Completed Stamps

And im done! Here are the final designs for the stamps. They have all turned out so much better than i was expecting them to and I am extremely pleased with them all.

I was debating whether or not i should incude some kind of text on each of the stamps, as a lot of stamps do as indicated in my mood board research. However i felt that they didnt actually need to have any and where fine the way they are. Especially since the stamps i normally use have no text on, so i thought i would do the same!

Anyway. I have really enjoyed using 3D Studio Max. I found it quite difficult to use at first but now i feel so much more confident with it. I will definately be continuing to use this program in the hope that someday i may be able to use these skills for some kind of ideal job for me. :D

Butterfly With Background

And here is my final stamp image. It has turned out a little different than i had originaly planned, but i think it is for the better. I found this great picture of a grassy field which i thought would be perfect for my butterfly model. I stuck one on and then realised that it would look so much more effective if i included several more butterflies in the background all in different positions. I think it has turned out great!

As it can be seen i didnt have much luck finding a better texture to use for the butterfly body. Finding a good texture to use on the Internet is very hard, and I had no idea how to go about creating the texture myself. So in the end i settled for this new one. I think it looks better than the one i used before, but i know it could probably still be better.

Venus Flytrap With Background

Here is the completed Venus Flytrap image. At first i did think that it may be a little too crowded, but i messed around with the it a lot by deleting some models, rearanging and resizing them and i felt that this was actually fine as it was. I am quite pleased with how its turned out.

Also, i added some small hairs to the inside of the Flytrap's mouth. These are quite importamt features of the Venus Flytrap so i thought it would be best to include them, even if they are hard to make out!

I spent ages trying to find a suitable background of a type of swap area but i just couldnt seem to find one that worked. I was starting to consider creating a pot and placing a handful of the models in that. However i eventually found this image. Its an extreme close up of a long blade of grass. I wanted to stick to doing wild Venus Flytraps, so i thought that this background would be the next best thing.

Venus Flytrap

Here are the final Venus Flytrap models


First i uploaded a reference picture onto a plane. I then created a box and manipulated the vertices to get a basic outline of the head.


This was then turbosmoothed.


Next i extruded several polygons from the top outside of the head.


And then I modified the ends of them to give them more of a spike shape. I did try to just collapse all of the corners at the top of each extruded spike and it did work. However it shrunk the spikes by about half the size, so this method proved to be the better of the 2, despite it taking longer.


I then shrank the size of each one and turbosmoothed it once again.


Then i mirrored the completed side and rotated the 2 pieces a little to get the merge of the head at the bottom to become more seemless.


Next i created a cylinder which would act as the stem of the flytrap.


I then created another plane with a leaf teaxture applied to it and placed it above most of the stem.


Next i used the Soft Selection tool to give the stem a more jagged look to give it more realism.


Then the texture for the head was applied, and the model was placed upright.


Once i had completed the open mouthed Venus Flytrap model, i thought i'd do another one with a closed mouth. So I went back to an earlier save file and edited it a little.


I then repeated the stem process for the other flytrap model.

I am quite please with the outcome of these models. They have turned out better than I expected. And now to add a background to it...

Stamp Moodboard

It recently occured to me that I hadn't actually researched into stamps. So here is a moodboard!

Before i started actually looking at stamps, i was under the impression that most of them were boring and had a plain white background. However as it can be seen here, i was very wrong. I believe that these stamps would not be quite as eye-catching without backgrounds as they are right now, which is why I am happy to say that I will be adding backgrounds to my own stamps. I think that they are all very nicely done and they have inspired me to improve upon the designs for my stamps that i had originaly intended on using.

Killer Whale With Background (complete)

Done! I eventually found a background that worked nicely. I think the line between the sea and sky is quite seemless which makes it look so much better. I also added another light effect underneath the whale to give it a bit more realism. Finally, I added a SuperSpray by the tail to create a splashing effect. I could probably make it look a little better by perhaps bluring the particles a little, but I am happy with the way its turned out. I may change it at some point though...

I am very happy with this. It has turned out exactly as i imagined. Now i really must make a start on my Venus FlyTrap!

Killer Whale With Background (Incomplete)

Ok, i couldnt resist! I was meant to wait until i'd finished my last model to start on the backgrounds, but i found a great tutorial on how to make the sea so i just had to give it a go.

Its not quite complete yet. Im finding it difficult to get a background image of the sky that doesnt stretch when i apply it. I also need to change it so that the merge between the sea and sky is more seemless. And finally, because of the way the lighting has been angled, the textured effect i have on the whale is not showing on the side facing the camera. Im sure this can easily be fixed, but i have no idea how. I'll have to get some help later! Oh yeah, and i need to add some splashing effects by the tail to make it look more realistic.

For anyone who is interested, here is the tutorial i used:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE44k7d_FtI