Okay, this is far from done, but here is Ganesha so far.

Don't worry, he'll lose the Mercedes medallion for the occasion; I've been working on him for the past week for another larger project in which he needs to be looking his pimpiest. He needs more jewelry, scarves, a GVG and other assorted spice related accesories (I was thinking possibly arc lighter, boiling flask and copy of TIKHAL in the other three hands), and then detail, paint, texture and a more dynamic sit down pose.

He may just not really translate well to such a small space from head to toe. Even at this size, most of the smaller stuff gets lost. We could just use the head if that works better. A week from now, I think he should look pretty compelling up close.

daedaloops - I'm happy to help with any modeling. I don't know 3DS Max at all and I'm not exactly an authority on ZBrush, but I'll do whatever I can.

Art - Great start brother! I'm not sure how much will fit either... Maybe just go for the upper torso from the top of the belly up? Some of the top head piece could get cut w/o it looking weird.

Cyb - That's awesome looking man, I really dig how it kinda looks like an abstract owl. The book on the podium was a nice touch as well.



I wish I had something to post but I'm still having issues getting my idea onto the screen properly. I'm really out of practice with 3ds max and it's taking me awhile to get acclimated with it again. I was considering using ZBrush but I'd be starting from zero knowledge with that.

Maybe I should nix the 3d stuff and just stick with the fractal stuff I already know. I just wanted to try and push myself with this since it's such an important piece. Maybe that's all the more reason to stick with what I know.

Anyways... I apologize for the hold up and I promise I'll have something soon.

MelCat- no time pressure... Keep at it steadily and I'll get done. I think we all want to push ourselves a little bit here, so if it takes a little longer it'll be worth it.

Cyb- gorgeous, and it feels right. I think the top of the question mark is in danger of being clipped when the final composition is put together- can you add more background to the top, or pull the question mark and book downward a bit?

Art- how hard would it be to get that guy into the lotus position? Much better fit for the aspect ratio, and you'd be able to keep more of him that way.

Daeda- the vines would be way more organic with a zBrush treatment- my suggestion would be to start them as simple tubular shapes, get them fitting the composition right, export as .obj files and pass them to Art. I think his zBrush treatment will really bring them to life.

Well, my first attempt at rigging him was a complete disaster which resulted in horrible deformations to the mesh. I'm sure I can figure something out and sit him down easily enough, but lotus position may be a stretch without starting over from scratch.

daedaloops - I should be able to flesh out whatever base meshes you create in Max. .obj files are exactly what I need.

wow this is looking pretty awesome so far, very impressed by everybodys starts. havnt had a chance to get my sketches posted yet but soon. So do you think a traditional oil painitng will fit well with the other art or look awkward?

Orion will be working with paint as well. I think with the right finishing treatment everything should vibe together beautifully. The DMT influence that all the imagery has in common is far more important than the actual medium used.

ill be working with paint as well. then adding FX digitally

in fact iv just been chalking up my outlines and wanted to ask what you guys thought before i get the brushes out tomorrow.

(really groovy stuff guys- glad to see we have lots of mediums in the mix)

lookin pretty cool stalepixel, and im interested in your workflow maybe well have to talk a little more about that later if ya dont mind?

Hey Art...Here's a little inspiration for Ganeshas positioning if you need it...
My gf's carving from India...

Edit: Kinda taking a different direction but here's what I've got so far... Still lots to do but it's slowly but surely getting there.

Very promising direction MelCat! I think all of our windows will look amazing together...

I agree and thank you for the push to keep going with the 3d. I think it will be well worth it in the end.


On a different note, does anyone happen to have the name or a seamless pattern of the links tesselation pattern? I've got an idea on how to incorporate it into the design...

Great stuff.. really digging everyones direction.

Alot of the tessellations aren't really named, but you can find a bit about them by naming them according to the amount of sides on each repeating shape, so the Links pattern could be called the "3-4-6-4 tessellation", which gives a few results on google.

And, about the incorporating, everyone who still wants to do it should do it as subtly as possible, because otherwise it will look odd that some screens haven't incorporated the geometry and some have.

A new direction from me....possible?

Or is all FAQ'ed up..?

It's hard to say which one I like better cyb.

I like aspects of each of them, especially the extra faces and the pyrex in the new one. I really dig the book and background of the other one though.

I don't think I'm really digging the text too much either. I was under the impression that the text would be a hover effect later so it doesn't distract from the overall image too much.

Either way, you're cranking out some awesome stuff. You've definitely got a gift.

Okay Dokey...Here's one minus the text...

Yeah, it's definitely missing something without the text.

I really like the face on the F.

Sorry I said anything man, I trust your judgement. You do awesome work and I really had no place to criticize.

I'm really not sure what the rules of engagement are when it comes to the text. I was only assuming the text would only be shown when the mouse hovers over the link. It hadn't even really occurred to me to put the text in the image.

What does everyone else think about this?

Hey...no offence taken MelCat...I need the critique...that's why I put 'em here...

I know it will Txt on the mouse over...I'm just struggling with 'end size' once it is shrunk down to fit the 'screens', what's effectively only a few centimetres. A lot of detail will be lost and the graphic has to be Bold enough to stand out within the screen...

I was just musing on whether a 'Big Fat FAQ' might indicate what that section/screen is...

Yeah I forgot to mention it in the OP, but text is not allowed in the artwork because that will take away from the hyperspaciness and there will be text anyway on mouseover. (Exception to this is question marks and symbols) Otherwise I really like that cyb, but I gotta say I prefered the pedestal and book, cos it implied a sense of age old wisdom, which fits FAQ perfectly .. Also I just had a dream about it so I may be a bit biased...

Thats a nice idea to have little things move a bit to make it more alive. Like the blinking of eyes, the glimmering of stars, the subtle movement of leafs and vines, etc.


Kind regards,

The Traveler