Mafiadude's newbie sketchbook

[mafiadude1]

Hello everyone!
I'm a high school student from the US who is pretty new to game art and has no prior experience besides a few tuts and books. Decided to post my progress/sketchbook throughout my learnings. Also, if you have any crits about my work please share them with me, thanks!

So, I guess ill start off with a modular wall I made for a factory/industrial environment I'm working on...

[Sharvo]

Looks good, no stretching on the texturing. Nice amount of dirt on the brick and concrete, so maybe a bit of paint chipping on the white areas?

Also, the bricks that are popping out, pop to much and one is rotated weirdly. I doubt this would ever happen in real life the builder would probably get fired :P I would suggest letting the normal map take care of the bricks. Check out this tutorial if you havent already.

PHILIPK.NET - BRICK WALL TUTORIAL

[mafiadude1]

Been a while since I posted, just thought i'd share what im doing now.
I believe i'm going the right direction on geometry although its far from completed. Took my time to make sure things were neat. any crits on on my progress would be appreciated.

[jr_walker]

Originally Posted by mafiadude1

Been a while since I posted, just thought i'd share what im doing now.
I believe i'm going the right direction on geometry although its far from completed. Took my time to make sure things were neat. any crits on on my progress would be appreciated.

It's a great start, although I will say one thing... the fact that you "took your time to make sure things were neat" isn't necessarily a good thing. What alot of newbie artists tend to do is put everything at 0 - 90 degree angles (as in they think everything needs to line up). If you go outside and look at your house/garden/street you'll notice that not every brick neatly sits next to each other etc.

My advice is try and learn from real life. Observe your surroundings and try to replicate them in your artwork. Failing that take a look around the forum and check out other people's environments, and try to understand what make them look so good.

I hope this helps
Have fun!

Edit: I've just had another look at your environment and thought I could offer you a couple of suggestions.

You could:
- Make one of the lamps slightly bent or twisted over to one side.
- Add a bit more variation to the 'wavy-ness' of the overhanging material (forgot what they're called)
- Add some small bends into the piping running down the side of the building.
- Rotate the shutters on the arch/bridge thing (i.e. have one or two closed)
- Move/rotate the corner bricks 1 or 2 units so they look less uniformly placed

Of course you can add many more details with textures and other maps as well as lighting.

[mafiadude1]

Thanks for the advice! I will make some changes now and post another shot

[mafiadude1]

Tower WIP

[mafiadude1]

UPDATE:
Crits Welcome as always!



NOTE: Also, forgot to mention first serious attempt in zbrush.

[mafiadude1]

Finished up the main sculpt with the exception of some details and started painting.

[mafiadude1]

No replies?
Well, taking a break from the re-topo and painting of the ruins I've decided to get a head start on another piece.
Still pretty early on this one but I will still accept critique please.

[mafiadude1]

Quick Update.