Reply To: BC1-1908 Homework – Aaron Rudderham
Week 3 Submission
“One thing the history books won’t tell you is the tale of a man only known as Anastagio, who haunted the people of 16th century Italy. Whilst much of his life is unknown, it was said that he was once a mild-mannered, almost feeble boy, until one day he stumbled upon something unimaginably dark. You see, Anastagio was a social outcast of sorts, he never quite got along with anyone – not even his own parents – and that feeling was reciprocated wholeheartedly. He would often retreat to the nearby woods for solitude, but never quite so far that he would get lost. This changed one day, because – for unknown reasons – he stormed through that place like a threatened Doe. Maybe someone pushed him over the edge? It’s hard to say, but from what scraps of his journal indicate, he hid in a small cave in hopes that no one would ever find him. It was in this unsettling place that he began to hear “the most unnatural calling he ever heard, a mixture between the cooing of a tempting maiden and the disturbing gurgles of Hell itself”, but against his better judgement he followed it. He swore it was coming from under the earth, so he dug with rocks, sticks, and even his bare hands until they were bloodied with desensitized determination, until he found it.
A Schiovona, as perfect as the day it was crafted. Not a scratch on the curved blade, not a dent on the dazzling golden knuckle guard and mysterious red jewels that were as mesmerizing as they were beautiful. It is not know what transpired specifically beyond this point, as his journal turned into an incoherent, rambling mess that some historians to this day are convinced wasn’t even a genuine language. It may be best this way, as the results are horrific enough. The village in which contained all he knew of the world, where he grew up, and where he would inevitably die, was gone. The bodies of this massacre were mysteriously never found, with the exception of one. Anastagio. When the authorities finally arrived they found him hunched over the glorious blade, no sign that life had ever entered his eyes.
Whilst a fairly unknown story, this sword has seen its fair share of owners. Most didn’t even known of the terrible past it had, but they all had one thing in common. Each owner described having unsettling visions in their sleep, and whilst most of these were chalked up to paranoid nightmares some of them became a frightening reality. It passed through the hands of many until it eventually found its way into a local Italian museum, with hopes of preserving its history. The sword had seen a lot of damage by now, but one thing that has baffled practically everyone is how the blood of Anastagio still looks, feels and even smells as fresh as the day it was drawn…”
Well that was a darker one, but hey, nice change of pace!
So I won’t lie, there was definitely a lot more that I had planed for this, such as a more detailed background and floor, better fog (even though I think the one I have here is pretty cool, you can see a tutorial to get yourselves started here) and a few other things, but a big lesson you need to learn in art is to use the time you have most effectively and a lot of those things would’ve taken me too long.
Now I’m no stranger to my absence here, and if I’m honest, I’m just absolutely tired of making these story based 3D scenes with a lot going on. I’ve been doing 3DCG for well over a year and a half now and if you go look at my gallery it’s practically all I’ve done up until this point. This is admittedly a much smaller one, but I’ve just come fresh off the heels of my Taxi Driver scene, and to jump in from one scene to another can be a bit exhausting. On top of this I’m working on a game (well, technically two) so I’ve had my hands full with those as well and sometimes it just gets too much. I think for a while I need to step back, relax and work on smaller, isolated projects for a while. I still love the premise of these story based scenes and definitely plan to do more (the amount of ideas I have rolling around is daunting if I’m honest) but I just need to work on something digestible for now.
I’ve always had this mindset that I must be the absolute best at everything and that if I’m not even shooting for #1 I’m wasting my time. I’m not particularly sure why I think like this, but it’s something that’s been with me practically forever. It’s a double edged sword as well, as not doing as well as I think I can is rather stressful, but at the same time putting 110% effort in all the time is just as stressful. It’s getting to the point where it’s been affecting my health – both physical and mental – for the past couple months so if that’s not an indicator to cool down I don’t know what is. Seeing as the more experienced members of the class are expected to use said experience to help their less experienced fellow students here’s my advice to you: be careful with how much you practice. Yes, you can be lazy and not do enough (which is sometimes what I fear I do as well) but the opposite is true, and arguably just as dangerous. But then again I have a habit of giving out sound advice but then never utilizing it myself so hopefully that changes. I guess I just have dreams and because I’m not Mega Ultra Supreme Emperor of the Universe yet I get impatient. Major character flaw, that.
Sorry for this being a bit late as this thing took 8 bloody hours to render. I have no idea why, I know volumetrics in general slow stuff down but 2,8 in general has been really slow for me. Maybe it’s time to use Eevee…? Stress stuff aside it’s always a blast working alongside you guys and see how you’re progressing as well. I may not have commented on every page but let it be known I’ve been reading all of your submissions and I love how far so many of you are coming. I’m looking forward to seeing you all in the wrap up stream and I hope you all have a pleasant day, Happy Blending!
@theluthier Hope this wasn’t too late for a grade, deadlines and all that, but thank you if so!