Thursday, February 15, 2024

Happy Valentine's Day 2024!

 For (after) Valentine's Day, I did this drawing of Mysti-Girl and Dengekid (Heralds 4 and 6, respectively), two members of the Dynamic Heralds, from my original kaiju project, Rekira the Super-Monster! Done on tablet in FireAlpaca.



Sunday, February 11, 2024

Happy Chinese New Year 2024!

 So yesterday was the Lunar New Year! The Year of the Dragon. :)

So I thought I'd do another New Year's drawing featuring my original kaiju, Rekira, and I started on it yesterday. But because we got Chinese food for dinner (it was delicious!), and I got to spend a bit of time with my family (even watching some of the animated movie Wish Dragon, which was cute!), I was a bit delayed, but it was still worth it. It took several hours, but it's a gorgeous bit of art!

Here, the Dynamic Heralds, the superhero team from Rekira the Super-Monster, perform with a dragon dance pole puppet based on Rekira himself! A concept I thought up in the last few days.

Drawn on tablet in FireAlpaca.



Monday, January 01, 2024

2024 - The Year of the (Dog) Dragon

 My first work of the year, and a convenient one: 2024 is the Chinese astrological year of the Dragon, and my original kaiju Rekira is, partly, a dragon (combined with a dog)!

Drawn on tablet in FireAlpaca.



Sunday, December 31, 2023

Farewell to 2023

 In this fairly quick sketch, my last work for 2023, Rekira the Super-Monster joins Shin Ultraman, Shin Kamen Rider, and an uncharacteristically friendly Minus One Godzilla in bidding farewell to a remarkable year for tokusatsu in America!

Done on tablet in FireAlpaca.
 

 

Monday, December 25, 2023

Last CG work of 2023!

 I'll be taking a break from CG work for the rest of the year, so it's fitting that I would post this superb CG recreation of my "Final Art of 2022" drawing! Once it was finished, I got a bit emotional seeing the result (and the original drawing was emotional enough as it was). A Christmas present for all. Done on Blender on the 15th, and assembled in FireAlpaca today.

And here's the original:


Thursday, December 21, 2023

The Dynamic Heralds in CGI!

 At last, after two years, I finally got all of the Dynamic Heralds translated into 3DCG!

The Dynamic Heralds is the superhero team featured in my original kaiju project, Rekira the Super-Monster; they are the (super)human protagonists of the story, investigating the strange phenomenon of giant monsters suddenly appearing in New York. Transformed into "die-cast" superhumans by the super-computer HERA (Hydro-Electric Re-Atomizer), The Dynamic Heralds are secretly based/reside in Olympus Tower on the small artificial island Olympus Island, located in the Hudson River in New York. As the Olympus Elite Staff, our heroes are excellent technological engineers for the privately-run Olympus Industries, Ltd. As the Dynamic Heralds, a mysterious team of vigilante superheroes, they fight crime and corruption, and keep peace in the New York area.

One to two years in the making, after several tries, all were modeled in Blender, with the textures in FireAlpaca. The bases for the Dynamic Heralds designs are based on these designs from 2021. There have been little changes in translation of design! The Olympus Elite Staff suits are based on these designs from 2022.

Helmet Type:

Mask Type:
Unmasked:
Civvies:
Olympus Elite Staff:


Monday, December 18, 2023

Introducing Rekira V3!

 At last, I unveil my latest CG model of my original kaiju, Rekira! Here is Version 3 (V3), which is the best-looking version to date.

Done on Blender, with the skin/fur texture done on tablet in both Blender and Fire Alpaca. The skin/fur ratio was first attempted on the V1 model, but the result was unsatisfactory. Now, it looks far better, now that I got the hang of using particle fur both conservatively and efficiently for the model! The topology is also much better and more consistent. I also simplified Rekira's antlers (I eschewed the red lines), and the headlamp and Pulsar Plates are also now incorporated into the model itself (as opposed to just pasted on, like the previous two models).


Completion test shots (using stock HDRI sky textures), from when the model was finished on October 12 (when I finally completed the glow features).



WIP test shots

This one is great, the best feral expression, so far.

Glow test:

Emulating the "strong" pose of the 1968-1972 Godzilla:

Shee!