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I chose this beautiful concept to bring to life since it's a mirror of what I was like as a kid - a young engineer, tinkerer, and artist. I never played sports or had the urge to participate, but I was always happy to draw my friends playing... especially during the crisp and crunchy Fall season!

This is my first full scene that's been carried through the entire workflow - from modeling in Maya, sculpting in Mudbox, painting in Mari, rendering with V-Ray, and comp in Photoshop. 

Here is my process from blockout to comp.

One of the more difficult parts of this project was tackling the hair. While I initially planned to use XGen, I just didn't have enough time allocated to learn a new tool. I decided to stick to my guns and existing skills; and with enough persistence and layering, I was able to create the hair with polys (shown above).

The creation of this piece was an astoundingly rewarding process! Especially only after 4 months of accelerated learning, starting from little 3D experience. I learned the value of realistically delegating time for each task to create a schedule (that also included much needed breaks!) and how when faced with moments of frustration, it's more productive to redirect your focus on a different task as a little refresh button.

A special thanks to my course supervisor, Darrell Abney, and all my classmates for the support.