name: Liam Mckeown
Software: Mudbox
Project: Lava monster
Practice project 3 in Mudbox. This stage was to try making a monster using a downloaded body mesh call tree troll and as you can see, mines isn't a tree.
My inspiration was coming from an old Lego set call "Rock Raiders." And no I don't mean "Power Miners." Lego Rock Raiders was a classic to me and the monsters of the sets and games give me the idea to make my own ideal lava monster. Using the troll body mesh I began to inverse sculpt the molten rocks that forms the shell of the body; making every rock individual. The lave was leg and arm was just freely sculpting to make blobs and smooth lumps. As the project went on I increased the detail on the rocks to define them more and create a gap between each one.
The head was really fun to make. I had the idea that the top of the skull will be shelled with rock and the face is defined with lava. Then through the process I added a shell to the jaw. I enjoyed the freedom of making the face freely without a plan; just on the spot to make the features you would have on a face. with this close up photo you can see the detail in the rocks. To do this I used the stencil tools to imprint a rock texture while using the spray tool. It's really worth the time and effort to input a realistic texture just to make the work that little bit more professional.
For this modal I wanted to add colour to finish it. Using an ash black for the rocks and a mixture of orange, yellow and black to make the lava. The lava could be far better detailed and coloured; it just looks to much like clay. The colour did work very well but due to the amount of detail being forces on the computer I happened to have the bother of a cashed software; along with corrupting my Mudbox files. So if you read this then heed my warning: Store backups on flash drives or internet systems like "Dropbox" cause if the project goes then it's not pleasant to do it all over again.
Final evaluation on the modal is that I like what I've done. But when I look at the original idea the troll body mesh was ment for then I feel mines lacks the imaginations and creativity. most of the design is made on the body without many big changes to re-sizing any areas. But like I said I like what I've done. It was a great project; can be improved but would have been enjoyable to animate.
Thank you for reading. If you like the work you can take a look at my drawing projects in the link below
If you like the work and wish to get in contact with me then my e-mail address is below
Parkourliam@hotmail.com
thanks again and take care.
