So I recently (Two ish weeks now) have started dabling in 3D modeling (No prior art experience at all, No drawing etc) and come from an all coding back ground.
I've been slowly hitting the learning flow tutorials when I can, but I'm stuck simply on the Axe Texturing exercise.
I simply cannot for the life of me get the axe to look at LEAST somewhat okay.
It always turns out looking like a 3 year old just started scribbling random colors into the blanks.
Does anyone know of any good tutorials on actually doing the art, not the UVMapping, but the drawing on 3D textures.
I'd simply just move on, but I want a at least somewhat presentable model.
And in the long run, I'd love to be able to create blizzard/overwatch style artwork. And this seems pretty close to a good start.
There are a number of factors involved in making a 3D object look realistic (I'm assuming that's what you're talking about, that it doesn't look realistic.)
Texture painting is one factor, but form and lighting each contribute about the same amount to a final product and may turn out to be even more important than texture.
I did some experiments a while back with rough hand-painted textures thinking I'd end up with a very cartoony look, but I didn't. It was very close to realism which surprised me. So I'm thinking it may be more about lighting and form.
Can you post a render of your WIP? Perhaps that will help shed light (no pun intended) on what's happening.
Hey Evan, Ron is right that some believability can come from lighting and whatnot, but that ax exercise is specifically about the texture and is not intended to be lit. Sometimes lighting can help hide flaws, but that won't help in the long run.
If your goal is to texture Overwatch style characters, you'll definitely need to get comfortable with digital painting. I would recommend taking a break from the ax exercise for now and watching through these Concept courses:
https://cgcookie.com/flow/introduction-to-digital-art
After that, complete these exercises:
https://cgcookie.com/exercise/exercise-29-back-to-basics
https://cgcookie.com/exercise/exercise-painting-on-the-light
https://cgcookie.com/exercise/exercise-11-shading-black-and-white-objects
https://cgcookie.com/exercise/exercise-41-color-shifting
https://cgcookie.com/exercise/exercise-21-golden
https://cgcookie.com/exercise/exercise-26-shading-gems
https://cgcookie.com/exercise/exercise-08-material-studies
https://cgcookie.com/exercise/exercise-18-painterly-style
Once you've gone through all of those, try the ax again, and I guarantee that it'll be miles ahead of where you're at now. It'll take time, but the detour will be well worth it!
Good luck, I know you can do it!