Hello, Everyone! 

Hey, remember when we all had to stay home for 2 weeks, and then it became 2 years, and for me, I’m still at home? Good times.

So, I needed to work on something to keep my sanity, especially after we had to cancel our trip to Ireland in 2020. My wife and I were both devastated as we had been looking forward to that trip for a long time.

Since we couldn’t go, I decided to create a little bit of Ireland for her on my computer. So, after doing some modeling in Sketchup and rendering in Lumion, I created this video for her. 

Another project to pass the time was to create a steam engine based on teh Union Pacific articulated 4-8-8-4 also known as the Big Boy series or the X Series based on the X in front of the engine numbers.

Finally, I resurrected an old project from years ago, and decided to redo it with my updated software. All of these projects helped to keep me sane, so I am thankful for them. 

 

Digital Painting

I have never painted anything, digitally or otherwise. Sure, I’ve messed around with MS Paint like everyone else did in the late 90’s. However, as far as really trying to create some sort of digital masterpiece – no, absolutely not. There have been two classes that covered digital painting, so here are some highlights from those attempts.

The first project was painting a WW2 lantern (digitally) while studying color theory. I think came out okay, especially as this was my first attempt at anything like this.

In the second class, I had to paint other projects that were completed in another medium. So, Bunthulhu and his city of R’lyehmora and an original concept, so I created a tank sort of vehicle.

You can find more on my Behance Page here: https://www.behance.net/gallery/177592671/Digital-Painting-GCU-310-0500

 

Hello!

 

Someone asked in passing, why is this blog page called “Lone Wolf Drafting and Design”.

It’s a fair question.

When I started this, the name of my company was – you guessed it – Lone Wolf Drafting and Design. That was the name of the company that I created after moving to Arizona. Why “Lone Wolf”? At one point in my life, I was a truck driver, and that was CB handle. That’s it – no awesome backstory there.

So, why haven’t I changed it as LWDD no longer exists as a company.

Well, to be honest, I am only restarting this for my current class, which is called “business for the design professional”.  One of the things that the class covers is personal branding and part of that is social media exposure.

So, here I am, trying to figure out what my new brand should be. It can take months to create a new logo and brand – I have to do it in a few weeks.

I am open to suggestions.

Maybe it should be Bunthulhu themed.

Like I said, I am open to suggestions.

 

Hello Again

 

My last post showed the fearsome and terrible, albeit fluffy, Bunthulhu. Well, a terrifying Lovecraftian beast needs his own city to protect, right?

It makes sense.

This project was completed in another class but worked in conjunction with the Bunthulhu project. The assignment was to start creating environments for a film set or some such thing. I had already worked out several concept sketches, but I am a 3D modeler and animator, so let’s take it up a notch.

From there, it was time to do some modeling. At this point, it was no longer about the assignment which had already been submitted, this was just me wanting to finish it off. Here is the overall model before rendering (created in SketchUp Pro).

Finally, the completed images. At some point, when I actually have time, I want to animate the whole thing with people walking as the camera moves through the city. (Rendering completed in Lumion).

Thanks for reading!

Once again, it has been a very long time since my last post. I lot has happened since January 18^th, 2013 – a lot. So, the highlights: started a new job, bought a new house, have traveled to several countries, and I now work at home since the Covid pandemic. I am also going to school again to earn my bachelor’s degree in graphic design and animation.

This post is just a quick rundown of some of the projects I have been working on both personally and for school.

Bunthulu

Yes, you read that correctly. One of my classes was a sculpting class. I have never sculpted anything before, so this class was already going to be a challenge. So, I decided to create a mythical creature that combines a bunny and Cthulhu, as one would do. The reaction has been everything from “wow”, and “very cool”, to “that is the most terrifying thing I have ever seen and it haunts my dreams”. I call it a win.

If you are interested in learning more about Bunthulu, see my full post on Behance: https://www.behance.net/gallery/164989597/The-Rise-Of-Bunthulhu-Scultpture

I will post more of my projects very soon.

Lone Wolf Drafting, Down, But Not Out

Once again, it has been some time since my last post.  These past few months have been both challenging and rewarding, and things remain fluid even as I write this.

First, the challenges.  As some of you may or may not know, I have been struggling to keep my little company, Lone Wolf Drafting and Design, afloat in these hard economic times.  Eventually, the company went further under, and I had to stop servicing my clients.  Between the failing economy, aging hardware and out of date software, I could no longer continue my business as it was.

Lone Wolf Drafting and Design - It's not over yet, I hope.

So, it was time for some real soul searching. Do I want to save my company?  Do I want to continue being a sole proprietorship in an economy that punishes you for your hard work?  Do I want to really invest in new equipment as my client base shrinks due to their own economic struggles?  Can I justify the expense of new software just to keep up in a market that is changing day by day?

Well, the short answer is "yes, maybe, sort of".

However, in order to do any of this, I was going to have to divide and conquer; I was going to have to call in favors, pull together resources, and when none could be found, I would have to create work-arounds to get the job done. 

So first, new equipment.  Toward the end of 2012, it came to my attention that my old Mac and PC just were not up to the task of supporting new software, the hardware was just too old. 

My Mac is not this old, but in the face of new software, it felt like it!

This will run Windows 7, right?

The first option was to spend a RIDICULOUS amount of cash on a new Mac - around $13,000.00. 

It's a beautiful machine, but at 13 large, it was not an option.

That was just not going to happen.  I needed a new plan.

Enter in my tech guru, Rusty.  I have mentioned him before - Rusty has been instrumental in keeping my hardware running, and has helped me with all computer issues, great and small.  But this was a doozey.  We were going to have to build a brand new machine from the ground up.  We needed a new motherboard, new processor, new heat sink, memory, hard drives, the whole thing.  The only thing salvageable from my old machine was the case and the original hard drive - and that was to be for on-board storage only. So, I gathered up all my pennies, and old equipment (routers, hubs cables, keyboards, antennas, whatever I had that I thought he could use) and went to Rusty's to build a new machine.  Yep, Rusty didn't build it alone, I helped.  I wanted to know how it worked and why we were using specific components.  We salvaged a BioStar motherboard with 8 gigs of RAM from another of Rusty's machines, and from that, we were going to build this thing.  We included a Solid State 128 gig drive to hold all of my programs, and installed a Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card. This machine is a beast; it works amazingly well, with dual monitors - fantastic.

Super Graphics Card

Massive new heat sink.

The BioStar Motherboard.

The super processor.

Next, the software.  Fortunately, Autodesk is the maker of both new suites of software that I wanted to learn - Maya and 3DStudio Max/ Design Suite.  Autodesk offers both programs for free under their student licensing program.  The only restriction is that you CANNOT use the student versions to turn a profit.  No problem, Autodesk, and thanks for making that available.

Maya

Max

Next up, a tutor.  For my readers that have been with me for a while, you may remember me working on a project called MegaTokyo - a video game concept that is being developed by Steve Lundberg and Jade Phoenix - examples of my work on that project can be seen here.  Over the course of a year, Steve was showing my work to others, and offered to put me in touch with someone that could teach me new software.  Steve is a creative visionary with true heart and passion for what he does.  His game will truly be a work of art as he completes it, and I hope to have a small hand in helping him develop it, especially as I continue to learn new software.

But first, I have to learn it....

Enter in Bruce Buechner.  This guy is amazing at what he does.  A self taught 3D artist, an expert modeler, rendering artist, animator and rigger.  His work is really something to see.  He has also spent time as a studio recording technician, and has won 3 Grammies.  This guy is the real deal!  He is so talented at what he does, universities have used his work to teach their classes.  I came to know Bruce through Steve, as Bruce was one of the people Steve forwarded my work to. Without Steve's introduction to Bruce, I would have never come this far in my education.   Bruce has been kind enough to get online with me via Skype, Google Hangout, and even through text messaging on Yahoo on IMO to show me the ins and outs and what he knows.  You can see Bruce's tutorial videos here, on YouTube.com. His knowledge seems never ending, and I am forever grateful to both Bruce and Steve for all they have done, I am in their debt.

Here are a few of the models I have created since Bruce has taken the time to tutor me.

Train platform.

Fire hydrant based on Bruce's tutorial on his YouTube page.

Oil rig.

So, as of right now, Lone Wolf Drafting and Design is on hiatus.  I hope to maybe obtain some additional software that will allow me to continue my business, or I may start looking for employment using my newly acquired knowledge.  Either way, the start of 2013 is a rebuilding period; I will figure out what I am supposed to do, and what my next step is in the evolution of Lone Wolf Drafting and Design and in my professional life.

I will post again as soon as new developments arise.

Thanks for reading!

I’m Back! (Again)!

It has been quite some time since my last post.  Over the past few months, I have been busy with a couple of extremely large jobs.

The first job was a massive double sided garage for GarageMahals, LLC.  This project was a meeting of old world class and sophistication and old fashioned American muscle. 

The first side, the classic garage side, was designed to be a richly appointed showcase garage.  There is not a tool box to be seen in this space!  The entire garage is decked out in rich Earth tones.  The flooring is a special epoxy blend with a copper tint, while the walls are finished off with hand plastering and painted a deep bronze in color.  Even the wainscoting is plush; the footers and headers are comprised of mahogany, with the actual wainscoting done in black supple leather with a tufted design.  The rear wall of the garage features artwork relating to the automotive industry.  The front of the garage consists of two double wide doors with custom graphics affixed to the back.  Custom columns flank each door and stretch up to the specially designed cover system that hides the doors when they are in the rolled up position.  

Custom Columns and Door Art.

Custom Columns and Doors.

Custom Column.

Rear Wall Art and Wainscoting

Rear Wall with Columns, Wainscoting, and Artwork.

Rear Wall with Art, Wainscoting and Columns.

The second side, the muscle car side, was designed to be a showroom and a workshop. The color scheme here conjures up thoughts of high quality, American built, automotive muscle.  The shades of blue, grey and black and punched up with a deep red trim and columns covered in competition orange.  Like the columns in the classic garage, these columns are custom made and support a cover system that also hides the garage doors in their raised state.  Unlike the classic side, this garage features a large workbench and plenty tool storage space.

Custom Column in Competition Orange.

Custom Column and Door Graphics.

Custom Column, Close Up.

Wide View of Columns and Doors.

Columns and Door Graphics.

Workbench and Tool Storage.

View Down the Garage, Laterally.

While I was working on the garage projects, I was also embroiled in the modeling and rendering of a custom home in Chennai, India.  This massive home actually started as an exterior rendering project in 2011.

Front of Home.

Front of Home.

Front of Home.

Rear of Home.

Earlier in 2012, The Sater Design Group came back to Lone Wolf Drafting and Design to begin rendering the inside of this one-of-a-kind custom home.  In all, over 100 interior images have been rendered for this project, and we are only now wrapping up the unfurnished stage of development!   For this post, I will only upload images of several key rooms. Once all of the furniture has be been selected by the interior designer, LWDD will go back and begin filling in all of the furniture for each room.  Once that stage has been completed, I will post another blog showing the best of the completed rooms.

Formal Living Room.

Formal Living Room. 

Formal Living Room, Upper Level.

Formal Living Room. 

Bedroom.

Bedroom.

Bedroom Suite

Entertainment/ Theater Room.

Entertainment/ Theater Room.

Entertainment/ Theater Room.

Entertainment/ Theater Room.

Soon, I will be engaged in finishing out the Chennai home, as well as a few more, smaller projects before the year is out.

I’m sorry for the long delay between posts, but as you can see, it’s been a busy year.  For all those that have stayed with me and the blog, I thank you.  I hope those of you who have left will come back, and catch up on the latest news from Lone Wolf Drafting and Design.

Thanks for reading!