KenSwinson.com

Author: Ken

  • 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!

  • Making sketchbooks with Mexican Handmade paper

    IMG_5956-0.jpg

    I had some scraps left over from painting on this beautiful handmade Mexican paper.

    IMG_5961.JPG
    In the Mexican tradition of not wasting anything, I used the scraps as a cover for some of my handmade sketchbooks.

    001

    These sketchbooks are the perfect size to keep in my front shirt pocket

    sketchingInOaxacaf

    And they are made with great drawing paper, so I’m ready whenever I am inspired to make some art.

  • Santiago Martinez art studio, Oaxaca, Mexico

    Oaxaca Artist, Santiago Martínez introduces in studio in centro, Oaxaca. We made this video together, using only an iPhone. It amazes me how much you can do with these little phones nowadays.


  • Clay Exhibit at Casa de Cultura Oaxaqueña

    A cool art exhibit in my Oaxaca neighborhood. Children from the Casa de Cultura Oaxaqueña made clay figures to represent the Oaxaca’s different Cathedrals.


  • Preparing/Priming canvas with Santiago Martinez

    I am very lucky to get a chance to work with Santiago Martinez, an amazing painter from Oaxaca. He helped me stretch and prime canvases, ‘the mexican way’! Muchas Gracias a Santiago for your help!