Hi there!

Did this one today, as a friend of mine has birthday on the 3rd. The text on
the card (removed from this image as it is german and thus not
international) says "A hug has many meanings...", and on the back I go on
that I hope she's not as naive as to think I only hug her because it's her
birthday. :-)

She's been a good friend to me lately, and I wanted to express that...
Anyways, back to the pic. The models were made with Silo and textured with
large-scaled granite. A no_image sphere with some colors for reflections
(especially for the highlights) was used, as well as the lightdome,
originally invented for my late robot-image. I think it does a nice job for
ambient lighting, and adds some depth to the images as opposed to
traditional 3-point lighting. I'll probably be refining and updating it over
the next images. ;-)

Comments?

Regards,
Tim

-- 
aka "Tim Nikias v2.0"
Homepage: <http://www.nolights.de>

Post a reply to this message

Attachments:
Download 'hug.jpg' (30 KB)

Preview of image 'hug.jpg'

"Tim Nikias" <JUSTTHELOWERCASE:timISNOTnikias(at)gmx.netWARE> spake:

> Hi there!
> 
> Did this one today, as a friend of mine has birthday on the 3rd. The text
> on the card (removed from this image as it is german and thus not
> international) says "A hug has many meanings...", and on the back I go on
> that I hope she's not as naive as to think I only hug her because it's her
> birthday. :-)
> 
> She's been a good friend to me lately, and I wanted to express that...
> Anyways, back to the pic. The models were made with Silo and textured with
> large-scaled granite. A no_image sphere with some colors for reflections
> (especially for the highlights) was used, as well as the lightdome,
> originally invented for my late robot-image. I think it does a nice job
> for ambient lighting, and adds some depth to the images as opposed to
> traditional 3-point lighting. I'll probably be refining and updating it
> over the next images. ;-)
> 
> Comments?

Yikes! One can see you're definitely European.

Technically it looks quite nice but the theme might be a bit... suggestive?
if I sent something like this to any of the (very few) girls I knew, they
drop by especially just to slap me through the face, and never speak to me
again. Mind you, they almost don't speak to me anyway! :)

Then again, depending on the relationship...

Well done anyway, the woman is a bit Earth-maiden like, and I love the
texture.

-- 
Stefan Viljoen
Software Support Technician / Programmer
Polar Design Solutions

Post a reply to this message

> Yikes! One can see you're definitely European.

How is that?

> Technically it looks quite nice but the theme might be a bit...
suggestive?

Nah, I don't think so. She's having her birthday and is supposed to be in
good mood and happy. So when a good friend comes by to congratulate her,
she's likely to jump up and be cheerful. And that's the moment I'm
depicting.

> if I sent something like this to any of the (very few) girls I knew, they
> drop by especially just to slap me through the face, and never speak to me
> again. Mind you, they almost don't speak to me anyway! :)

Maybe the relationship/friendship has to be settled and obvious for such
things to work properly. She knows I'm not after her, mainly because I just
broke up with my girlfriend (and not because of her, mind you). I think
she'll understand. :-)

Regards,
Tim

-- 
aka "Tim Nikias v2.0"
Homepage: <http://www.nolights.de>

Post a reply to this message

Nice work, Tim! It looks like a sculpture. If it where in any city square,
it would make people happy and think of Spring.

Thomas

Post a reply to this message

> Nice work, Tim! It looks like a sculpture. If it where in any city square,
> it would make people happy and think of Spring.

Thank you! Spring... That's good. New flowers, warm sunshine after the cold
winter... Great! :-)

Regards,
Tim

-- 
aka "Tim Nikias v2.0"
Homepage: <http://www.nolights.de>

Post a reply to this message

On Wed, 1 Feb 2006 23:58:46 +0100, "Tim Nikias"
<JUSTTHELOWERCASE:timISNOTnikias(at)gmx.netWARE> wrote:

>Comments?

Firstly I think that this looks great.
I agree with Stefan in a way, I think it is overtly sexual. Although
you have de-gendered the models that makes the imagination work
harder.

Post a reply to this message

Stephen wrote:
> On Wed, 1 Feb 2006 23:58:46 +0100, "Tim Nikias"
> <JUSTTHELOWERCASE:timISNOTnikias(at)gmx.netWARE> wrote:
> 
> 
>>Comments?
> 
> 
> Firstly I think that this looks great.
> I agree with Stefan in a way, I think it is overtly sexual. Although
> you have de-gendered the models that makes the imagination work
> harder.
Mmmmm maybe, but but sports figures are doing that sort of thing all the 
time too arn't they?

I am reminded of a conversation I once had with a female co-worker. She 
was describing the dissappointing date she'd gone on the night before. 
She been taken to see a hockey game which mostly bored her until one 
wild, scrambled play which resulted in several players ending up 
entangled on top of each other inside one of the goal nets.  She found 
it humorous but commented ruefully that it looked to her like the 
players had had more "fun" that night than she did.

Post a reply to this message

> > I agree with Stefan in a way, I think it is overtly sexual. Although
> > you have de-gendered the models that makes the imagination work
> > harder.
> Mmmmm maybe, but but sports figures are doing that sort of thing all the
> time too arn't they?

Well, like I said in a different post, I was thinking along the lines of:
she sees her friend - rushes towards him in cheerful expectation - and is
being lifted by his hug. So where does she place her legs? One is to his
side, the other is hidden from view, but just pointing backward.

And in my oppinion, her reaching arms don't make it look very sexual, and
from a strict biological viewpoint, these two peeps are too far away from
each other.

And even if it is slightly sexual, I don't think it harms in this case. We
both share the oppinion that often, very simple acts like a hug *can* be
(and are) sexual in the right context, but they don't *have* to be if not
meant in that way. In this case, it's her birthday, she should be
celebrating it and having fun. And getting hugged, of course. :-)

Regards,
Tim

-- 
aka "Tim Nikias v2.0"
Homepage: <http://www.nolights.de>

Post a reply to this message

"Tim Nikias" <JUSTTHELOWERCASE:timISNOTnikias(at)gmx.netWARE> spake:

>> Yikes! One can see you're definitely European.
> 
> How is that?

A bit of a lame joke I admit. I visited Europe in the 90's and, coming from
a very conservative society (white South Africa) was amazed at the openess
most Europeans (especially the French and Italians) had about sex and
sexually related stuff. That was what I was refering to.

-- 
Stefan Viljoen
Software Support Technician / Programmer
Polar Design Solutions

Post a reply to this message

Very nice! The figures are simple but very expressive. It looks very much
like some soapstone carvings I have seen. I would welcome such a card on my
birthday!

I have to say that, like many radiosity images, the figures don't seem
particlularly attached to the ground. I know this is somewhat realistic,
though, and I don't think it detracts from this image.

Just out of curiosity, does the granite have some turbulence?

Anyway, nice image.
-Stefan

Post a reply to this message

> >> Yikes! One can see you're definitely European.
> >
> > How is that?
>
> A bit of a lame joke I admit. I visited Europe in the 90's and, coming
from
> a very conservative society (white South Africa) was amazed at the openess
> most Europeans (especially the French and Italians) had about sex and
> sexually related stuff. That was what I was refering to.

Hm, really? When I was in the U.S. a few years back, I was amazed at the
openess the youth seemed to have about sex (of course, I was only 18 at the
time myself). Then again, I don't have much contact to others of my age
besides work or studying, as I tend to have different interests than
drinking and parties, so I might have a skewed view... Nontheless, I tend to
agree, europeans are more expressive on that terrain.

Regards,
Tim

-- 
aka "Tim Nikias v2.0"
Homepage: <http://www.nolights.de>

Post a reply to this message

> Very nice! The figures are simple but very expressive. It looks very much
> like some soapstone carvings I have seen. I would welcome such a card on
my
> birthday!

> I have to say that, like many radiosity images, the figures don't seem
> particlularly attached to the ground. I know this is somewhat realistic,
> though, and I don't think it detracts from this image.

I just want to clarify that there is no radiosity in this image. Instead,
roughly 250 lights are placed in a dome surrounding the figures, so light is
coming from all angles and directions. As for the shadow, the figures don't
drop much shadow as it is with such a diffuse lighting, but the dark spot is
a disc which gets transparent towards the edge. It's slightly darker than
the white background to simulate some sort of shadow, otherwise, there'd be
none really.

> Just out of curiosity, does the granite have some turbulence?

Here's the texture. Note that the figures are roughly 15 POV-units high.

  texture{
    pigment{
      granite
      color_map{
        [0 rgb <.6,1,.9>]
        [.3 rgb <.6,1,.9>*.6]
        [.6 rgb <.6,1,.9>]
        [1 rgb 1]
      }
      scale 4.8
      turbulence .6
    }
    finish{
      ambient 0 diffuse 1
      reflection{0,.4 falloff 2}
      brilliance 2.8
    }
  }

> Anyways, nice image.

Thank you!

Regards,
Tim

-- 
aka "Tim Nikias v2.0"
Homepage: <http://www.nolights.de>

Post a reply to this message

On Thu, 2 Feb 2006 13:02:35 +0100, "Tim Nikias"
<JUSTTHELOWERCASE:timISNOTnikias(at)gmx.netWARE> wrote:

>And even if it is slightly sexual, I don't think it harms in this case.

Tim, there is nothing wrong with sexuality. There is something sexual/
enticing about "Joie de vie" which you image gives.

Post a reply to this message

> >And even if it is slightly sexual, I don't think it harms in this case.
>
> Tim, there is nothing wrong with sexuality. There is something sexual/
> enticing about "Joie de vie" which you image gives.

Nah, you misunderstood me. I know there's nothing wrong with sexuality. I
meant, that in this case, with this person, it doesn't harm, as she won't
look at me like "what are you filthy little pervert thinking?!". That's what
I meant with it doesn't harm in this case. :-) Of course, with a different
girl, I might get Stefan's reaction: a slap *through* the face. ;-)

Regards,
Tim

-- 
aka "Tim Nikias v2.0"
Homepage: <http://www.nolights.de>

Post a reply to this message

Tim Nikias wrote:
> "A hug has many meanings...", and on the back I go on
> that I hope she's not as naive as to think I only hug her because it's her
> birthday. :-)

I think this line might be what's giving people the sexual-allusion 
jitters.. I must admit that I too read it as "I'm hugging you because I 
want to move things to the next level" .. and then the picture, it's not 
the feet .. it's the position of your head and her head thrown back in 
seeming extacy :)

OTHER than the words, I absolutely love this and would love to have it 
carved in stone in my front yard.

Cheers!
Rick Measham

Post a reply to this message

On Thu, 2 Feb 2006 23:37:32 +0100, "Tim Nikias"
<JUSTTHELOWERCASE:timISNOTnikias(at)gmx.netWARE> wrote:

>> >And even if it is slightly sexual, I don't think it harms in this case.
>>
>> Tim, there is nothing wrong with sexuality. There is something sexual/
>> enticing about "Joie de vie" which you image gives.
>
>Nah, you misunderstood me. I know there's nothing wrong with sexuality. I
>meant, that in this case, with this person, it doesn't harm, as she won't
>look at me like "what are you filthy little pervert thinking?!". That's what
>I meant with it doesn't harm in this case. :-) Of course, with a different
>girl, I might get Stefan's reaction: a slap *through* the face. ;-)

Er... I was only talking about the image.
Another way I saw it was “two wrestlers” or even St Micheal and
Lucifer. The cruciform shape of Lucifer mimicking the earthly fate of
Jesus.

PS Remind me never let me be hugged by you. My kidneys wouldn't like
it.

Post a reply to this message

> I think this line might be what's giving people the sexual-allusion
> jitters.. I must admit that I too read it as "I'm hugging you because I
> want to move things to the next level" .. and then the picture, it's not
> the feet .. it's the position of your head and her head thrown back in
> seeming extacy :)

Ah, well, I give up! It's all about sex, yeah! ;-P (Nah, not really, but I
guess you knew that...)

> OTHER than the words, I absolutely love this and would love to have it
> carved in stone in my front yard.

Thanks! My dad liked the figures as well. I probably could make a sort of
series out of this, though I'd rather stylize the figures more in that case,
to make them more unique...

And who knows, with rapid prototyping, I might even get myself a model of
one of my meshes someday...

Regards,
Tim

-- 
aka "Tim Nikias v2.0"
Homepage: <http://www.nolights.de>

Post a reply to this message

"Tim Nikias" <JUSTTHELOWERCASE:timISNOTnikias(at)gmx.netWARE> wrote

> Well, like I said in a different post, I was thinking along the lines of:
> she sees her friend - rushes towards him in cheerful expectation - and is
> being lifted by his hug. So where does she place her legs? One is to his
> side, the other is hidden from view, but just pointing backward.

If you want to remove sexual overtones (which are definitely present IMO but
not necessarily bad) lift your head up looking at her head (more so than
now, maybe exaggeratedly, a more lateral view with a visible gap will help)
and close her legs and arc them backwards.

Post a reply to this message

"Tim Nikias" <JUSTTHELOWERCASE:timISNOTnikias(at)gmx.netWARE> spake:

>> >And even if it is slightly sexual, I don't think it harms in this case.
>>
>> Tim, there is nothing wrong with sexuality. There is something sexual/
>> enticing about "Joie de vie" which you image gives.
> 
> Nah, you misunderstood me. I know there's nothing wrong with sexuality. I
> meant, that in this case, with this person, it doesn't harm, as she won't
> look at me like "what are you filthy little pervert thinking?!". That's
> what I meant with it doesn't harm in this case. :-) Of course, with a
> different girl, I might get Stefan's reaction: a slap *through* the face.
> ;-)

Hahaha!

I always get that reaction, even if I just say "Hi! Wanna watch a movie?!"

:]
-- 
Stefan Viljoen
Software Support Technician / Programmer
Polar Design Solutions

Post a reply to this message

> If you want to remove sexual overtones (which are definitely present IMO
but
> not necessarily bad) lift your head up looking at her head (more so than
> now, maybe exaggeratedly, a more lateral view with a visible gap will
help)
> and close her legs and arc them backwards.

Thanks for the suggestions, and I'll keep such things in mind the next time,
but I think I'll leave this sculpture as it is for now. The discussion
overall was quite interesting though, so I'll know what to look out for next
time. :-)

Regards,
Tim

-- 
aka "Tim Nikias v2.0"
Homepage: <http://www.nolights.de>

Post a reply to this message