Dog Anatomy 2

So, I'm back again with some more canine anatomy studies.  Today was also a study in the adage 'save often' - Photoshop crashed and took my entire skeleton and muscle system with it.  Go figure.  But, I recreated it in a much rougher form and I'm still going to share it.  These studies will eventually be turned into an actual dog.  I'm torn between an action pose and the sleeping pose for the final piece.

Sketching from a photo of Oshie.  Rough sketch.

 

Refined the rough sketch just a bit.

 

Grabbed some more skull references in addition to Ellengerger's Animal Anatomy book and drew in the skull.  Nothing was in the exact right pose, but I'm feeling a little better about canine skulls in general now.

 

I started to rough in the rest of the skeleton.  This is the last stage I had saved before the crash.  I ended losing all of the finished skeleton and most of the muscles.

 

 A much rougher overall skeleton to replace what I had lost.

 

A 15 minute color study of the skull.

 

A very fast muscle study again.

 

I'm just about ready to move on to a final pose.

Breakdown of 'Connection'

So, I recently participated in a challenge called "Manga Mania." I decided to rework an old dryad/forest spirit idea I had sketched out over 10 years ago.  I wanted to work in a background and flesh out the 'connected to nature' angle I hadn't captured before.

I had a great time with this contest - I haven't drawn "anime/manga" in a lion's age.  So, I have a few stages actually saved out, and you get to see the evolution of the image.  Enjoy!

The original concept - from the year 2000
(boots? Why did I draw her with boots?)

 

Initial sketch based upon the original concept and some other references. I wanted to stay true to the original idea for the most part.

(sketches from other poses snuck in here and there)

 

Some basic color blocked in, and the form more finalized

(I decided the vines should be living... and I reaaaaly didn't want to bring them all the way down the leg so... vine shorts)

 

Colors more defined and some initial shading happening 

(She's growing from the forest floor.  Not just because feet are dumb.)

 

A background worked out and a few extras starting to appear 

(my recent trip to a very foggy forest inspired my background)

 

 Starting to tie the composition together

(light rays are always good)

 

 Working with shadows and highlights

(trying to bring the colors into harmony- right now she's very green and the background is very teal)

 

 Trying out a different look - no outlines

(not working)

 

 Brought the outlines back, but refined for a better "manga" look

(also working with the colors and hating on the face)

 

Trying out a different idea for the arms 

(swoopy arm vines?)

 

 Ditched the conceptual lines, but I liked the idea.... so, they are making appearances elsewhere. Also trying to refine the face, especially the eyes.

(the swoopy arm vines didn't work for me - but the glowy blue cracks I like)

 

 Working on the entire composition, trying to tie it together better by bringing the glowy bits into the background

(more cracks! I'm trying to bring interest to the foreground rock too, without it becoming overwhelming to the figure)

 

 Added some more 'glow' to the glowy bits and elsewhere

(trees need glowy line love too)

 

 Final tweaks to nose and other areas

(and the time limit for the contest is up)

 

I'm thinking that I might like to take this from a 'manga' look to a more realistic look.  I only did the manga for the contest, but I still like the overall concept.  So, there you go!  

Retopology Revisited

Well, it's been a while since I was last posting in this blog, and the landscape of 3D reoto'ing has changed a bit.  At least, the section that I use has changed.  I found a little program called 3D Coat, and I never looked back.

So I wanted to just mention some of the overarching things that I now do...  No details (yet).  I regularly use 3D Coat in my daily activities.  Truthfully, I prefer the tools within this program to be much more intuitive and easy to use compared to the other software that also does retopo'ing.  And I've done quite a bit of retopo'ing, let me tell you.  So far, I've looked at the bones of the arm, including the shoulder girdle, and every. single. muscle.  Seriously.

 

The muscles were segmented from grind data from a cadaver, edited in Maya to ensure accuracy, exported into 3D Coat, given a new topology, initially painted also in 3D Coat, refined in Photoshop, assembled in Maya, and then brought into Unity 3D for the (eventual) final app delivery.  

Both normal maps and the initial diffuse maps were created in 3D Coat.  The diffuse maps were modified in Photoshop for a better blend of tendon and muscle belly, but the placement of those elements was first conceived in 3D Coat.  Every model is definitely under 10,000 polys, and most are under 5,000 polys.  So, normal maps were essential in getting the look and feel that we wanted for each muscle and its fibers.

The same process can be used (and will be used) for the rest of the body.

Dog anatomy

I'm doing a series of images right now with canine anatomy.  Here are some of the sketches I've done today.  The first two are done by observing An Atlas of Animal Anatomy for Artists - a book that I haven't done enough studies out of yet.  Then, I started to sketch my dog, Oshie.  I topped it off with different rapid positions of her both in repose and in action.  Finally, I tried to lay in the proper skeleton in one of her action poses.  The angle was a little strange, so I may need to revist that one as I continue.

Ellenberger pose study - bones

 

Ellenberger pose study - muscles

 

Oshie face head on

 

Oshie face - looking up

 

Oshie studies - laying down

 

Oshie studies - action

 

Action pose - bone placement

  

Action pose - bone with color

 

Action pose - muscles 

(EDIT - I forgot to add the skeleton and muscles sketches to Oshie's 'action' pose)