KenSwinson.com

Author: Ken

  • Morning Run – Oaxaca, MX

    My morning run is so pretty…not sure if it comes through in the video, but I was experimenting with a video app called, hyperlapse, to make it less shaky. hope you all have a great day.

  • Dia del Taxista – Oaxaca, MX

    One thing I love about Mexico, it seems like there’s a celebration for everyone! Today, during my morning run, I ran into this:

  • tree of life- 3d lighting

    I’m learning to model in 3D with the program, Blender, and I am working on lighting. These are best 2 attempts so far:

    IMG_6870.JPG

    My goal was to make the fruit on the tree appear like they are glowing.

    treeOfLifeIlluminated

    Not so bright that you can’t see the skin, but an effect more like a paper lantern.

    Which one do you like better?

  • a smooth way to transition between colors on a mesh?

    I’m learning Blender, and starting to add color. I’m trying to figure out how to create a soft line between 2 different colors on the same mesh.  The best solution I have come up with is to make a UV map, then brush the color by hand.

    duckCloseUp

    I’d like a simpler solution. Drawing on the UV map is close, but I would like the transition to be smoother. For example, I don’t want the texture that you see between the bird’s beak and body.

    rotating-colored-duck

  • Ducks In A Row – 3D with Blender

    3d render of ducks in a river

    I’m learning 3D using the program, Blender.

    animation of low poly rotating duck-Blender 3D
    For this exercise, I  built a duck shaped character.

    rotatingSmoothDuck

    After I built him once, I used him a few times to make these compositions.

    ducks3
    my next step is to learn how to color the ducks, and give their meshes a little bit of variety. (different positions)

  • 3D scene with goat, birds, and lighting

    I’m continuing to learn 3D modeling with Blender. For this project, I modeled a bird and house, and arranged them with my goat into a little scene.

    goatBanner

    I’m not comfortable thinking in 3D yet, so after struggling for awhile, I came up with this simple bird shape. This is pretty close to what I wanted.  I still might do some work on the shape of the wings.

    rotatingBird

    I rendered the scene a second time with all of the characters ‘smooth’ instead of showing the geometry. I like both effects, and can’t choose which I like better.

    goatBannerSmooth

    So, that’s my progress report for learning 3D! I really like the way it makes me think about space much different from when I am working on a 2D painting.

  • 3D goat

    I am learning 3D modelling with an open source program called Blender. It’s more like sculpting than drawing, and is helping me think about the volume of objects, and how they fit in space.

    goatAnimation

    It’s also like photography, you need to think about camera angles, and the way light affects your subject:

    goatAnimationLight

    For this model, I used the artwork that I made in Marcos Lucero’s stencil class. It was a good exercise taking my 2d work, and interpreting it into 3D.

    2dGoat

  • Fireworks at the Guelaguetza publico 2015

    fireworks

    my spanish is bad, but If i understand correct, this festival is a protest organized by the teachers of Oaxaca, who believe the cultural traditions and public spaces belong to ALL the people, and not just the rich who can afford to attend the Guelaguetza cultural celebration that is going on right now. These fireworks represent the 43 students who were killed.

  • Stencil Workshop at the Taller la Chicharra

    I just took a week long stencil class with Oaxaca artist, Marcos Lucero. Marcos combines a variety of techniques and mexican motifs into his fantastic artworks. He is part of the Taller de Chicharra, a printmaking studio in Oaxacas centro district. In the class, I learned to to design an image, using ‘bridges’ and ‘islands’. We drew our designs on acetate with markers, and made projectors to enlarge our image, using cardboard and the light from our cell phone. after cutting our stencils(lots of cutting) we applied them with spray paint. Stencils are useful because they use simple materials, and let you quickly repeat a design on a variety of surfaces. Stencils are popular with street artists. I made 2 stencils…the first was a celebration of the rainy season in Mexico. I was able to get a variety of different effects using the same stencil.

    The second stencil was a grasshopper, or chaupalin, as they say in Mexico. This stencil uses two templates…one for the color of the silhouette, the other for the details.

    not only did i learn a lot from the workshop, but I also got to meet other artists, watch them create new work, and practice my Spanish. Muchas gracias a Marcos y el taller chicharra for the lesson.

  • Agua Fresca

    Here in Oaxaca, I am surrounded by some of the freshest and delicious foods i have ever experienced. Today i am going to try to make an agua Fresca. It’s basically a tea made with hibiscus flowers, and I’m going to add a little bit of panela, an unrefined cane sugar. After it cools, i’ll pour a glass and drink it kind of like a decaffinated iced tea. So cheers! Here’s to trying new things: my first agua fresca!