Graphics For God

Last Post

2011-08-12T13:30:00.000-07:00

I will no longer be posting on this blog. I started it with the purpose of sharing with you my artwork, but a blog isn't the best format for that. Therefore, I have started a new website, which is set up better for displaying pictures. Here's the link:

http://www.wix.com/james1verse5/joshuas-gallery

I know, I get irritated by long URLs too, but I just don't feel like paying 99$ a year to get my own domain.

Thank you to all my faithful readers ( if I had any! ).

Joshua™

Splashscreen Entry

2011-03-24T15:07:00.000-07:00

After nearly two years of waiting, we are finally coming very close to the first stable release of Blender 2.5. As with most version releases, There is a splashscreen contest that anyone can enter. Considering that this version has been the most eagerly anticipated, I thought I would try my hand at entering. This picture took me two weeks to make, and was harder than I expected. The reason for the white bar on top is that this is a .PNG image, and that top part needs to be transparent. I don't expect to win, but it is fun to participate! Be sure to leave a comment and tell me what you think.

US Debt Clock

2010-07-12T16:43:00.000-07:00

Want to see how much debt the United States is in? Take a look at this website:

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

It is a clock showing in real time how deep America is sinking onto debt. The National Debt is growing at an incredible rate!

This goes to show you what all the government's spending is doing to us.

-Joshua™

Goodbye MeMaw

2010-07-01T08:42:00.000-07:00

My Grandma went to be with God on June 17th. Our family is both sad and happy at the same time. We are sad because she was a very big part of our lives, and she isn't with us anymore, but we are also very happy for her. She has no more suffering or pain. She is with her husband again and in the presence of Jesus. Thinking of the immense joy she is experiencing brings us joy.

When she became a Christian, MeMaw (that's what us kids called her), heard how the butterfly is an object lesson of salvation. When we become saved, we are a new creation, like when the caterpillar turns into a butterfly. Ever since then, MeMaw loved butterflies. There were butterfly decorations all over her house.

Mom put me in charge of creating a slide show for her funeral. I decided that I would try to make a little swarm of butterflies moving across the screen be the transition from picture to picture. My plan was to make the slide show on Windows Movie Maker with a simple wipe across the screen for a transition, like this:

I then animated some butterflies in Blender like this:

I then overlapped the two videos at the point of transition for the finished result:

This project was quite a challenge for me, mainly because I didn't know much about overlapping videos in Blender. Also, in order for all this to work, the butterfly video had to have a transparent background, which I had no idea how to make. I did figure out how to do it though, and just in case there are some beginners like me who read my blog, I'll explain how I did it.

When you are in the render panel (F10), and you are selecting how you want your video saved, select Quick Time. A window box full of settings will then pull up. In the Depth drop down menu choose "Millions of Colors+". That "+" stands for transparency. Also be sure to press the "key", and "RGBA" buttons also in the render panel. If you've done all that, then you will have a transparent background to your animation! There is probably other ways of doing it, but that the only way I know of.

Psalm 19:1

2010-05-27T09:45:00.001-07:00

I really like this verse, and I have been wanting to make an Illustrated Verse like this for a long time, but I've had problems making realistic space gasses and more realistic stars. I used a halo texture to make the glowing effect around the text. I think this is my favorite Illustrated Verse I've made so far (at least, I think it is one of the most realistic looking).

-Joshua™

An April Fools Trick

2010-04-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

Does anyone like to pull harmless pranks on April Fools Day? Well Yesterday, I played a trick on my sister Bethany that was pretty good. She recently got a new laptop(a Dell running Windows 7). So while her and Mom were away, I took this picture:
and did a full screen view of it on her computer. So when she would see it, she would think that something was wrong with her new laptop! The trick worked perfectly. That was the only prank I pulled yesterday. Did anyone else do anything on April Fools Day?

A Better Mario

2010-03-29T14:39:00.000-07:00

There was a lot of things I didn't like about the previous Mario I modeled. So I've made a much more detailed Mario over the past few months. This time, I wanted it to look just like the pictures I've seen, and even model things that you normally don't see (like his hair). Anyway, here's the picture!
There are only two things that I still need to do to him sometime. I should rig him up for animations, and I probably need to find better textures. I also rendered a 360° spin of him for you to see. Sorry about the poor video quality.

I've also been working on another form of Illustrated Verses I call: "Word of Truth Pictures". I'll show some of that after I finish working out some minor details.

Sorry I haven't posted in a very long time, but for a while I wasn't doing anything in Blender. Sometimes I find it hard to get an idea for a good project. I recently got an idea for another Illustrated Verse, so I'll probably start working on that next.

By the way, has anyone downloaded the latest version of Blender (2.5 Alpha 2)? I decided to wait until the final version comes out, since the current version is rather unstable. I may get to impatient and download an alpha version anyway!

I hope you all have a great day!

-Joshua™

Psalm 31:3

2009-06-22T08:30:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally finished my other castle. I think it looks a lot better than my previous castle. It took a long time to render, though! I added the text on GIMP. Let me know what you think!

-Joshua™

A Castle

2009-04-08T16:22:00.001-07:00

Here is a castle I modeled using the new image textures on the Spiral Graphics website. I had always wanted to make a castle in Blender, but I never could find some good image textures for the walls and towers until now. It was pretty easy to model. The hard part was putting on the UV textures it. I'm currently working on a "good guy" castle, and I'll post that when it's done. Let me know what you think!

P.S. If you don't have the link to the image textures I used, here it is:

http://www.spiralgraphics.biz/packs/index.htm

Thanks for looking!

-Joshua™

Mario Brothers

2009-03-30T15:35:00.000-07:00

Just for fun and practice, I thought I would Model a Mario in Blender. It was more of a challenge than I had originally thought. I had made a large part of it with photo assistance. My brother Caleb also gave me a lot of input as to how he should look. I may still do some more editing to it (like the hands, and the textures, etc.). Anyway, here is the picture.

I know it's no where near as good as the Mario and Luigi on "Super Mario Galaxy", but I think they look fine. I also modeled Luigi, who was not as hard, only because I just copied Mario, stretched the body, modeled a new mustache, and did some editing to the head and textures.

Let me know what you think and if there is anything you think I need to change!

NOTE: I have modeled a much better Mario. Click here to see the post.

Christmas Pictures

2009-01-01T15:12:00.000-08:00

I know, it's a little late for Christmas pictures, but I thought I would show them to you anyway! The wise men one wasn't that difficult at all, since I made those wise men last year, all I had to add was the ground. The second one is of those ornament Christmas trees that you see in many stores. The last one was probably the most difficult. I built that custom designed sleigh on MLCad. that probably took the most time!

What is some of your New Years Resolutions? I haven't really made any. except I'm going to study my bible more often.

Please pray for my sister, Bethany. She had her wisdom teeth taken out on the 30th. she is starting to feel better now, but please pray for her.

Well, that's about it. I'll try to post again soon!

-Joshua

Caleb's Creations

2008-12-23T06:25:00.000-08:00

I added a new link to my blog. My brother Caleb started his own blog to post some of the stuff he makes out of LEGOs and on leocad, and about his everyday life. His friend Clark will also post sometimes about everyday things. Be sure to look at Caleb's Creations!

Update

2008-11-30T13:54:00.000-08:00

A lot has changed since my last post. If you read my family blog regularly, you probably know we have moved (again!). And my dad has gotten a new job (with a great company!).

How was your Thanksgiving? My family had the joy of spending Thanksgiving dinner together. During the month of November, all of us would write on a little piece of paper something we are thankful for. We put them all in a bag, and during Thanksgiving dinner, we passed the bag around the table, each person reading one of the cards. We had a very memorable Thansgiving.

The next day, we got out all of our Christmas decor out of the attic, and had a great time putting up the tree. The Luke 2:14 picture I took using the christmas tree in our room (it's only 3' tall). I added the text in Blender.

Has anyone figured out the new explode modifier in Blender? I made this animation of my brothers movie making company with it.

C.E.O. stands for: Caleb, Emily, and Olivia, the first three actors in his first movie.

Well, I guess that bring you up to date. Let me know if you like the animation and the Christmas picture. I'll be making more Christmas pictures when it gets closer to Christmas.

Isaiah 40:31

2008-07-07T11:10:00.001-07:00

Here is another Illustrated Verse I made for my mom.

We are going to get this picture framed too. This is a very inspiring verse. It really speaks to our family. Let me know if you like it!

(by the way, I didn't model that eagle, that is just a picture I used as a background image!)

-Joshua™

A Very Deep Apology

2008-07-03T07:47:00.000-07:00

First, I would like to very sincerely apologise to everyone who used to look at my blog regularly. I haven't posted in about 3 or 4 months! Actually, I haven't been on the computer very much lately, because about a month ago, I joined Boy Scouts! That has kept me pretty busy. plus we had been preparing for a much needed vacation.

Anyway, I haven't been doing much with Blender lately, but I am working on a surprise. I'll let you know what it is when I'm finished.

BUT, there is one thing I have accomplished in this time that I will show you. I have found a place to get lots of royalty free tileable image textures. Remember about that software Wood Workshop that I downloaded? well, that company, Spiral Graphics, has another software called Genetica. It is a software similar to Wood Workshop, but it make a wide variety of image textures and it costs money. Anyway, the Spiral Graphics website has a huge gallery of royalty free tileable textures made in Genetica, that can be used as image textures in Blender. they have almost everything from terrain to liquid. all you have to do is find the category, find the image, click on it, then save the picture!

Here is the link: http://www.spiralgraphics.biz/packs/index.htm

Also, I've added more links on my blog. LamFam Media is a great blog with some great graphics. Be sure to take a look!

And, Isaiah 40:28-31 is the new blog by my friend Matthew. He has made some pretty neat stuff using Blender. Be sure to look at both of these blogs!

Let me know if I didn't make instructions very clear. I'll try to post again real soon!

-Joshua™

Tagged!

2008-03-12T15:04:00.000-07:00

My sister, Bethany, tagged me a few days ago. The rules are to list 7 facts about yourself, and tag 7 different blogs. Okay, here I go!

I have almost the entire book of Jonah memorized (NIV)

I fell off a 9' pool slide and landed on concrete when I was 3 and I didn't even get a scratch

One of my favorite hobbies is codes and ciphers

I can move my ears

I've never had stitches, broken bones, or insect sting

My family is related to Jesse James

As far as I know, I've never ever been in K-Mart

Okay, I can't tag 7 different blogs, because first, all my family has already been tagged by my sister. Second, I don't look at 7 different blogs! So I'm just able to tag my friend Matthew's blog.

http://www.redmoose3d.blogspot.com/

Sorry, I really only look at his blog! If there's anyone else that has a blender blog, let me know!

Matthew 5:16

2008-02-20T11:38:00.000-08:00

I've been really wanting to make another Illistrated Verse for the past few weeks, but I haven't really known what to make. Well, two days ago, my mom and my sister and I went into Sears, and while we were cheking out, I saw a Lands End giftcard of a Lighthouse. I thought I would be able to make that in Blender. Here is the final rendering.

I think it looks alot like the gift card. I'll try to add a picture of that later. let me know if you like it!

Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T13:20:00.000-08:00

I know some of you are probably wondering why I would stoop to such levels as to make a Valentine's Day picture on Blender. Well normaly, I would agree with your point of view. But I decided to adapt the heart candy, and instead of making it all "mushy", I made some pretty truthful messages. Therfore, that would make my purpose of making heart candies on Blender quite meaningful!

They were pretty easy to make. The heart dosen't looke quite like a real heart candy though.

Let me know what you think of the hearts and the amazing truth in the messages!

Materials With Halo

2008-01-29T15:21:00.001-08:00

I been messing around with materials on Blender, and made these pictures I thought were pretty neat looking:

I was experimenting with the halo feature on the materials window to make this picture. I only had the default cube and camera position. I just increased the halo size, and added rings.

I actually made this picture with just one vertex! Again, I increased the halo size, and added lines.

I used the same vertex. I just decreased the halo size and made the star size to 4. That might make a nice "Star of Bethlehem" for a picture someday.

Let me know if any of you want a more "in depth" description of how I made these pictures. I'm not actually quite sure how I made them myself! Hopefully I can make some more interesting stuff soon.

Flu

2008-01-19T13:53:00.000-08:00

You've probably heard if you read my families other blogs, but we just went through the flu. I'm just now felling up to posting again. I thought you might like this picture. I would like some MIRACLE ELIxIR right now. ;)

We're all almost better, but we all are still coughing alot. We all promised we would get the flu shot from now on. The flu is awful!

Leocad & Wood Workshop

2008-01-05T17:48:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't posted all year long, but here I am.

Recently, I have downloaded two new softwares on our computer. The first is Wood Workshop. It is a software that can make amazing seamless wood textures, that can convert into tileable form. I'm able to use these pictures as image textures for Blender. In fact, the bell picture I made for Christmas has a wood texture that I made from Wood Workshop. here is a screen shot:

The next thing I downloaded is Leocad. It is a software that a digital Lego designer. I really like the Minifig wizard. It helps you configure and make your own Minifigure. The reason why I downloaded Leocad is I will be able to import those bricks and people into Blender! Anyway here is another screen shot:

In case anyone was wondering, these softwares are both 100% free!

Right now, I'm working on a Lego movie with my friend Matthew. We started another blog to post about the movie there the URL is http://www.3dbrickfilms.blogspot.com/. We haven't started much yet, though.

That's it for now! I'll try to post a little more regular from now on.

-Josh

Merry CHRIS†mas!

2007-12-24T17:43:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! These are a few Christmas pictures I made. The snowman one I actually did a while ago. It was a pretty easy one to make! The next I made just tonight. I copied the bell from the movie The Polar Express. I'm not sure if it looks quite like it though. The last one is a "toy" nativity scene. I might make it into a small animation or story someday. I putting a poll on my blog to ask you which Christmas picture is you favorite. Remember, click on the picture you want to see to get a closer look. The poll will help me decide what other pictures I'll make next year! Feel free to leave a comment!

MERRY CHRIS†MAS EVERYONE!!!

Isaiah 32:18

2007-12-19T06:49:00.000-08:00

I made this Illustrated Verse for my mom. I followed a tutorial to make the water. It took about three hours to render! I think it was because of the water reflections and the sky. My mom said that she's going to have it printed out and put in a frame. Let me know what you think!

Christmas Gift

2007-12-17T18:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we gave out early Christmas gifts. See, every year we put everyone's names in a hat. Then we (the kids) each draw someone's name from the hat. Those are the presents we give out early. This year, I drew my sister Katherine's name, and gave her this Illustrated Verse. The only things really wrong with it, is first, there is a dent in the cup. and second, I forgot to put a period after the verse! Oh well, I can always fix it!

Laser Tag

2007-12-10T15:14:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, my brothers and sisters were all in to laser tag. We had alot of fun "shooting" each other, even though the laser was invisible. So I thought it would be neat to put a laser on a picture using Blender. That is my sister, Emily holding the gun. I made the laser following a tutorial. Let me know what you think!

LEGO!

2007-12-05T11:15:00.000-08:00

Me and my friend Matthew are working on a LEGO animation together, so I've been working on making faces and shirts for our mini figures. Matthew sent me a base minifigure, and here is what I made with that! I made the LEGO logo using Bezier curves, and a picture of the LEGO logo as a background image. Maybe sometime I can make a small tutorial on that. I attached the faces and shirts on the LEGO people using UV image textures. Let me know what you think!

Logo

2007-11-30T13:07:00.000-08:00

I just made a logo for my Illustrated Verses! I may change it sometime in the future. Hope you like it!

Jer. 29:13

2007-11-12T17:50:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture I made today. I like the way I did the shadowing for the cross. If you need to, you can get a better look at my pictures by clicking on them. hope you like it!

Pr 8:18

2007-11-11T14:45:00.000-08:00

This is the very first Illustrated verse I made. I had the idea of making these when my mom suggested I take up photography. I then thought it would be real neat to make my own pictures on Blender. and this is what came out of that idea. Hope you like it!

1 Chr. 29:15

2007-11-06T11:22:00.000-08:00

Here is something I made a while ago, It was for my sister Emily's birthday. I used about 100,000 blades of grass, so it took a while to render!

Psalms 40:3

2007-11-01T16:14:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, my sister Bethany had a birthday. I gave her this Illistrated Verse.

My mom said it looked almost like a photograph. What do you think?

Guest Book

2007-11-01T07:37:00.001-07:00

I have just added a guest book on my blog! feel free to sign it!

Proverbs 31:10

2007-10-29T12:41:00.000-07:00

Here is Something I made for my mom today! It was pretty simple and fun to make. I like to call these pictures Illustrated Verses.

2007-10-25T11:29:00.000-07:00

Hi, Everyone!

Welcome to my blog, Graphics for God. The bulk of this blog is to show you what kinds of things I make on Blender. Hope you enjoy it! God bless you!