Interweaving vines with 3D text

[dcahall]

Thanks for the feedback. These are excellent points for me to work on in the next "exercise" but in spite of all of that, I feel I did learn a lot about how to use the tool for the future.

In particular, the shadow was the most disappointing to me. I had a lot of trouble trying to create it because of the complexity of the arch, text and vines. I tried a lot of different approaches and was just not happy with the results of any of them. I turned it into a bitmap copy and tried to adjust the color but ran into additional problems.

At one point, I had done a better job of adding the perspective to the pool but in this final version did not do as well. I think I finally got a little tired and just said "that's if for this one, move on to the next challenge and be aware of the short comings for the next time". I think I have learned another valuable lesson as well and that is "KISS". I think I tried to go a little far and should have stayed with some basic things and get them done correctly.

IMHO - it is all part of the learning process.

[Gare]

Agreed: this is a learning room here, not an art gallery!

Don't ever sweat the shadows, Dave. I've discovered by audience feedback that it's important to have a shadow in a drawing where there should be one, but accuracy is of secondary concern. IOW, your audience might look at a wrong shadow in a funny way, but they are more likely to notice when a shadow is missing entirely.

Besides, a shadow on a coarse diffuse surface? The detail in real life is barely discernible.

-g

[dcahall]

Could not resist one last post in this thread............

Hope these 2 images show some progress. I have definitely learned some things along the way.

[Gare]

I like what you did A LOT with the Xara Xone arch, Dave. Would it ever be mistaken for a photo? Um, no, but hopefully that was not your intention, and it stands as a fine piece of illustration work.

I don't know why everyone here is hell-bent on interpreting my little shack as a dunny (also see: outhouse, privvy, and ___house)! I originally designed is with a Mexican motif to be a toolshed, a place to park the mower, rake, and other yard tools when your garage is too full of stuff that should go in the basement, which is full because (infinite loop here).

Your perspective is not consistent, Dave, or you used a very wide-angle lens in your drawing. You can barely see the roof, yet with "normal" perspective, you see the ground at nearly a 30 degree angle. I'd say the perspective is "forced" and make the drawing a little cartoonish. If that is your intention, it's fine. Me, I always am very serious about outhouses.

;)

-g

[dcahall]

Yes, I was just "playing" with the outhouse. You guys had done such a great job with the others, it just struck me as kind of a funny thing to do. In particular, I wanted to mess with kind of a "wood grain" filling and I also wanted to try to make the roof look a little like a tile roof. Then the silly idea of a door with a moon cut in it (outhouse "feature"). I was really using it as a way to continue to learn about that little trick you and Stygg came up with for putting a stained glass fill in an object while allow the fill to also be a linear fill. I struggled with that when you guys first showed it (was kind of dumb mistakes on my part - I just need to do something to apply it).

Glad you liked the updated Xara Xone image. I just had to go back and try to apply some of the things you pointed out. No, it sure is not a photo but was merely a "made up" graphic illustration. The important thing for me is to continue to grow and understand better about how to put some of my "vision" together more realistically.

[Gare]

No apologies, no defensive posture should go with the arch illustration, David.

It's an...illustration. And a sellable, professional one, at that.

-g