about aphantasia.
I want you, when you're done reading this sentence, to close your eyes and try and picture an apple. Really try and get a grasp on it. How clearly can you see it? Can you manipulate it? Turn it over and see different sides of it? Imagine it in different lighting? On difference surfaces? I think you get the point.
This ability to visually imagine a scene may seem kind of innately human if you've lived with it your whole life and never thought about it, but it's actually not a constant; like a lot of human experiences, it varies from person to person. In fact, there are some people out there who are literally completely incapable of visually picturing an object in their mind. Sure, they'll know the facts about it, if you ask them to describe an apple to you they can pull up their memories of what an apple is and list off some details, but they can't see it in their mind. Or anything. Ever. This complete inability to mentally visualize is called aphantasia.
I... do not have aphantasia. But, if you were to imagine a scale describing this ability to picture stuff in your head, with 0 meaning complete aphantasia and 10 meaning being able to see things in your imagination as clear as if they were real, I'd put myself at... a 1? Maybe a 1.5. Now, having aphantasia is not a death sentence for an artistic career, there are even a few artists out there who have complete aphantasia, but having this deficiency in visual imagination certainly doesn't make shit any easier. It can be kinda rough.
While I do get glimpses of pictures in my head, they're tenuous at best. I don't really get full images in my mind, just sort of general bits and pieces if ideas I might want to see in the scene, and even those are distant and fuzzy. They like to change out from under me and I really have to struggle and focus to keep the idea intact. This can lead to a lot of difficulties when trying to convert a picture idea from someone's written words into a painting, which is kinda what I do for a living, hah. I tend to get to my final result by what almost feels like randomly drawing lines and waiting until I make the one that looks correct. There's a lot of practice and structure that helps me get to that result faster, and like I said I can see what I'm aiming for a tiny little fuzzy bit, but I'm not just seeing the right thing in my mind first and then putting that on paper, I definitely spend a lot of time drawing it on paper first and fiddling with it until it looks right. This is exacerbated by me choosing to primarily work in watercolours, where it's imperative to have a pretty solid idea of what the image will look like before doing any painting; It's not all that uncommon for me to have to sit and just think about a picture for an hour before even starting it, and again before painting it. It can be frustrating not being able to really see what I'm aiming for, and just hoping it all works out. Working in 2D digitally is only marginally better... sure I can redo stuff if I don't like it, but I still have to "see" it first to be able to make it, which as we've just learned... I suck balls at.
And thus we finally get to the point- none of that is really an issue in 3D. I don't have to be able to imagine the scene before I make it. Don't know what kind of lighting I want to use? No problem, I'll just plonk in a light and see how it looks. If it doesn't look good, just move it around, change up the colour, add in some more. It's not such a stressful situation to find a good result because I can see it all in front of me and manipulate it in a way I can't in my mind. I find the final result through experimentation rather than imagination, which is already my learned method. This is not revolutionary news of course, I imagine that kind of flexibility is in part exactly why 3D took over movie and game scenes to the degree it did, but coming from such a strict 2D work flow it really is a kind of breath of fresh air. It's like getting a pair of glasses for my brain, I can finally see clearly and just get to the good stuff instead of struggling through the haze of my weak imagination.
There are other reasons I enjoy 3D a lot these days as well, for example I find being able to add motion to my ideas makes them interesting in a way I'm not sure I'd ever have the skill to achieve in 2D. Sure, I could create a single 2D static image of an idea I like, but in around the same amount of time (assuming the model is already made) I can make a mini-animation on the same idea and that'll have some actual life to it! So sure, there's lots of things I like about 3D in general now that I'm here, but I think it's this workaround for my stupid brain that struggles to picture things for me that really sucked me in and got me to stick with it through the early rough period, and why it gets the majority of my attention these days.
There's no point to this journal, by the way, if you've been waiting for one. This isn't me announcing I'm giving up on 2D art or anything like that, I still plan to take 2D commissions from time to time and even maybe make a comic or two here and there, and of course there's a painting made each month for supporters. I do still enjoy it, it's just harder and more taxing. I just thought some people out there might like to get a glimpse into the brain of the guy who makes all the fucked up stuff you see here, and why 3D has taken over my life so thoroughly.
Yeah, I think that's all I have to say on that. If you've ever wondered what the heck happened to all the 2D art, well... there ya go. It's not going away, but it's probably never going to be anywhere near as prominent as it once was. 3D just fits into my abilities and covers my weaknesses far too well for me to not want to use it for most things these days. :P
And to do that, we're going to have to talk a little bit about aphantasia.
I want you, when you're done reading this sentence, to close your eyes and try and picture an apple. Really try and get a grasp on it. How clearly can you see it? Can you manipulate it? Turn it over and see different sides of it? Imagine it in different lighting? On difference surfaces? I think you get the point.
This ability to visually imagine a scene may seem kind of innately human if you've lived with it your whole life and never thought about it, but it's actually not a constant; like a lot of human experiences, it varies from person to person. In fact, there are some people out there who are literally completely incapable of visually picturing an object in their mind. Sure, they'll know the facts about it, if you ask them to describe an apple to you they can pull up their memories of what an apple is and list off some details, but they can't see it in their mind. Or anything. Ever. This complete inability to mentally visualize is called aphantasia.
I... do not have aphantasia. But, if you were to imagine a scale describing this ability to picture stuff in your head, with 0 meaning complete aphantasia and 10 meaning being able to see things in your imagination as clear as if they were real, I'd put myself at... a 1? Maybe a 1.5. Now, having aphantasia is not a death sentence for an artistic career, there are even a few artists out there who have complete aphantasia, but having this deficiency in visual imagination certainly doesn't make shit any easier. It can be kinda rough.
While I do get glimpses of pictures in my head, they're tenuous at best. I don't really get full images in my mind, just sort of general bits and pieces if ideas I might want to see in the scene, and even those are distant and fuzzy. They like to change out from under me and I really have to struggle and focus to keep the idea intact. This can lead to a lot of difficulties when trying to convert a picture idea from someone's written words into a painting, which is kinda what I do for a living, hah. I tend to get to my final result by what almost feels like randomly drawing lines and waiting until I make the one that looks correct. There's a lot of practice and structure that helps me get to that result faster, and like I said I can see what I'm aiming for a tiny little fuzzy bit, but I'm not just seeing the right thing in my mind first and then putting that on paper, I definitely spend a lot of time drawing it on paper first and fiddling with it until it looks right. This is exacerbated by me choosing to primarily work in watercolours, where it's imperative to have a pretty solid idea of what the image will look like before doing any painting; It's not all that uncommon for me to have to sit and just think about a picture for an hour before even starting it, and again before painting it. It can be frustrating not being able to really see what I'm aiming for, and just hoping it all works out. Working in 2D digitally is only marginally better... sure I can redo stuff if I don't like it, but I still have to "see" it first to be able to make it, which as we've just learned... I suck balls at.
And thus we finally get to the point- none of that is really an issue in 3D. I don't have to be able to imagine the scene before I make it. Don't know what kind of lighting I want to use? No problem, I'll just plonk in a light and see how it looks. If it doesn't look good, just move it around, change up the colour, add in some more. It's not such a stressful situation to find a good result because I can see it all in front of me and manipulate it in a way I can't in my mind. I find the final result through experimentation rather than imagination, which is already my learned method. This is not revolutionary news of course, I imagine that kind of flexibility is in part exactly why 3D took over movie and game scenes to the degree it did, but coming from such a strict 2D work flow it really is a kind of breath of fresh air. It's like getting a pair of glasses for my brain, I can finally see clearly and just get to the good stuff instead of struggling through the haze of my weak imagination.
There are other reasons I enjoy 3D a lot these days as well, for example I find being able to add motion to my ideas makes them interesting in a way I'm not sure I'd ever have the skill to achieve in 2D. Sure, I could create a single 2D static image of an idea I like, but in around the same amount of time (assuming the model is already made) I can make a mini-animation on the same idea and that'll have some actual life to it! So sure, there's lots of things I like about 3D in general now that I'm here, but I think it's this workaround for my stupid brain that struggles to picture things for me that really sucked me in and got me to stick with it through the early rough period, and why it gets the majority of my attention these days.
There's no point to this journal, by the way, if you've been waiting for one. This isn't me announcing I'm giving up on 2D art or anything like that, I still plan to take 2D commissions from time to time and even maybe make a comic or two here and there, and of course there's a painting made each month for supporters. I do still enjoy it, it's just harder and more taxing. I just thought some people out there might like to get a glimpse into the brain of the guy who makes all the fucked up stuff you see here, and why 3D has taken over my life so thoroughly.
Yeah, I think that's all I have to say on that. If you've ever wondered what the heck happened to all the 2D art, well... there ya go. It's not going away, but it's probably never going to be anywhere near as prominent as it once was. 3D just fits into my abilities and covers my weaknesses far too well for me to not want to use it for most things these days. :P
I think that you're skilled in 3D as well as 2D, and personally, I'm really happy to see you challenging yourself and finding a route to convey your ideas in the most accurate way possible.
I'm honestly jealous, as I'm not really artistically inclined and your ability to make great works of art (yes, your yiff is artwork, no matter how much cum is in it), is truly phenomenal.
Keep up the good work. <3
And if I may, I would say I'm not particularly artistically inclined either. I grew up surrounded by artists, my friends and family members could all draw... I was the math nerd. x3 I didn't even start drawing 'till pretty much after I was out of highschool. You get there by doing; if you ever wanna make art yourself it's just a matter of getting to it. The price you have to pay is just sucking at it for a while first, ha.
It's practically blender tradition to begin here; he'll do a good job of teaching you the basics of using the software and some good modelling practices.
A lot of my process is a rehearsed, algorithmic render exercise. Scenes get planned with lil stick figures and then I just sort of hope for the best with what I've learned to make look alright for the time being. I'd probably excel at 3D media if I had ever been taught it properly in a slow, very hand-holdy kind of way. ADHD and a few other annoying cognitive impairments (like not recognizing new symbols and what they mean) makes my learning process of visual systems slow going, and don't get me started on how programs use ambiguous language to refer to certain software functions.
I learn everything artistic the hard way, through steady iteration and just volume, volume, volume. 14 years in and it's like "lmao why did you do this again?". I have basically one last shot I'm trying to take at creating something valuable before my brain quits, I just wished I'd learned modeling instead with the time I spent.
But no. D:
That's pretty much how I learned to draw as well. I just did it a whole fuckin' lot and now if I follow the process I get sorta somewhere, and I can fiddle with it from there and hopefully end up somewhere nice. It's never a smooth process though, heh.
I'd say if you think you might be well suited to 3D, it might still be worth giving it a try. Every person is different, but personally I find video tutorials are great at almost that exact sort of thing, and there are tons and tons of them for blender. It's practically a one-on-one lesson, and you can go at the pace you want, and if you notice you zoned out for a bit and missed what was said (this shit happens to me constantly) or didn't understand it for some reason, just rewind and watch again! Might be worth a go sometime, anyway. :P
This line you said - "This can lead to a lot of difficulties when trying to convert a picture idea from someone's written words into a painting" - leads me into a question, particularly regarding 2D art. Does this mean you work better when given full artistic freedom, or does that actually make it even harder?
Your 3D art is really amazingly sexy and cute at the same time and I absolutely love it.
Can you imagine that?!
No, I actually can't.
I can understand a concept and be able to communicate about it, but I have to think about what I know about the idea, and sometimes just guess about things.
Memories is an interesting question people press on Aphantasia people, yes, I remember things. Not like I was there, but I remember the series of events that happened. First person.
Although from our perspective that works out ideally anyways since you kick fucking ass at making extremely hot, high quality animations and consistently slam out banger after banger, so. If anything is gearing you in that direction, I am way down with that l3
Also, only somewhat related, but I haven't mentioned it before so I will now, but I always appreciated how much alike your 2D characters, and 3D models look. I mean, that should go without saying, despite them being two wildly different variations of art, but like. Your 3D character models really do look just like your 2D hand drawn ones, similar shape, proportions, expressions, body language, all that good shit. I imagine it's either completely natural, second nature, or it's really challenging and time consuming to achieve, but you have sure achieved it l3
A lot of work was definitely put in to getting my characters to at least feel somewhat similar to my 2D art, so I'm very happy to hear that's worked out! It's not quite perfect yet, but I'm gonna keep plucking away at it 'till I get them where I want them.
I've got these grandiose, amazing scenes in my head, that I see in intricate detail. Sometimes, down to the grain of sand. Or refraction in the water pearls, as the sun rises and shines through a window with fresh droplets on rain hanging on its transparent area, breaking the light slightly thus dancing with the colours...
And that's exactly why I can't draw/art. I spent 12 years trying to learn to draw on top of doing 3D, but my inability to bring what I see in my head into reality had gotten so frustrating due to my artistic inability to transfer my head image that I just eventually gave up. (Kinda sorta - I've tried learning Blender a few years back, gave up and now slowly learning it in parallel with Unreal Engine 5, because I decided I was finally making the game I've written a narrative for in the last 20+ years)
I mean, don't get me wrong - my artistic strength lies in writing, NOT visual arts. Not by any means. It took me years to learn this. And I'm glad to see you found your own equivalent situation, yourself. <3
(I hope I didn't make it look like I was making my reply about me. There was a point, I swear!! XD)
At the end of the day, as long as you are happy with your work as an artist and it's fulfilling, that's all that really matters.
I, for one, am thankful that you share your work, 2D or 3D, with us so generously. You're extremely talented, and I'm always finding myself smiling whenever you release something new, naughty or not. :3
Thanks for the kind words! And good luck with your game. :D
Instead of just offering encouragement or empathy, I'd also like to try and help by proposing that you utilizing your 3d tools to aid you in any future 2d work. Using already posed and lit 3d references (even if approximate) may be able to smooth over some of more difficult planning stages for you. I have used 3d models posed in Daz to help with visualizing a complex scene for an artist, and the ability to effectively skip the sketch stage (and aid in shading) made the artist's life so much easier.
Much appreciation from this humble dragon or kaline, keep doing what works best for you!
No plans to give up on 2D though, just not my main focus these days is all. :P
Yeah! It's a lot of work, but there's something about seeing a character slowly come alive and I work to animate them that I just don't get out of a single 2D image. It's a whole new kind of fun and I'm into it a lot!
unrelated, but it's interesting because my auditory imagination is the complete opposite but very "fragile". i can literally imagine two different sounds or songs going at once in the full audio spectrum in each ear. but i can also easily forget or corrupt musical ideas in my head if played back too loud or if i don't nail it the first time.
but back to the visual part, i have not only partial aphantasia going against me when drawing but also dysgraphia (poor fine motor skill, difficulty with precise movements and legible handwriting) and ADHD stacked up on me, which gets me nowhere real easily. fortunately, i have plenty of experience using blender and some skills brought over from photography... though unfortunately, i have very little experience designing characters and anatomy. i think after reading this i'm much more inclined to hone in on 3D, especially after seeing your own improvements over a couple years.
anyway, 2D or especially 3D i must say your work is incredible, keep it up!
Side note:
Something I saw an artist do in a stream at some point was make a 3d model then take a picture of that to trace over into 2d art and I thought that was really cool too.
I then spend countless money to "perfect" that image.
So i start with something like this: https://www.dropbox.com/s/p6fpbxg18.....ithwrought.jpg
Then ask one artist to flesh it out: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/29950711
Then a second artist to flesh out what the first did: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/30778742
Until i get something done by a third artist which i consider "yeah this is what i had in mind": https://www.furaffinity.net/view/39560866
So, i totally get you. When people ask me why my characters have all this "very alien" yet also "keenly recognizable" feel to them it's because i just rearrange what other people did in a new configuration, to achieve... something.
And then i start "imagining" what life is like for that "something" which is the new character, by following what i know, with an iterative process which... is not quite what most people think about when they think about "imagination".
It's more like... a "coping method". 😅 If it makes sense.
And again, I love that you're the type that will go into the discussions on your technical thoughts. I'm not an artist (my statement is all I can draw is flies) but work with tools a lot, so I typically have a love of a lot of discussion on processes.
I feel like I can relate having gone from purely traditional with colored pencils to now doing mostly coloring by digital means. I love traditional, but the ease of digital makes you fall in love with it. Being able to easily adjust colors, quickly add shading or highlights. Undo things. I will always love colored pencils but the perks of digital is definitely something I can't pass up on. So I think I get the jump there.
More importantly, it seems like you're really enjoying 3D works. It sounds like it's less stressful for you and more relaxed for you. And maybe allow you personally to experiment and be creative more with it. However you came to doing 3D, I think it's great that you found a medium that really speaks to you.
I fairly recently found out about this same concept but with music/sound. One of my bandmates (correctly) surmised that when I write a new song, I can imagine the full, completed sound of it in my head, with all instruments playing. Until he said that, I had no idea that everyone didn't work the same way.
It seems like you've got a fairly cartoony style for the 3d stuff already, and some of the stills from your gallery do look painterly, but there's other things you can mess with if you want to go all out and get an in between.
Like turning off shadows and painting them in yourself through texturing, and doubling + expanding your mesh and inverting it to give the model an outline, just as one example.
The issue with stuff like that, of course, is that you'd still have to do 2d work, but you'd already have the base and a direct reference for how the lighting works by the click of a button.
And of course the other issue is that it'd be difficult to animate with pretty much pre-baked static lighting, but it'd be good for still images.
Of course, you're probably aware of these things, just thought I'd bring it up in case you didn't and the idea intrigued you.
( should also at some point through a 3D ‘request ‘/com at you if ever you’re up for it… though not sure the Em models I got work in the same style you tend to work with ; v ; but a model I am getting into works with Dusk might be…flails and shrugs either way looking forward to your continued effort with this! ^^ will say that animation as a medium in general is just my hecken addiction these days, so has been getting cool seeing you get so heavily into it ; v ; is fun seeing a full scene of a fantasy world verses a snapshot of it, and 3D helps makes that process a lot more manageable, assuming one can get a model at least >///>;)
I like to consider that in 2d art we are very limited in details, in addition to interpreting in an approximate way many things such as the angle of light, shadows and materials, but in 3d we have everything resolved, lights, shadows, animation, interpolation, perspective, everything that helps us the program to create and the level of detail is unlimited (as long as the pc can process that amount of resources XD) the renders that can be created are incredible. The 3d is wonderful, a bit complex to understand at first but it's worth it.
keep going, you are amazing artist! 👍
I always like seeing your work and I'm glad you "abandoned" 2D, because as good as your art was, they pale in comparison.
...oh my god i might have aphantasia
I'm not sure it's anything to be sorry about though, it's not a huge roadblock obviously or I wouldn't have made this my career, ha. Just more of an interesting fact (I thought, anyway) about my process that might make it a little different from most people, and of course explain why I'm into 3D so much lately.
But I am curious, it seems that your 2D art covered a bunch of topics, whereas in 3D you seem to stick to BDSM sort of themes.. Is there a reason? Certainly my art goes through kink phases, I can understand that. Or is it just that a character tied to a table is easier to convincingly animate than a character free to walk and flail around? X3
Is there that big a difference? I feel like my 2D art falls under the BDSM regime a lot of the time too, hah.
If I had to guess, I'd say it's probably because at the moment my animations are largely community driven, mostly being commissions and patreon suggestions, and I think I've happened to foster a very BDSM-hungry community so that's just what they ask to see most of the time. :P Though funny you should mention it, because I've got an upcoming animation that's pretty much BDSM free, if you've been looking forward to such a thing I should have some for you soon!
That visualizing ability was something my bestie and myself spoke about a few months ago. On the scale from 1 to 10 she ended up being around 3 or 4 where she can sometimes picture things but a bit blurry and rarely in colour, and I was around a 9 where I can see and move full coloured objects and characters in my head. It’s really interesting stuff! My issue is transferring that idea exactly to paper, but I am working on getting better at that.
However, if I try to focus on something and force it, it's much more like you described. I can get flashes and it changes and...
When I first read "imagine an apple" my brain automatically jumped to a very clear apple as I was reading. When you asked me to close my eyes, focus on it, and manipulate it, I could barely get started. I haven't tried drawing much, but I really feel ya on that front. I always really struggle to get the idea visually in my head and maintain it. It feels like looking at a popcorn ceiling for pictures (like an ink blot) and then seeing something else in the same spot/nearby, and then not being able to change that perspective back to the thing you had seen before.
I really appreciate you providing some insight into such things and a little more understanding about the awesome thing that is you!
Oddly enough, all that creative brain energy goes towards a desire to write where you have to visualize things in your head haha. I'm still working on getting better at that, but at least it's something I can say I'm proud of.
All your 2D and 3D art are amazing too, and you most certainly hit a niche in animation that most don't dabble much in, if at all; that being realistic elements. The individual shudders and trembles are amazingly well done, as are the settings, lighting, and character models in general. It almost makes me wish I could do what you do, but alas, my PC isn't made for that kinda thing; it'd be burning up hot enough to cook stuff on, and I'd get way too anxious thinking it'll crap out at any time haha.
Still I'm glad you were able to do what would be too discouraging for other people that have similar issues such as yourself, you've become one of my top 3 favorite artists easily.
Me as well. It's crazy to see just how common it really was. For me while I can't see images, I can.... plan out how I would like it to look. Sometimes I even get visions of what it would be, but these dont have pictures, but rather feelings of the physical placement of things, and maybe an overall mood or colorscheme.
I'm happy you found a media that lets you be creative without so much struggle! As someone who learned art not even knowing I had it, I definately had alot of the same struggles you mention.
I'll say to you what an artist told me once: It's like you're manifesting your works through pure force of will, and I'm impressed and amazed.
I don't blame you for swapping at all XD, cause I also agree that 3D sculpting helps get around some of the difficulties with aphantasia. I'm just not very good at it lol.
It's a worthwile medium as valid as any other, plus with some neat little extras like much easier animation.
Perhaps this difficulty has also become some sort of weird advantage, because your 3D art, and how quickly you've grown with i,t are truly outstanding. I think I've said it before, but I don't think that I've seen anyone else do it as well as you do. And this is not to throw any shade on your 2D stuff. It's also top notch and unique.
All I can really say is keep up the incredible work!
But you've raised the bar for 3D art within this community to unforeseen levels, and it just keeps getting better.
But at the same time, I was glad to have an answer for my artistic insecurities, for the confused, chaotic nature of my creative processes, and in particular, for why I've always gravitated so strongly towards sculpture. In a way, 3D serves as a kind of "mind's eye stand-in," a mental prosthesis of sorts. It allows me to progressively refine my ideas in a way that is much more difficult in painting and even more difficult in drawing.
Back when I was first starting out on this road, I got a LOT of flack for painting over renders of my 3D work. People would call me a cheater, tracer, fraud. Didn't seem to matter that these were my models which I sculpted. I carried around insecurities consequent of that treatment for years. I even sometimes lied about using 3D tools or I went through great lengths to hide it.
These days, I'm somewhat more secure in my art as this method of working has become more acceptable but I'd still sell my soul to have the ability to visualize. It's why I'm so very much looking forward to such technologies as Dalle and Imagen. Sure, maybe someday, this tech will eat my job but in the meantime, I think they would be a great tool, particularly for artists with aphantasia.
Making lovely naughty videos works better for you than making static images with your hands.
I look forward to the first of your art exhibits, which will hopefully becabout the museum and activities of a certain scaled lady.
I still love your traditional art, but I'm glad you've found a medium that works better for you and allows you to showcase a talent you really couldn't in a static artform.
I am a solid 0 on the scale. If there was a negative scale, i would be there instead xD
I dont even dream anymore, with how bad my aphantasia is.
I've recently decided that Im going to lean back into greyscale under-painting and sketching to help give my work a more...... 3D-esqu feel? Cause it feels much easier to look at the image and go 'oh yea, i need to add/take away this part' rather than staring at flat lines going 'WHERE DOES IT GO!?' lol
Its nice to see this....disorder? is getting more attention, since it was only named in the past decade or shorter.
perhaps their wasnt a meaning behind my comment either, but I jsut wanted to say its nice to see im not alone i suppose? XD
On the plus side, nightmares are virtually non-existent which is nice. :P
But yeah, it looks like there's quite a few of us based on these comments- good to know we're not alone in the struggle, hah!
>"10 meaning being able to see things in your imagination as clear as if they were real"
I'm very skeptical of this way of evaluating someone's capacity for visual imagination. I would either rate myself 0.1 or 10 depending on what is considered "real enough"
I would rate myself 0.1 because I know that my imagination is completely separate from reality, and I can't ever imagine every tiny visual detail of a scene without thinking specifically about it (if that makes sense). There is a clear separarion between my imagination and the actual world.
However I would also rate myself a 10, because I can imagine myself, for example, in a sunny scene, feel the ground under me, the sun blinding me a little, the texture of the trees, the sounds around me and the various kind of parrots flying above. I can actually lose myself imagining scenes like this and even forget where I am "in real life". But this is essentially meditation.
I wish there was a proper way of measuring visual imagination but unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any. And so I always take with a grain of salt people's self evaluation on their mental visual ability.
Regardless, I am in no way saying you don't know your own mental abilities. I've been following you way before you started 3d, and what drew me to your art was your sense of aesthetics, your use of colors and your style of furry anatomy... And I'm not even remotely into bdsm! So obviosuly you're certainly filled to the brim with artistic skill despite your own evalutation of your visual imagination. And I'm glad it led you to 3d because you are now my favorite 3d artist!
I think it works. :P
Thanks though! I've definitely got a lot of work to do still, but I'm always happy to hear when someone enjoys my work. :3
Thanks to you! Keep making great art, you inspire people.
Plus everything would look consistent cause you’re using the same model for everything.
I envy how good you’ve gotten with 3D and hope I can get somewhere with it myself.
See this?:
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/45328242/
I imagined how every single detail looks in my head and could describe it long before stylus hit tablet. Of course I didn't get it right on the very first try; sketching is still important to work things out, but it only helped in refining what I had already imagined.
So I cannot picture how drawing would even work without it.
The drawback is, however, that it can take months fr me to do anything of my own stuff.
I got a whole universe in my head, complete with space fairing races, their histories and their conflicts. Part of the reason, of course, is having to constantly choose between drawing my own stuff almost nobody is interested in VS drawing stuff that makes me money. But... I also have the problem that I imagine something so well that it can just live in my head without feeling the need to work it out or create it in some visual way.
Obviously, this means very few people get to see my stuff...
I haven't been on FA in years and I was pleasantly surprised to see how far you've branched out, your work is still amazing and your 3D stuff is some of the best, IMO. I admire the fuck outta you for managing to keep your artistic flame lit all these years and I'm happy that it makes you happy to keep creating. n.n
This is one reason I like to, because I don't have char ref sheets, to basically construct a series of images to reference. "I want THIS pose. Their face looks like THIS. Their body like THIS." Because I have a very specific mental picture and want to help get that across as much as possible, without you know, wall of text.
Anyways, glad you found a thing that works even better for you. You certainly make awesome art. While I still love your 2D art (your eyes!), I for one would enjoy seeing a little porn movie you might put otgether.
Also thaks fo rsharing.
I’ve been wanting to do it for pretty much the same reasons you did and maybe more. I haven’t been happy with how I’ve been drawing my characters lately. They even don’t have a consistent look every time I draw them. With 3D, the character will pretty much look the same unless i alter the model. The other thing is that the fur, skin, scales and whatever else would have a nice realistic look to them. I remember watching the BFG (Big Friendly Giant) and studying the detail in the giant’s face. Details from color, to texture and whatever else I noticed. I may not go that realistic but my god the detail!!
Then there’s the scenery. The lightings, perspective and other environmental factors will light the character among many other aspects. It’ll all blend together nicely.
With every character modeled, I wouldn’t have to sketch, ink and color them every time I wanted to use them. My problem, aside from making a base model, is that I have a well over 350 of them. Imagine modeling that many. Some are of the same species but other’s aren’t. Many characters of mine are lycanthropes. So I would also have to do a human form, a hybrid form and if I feel like it, the animal form.
I should look for more current character modelling tutorials. Geometry nodes would make things interesting as I recently saw a YouTube vid from, I think, Curtis Holt where he showed Geometry Nodes could make like interesting textures and such on like armor and even skin details.
I’m still open to using a model from DAZ or Poser but I still wanna do it myself so that the style looks close to my art.
I just wish I was a bit younger. Being close to 50 years old and a job that occupies your time makes it hard to learn 3D.
I would love to at least see my very first character in 3D with 3D fur.
Seeing your characters in 3D and how beautiful they look with “real” fur or scales did prompt me to accelerate the desire to go 3D.
I’ve always been in awe of how fast you went from dabbling with it, to the animations you do.
I have a strong and vivid imagination
But I'm essentially incapable of recreating it in 2D on paper
I can only describe it.
3D helps me visualizing what I have in mind.
But even then it's hard to make.
Your journal also makes me want to try 3D myself at some point and see if it may also be more to my own strength as I seem to be about as close to aphantasiac as you.
Anyway looking forward to seeing more of your work no matter what medium it is in! And being honest; I loved your art before, but now that I know this about you I feel I may have an even better appreciation for it as a whole. I know from personal experience how hard it has been to try and draw things. It's why I gave up on 2d art and ended up writing. Because I can more easily put into words what I see in my limited little 'mind-eye'.
On a slight tangent, are you planning on doing any hypnosis themed animations in the future? I've always loved your hypnosis art, especially those mischievous little hypno-dragons or whatever they're called.
I got a 3d printer and was printing a sculpt I made, and I held it in my hand for a quick drawing reference, and low and behold it helped better than having the same thing on the monitor drawing. In fact I may print a bunch my character faces for snoot perspective now XD
I think I can relate to some degree but in my case it was inability to draw anything in 2D as my the last pencil drawing experience is from 2013. So I decided to try 3D in Blender. However, the main factor was my desire to make my characters to be more alive than just to be in a drawing so I took a painfull path to make their 3D models. The dragons took me 8 months and 1 RAM upgrade of my pc from 32GB to 48 GB but over time as I learned I could make a animation ready model in 2 months. I learned how to modify existing models to add naughty bits if needed. To see a character to come to live in 3D is the most satysfying thing for me.
With those skills I finally was able to fill a gap of 3D raptors animation content in the fandom as it was severly lacking compared to dragons or anthros. I was like: Fine, I'll do it myself and I keep doing it.
However, going full 3D brings another problem as you know probably. You really need a powerful PC. Mine needs a replacement as the long rendering time (the bloody fur making my GPU and CPU cry) is discoureging a lot. So my wallet will suffer a lot this summer heh
Also, knowing how to use Blender has additional benefit. You can pose your characters exactly how you imagine them if you commission 2D artist. It perfect reference for posing.
I wonder if there is a way how to test it or compare it.
My current job unfortunately doesn't involve any modeling. And when I sit down to attempt to learn Blender, I just don't have the energy and play games with friends instead. The speed at which is seems you can create a model amazes me and the quality in movement and facial expressions is superb. Yourself, Mrwarfaremachine, and Doktor Savage have some of the best models I have seen in this space.
As to your art, I had been thinking of broaching the subject, I'd always thought your 2D stuff was alright and showed potential, but was blown away when I stumbled upon your 3D work. And you're hella prolific, I can't think of another 3D artist furry or otherwise with as great an output as you.
While I do feel very handicapped when I'm needing to visualize stuff on the fly in clear and specific ways (as you put it, it's hazy), I feel very in my element once I'm able to lay my hands on something and get to work. I find I do my best when I can do some sort of iterative approach where I take the vague chunks of my ideas, lay them out, and weave and sculpt them together. Having something rough in front of me is the missing piece I need to complete the picture in my head and 3D modeling / CAD work is a perfect medium for that.
Been a fan of your stuff for a while, so this is a cool little thing to learn.
From this point Iam basically your opposite; I love having pictures in my head, so much so it adds to my weirdness.
It is common about me, when having a verbal conversation and then a random subject just ignites in my mind, I just stand in place staring into nothingness, having all those inner animations on reel, overlapping with deadpool-like inner conversations and for Iam a metallic kind of dragon I do some work with welding, soldering, crafting in general and when someone asks me for a solution to fix or request to build I again freeze in one place, eyes in the void and they are puzzled like wtf is wrong with me, asking me "is everything ok?" which snaps me from my virtual 3D world just to reply:
"Psssst! Iam drawing the blueprint!.."
I tried to be interested in blender, but apparently I got the opposite kind of frustration, when Iam trying to learn how to use it, I have already picture to mold but no idea how to operate with that program to get to the result. o..o
And about the scale, I dunno, 8?... My limit is at reach when I've been trying to picture the actual physical gravitation in 4 dimensions.
https://youtu.be/XRr1kaXKBsU
Like, my image is zoomed about our solar system and just molding the motion of planets accelerating into all direction at once; So there has to be the 4th dimension (not counting dimension of time) to which all mass objects are expanding/shinking into and... well that's the other problem of mine, I don't have enough of dictionary for most of thoughts.
Your 3D work is simply spectacular, to put it bluntly. I think the fandom as a whole has been extremely impressed with how far you've come in such a short amount of time. While I think a lot of started watching and following you because of your watercolor, your 3D work has already become innately recognizable.
I do wonder if you feel bad about spending most of your time on 3D work? In a certain sense, I can see this journal as being a bit of an explanation, or justification? Nobody stays the same forever--Styles and methods change. What you offered people 3 years ago is going to be different than what you're offering now, and that's not something you should feel bad about. Yes many of us started watching and following you when 2D was all that you did, but I don't believe -any- of us feel anything other than excitement and awe when you release something in 3D :)
In the end, do what -you- want to do. If 3D is easier and more fun for you, then I think that's where you should put your time! Your work in both mediums is top-tier quality, and only continuing to get better!
I have a lot of friends that are into 3D artwork. Mostly just making models of video game assets. But I'm going to bug them for lessons. Maybe.. this might be what I'm missing. Thanks for writing. I'll let you know what shakes out.