The Sculpt Blender Mission

The basic mission of this site is, of course, to help people learn how to make sculpted prims for Second Life and other SL-like grids.  But more than that, I want to inspire people to push themselves, to expand their knowledge and experience beyond the instructions given on this site.

Don’t just read the tutorials.  And don’t just follow everything I do step-by-step.  That’s not the best way to read these tutorials or ANY tutorial.  If I could give any advice to help people get the most out of this site, it would be this:

First: The best students are those who don’t quite believe their teachers.  I’m not perfect.  I’ve made mistakes in previous versions of my tutorials, and I may STILL make mistakes on the current ones.  If you think you see a better way to do something, TRY IT.

Second: Use reference and gather inspiration.  I am not saying that you should copy things, but even the best artists will look at the interesting shapes of trees before drawing trees, or look for the essential qualities of the texture of a pear.  Did you know that zipper teeth have different shapes depending on the material they’re made from?  What’s the difference between the weave of the fabric on your shirt and on the fabric on your blue jeans?  What does the leather of your shoe look like up close?  How does it look far away?  Do you know off the top of your head?  Did you think to look?

Third: You have not reached your full potential.  You never will.  I never will.  But we can get closer to it if we work diligently at improving our skills. The joy that an artist has in his or her work has less to do with the finished product and more to do with the process.  While the finished product does give a sense of fulfillment, the real joy comes from the doing.  We are constantly learning, constantly exploring our own style and potential.  Perfection is an ever-elusive goal, and even if, by some miracle, we were to achieve it, I believe any artist would soon abandon it to look for a new form of perfection, for there are many.

Fourth: Measure yourself against those who are better than you.  This doesn’t mean you should belittle yourself for not being ‘good enough,’ but you gain nothing by praising yourself for being better than someone with less skill.  Instead, look to those who are better and praise yourself when you reach the next level, then pick a new target and get back to work.

Fifth: There are limitations with sculpties and Second Life.  Certain things cannot be done.  But every limitation has a work-around.  The work-around may not be perfect, and you may not find the best solution the first time around.  If necessity is the mother of invention, then limitation is its father.

Sixth: People are doing new things with sculpties every day.  I don’t know everything.  You may know even less, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t learn something that I don’t know yet.  There are endless possibilities, endless opportunities, but the only way you’ll have a chance at them is to A) actively do things that will make those opportunities more likely (ei: experiment) and B) keep your eyes open for things that you didn’t see before.

Seventh:  Be professional.  There will be times where you get some harsh, and even rude criticism.  There will be people that you disagree with.  Things will happen which seem unfair.  But don’t be rude back,  don’t send nasty notecards and IMs, and don’t gripe.  To quote a very wise man, “There is no situation in life so bad that complaining about it won’t make it worse.”

Am I sounding preachy yet?  I apologize.  But really, the key to becoming an amazing sculpty artist is not just a matter of gaining skill.  It’s about changing your entire mindset and becoming a professional, creative, and inventive craftsman.