Carcere XIV - Not Quite Pre-Viz

In an attempt to understand the architecture, I've started on a low-res 3D sketch of the scene, and come to the conclusion that Piranesi may not have been entirely in control of his perspective. As such, there will be parts where I simply decide 'stuff it', and follow my gut/what looks good.

Initial Carcere Drawings

Or, 'good grief I had no idea how wonky the perspective actually is in these etchings'. Apologies for the roughness of the following sketches, I'll clean them up at some point in the future.

Here's Carcere XIV again  just for reference.

Mostly-Blind Study of 'Shipwreck in a Rocky Inlet' - Carlo Bonavia

Did something a little different today. In the vein of the Technical Challenge in the Great British Bake-Off, where the contestants are required to use their baking knowledge and instinct to replicate a bare-bones recipe, I decided to make a very quick study from a painting - in this case, Carlo Bonavia's 'Shipwreck in a Rocky Inlet'. From there I no longer looked at the original, instead relying on my early sketch and my painting knowse to highlight what I did and didn't know.

Shipwreck in a Rocky Inlet - Carlo Bonavia, 1757

My initial sketch, the only part of the painting that actually referenced the original. Observe the absenve of the ship - this continues the whole way through, because I was more interested in the overall landscape than the fiddly details of the ship.

 

Attempting to come to terms with that rock.

Ehhh... let's add 'rock' to the list of things I need to study.

Let's throw 'clouds' onto that list, too.

And my final, with distinctly absent shipwreck and a lighthouse that was definitely not there in the original. It needed something to be sitting there, and that whole side was dark, so a lighthouse seemed the obvious choice. Oh, and just for good measure, put 'water' on the list as well.

And here's the original again, for comparison's sake. Goddamn, did I lose track of it. Nevertheless, despite not having a technically brilliant outcome, I learnt a lot about what I don't know, which in some cases is far more important than actually learning something objectively useful.

Opulence, Mountains and Prisons

First off, an unfinished Leyendecker study, per the suggestion of Phil.The text is there purely for my own peace of mind. The colour on this is fun, and I'll definitely keep dinking around with it until it's a bit more resolved. I'll tackle the fancy ironwork some other day, however.

'Couple Descending Staircase' - J. C. Leyendecker

And a photo study from a photograph by a gentleman going by the handle of 'Footleg'. Super loose first sketch...

Marginally less loose, trying to fix the shape of the peak...

And the final study. I learnt quite a bit about the structure of mountains (or at least, this particular mountain) and how snow sits on them. I left the figure out because, while it contributes to the original photograph, it's not much help in a study.

'Valley Frances Bridge' - 'Footleg' - Original


And now for that Piranesi thing. I've decided on the four plates I'll be using; I may not finish all of them, so I've ranked them here in order of priority, first being highest. I feel plates III and XIV best encapsulate the feel of the series, particularly XIV, so if I can only manage one then that will be the one I make.

 XIV. Carcere, with a Staircase Ascending to the Left

III. Carcere, with a Circular Tower.

 VII. Carcere, with Numerous Wooden Galleries and a Drawbridge

 VI. Carcere, with Arches and Pulleys and a Smoking Fire in the Centre.

I initially considered a panorama, but attempts at stitching the images together were unsuccessful; this was the best panorama I could make, and, as you can see, it doesn't work. The pieces are simply not created to sit flush next to one another, and out of respect for Piranesi's work I am hesitant to improvise connections between them. Thus they shall probably be separate rooms, with the camera travelling between them.

Toolkit: Maya Shaders

The glss texture and I took offense to one another. Just to prove that I can make a glass texture, here's my version of this from last year;

Toolkit: Animation Tutorials

Toolkit: Old Alley

Not entirely pleased with the bump mapping, I'll admit.

Toolkit: Alien Orbs Lighting

Perhaps my least clunky lighting setup to date.

Toolkit: Pencil & Eraser Character Final + Egg Cup

Still not entirely happy, lighting seems a bit muddy now I look back at it.

And an egg cup.

Toolkit: Whimsy House Renders + Kitchen

Forgive me, I improvised a little with a couple of these.