Femme Fatale

Another small update with a sculpt I made for the banner for Tantra's new modeling/sculpting contest for November.

I'm still alive!!

Yes I am!!....sorry about the long hiatus. Been busy packing up and moving across cities(bangalore to mumbai to be precise). Add to it your usual dash of lectures, presentations, sightseeing and one monster of a project!
So we finally drove down to Mumbai from Bangalore as planned and the rain gods have been kind to us. Found a place and settled in. Its been a lot of fun doing the usual lectures and presentations across the country. Had a really good time specifically at Anifest and at my lecture on "Digital Art and Literature"(who woulda thunk it!) at the University of Kannur in Kerela. To think of it, I've probably done this 4-5 times a month since March 09!
We're not all play and no work though. Moving into my new role as a creative consultant/vfx supervisor, my first project took off earlier this month. Its a 60 sec commercial with a cute little cg character. I'm hoping to disclose more and put up the video here soon! Project wraps in a few more days!:)
And just so that this post isnt visual-free, here a quick 2 hour sculpt I did as cover art for August's modeling challenge on CGTantra.



Thats sums up my last few months. C'yall with more updates soon!!

Slice and Dice...

Those who have been to my sketchblog might find this one familiar, and those who frequent might blog might notice that this is my first female sculpt!..Yayyy!!
Nuthin much to say on the subject apart from the fact that this was fun!:)

Rejected...Dejected...

Poor guy doesnt know how to handle his recent rejection:(
Another one from the book done in a few hours. More to come soon!

One more ...Radar?

Another quick sketch from my sketchbook that i wanted to see 3d-ised. First name that popped up in my head was "Radar":)

Out of the swamps....

One of those bleh days.....needed to work on something. Picked this concept out of my sketchbook and brushed away. Took me about a day from scratch. I havent detailed anything, just marked out all the major areas with the clay tubes brush and left it at that...wont
be working on this any further....lets call him Crooca for now:)

Vivek Ram Speaking....

Had the awesome opportunity to be interviewed by ZbrushCentral this week. Between all the travelling and lectures that I have been doing the last few weeks, this was surely a high point!

Check out the interview here.

The Legend of Ram - Hanuman

Second in the series that I've been wanting to do on the Ramayan, Hanuman is finally completed. This started off as me wanting to do just the sculpt, but ended up as an illustration that I'm quite happy with:)
For those uninitiated, Hanuman is the monkey god of strength who is a great devotee of Lord Ram and proved to be a huge advantage in Ram's war against Ravan.
This was also an attempt to work on an illustration that wasnt aggressive as are all my previous stuff. I wanted to capture a very calm and peaceful mood with this one, without losing out on the character's personality.
Base model in maya, detailed in zbrush, rendered in max/mental ray. Post in photoshop.
More images on my website!

An update from last year...

This was a sculpt I did for syncere arts for an unannounced project in april last year. Although the project hasnt surfaced yet, they decided to use this sculpt as promotional material for their new game "Mahabharata". You can see more about the game on their website www.syncerearts.com.
More images of this sculpt over at my website.

In other news, (which is really late) 'The Legend of Ram' made it to the galleries in the ARTT magazine's decemeber issue and also to the cover of pixel art magazine's cover. Pixelart also had a showcase of my other illustrations.

Markeviv.com is now open for business!

Whew.....never really thought setting up a website would be so much work. But after long procrastination(emphasis on the adjective) and much hard work over the last week, my site is finally up and running.:) Not the prettiest I will admit and not the most utility friendly, but my first ever 3 rounds with html....so gimme some credit!:)
without any further delay....here it is

www.markeviv.com

Hanuman....WIP04

more updates....still have to start on the hands and feet..and the props!.....the body is about 90% done...will probably revisit once i finish all the other parts.

Hanuman WIP03....New Pose

So decided to steer this in a new direction. I dont seem to have the drive for a full illustration on Hanuman so I came to the conclusion that this will stop at being a sculpt with a pedestal and everything. The old pose wouldnt work at this point(him being mid-air and all) so heres the new pose:)

Hanuman WIP02

And the WIP continues....more face refining...torso work...etc.

Hanuman....WIP

and i've finally found some time between all my colds, flus, body aches, travelling and whining, to get started on the one piece i've been wanting to work on for a long time.you can see a rough sketch of this on my sketch blog.
Everything is still realllly early on this....have a lot of work left.....hope u like:)
On looking at it again, i realise that the pose isnt clear without background elements. Hes supposed to be in mid-air enjoying the "take-off"....(damn I should've painted in a background!!)
p.s. sketch blog to be updated soon!...just been lazy....and tired.:(

The Legend of Ram

And after months and months.....its done!:)
My monitor calibration was off so I'm not sure how this image looks on your screens, but I'm quite satisified with this one!:)
It took that extra bit of effort for me to create the background...which I usually ignore....but I'm glad I didnt give up on this one.
We all know the story....and we all love him for what he stands for. Hope you guys like how I picture him!:)
High res image here.
model screenshots

Models to be.....

New blog!.....parallel one that is...the workshop will continue for sure!:)
And so after losing my old sketchbook to Southwest airlines and my carelessness, I realised it best to have a digital backup and an online backup of all my work, scribbles and everything.
So now if we have an online copy of stuff....why not just share it eh!:).
so here it is......enjai!

http://modelstobe.blogspot.com

AAAAAnd we're back!

just got back from my 6 week US trip last week and its been fun. The campus is awesome, the people were fun, all in all , I had a great time. The flight was a bitch but then again, thank the lord I'm not an insomniac!
Pictures to sum it up.....well not really sum it up but more like points of the trip for me at least:)

Horse riding with the team. This was a great start to the 6 weeks!


got my name in the credits for the new "Incredible Hulk" movie and having this picture taken outside the theater soooo made the trip worth it!


San fransisco with my bud Sudesh and the golden gate bridge in the background......the weather was the bomb!


Lunch with the RnH gang.



ok...so i didnt really capture everything!:D
There should be one more pic here for my Sandiego trip but i guess i'll have to wait to get that one.

Back home. Getting the mood right to get started with a new piece and finish off some old ones. This is what my workspace at home looks like now.

And 3 of my prized possessions picked up during my trip!


So I'm not the most photographic person(if thats a word) around(and yes Aayush, i did steal some pics from your album!:)) I'll put up links to flickr and picassa pages of all my friends to sum up my trip.I'll be updating this same post for those. So watch this space!
Some work coming up real soon:)

a small update for a HUGE CHANGE!

So wife and I are finally moving to Bangalore at the end of this month. Its been an amazing 2 years at RnH and with good memories I move on to a change in scene.

End of this month, I'll be joining the core team for Dreamworks in India as a Modeling Lead....(still sinking in:))....looking forward to more fun times!!


In other news.....finished the sculpt on Ram....onto texturing and lighting this now to finish the illustration. Here are some zbrush snapshots.

The legend of Ram

Jai Sri Ram!
So finally after a really long spell of silence, I have some work on this blog.
This is a WIP(work in Progress) of an illustration of Sri Ram that i'm currently working on.
the first image is just a test render i was playin around with.
For those new to Indian mythology, Sri Ram is the warrior hero of the Indian epic , "Ramayana".
He is also deeply revered as a God by Hindus all over the world.
I'm hoping to finish this illustration sometime this month. Still a lot to do, and the process only gets slower when the subject is so close to heart!
the shader for the zbrush screenshots are from Arran Lewis and the test render shader is from Marc Mordelet. A big thanks to both of them!
P.s. In other news...a change of job and city is on the cards!:)

and then some....

for all who came back expecting more artwork....my sincere apologies....u can blame my dysfunctional back for now(thankyou lord for reasons to procrastinate!)......for those of u who just like to see me bathe in boastfulness and raise my ever dipping spirits......a little more footage for now:)
3dcreative magazine has Zerst in their 10 best galleries section for March. U can download the 'Lite' version from their site. Pay for the full copy for 200 pages of awesome info(if ur curious that is!)....check it out here.
3dcreative

Another step another stone....

The Golden Compass Won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects!
It surely is a proud day for me and for all my colleagues at Rhythm and Hues here in India and LA!

Testing 1...2...3...

Just a quick render test of my last sculpt. The model isnt in its higest level of subd so theres a bit of jaggedness.no textures, no shaders and not really much of a blog post but i'm bored.....what the hell.

Evolution

The things evolution can do !!:)
This is again a model for the same friend of mine from two posts ago.
He is supposed to be a more evolved version of the earlier goblin, so that he can.....ummm..no spoilers here...we'll have to wait for his announcement sometime:)
No textures, no shaders...just a boring zbrush snapshot is what u see. Hope you guys like it!

5 More seconds of fame..:)

Video on ndtv.





No, this is not an excuse for not having real blog updates, but its just a great start for a brand new year!:)
This initially aired on thursday night at 11:30ISt as part of a programme called "night out".

You can see a higher res(better quality) version on that ndtv link on top.

Real artwork updates coming soon!:)
HAPPY NEW YEAR everybody!!!!!!

Season's Greetings!

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!
Keeping with the spirit of the season, just finished this piece for a friend of mine. He plans to use this goblin in some game that he plans to build. Time for givin and sharing people!:)

Its been a kind week...:)

Well yeah, for starters , Exotique 3 reached my doorstep early this week. It was nice to see the War God in print alongside a lot of other awesome artwork!:)
and then, a very normal sunday spent with a little extra work in givin a presentation earned me some free publicity!:)
I havent had a chance to wrap up any artwork lately what with the testing I've been doing , but this is good reminder that I've been a hardworking boy!;)
I guess this is a good time to start simultaneously blogging on my new blog thats attached to my portfolio.
A self-pat on the back is in order..:)...ah...life and its silver linings!!

Happy Diwali!!!!

Happy Diwali peeps!!
My first Diwali at my Inlaw's place and had a really great time. This is the rangoli that I made outside their door. They were quite thrilled with it(I hope!;)).

for the clueless, a rangoli is artwork(usually patterns and designs) made outside ones home using coloured powder. Its quite standard practise during the festival of Diwali(festival of lights)

of Fish and Men.....

I finally get the chance to put this up. Yes, this is the same merman from 2 posts ago.....just the final illustration. You can also see him in this months Animation Today magazine on the cover.

I finished this about a month ago but had to wait till the magazines release so that i could put this up.Hope it was worth the wait(for those waiting!!)

This was made as part of the merman modeling challenge on cgtantra. I couldnt quite finish it for the challenge so decided to make an illustration of it.

This guy is designed to be the lead of an elite task force of similar mermen of an otherwise all mermaid race. They are entrusted with the protection of the queen mermaid and are called in to fight only as a last line of defense. They were results of long experimentation with various sea life and humans to build a perfect weapon. they're bodies are grafted with that of a shark with electrocuting tentacles that emerge out of the rib cage area. The jewels on the chest signify rank. They are a killing force efficient enuf to fight without armour or weapons.

This is also my first full character in zbrush.

Hope u guys like the design and final piece.

Base model in maya, sculpted posed and textured in Z Brush. Comped with screen shots in photoshop.

Flexing those brushes...

figured I've not been practisin off late and have been gettin rusty and slow so thought to myself....Wake the f*** up!
I've decided to sketch and doodle on zbrush fr an hour each day......even if i churn out garbage......so heres to a decent start....I should probably start a separate blog just for the doodles else my good pieces disappear:).....
just a quick head doodle(no ears)....took me about 2 hours....zbrush more than anything is definitely stress relief:)

P.S. for those wondering about the merman......kindly 2 weeks waiting please:)

Race against time!!

Signed up for the merman challenge on tantra with a bottle full of enthusiasm not considering the fact that i have "the great Indian wedding" comin up right around the corner.......whats more interesting is that the deadline for the challenge is the same as the day i leave for the wedding.......one challenge to the next!:)
Heres what i have so far on the challenge...just an unfinished body and head and a proxy model, and 2 working days to go!.....yay me!