In 2018, I took a class in which introduced me to the fundamentals for modeling any object in blender. I learned how to use reference images to quickly create low-poly objects.

When going about desiging a setting, I improvised the chunk of ice which the penguin is resting. I used the penguin from my reference photo to make choiced about the textures used. I have since printed the entire model and turned it into a wireframe pattern. These are useful skills for when I would like to use 3D modeling for multimedia use-cases.

In 2020, I took a class in 2D modeling Art, which taught me how to use Adobe Photoshop through a series of projects.

At the beginning of the Coronavirus quarantine, I noticed a spike in social media usage among my friends. I’ve never been much of a loner, but the number of messages I had been recieving lately on applications, such as Instagram and Snapchat, were becoming increasingly overwhelming. Feeling the force of 30 messages a day from the people I used to know, I considered whether to delete Snapchat and Instagram--freeing myself from the sense of obligation to respond to every single message I receive.

As it turns out, I'm not the only one who recently started feeling this way. People talk aboout the toxicity of comment sections, the pressure to continually post or feel "liked", and the expectation that someone is always online because everyone keeps their cellphone with them. I empathize with the hive-mind of social media users, and particularly the influence of feed algorithms which keep users present. Social media usage becomes an addiction just like any other. Currently, I'm stuck on TikTok.

In 2020, I built these individual objects to learn the fundamentals of modeling and texturing, navigating Blender software, and applying light to the scenes. I chose to create this object because I wanted to challenge myself with mimicking small details to create an ambient object that looks as realistic as possible.

My dad loves Diet Coke, and has been drinking it by the liter everyday of his life since before adulthood. I thought of him as I built this model. I found a CocaCola texture-wrap that was free for use, so I snagged it.

In 2020, I built these individual objects to learn the fundamentals of modeling and texturing, navigating Blender software, and applying light to the scenes. I chose to create this object because I wanted to challenge myself with rounded edges and texturing circles.

My grandmother lived in a gated community that prohibits backyard fencelines. Before I was 10 years old, I used to wander into her neighbor's backyards to pick lemons from their trees. I loved to suck on lemons, although I don't think I particularly enjoyed the sour taste. I mostly enjoyed the attention I'd receive from my family. I remember them gasping in awe at the fact that I could suck on a lemon slice until there was only pulp left.

In 2021, I was assigned to model something that looks exactly like the original object. The purpose of this project was to learn how to detail models using textures; a skill that taught me how to make objects look realistic. The image with the transparent background was cut-out using Adobe Photoshop.

Similarly, the image with the orange background was recolored using Adobe Photoshop. This taught me the fundamentals of scene adjustments and color filters.

References:

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The original reference models are shown above. Some in-progress images are shown below.

Smooth Texturing

Rough Texturing

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In 2021, I created a mini-city to mimic a motherboard. My goal in this assignment was to imagine an everday object coming to life, while still maintaining its functionality. I used the following images as a reference for the layout and design of individual objects.

References:

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Circuit City is the newest of non-technologies to be introduced to your PC’s system unit. More specifically, Circuit City is a living, bustling township built to occupy and operate your motherboard. Circuit City runs your motherboard as effectively and efficiently as actual people, keeping your computer processes running at humanly-capable speeds and production (including the possibility for human-error).

How does this living-motherboard work as a computer motherboard? Your memory is stored within the residents, who live in the neighborhood. Three zones for working make up the functionality of your motherboard: A Commercial Zone for managing production, an Industrial Zone that generates resources for production, and Ports for importing and exporting assets.

Circuit City:

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The environment consists of elements from a motherboard, with less emphasis on the functionality of each piece. The theme is shown within the architecture and details of the scene. Some components can be recognized from an actual motherboard, such as the fan and ports. The color scheme is blue-green with faint circuitry texturing each object; typical colors/patterns found on circuit boards. An added element is the fabric found beneath the neighborhood to substitute grass and clarify the scale of Circuit City.

This animation depicts a moment spent out with nature. Like my project, nature has many individual elements to make up the whole. I chose this specific scene because I adore flowers and the way hundreds of them can embellish a field with their bright colors. The creek that flows through this valley’s pass fills my breezy scene with an additional layer of serenity.

In-Progress:

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A tree in nature contributes effortlessly to the needs of its environment, however, a tree by itself is sustained by its leaves, roots, and stem that fluently manages the flow and devastation of natural processes. All individual parts used by the tree (such as its leaves) are seamlessly integrated by the whole. The leaves are fed upon by inhabitants of the ecosystem, and perhaps used for shelter or shade. As temperatures drop, a tree goes dormant and lets its leaves fall to the ground where organisms may consume its energy and integrate its essence back into the soil. In other words, individually, a leaf is a part of the tree and a part of the whole.

All elements of nature is nature itself; we are one and many, and every fragment of this environment is enabled to provide itself to the whole as the whole can provide for it. The clouds are to eventually release their load into the flowing stream, the stream will flow to sections of the field that mean to feed from its nutrients, the plants develop an ecosystem that nourishes its flora and fauna brethren, the butterfly feeds from the landscape and contributes to the transfer of pollen, and nature continually receives back what has been created or used. Cycles form, repeat, and die, permitting nature to claim both chaos and repetition as its natural function.

I created order through movement (generated by the breeze that pervades the scene) within each element of this animation, however the placement and size dynamics were mostly in control of the Blender software, thus grass blades and leaves were placed as randomly as nature could’ve predicted. The wind is to project the oneness of all things in this scene, yet all things remain their own.