This is the Blender Collaboration 2024, week 37 challenge. Don’t be afraid to join, a lot of us are beginners. This is all to practice, have fun, learn, and get together.
This week’s subject is “Here There Be Dragons”.
’ Here There Be Dragons ’ - This phrase actually refers to the unknown and undiscovered country - cartographers would add dragons and other mythical beasts to unexplored areas on a map. So in that spirit, create an imaginary or mythical beast of any kind: dragons, harpies, griffins, sea serpents, Big Foot - whatever you wish; scary, cute, massive, tiny, no imaginary creature is off limits.
The rules are simple. 1 subject, 1 entry, 1 week.
You create whatever object or scene or whatever you can think of that has something to do with the subject. It can be as simple or complicated as you want, all entries are welcome!
Post your picture here in this thread. At the end of the week, we start to vote. And if you are the winner, you may choose the next subject and win a unique badge.
I think I mentioned before how cool I think it is that we are free to interpret subjects as we see fit. Both of these entries look great and they fit the subject, yet they couldn’t be more different!
This is so wonderful, @xealstrag! Love the little bob and weave the Nessie-like creature is doing in the water. Great job!
It’s funny, I imagined something terrifying when I came up with this subject, but both you and @FedPete came up with more friendly fare and I love them both!
I hope to get my entry in before the end of the day today. And mine is also cute/friendly .
The gold dragon looks wonderful, @Megane_Wang! What techniques did you employ for the scales? Normals? Geo nodes? Displacement? Really great job! If my computer finishes rendering my entry, I’ll get it in shortly…
For the scales, I used modifiers; the scales are planes repeated along a curve. This is done once with the scale as is, and then again on another curve, shifting it 1/2 scale to one side. Then both curves with the scales are repeated on a long tube and finally I applied all modifiers to get a scaly skin that is added to the dragon’s body, with the dorsal spikes and a flat tummy that finally is hardly visible.
I had help from a tutorial with repeating items on curves because I really needed practice with that…
Here’s my entry, under the wire. As I said before, I was planning on scary or at least large and scaley, but found some images on Pinterest with cute dragons among flowers and quickly changed my mind.
This one may be my last for a while as I have a crazy schedule starting next week. But I will definitely be around enjoying all of your entries :).
Oh you definitely nailed the theme. The title is “Here There be Dragons” but it’s really about creating any monster/mythical creature you can think of :). And this is pretty sick!
We @BlenderCollab have a few days to vote. You can vote fast but also think slowly about design, colors, technique, difficulty, subject, realism, etc. Choose consciously and not on your entry.
The new subject week 38 “things-you-see-in-autumn” has already started. The winner of this week’s “Here There Be Dragons” challenge may select a subject for next week 39 and win a badge.
Congratulations @xealstrag on your winning animated entry of “Here There Be Dragons”.
The animation did the trick. Barely noticeable the repetitiveness of the sequence.
It is such a happy swinging dragon. Swimming without worries over the ocean. It made me smile!
FedPete - I didn’t finish it. I think the figures should have been bigger and more prominent. And probably the texture and color consistent with the map.
Joey_Cuevas - The composition is good with the subject in the middle, giving reference to the scale of things. But it could be emphasized more, by using another color/texture. Because now it blends in with the background.
mfortunato - Great scene, beautiful creature. The composition has the feeling of separate parts, no coherence in the lighting of it. White spot of the eye, the semi-transparency of the wings, the direction of the main light. And maybe also the execution of the background. It gives the feeling that the lighting (shadows) are not right.
Megane_Wang - Such a beautiful dragon! It has been mentioned before (I believe), it lacks finish. By giving the metal (gold) more texture you get more details it needs. It is a close-up after all. The lighting becomes more important. The ‘glow’ of the eyes, which radiate light, could be emphasized more. I would put the object on the asset list and maybe work it out further for use in another project. Maybe in the “Parade Float”.
Maybe it’s just me and my limited knowledge of the English language. But the word ‘Dragon’ has inspired many people, but the subject was meant for something else I think.
Note: I don’t want to offend anyone. I try to write down positive ideas and visions in my simple use of the English language. I am also sometimes more inspired by a particular subject or solution. I’m also learning from you!
Don’t worry, you understood correctly and your interpretation is the most true to the intended meaning. Everyone else just took things in their own direction this time, as you said =)
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