Author Topic: Dedicated to my Dad - a 3d-painting  (Read 1880 times)

2022-08-10, 10:50:06

Helldoor

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Hey there folks,

today I wanna share with you something different and very personal: "UnDying". It's a triptych of renders, inspired by a painting by Enrico Brandani. These were meant to be exploring the silverlining between rendering and art (in terms of contents, but also visual style). The specific reason behind this free time project was my Dad's retirement and my wish to gift him with something personal and emotional (to him as a person). Also, the inspirational work of art was handed down to us from my wife's Father, who unfortunatelly passed away years ago and left us the painting. He was an awesome person and my Dad liked him a lot, too.

As for the images themselves, it was a true challenge to create something lively and not-horror-related, while using main "actors" as emotionless as skeletons are. Also, getting the right mood and a visual style, similar to a painting, was a thrilling process, too.
In the end, a project like this is always highly subjective and interpretabke fir each and every one of its viewers. My Dad loved it (printed it out on large canvas) and this is what matters to me the most. But I'd still be glad to hear how the Corona community feels about this work of mine.

Much love.
Teo







And here are some closeups resp. further shots I took after the initial three images:












2022-08-10, 14:20:28
Reply #1

Sebastien

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Very beautiful ! Love the mood and composition, great work !

2022-08-10, 15:47:19
Reply #2

Bjoershol

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Very nice, materials look really good. Did you have any specific workflow here?

2022-08-10, 19:36:00
Reply #3

Helldoor

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Very beautiful ! Love the mood and composition, great work !

Thank you very much!

Very nice, materials look really good. Did you have any specific workflow here?

Well, to be honest, it was a bit of trial and error in certain phases until the reached the balance I was after - the render (especially the first shot) had to imitate art in a way. That's why I didn't go for strong contrasts and a mild colour scheme. And as for the rest - it again was a balance act, because of the skeletons. It was important to me, that the whole thing doesn't end up looking like a crime scene. Despite its ingredients, the whole thing had to turn out even kinda positive, instead of dark and gritty in the end...

2022-08-10, 20:07:15
Reply #4

romullus

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Smoking kills. Very beautiful and inspiring imagery. Thanks for sharing!
I'm not Corona Team member. Everything i say, is my personal opinion only.
My Models | My Videos | My Pictures

2022-08-10, 20:57:32
Reply #5

Helldoor

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Smoking kills. Very beautiful and inspiring imagery. Thanks for sharing!

Not of a fan of smoking, but my parents are (and the three images are gonna be hanging on their walls). Plus, the VDB smoke certianly looks cool and is a good mean of making the scene appear more lively.
As for the message - a project like this can easily be interpreted in different ways - "smoking kills" (the smoking skull) or "we're destroying the environment and killing the wildlife with polution" (the shot with the cigarette butt in the turtle ashtray). Or one can just take it literally...

Anyway - Happy to hear you found the images beautiful and inspiring, though! With motives like the current one, I never know what to expect - so, thanks for sharing!

2022-08-11, 11:18:06
Reply #6

maru

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Regarding the last shot, fisheye camera now supports DOF in daily builds. Just sayin... :)

As a fan of all things dark and creepy I also like you works a lot! And it's always great to see something else than sterile archviz.
Marcin Miodek | chaos-corona.com
3D Support Team Lead - Corona | contact us

2022-08-11, 12:29:06
Reply #7

Helldoor

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Regarding the last shot, fisheye camera now supports DOF in daily builds. Just sayin... :)

No way... Since when, though? Just checked, my DOF field is grayed out... Which daily build do I need?

As a fan of all things dark and creepy I also like you works a lot! And it's always great to see something else than sterile archviz.

Thanks for the great feedback, maru! I have a question - do you consider the scene dark and creepy? How do you 'read' it?
« Last Edit: 2022-08-11, 12:34:15 by Helldoor »

2022-08-11, 13:57:10
Reply #8

TomG

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2022-08-11, 14:04:18
Reply #9

TomG

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Since I am here replying anyway, just wanted to say these are fantastic images :) They don't come across to me as dark and creepy. Of course anything with skeletons has the sense of death to it, but this is juxtaposed with the bright cheery lighting, and also with the fact that both man and horse appear to be still alive as skeletons, since they are both still doing things, taking the edge off the sense of death and adding an almost light-hearted feel to them in some way, not quite comical but definitely slightly humorous. This also matches with the skeleton smoking a cigarette since... no lips, no lungs, no way that could possibly work, yet here we are :)

Then there's another offset there, away from the light, breezy, and fun, which is the contemplative nature of the skeleton looking at the photo (of what we now know is a painting). What is the skeleton thinking? (With no brain ;) ) Is this an old love, a family member? Are they missing them? Is it themselves in an earlier time? And interestingly it's not a photo of "back when we had full bodies", it's a photo of a skeleton again, which stops things getting too dark there.

BTW I love how the horse is looking up and in for one photo, and for another it is drinking from the bucket, further strengthening the fact that these are not creepy dead things but still alive and moving around. So yep for me, I don't get any strong dark vibes from this at all!

And the render quality is beautiful, from light to materials :)
Tom Grimes | chaos-corona.com
Product Manager | contact us

2022-08-11, 15:00:25
Reply #10

Helldoor

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The daily from the 2nd of this month, https://forum.corona-renderer.com/index.php?topic=36810.msg202013#msg202013

Great, thank you so much, Tom! Currently downloading it, so I can try it out. I've been dreaming for a fisheye DOF for years, so I'll immediately try it out.
You guys rock, thanks for implementing this function!

Since I am here replying anyway, just wanted to say these are fantastic images :) They don't come across to me as dark and creepy. Of course anything with skeletons has the sense of death to it, but this is juxtaposed with the bright cheery lighting, and also with the fact that both man and horse appear to be still alive as skeletons, since they are both still doing things, taking the edge off the sense of death and adding an almost light-hearted feel to them in some way, not quite comical but definitely slightly humorous. This also matches with the skeleton smoking a cigarette since... no lips, no lungs, no way that could possibly work, yet here we are :)

Then there's another offset there, away from the light, breezy, and fun, which is the contemplative nature of the skeleton looking at the photo (of what we now know is a painting). What is the skeleton thinking? (With no brain ;) ) Is this an old love, a family member? Are they missing them? Is it themselves in an earlier time? And interestingly it's not a photo of "back when we had full bodies", it's a photo of a skeleton again, which stops things getting too dark there.

BTW I love how the horse is looking up and in for one photo, and for another it is drinking from the bucket, further strengthening the fact that these are not creepy dead things but still alive and moving around. So yep for me, I don't get any strong dark vibes from this at all!

And the render quality is beautiful, from light to materials :)

This is probably the most deep and awesome feedback a work of mine has ever gotten - thank you! I'll surely show it to my dad, who's actively been following the process of uploading those shots (dedicated to him) in the VWA, the ChaosCampus and here, and reading what people comment on them. He'll love your thoughts, I know.
I surely did, as you discribed pretty much exactly how I envisoned the three main shots to be.

(One more thought - the same way the skeleton is lively, but has no skin, organs, muscle etc. the painting on the wall only has the frame, but no real face...)

2022-08-11, 15:09:02
Reply #11

TomG

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You are welcome, glad you found the feedback helpful and hopefully inspiring! Yes, I only thought of the empty picture frame after I'd hit send, but I did notice that too and it is another fantastic detail in the images. I have a fondness for images that make you think, that lead you to create stories in your mind, so it was lovely to see these.
Tom Grimes | chaos-corona.com
Product Manager | contact us

2022-08-18, 14:20:27
Reply #12

maru

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Regarding the last shot, fisheye camera now supports DOF in daily builds. Just sayin... :)

No way... Since when, though? Just checked, my DOF field is grayed out... Which daily build do I need?

As a fan of all things dark and creepy I also like you works a lot! And it's always great to see something else than sterile archviz.

Thanks for the great feedback, maru! I have a question - do you consider the scene dark and creepy? How do you 'read' it?

Sorry for the delay!


Well, skeletons and other things related to death are "dark and creepy", morbid, grotesque. That was my first thought. Creepiness doesn't have to be delivered through the color scheme or lighting. Quite the contrary - pleasant atmosphere compiled with creepy subject makes the image even more uncanny.

What do I think when looking at these works? First of all, it reminds me of paintings by Dali and Chirico. I am also trying to figure out some backstory. The skeleton either just came here or is about to leave. If he just came here - why? To have a smoke and stare at the painting? And if he wants to leave - maybe it's hist last smoke and last look at the painting?

My personal bet is that he is in some kind of limbo/purgatory. Maybe he can only leave once he cracks the riddle of the painting? :)
Marcin Miodek | chaos-corona.com
3D Support Team Lead - Corona | contact us

2022-08-18, 14:38:44
Reply #13

Helldoor

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Well, skeletons and other things related to death are "dark and creepy", morbid, grotesque. That was my first thought. Creepiness doesn't have to be delivered through the color scheme or lighting. Quite the contrary - pleasant atmosphere compiled with creepy subject makes the image even more uncanny.

What do I think when looking at these works? First of all, it reminds me of paintings by Dali and Chirico. I am also trying to figure out some backstory. The skeleton either just came here or is about to leave. If he just came here - why? To have a smoke and stare at the painting? And if he wants to leave - maybe it's hist last smoke and last look at the painting?

My personal bet is that he is in some kind of limbo/purgatory. Maybe he can only leave once he cracks the riddle of the painting? :)


Better late than never, right? Also, I really like your take on the images: The pleasant atmo, combined with creepy subjects making the scene "even more uncanny" really made me think...
And I completely agree with this work of art reminding you of Dali an Chirico. Brandani's art very heavily goes in the surrealist direction, so I can imagine him being inspired by both.
Btw, the original painting, we have hanging at home, that inspired this series of images, is painted in 1945. On the side you can see a note, pinned on the wall, that reads: "Fatto in un momento di malumore.". Translated, this means "Done in a moment of bad mood", which is funny, as to me the piece of art, that we had hanging by our dining table for years, never really radiated negative vibes...