Uh-oh

I submit this little sketch that I did a while ago (while in line at the super market) as an illustration of my current mental state: blissfully unaware. Actually, it's more like "brain-dead".

I'm having an artistic crisis of confidence. Having been out of school for a while now and having not landed the job that I want yet has started to take it's toll. Fear not though! I am taking steps to stay on track! It's really tough but I have some great help. It's been suggested that I show more of my work more often so that I can get different perspectives on what I'm doing wrong and what I'm doing right. I have never been very comfortable showing work that I feel isn't a good representation of my abilties, which is a bad way to learn. School totally helped me get over that and to realize that not every day is a great drawing day, and not every single drawing that I make is going to be the best one ever. Having not had as much contact with artistic friends since school, I feel like I'm in a bit of a creative void. It's been tough to push myself lately and I'm finding that I've begun to fall back on old and very bad ways of thinking and doing things, like only showing drawings that I think are good. Crappy drawings have their merits too!

Recently when I sit down to draw just for the sake of drawing, I feel kind of guilty. It's like the act of sitting quietly in front of a computer or a piece of paper is counter-productive. Now that finding a job is my "full-time" job any time spent not looking for work is not good. The strangest part about it all is that in order to create new work I need to spend time to create it and get better because I'm still a newb. However, it usually takes more time than I would like because I'm a newb. Since I'm working part-time and looking for work full-time, it's difficult to make the necessary time, and since that time isn't being spent looking for work the idea that I'm doing something bad or falling behind is often at the front of my mind, which doesn't help my confidence.

This is a very weird time for me...stranger than any other I can think of. Even though that's the case, I am not going to stop continuing forward, and I won't let anything stand in my way. Not even me. As bad as things might seem I have a lot to be thankful for and I need to keep that firmly in mind and take advantage of the advantages that I have right now because they might not always be there. I also need to stop second guessing everything I do (like actually submitting this post)!

UPDATE:

Just knocked this out. The line work is by Joe Olson, who works at Avalanche Studios (who is owned by Disney). The line work was posted on the Avalanche art blog and after seeing all the different ways that other people had coloured it, I decided that I wanted to have a go at it as well. Some parts are better than others, but I'm still a newb when it comes to digital painting. I'm going to step away from it for a while and then when I have a fresh perspective of it I'll go ahead and fix up the stuff that needs fixing. I'm definately going to be reworking the background, but for now I'm just glad that the guy isn't floating in a white void.

New website AGAIN

Holy heck! I think I see cobwebs in the corner! I need to update more :D

So I've gone and finished the demo that I mentioned in the last post, and you, you lucky readers, can check it out RIGHT NOW at www.davedind.com! Can I get a hearty 'booya' from everyone? Ahthankyou. The site is still being worked on by my team of skilled web designers (...okay, my wonderfully talented girlfriend is doing it all...ain't she the best?!) to ensure that it will work with as many browsers as possible and be stable throughout. It will look exactly the same as it does now, but the code will be a neat and tidy behind the scenes.

In other news, I have a bunch of drawings that have been scanned and need to be cleaned up so that they can...be made into a book! I want to paint some of them and I still have to clean them all up, so don't hold your breath just yet. I'll definately be posting about it when it's ready though. The book is more for my own enjoyment, but the idea of other people having a collection of my stuff in their house is really cool. Plus, it's another way to get my name out there! Yay for self-promotion!

OH OH OH! Did you know that Robert Downey Jr. has a CD out?! It's really, really not my thing, but I mean...it's RDJ man! Ha! If nothing else it's good for a laugh, especially if you like RDJ to begin with.

Okay! I gots stuff to do, so I'm off!

The one where Dave asks for help

Night falls on the first scene of my new demo reel
(click image for larger version)

For the past several weeks I've been working on the beginning of a new demo reel! It will consist of 3-4 environment shots that will be as close to photoreal as I can make them. My goal this time around is to land some kind of environmental or general 3D artist position at either an animation, Special Effects, or video game studio.

So, I'm big on the idea of having my own library one day, and I figured that that would be a good choice to do for the first scene. It was a blast to make and I learned new stuff along the way too! I can't wait to move on to the next scene! Hopefully my library won't be so messy and will have a better view ;)

Everything was done in Maya 8 (rendered with Mental Ray) except for the textures, which were done in Photoshop. I'm not the best when it comes to rendering, but I was really, honestly surprised when I saw how the render turned out! Now I just have to figure out how to make it even better :D

That's where you come in, my happy-go-lucky readers! I would really, really, really, REALLY like to know what you think could be improved or tweaked in the scene! I'm going to be uploading 2 more images soon of the room lit at different times of the day, so you'll be able to see a bit more detail. I would especially appreciate it if you have knowledge of 3D and notice any mistakes that I might have glazed over. If you DO leave constructive criticism, I would like to send you a sketch/doodle on any subject that you'd like as my way of saying thanks for helping me out! Just make sure that I have some way to contact you if you'd like a sketch :) An email adderss is probably best. Extra points for funny topics! I'm a funny guy, so expect a funny image :D

Cheers!

Wink SMASH! Johann...evaporate?!

When you get a figure in just the right pose, they hold it for hours!
Unlike those puny "human" models...sheesh.

These two pictures were taken on Sunday night after I saw Hellboy II. My girlfriend and I were in Silver Snail after the movie and we were surprised to find that Wink and Johann were the best figures in the current series of Hellboy figures. I really, really hope that they do a second series that is made up of ALL of the cool monsters that are scattered throughout the film. To tell the truth, I wasn't really all that impressed with the Wink character in the film, but his figure is BOSS. The thing is like 8 inches tall! Johann was awesome in the film, and his figure is equally kickass. Just look at that ectoplasm!

I've been working 4 days a week full-time for the past while now, which hasn't left me very much time to work on stuff, hence the currently minimalistic demo mode that my website is in. I am working on a new demo though, and once it's finished the site is going to get a slick overhaul. I've got a really fun and (hopefully) engaging way to present this latest iteration to people. I'm really putting some thought into the presentation, but it's all hush-hush at the moment. I'm taking my time creating this demo so that I can really showcase ALL of my current abilities with Maya, as opposed to my current demo, which is very focused. I wanted to get the current demo out the door and into the hands/minds of people in the industry, so that at least they might remember my name come next time round. Although it was a bit rushed, I learned a lot about modeling from my last demo that I'm applying to my new demo. I'm going to get it right this time around and really show off what I can offer.

Aside from that, I've been really fortunate to have been trained on how to use a motion capture system, and also how to clean up captured data. Cleaning data is actually more fun than it might sound, as it's like a puzzle that changes all the time. And capturing the data is a laugh riot! I can't really say much more than that at the moment, but with any luck there will be developments in the near future.

There is other stuff that I'd like to chat about, but I've already made this post far too wordy. I think I need another blog to fill up with all of the goofy details of my life. At least that way people who just want to see cool art or pictures won't be bothered by all of this text! I'm hoping to get a laptop in the next few months and if that happens, I might end up writing more. We'll see!

Adios and arrivederci!

Video Games Live 2008

Holy crap! It's been nearly 2 months since my last post?! Yipes. Well, I have a couple of things that I have to post here soon, but first some pictures from the 2008 Video Games Live show!

I mentioned VGL to my girlfriend a couple of weeks before the show, and since my birthday was coming up shortly, she ended up buying 2 tickets for us. It was one of the cooler birthday presents that I can recall. The show itself was great...lots of laughs and familiar songs! It was a treat hearing Tommy Tallarico speak between songs, and possibly funnier than it should have been watching him play guitar. Apparently, he looks like I do when I play Guitar Hero at home.

The three guys in the third picture above are (left to right): Jack Wall, Tommy Tallarico, and Michael Salvatori, one of the composers of the Halo soundtrack. I was most excited to watch Jack Wall conduct, as I'm a big fan of the soundtrack to Myst III: Exile (still have to actually buy the Myst IV soundtrack). During the intermission they displayed a 'loading' screen, which you can see in the last picture above. It was a nice touch.

Anyway, I'll post some art up soon and try to get some video of the VGL show on here too.

P.S. It was my first time at Massey Hall. I'm in love with Massey Hall...Don't tell my girlfriend.

Design Test

I hope you're all enjoying the higher image-to-chat ratio lately. Want more talk? Even more images? Leave a comment!

I figured I'd post these screens sooner rather than later, since it's been far too long since I've posted any 3D stuff. This was done as an evaluation test for a modeling/texturing job, and I just finished it today. It turned out to be more fun than I thought it would, especially since I haven't done any modeling or texturing for ages. It took me a little while to get back up to speed, but once I got over a couple of little stumbling points it was all aces and apple pie :D

The Thermometer/Clock is at just over 500 polys, has 3 1024x1024 texture maps (colour, specular, and normal), and was done over the course of 2 days in approximately 9-10 hours. I was shooting for 8 hours or less, but ended up spending more time re-familiarizing than I'd hoped.

Wish me luck on getting the gig!

P.S. Didn't get the gig :( Not to worry though, for it's on to the next challenge!

Skate or Die...or paint?

Welcome to another installment of...Art on the run: The Dave Dind Story! *cheering and hooting*

Thank you...thank you...*bows* On this week's episode, I bust out some pictures of an old skateboard which I decided to redesign while I was in college. Through the use of pencil crayon, I layed out the new design in preparation for final painting. The final step of paint has yet to be applied.

This thing was fun to do. I can't recall exactly what made me sand down this old board at the time, but it was really cool working on something other than paper, canvas, or a tablet. The design was done free-hand on the board itself in light pencil first, and then I jumped into the pencil crayon pass. I finished it to this point in about 2 days; I even brought it into college with me because so I could continue working on it!

I've since bought a 99% blank board that was on sale (there's a small logo on it) and have been planning on sanding it down. I may try a different method this time though, as I have a lot more paint now than I did at the time that I was doing the other board. Also, since I've been with my girlfriend, I've learned a lot about planning things out further than I was used to before. So I'll probably do more sketches this time rather than free-handing straight on the board.

That's all for now, but thanks for tuning in! The story continues in the next exciting episode of...Art on the run; The Dave Dind Story, Part II. (Disclaimer: Not an actual show. Pleaese do not write to management complaining of lack of a real show...but do leave a comment!)

P.S. The board in the pictures is a really crappy one that I got when I was about 15, so please try to ignore the horrible trucks ;)