D Is for Dragon

For this Text Contest, I decided to create an artwork that recreates the following two things in a modern way: illuminated initial and Marginalia. Below is the process I walked. I hope everyone likes it. And for those who would want to follow the same steps, I added small tips to help you out!   

Tool:

Maya

Optional:

Photoshop

Nuke

The Middle Ages, a time called the Dark Ages, books were rare and expensive. Why was it so rare and expensive? Because books were not made by massive printing like these days using a printer. In the Middle Ages, people had to transcribe each letter by hand to create a book. Just like Bart Simpson, who had to repeatedly write the same phrases on the blackboard. This long and repetitive process was mainly performed by monks. And thankfully, the monks took this as a kind of holy practice. 

Just as different people have different handwriting, the handwriting of the monks was also different. However, some made changes to their handwriting to gain efficiency. Others change for aesthetic beauty. We can see that these medieval monks were the distant ancestors of today's calligraphers. 

The monks made various experiments as well. In particular, the capital letters at the very beginning of the paragraph were written exceptionally large. And they added colorful colors and patterns to those capital letters. This is now called an illuminated initial, and its beauty and splendor makes many people happy. 

But the monks did not stop there. After writing was completed, empty spaces were left on the paper, and the monks began to draw something in there. Like brave knights, strange cats with human faces, lions with wings, wrestling horses, and rabbits with swords. This is called Marginalia, and it is an artwork that still intrigues many historians and artists to this day. 

Thorough planning is important. A good plan will help to estimate the time and budget the project will need, know what to prepare, and what methods to use. To visually confirm the concept, I used Photoshop. Rough but quick visualization was processed. Always try various combinations with an open mind!  

The concept was based on the fight between a dragon and a knight, a representative image of the Middle Ages stories. Dragon in Latin is Draco, and here I decided to create an illuminated initial.  

For deeper storytelling, instead of human knights, I decided to feature rabbits. In medieval manuscripts, many rabbits with weapons appear. They go by many names, but the best known as Killer Rabbits. They sometimes appeared as brave warriors, or cruel executioners, or cute surprise. 

3D modeling work was done by using Maya. I Created a SubD model for a better quality. Small tip: It is helpful to start with a sizable chunk first and then add smaller details. 

I work on the two most important characters, the rabbit and the dragon. Importantly, rabbits must stand on two feet like humans, so I model them with this in mind. Also, keep in mind not to create triangles or NGons during the process. 

Next I Made various props such as swords, shields, axes, crowns, apples, etc. Props are essential elements that help to boost the story and make the characters stand out. Let us work with deep care! 

I finally modeled the most important asset, the capital letter D. The capital letter is mimicking nature: the flow of smooth wind blows. 

Add skeletons for animation to the rabbit and dragon. In the case of rabbits, the shape of the ears could be used to express emotions, so proceed with care. 

However, depending on the location of the skeletons, it may unintentionally affect other parts of the modeling. For example, an error may occur that moving the head somehow causes the arm to move as well. In this case, use the Paint Skin Weights function to modify the animated area. Remember, white colored areas indicate the portions that are under the influence of certain skeleton/joints, so keep in mind! 

If there are still some errors, select the vertices where the error occurs and adjust the values in the Component Editor. Setting the value to 0 at the Smooth Skins tab will set the vertex to stop following the skeleton/joints.

Place characters and props in an ideal position with a nice composition. If necessary, change the positions of the characters or modify their sizes. Keep in mind that slight changes can lead to more dramatic results!

Let's install lights. Delicate work is required because the atmosphere changes depending on the color and intensity of the lighting. Colors close to red create a feeling of warmth, and colors close to blue create a feeling of coldness.

Gemstones and precious metals are well-known symbols of luxury. It is calm but shiny, it is strong but soft at the same time. The colors were distributed using the three main colors of gold, silver, and copper.

Weapons were made transparent. On the other hand, shields were painted plain to provide contrast against sword and axe. The dragon was made to look fierce by contrasting strong red and gold colors. If you look closely, the horns, nails, teeth are all shiny gold colored. 

If necessary, adjust the result using Photoshop or Nuke. Freely adjust the Levels, Curves, and Hue/Saturation values ​​in Photoshop if needed. Don't forget that you need to render in EXR format in Maya for better work in Nuke!

Finally, add artists' signatures and date-and you're at the goal!

This is the step where we watch the finished result and make ourselves proud. Also, it is a step to analyze what went well and what was lacking.

The following is an image of the result! These are the main image and close-up rendering images from various angles.

This was a fun project to master my skills!  

I am always glad to find out how our ancient artists did such fun and great artworks! 

I hope everyone also enjoyed my work! Let us all continue to learn and create!

Thank you for reading and I hope to meet you all at other projects!