LIGHTING!!!

Ok found something I need to really practice on, I've never experienced such frustration from one element; lighting. It is driving me mad, anyway getting closer to cracking it, I've now finally got shadowing around the chopping board which I didnt have before as the work surface and back wall were all one piece, which drastically affected the lighting setup. So I've made the back wall seperate and it has helped things between the work surface and chopping board. I think I'm getting there, I also got rid of the lid as it just didnt need to be there and felt out of place for some reason. So instead I've added a butter dish and knife along with some butter, I've again kept it simple like the plates and Knives as I don't want it to distract from the bread. I'm so relieved to have the chopping boards shadowing just about done. I have been at the lighting set up for over a week now, its an important factor otherwise the board has no weirght, its just floating. Half asleep I took some photos before breakfast of the new loaf we got:

 There is a shadowing that goes all the way round the board, something I previously could not get, until now I've re evaluated the light source too. It is a mixture of daylight and an above indoor light from above, a ceiling light. I've been staring at this image so long, I'm slowly losing the plot. Everytime I change something, something else goes wrong. Anyway I prefer having the butter dish there rather than the lid, it fits with the idea and scene.

I'm glad all the objects have base lighting, but the chopping board is now too light, so the next update will hopefully have that fixed. Then finally i can begin with my four shots and maybe add some crumbs in there if things work out.

It had to be done

Ok after a lot of tossing and turning last night, I couldnt sleep properly at all and the reason is because of this still life project. I knew I hadnt worked my best, i did at the beginning but slowly I've just gotten more lazy. So today I kicked myself into gear and re done the scene and surroundings, no longer is it just a rubbish picture I took on my phone, it has been completely re modelled:

I've used my own kitchen as a reference, like the surface and side boards. I didnt want to go over the top with the plates and knives as they're just a background feature although while I was modelling I did a quick render and got this cool shot:

I really like the reflection from the steel border, especially as you can see how much detail i've put into the loaf of bread. Anyway I'm gradually becoming more proud of my work again like I was at the beginning, just think I hit a rut at one point, hopefully will pull it back before the deadline.
I still have to sort out the lid and the fact it looks a little lifeless.

Still lifes background

Here is just a quick update, I've sorted out the background, looks a better already now that I've spent sometime on it. I was being lazy and Roma picked up on it straight away and made sure I worked on it, I should have done it in the 1st place rather all slap and dash. Still need to sort out the reflection on the Knife and of course the glass Jar. I'm not sure how to go about the jar, and I should have finished the background properly before showing Roma as she would have been able to see what needs tweaking etc. Oh well onwards...

Background Inserted

So I've almost sorted the environment, just need to play around with the lighting so it all fits, the background is actually the one at home, changed my mind about the one in France as I didnt have all the shots needed to complete it and I want it more homely than that, what better place but my own home here in Nottingham. Anyway Knife blade needs adjusting along with the glass Jar, I want to avoid Mental ray for the time being until I understand it fully. I think I will wait till tuesday and speak to Roma on how to achieve the best effect. I'm getting there though bit by bit.
I have also begun my big animation project due in April (sounds along way away but is NOT) anyway I have a decent idea for the Silent comedy but I just need to start sketching it out and putting it into practice before it can fully develope.
Anyway this is the background added:

This is just the model setup.

Still Life update

So this the latest, I think today I will also begin on the background aswell as the jar and the two slices of bread, they need some more seeds ontop I think (also a little too light).

OOOHHH and I'm gonna start the jam, i'm just not sure where to begin with it, but the jar needs sorting 1st. Also ignore the lighting it will all change for the final images.

The Sketches

So here are the basic sketches I begun with before I started modelling, sorry both the camscanner and camera didnt give the best quality, but it will do for now. Also keeping with my New Year's resolution still practicing my drawing skills, I'm going to start my graphic novel initial sketches soon, its called P.O.D.S its futuristic and creepy. Anyway back to my Still Life sketches, here they are;

 And Bread is surprisingly hard to draw, out of all of it, that was definitely the most challenging.

 I now can say I practice drawing anything, chopping boards! Never ever have I drawn different styles of chopping boards. I can see myself in the future needing to be able to draw different styles of knives, maybe even jars, but chopping boards is new one.

Never realised how many different types of spoons there are out there, like there shapes and styles of handles. Anyway the Bread might have been hardest to draw, the spoon was definitely hardest to model.
I think after this I will upload my latest bit of work on this project, I've re done the knife handle and chopping board.

Beginning of a new year

Happy new year!!!! Woke up this morning to find bread already sliced up knife still on the board little pot of jam, going to use this as a reference to keep my scene as natural as possible. Took the picture and left everything exactly the way I found it. Think it'll be a good reminder to keep it real, haha. Anyway happy New year.