Dynamesh in Zbrush

      When I first started getting programs for 3d modeling I saw some work that had been made in Zbrush and immediately wanted to try it out. my first reaction was to use the lightbox to open a 3d sphere. When I finally got to sculpt on this 3d sphere, there was a lot of time fumbling before I looked for some online help, I noticed something strange. When I pulled too much on the object it began to get clumpy and faceted.

 After a couple of formal classes on Zbrush I now understand what had gone wrong. Grabbing a few faces and dragging them was only going pull those faces and stretch the rest. To help solve this problem Zbrush gives us a handy little tool for bulking out shapes, Dynamesh. Dynamesh redistributes the polygons and adds more around the mesh while retaining the shape allowing for building and pushing and pulling in any direction

     There are two methods to getting Dynamesh into your sculpts, firstly is to start with a Dynamesh or Dynawax shape. These load up right in your lightbox upon start up in many different resolutions.

This brings me to a first point about Dynamesh, it uses resolution to define its polygonal density. This resolution is set by a slider bar in the geometry tab and can vary on how many polygons it will add based to the complexity of your geometry and the height of the resolution. Any of these starting resolutions will work but keep in mind that the higher the resolution the harder it will be to make major topographical changes. You can open one up straight away or you can take another form of starting geometry and turn it into a Dynamesh.

This option is found in the geometry tab, set the resolution and click the Dynamesh button and you are ready to go, granted you don't have any subdivision levels in your subtool.

While using Dynamesh you need refresh the mesh in order to stop the faces from stretching too bad and redistribute the polygons and this can be done by holding control and marque selecting off of the geometry (on a Mac). This will update the mesh but sculpting is required before the mesh will update, so if you're upping the resolution hit the model with a light smooth the try to re-mesh. When you are done using Dynamesh and want to sculpt without the mesh you simply need to hit the Dynamesh button again and get back to sculpting!

       To conclude Dynamesh is a great tool to help get some great geometry early in your sculpt. It is located in the geometry tab and can be utilized from the beginning of your project in the lightbox. It's simple to use and really helps to reorganize your mesh so that the density of your polygons doesn't insanely stretched and faceted. It can be turned off or on at any time, granted you don't have any subdivision levels, and can really help get you started on the base geometry for some really amazing sculpting!

      

Compare and Contrast

In comparison, both designs uses repetition of the same image of Marilyn Monroe and also use half the image in black and white and the other in color. This division is done vertically in the center of the image with the black and white on the right with the colors on the left. The color scheme was kept mostly the same between the two pieces.

To contrast, my image uses it's repetition to move the eye through the piece from the top to the bottom. In my piece the black and white side goes from bright to dark as opposed to dark to bright in Warhol's original to help give a different feeling of fading. The colors I chose also were darker in some portions to contrast her hair better. I also chose to frame to color repetition in TV sets to signify the intended meaning of celebrity exposure.

Work in progress

Work in progress.

First I made the focal portrait and shaded the black and white half of the image. After the shading was done I drew the televisions and portraits inside the televisions. then I drew the outlines for the black and white repetition images. Next I am going to sharpen up the colored side to make it look cleaner, before finishing the coloring on the whole colored side.

Objective Critique

Marilyn Diptych is a pop art piece from 1962. It uses the repetition of a singular image of pop icon Marilyn Monroe on one side with bright vibrant colors and on the other black and white printed images. On the side with the black and white the images go from being crisp and dark to fading away near the far edge of the piece. This piece uses shape to create a repetition throughout the piece. Color is used to create a sense of contrast in the piece, from the dramatically colored side, to the photographic black and white side. The piece also has a variety about the repetition created by texture of the two different sides, from the thick colors on one side to the dull grainy feeling of the black and white side.

Subjective Critique

My first response to seeing Marilyn Diptych is always the same, I see a dull and hard to look at mess next to a harshly colored and hard to look at mess. I feel that the repetition does no good for the piece, it distracts instead of focusing on what is going on in the image. The color versus non-color I do not feel is a problem but it is the inconsistency between each individual image that causes more of a feeling of a bad print job instead of repetition. I’ve heard that this piece is supposed to show the celebrity versus death and I feel that it is a lazy way of accomplishing this, the black and white versus color always gave me the impression of the changing from painting into photography or doctored images versus undistorted images. Personally I would use one image cut in half: one side color, the other side black and white. The color side would show repetition on TVs with the image showing the celebrity while the other would show fading to a black image. This would create a piece with better feel and less noise in my opinion.

Image and Basic Information

"Marilyn Diptych"
By: Andy Warhol
Acrylic on canvas
1962