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SO
WHATS NEW?
I've kept a 'what's new' page or as
they are now called, a 'Blog' of some type since I first kept
a website in the mid 1990's. I have been keeping a diary on
and off since childhood although I have a habit of changing
how I keep the information and the type of information I keep.
This can range from a list of the boring things I've done that
day to a detailed record of what types of animals and birds
I am currently keeping.
I have the weirdest tastes and an extremely short attention
span. Bad bedfellows!. I get into a hobby, buy everything that
there is to buy in that hobby, learn as much as I can as quickly
as I can, then just as quickly get bored and move on to another
subject.
Overriding themes that keep recurring are natural history and
art in one form or another. I have had a life long love of both.
The BLOG below details my current artistic endeavors including
commissions, contracts and works in progress. The ramblings
are interspersed with the commentary of my life including the
antics of my oh-so-amusing kids.
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SOUTHERGFX
ARCHIVES
Below is a list of the
annual Southern Graphics
archive and on the
left is the current years Blog.
What's
new 2007
What's
new 2006
What's
new 2005
What's
new 2004
What's
new 2003
What's
new 2002
What's
new 2001 |
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SOUTHERN GRAPHICS BLOG
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LATEST ENTRY: 18.04.2007
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Changes at Sub D
We've done a few more changes to the forum at Subdivisionmodel.com.
this week. The colors have been changed to match this site and
I am really pleased with the new style. We are planning a full
overhaul of Subd over the next few months but we decided to
go ahead and make some cosmetic changes now.
We are looking to expand the 2D
section of the forum. Although Subd.com
is primarily a modeling forum having some skill in sketching
and painting is a definite advantage. 2D Skills are very transferable,
for example, studying anatomy for a character sketch will
undoubtedly improve your sculpting skills. The new forum area
will include a speed sketching area, WIPS, 2D Reference images
and a link to tutorials.
One benefit to the Subd community is that we could build
up a collection of images to use as modeling references. It
would be great to get artists to share some of their 2D work
and allow our members to use them in their new modeling projects.
Any thoughts?
I've had another busy week so my creative output has been
somewhat limited. I managed to squeeze out a few Speed
Paints although nothing worth a mention. For some reason
I haven't managed to get much pencil sketching done even though
I have a nice shiny new easel to use. Actually, I've been
looking into going back to life classes sometime soon. I find
that I improve significantly when I attend classes and I am
about ready for some upskill.
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14.04.2007
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We made some changes to the Sub-D forums today. I changed over
the color scheme to match this Website. I really want to give
all my sites and products an identity and this is the style
and color that I have chosen.
www.subdivisionmodeling.com.
Our 2D Moderator Mat is going to add a whole new section in
coming days. I have wanted to expand our 2D area for some time.
Nothing inspires a modeler more than having lots and lots of
concept drawings lying around to work from. Adding a 2D area
will generate lots of artwork and give our up and coming modelers
a pool of art to choose from when they need modeing practice.
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14.04.2007
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A new easel in the
studio
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A quiet time over Easter in terms of graphics I'm afraid.
My day commitments have kept me away from the Wacom and
what little time I've had I been spending working on the
CGToolkit projects that I am currently doing (More about
this when I am allowed to say).
My latest purchase came earlier this week. Pam bought
me a new easel for Easter and unfortunately she got me
another smallish desk easel (I have 2 already so it seemed
a bit wasteful). I took it back to the store and had a
look what they had in stock.
I have a few easels in my studio but I saw the Salisbury
Box easel and fell in love. It big, heavy, clumsy and
just the sort of thing I like. The smaller easels I have
do the job for watercolor work but when I've tried A2
pads (or bigger) they tend to be useless. The Salisbury
seems very sturdy, even when I am using a large, heavier
pad or paper. The tray underneath is huge and I find I
can hold everything I need for a session right there at
my finger tips. |
The specs: DALER ROWNEY SALISBURY
A Folding sketch box easel in oiled beechwood. A versatile
design to suit any type of painting, the Salisbury incorporates
a one drawer cabinet and wooden palette. Folded
Size: 560x430x160mm (22x17x6in.).
Maximum Canvas Height: 863mm (34in).
Weight: 6kg (131b)
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30.03.2007
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We got back home safe and sound in the wee small hours on Monday.
It is usually a huge comedown to fly home but as I had a week
at home planned it was a nice relaxed flight.
However, disaster! Pamela had plans for me. She, in her infinite
wisdom, decided my artist talent would be best put to use in
decorating the house. I know! Criminal! But, it needed doing
so its another job off the list
I came home with a bag full of sketch books as usual. Most of
them are scanned now and can be seen in the sketching
gallery. As I use then in digital paintings I will post
the links.
HARDWARE NEWS!
I decided to take the plunge this week and treat myself to a
Tablet PC. I've been considering this since last year when I
was lucky enough to try one at Gnomon. I did my usual round
of searching the forums and settled on a Toshiba Tecra M7
Tecra
M7-ST4013 Tablet PC
Intel
Core Duo Processor T2400
(1.83GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 667MHz FSB)
Windows XP Tablet Edition 2005
2048MB DDR2 533MHz RAM
14.1" WXGA+ Display (1440 x 900)
with High Brightness/Wide View Angle
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 110M with TurboCache
and 256MB (dedicated)
80GB HDD (5400rpm, Serial-ATA)
CD-RW/DVD-ROM Multifunction drive
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG (802.11a/b/g)
I'll be reviewing this model for Sub-D in coming weeks.

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18.03.2007
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Off to Egypt for a week or so. A well needed family break. Pictures
to follow in a weeks time. |
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14.03.2007
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I've been really pleased with the feedback I've been getting
about the new-look site and how much better it is to navigate
around. I have uploaded the majority of the artwork from the
old site now and I am starting work on a gallery of my recent
projects. The galleries work really well until I want to show
a number of different images from the same project eg. concept
sketches along side 3D models. In the galleries these are all
broken down into their relevant section but in the new projects
area all work from a specific project will be grouped together.
I am going away on Saturday to Egypt for a week then taking
a weeks break at home. I won't be posting any updates for a
while so I am trying to cram in as much as possible this week.
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07.03.2007
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March already! Where did Feb go so quickly? I'm sitting at my
desk writing this with a ripping pain tearing down my neck.
The other day I managed to pull it in such a way as to leave
me laid up and whining like an old fart. Still, it's allowed
me to catch up with this what's new section. Lots
more of the old site has been transferred over in the past few
weeks. I am getting really bored doing it so I find that it
is best to just do chunk of 40-50 images at a time as the mood
takes me. I am having to put each one on a new background and
then make a new icon for it before uploading it to the correct
gallery. It is boring as hell! New
images include a really cool WarBird sitting on a fence after
a battle (here).
I sketched it first then painted it in Photoshop and then onto
SILO for the low poly work. I then did the high res in Mudbox.
I decided to make in into
my first tutorial of the new website as I used Tangent symmetry
in Mudbox which is a fantastic way to sculpt posed models.
The
New HellFire competition is going well at our forums: Model
a Black Widow Spider and Win MODO!. It was a shaky start when
there was an issue about which programs could be used to do
the modeling but it seems to be rolling now. All thanks to Jason
Edwards the guy that runs Sub-D for us.
A few other things going on around here: Lots
of new images in several galleries What's
New text updated and extended New
tables added in the galleries Sub
D approaching a new launch. New Server needed! Signed
for a CGToolkit Book Chapter More
concept work produced for DRONIN. All NDA. |
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27.02.2007
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More and more images added as the hours roll on. I was thinking
it would take weeks to get the new site up and running and I'm
pleasantly surprised how quick its happened. |
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27.02.2007
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New site uploaded! |
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24.02.2007
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www.subdivisionmodeling.com is a 3D Modeling Forum that
we opened in January 2006. To date, the community has almost
4000 members and is growing daily. If you are interested in
learning how to create digital models or you want to learn about
new modeling techniques then this is the site for you.
The community prides itself on helping and inspiring young people
and anyone coming to digital sculpting for the very first time.
You will find friendly moderators, talented modelers who are
prepared to share their techniques, regular challenges and competitions
and loads of free resources. 
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WHATS
NEW?
I've kept a 'what's new' page or as
they are now called, a 'Blog' of some type since I first kept
a website in the mid 1990's. I have been keeping a diary on
and off since childhood although I have a habit of changing
how I keep the information and the type of information I keep.
This can range from a list of the boring things I've done that
day to a detailed record of what types of animals and birds
I am currently keeping. My biggest and longest diaries to date
are :
1. My breeding log for an aviary I kept in the mid 1990's
2. These SGFX diaries (see below)
3. My Arachnid breeding logs.
I have the weirdest tastes and an extremely short attention
span. Bad bedfellows!. I get into a hobby, buy everything that
there is to buy in that hobby, learn as much as I can as quickly
as I can, then just as quickly get bored and move on to another
subject. Overriding themes that keep recurring are natural history
and art in one form or another. I have had a life long love
of both and these, it could be said, are my true hobbies and
will remain a part of my BLog or Diary for some time to come.
SOUTHERGFX
ARCHIVES
Below is a list of the annual Southern
Graphics archive and on the right is the current year.
What's
new 2006
What's
new 2005
What's
new 2004
What's
new 2003
What's
new 2002
What's
new 2001
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30.03.2007
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