the collected output of Aaron Levitz
My drawing skills are not what they should be, so I spent 15 years and half a million dollars on software, equipment and training to let me sculpt things in my computer that look as though I had drawn them.
Had I realized what would go into all that, I’d have probably learned to draw instead.
I didn’t look much like that image when I created it, but after shaving my head, it’s become something of a self portrait.
It still doesn’t look anything like me, though.
…so just for fun, I adapted it:
It’s a bit sloppy, but a fair likeness.
I make a lot of character sketches, moving on from one to the next without bothering to create a body or clothing, much less a context for that character to exist in. They’re more a technical exercise than anything else; developing speed and dexterity in my 3D sculpting software. But it occurred to me one morning that this actually does echo a branch of commercial photography — the actor’s head shot.
Here’s a few:
I’ve been sitting on this video for over a year, trying to record some kind of commentary track.
I’ve gone the instructional route, I’ve gone philosophical, tried to explain the creative process, tried to explain what drew me into this crazy world of digital sculpting in the first place.
Call me a perfectionist, but I didn’t like any of it. So I’m giving up. Posting it silent. See what I care.
Note: ZBrush has had a major new release or two since then, so this doesn’t demonstrate any of the new tools.
I call this guy “Dogboy”, because… he’s a dogboy.
I made this image as a Christmas present for artist and activist Phil Yeh, who created and owns the Winged Tiger and Patrick Rabbit characters pictured, and reserves all rights to them.
Phil’s work is about promoting literacy and creativity, and I used this project to pull myself out of a creative slump. It seemed a poetic fit.
If you haven’t read Winged Tiger Comics & Stories, the scene depicted might not make a lot of sense to you. Patrick Rabbit is a cartoonist with writers block, and the Winged Tiger is using its magic to drag Patrick all over the universe to ask artists where they get their ideas. Wherever possible, the answers come from Phil personally interviewing those artists, and the comic’s artwork incorporates sketches that they give him. It’s an inspiring community effort, as well as a technically daunting collaboration. To read more about or purchase Phil’s books, visit wingedtiger.com.