Jade Leaf Studio

These remakes are likely my last ones in this format ( Dual Sculpt / Mesh ) as any future remakes or releases will likely be pure mesh. I had a lot of fun with sculpts and it's time to bring that chapter to a close, a couple of years too late, but if you like playing with a certain toy, there's no reason to stop enjoying it just because something newer has come along. I also released an update for Dragon Lantern II, as I was planning on updating all 3 to version R2, however, I no longer feel like finishing the other two. I'm wrapping things up, and with that, I'm also bundling together older works in the form of classic packs and cutting prices. I'm not sure where I'll go from here today, if I will continue to make statues, or branch out into other fields, such as jewelry, avatar accessories, pets, etc. ( Maybe both? ) Thanks to everyone who followed my work all this time! I got quite a lot of enjoyment out of seeing everyone's creativity and what t...

I received a suggestion for a Kitsune Statue a number of years ago and only just got around to making one. As soon as it was suggested I had wanted to create one but never really got around to doing so. I based it's appearance on a number of existing shrine fox statues in Japan. It's also already on version 2 so you can imagine how long I was sitting on it without bothering to make a marketplace listing.

Remember this one? No right? It's a dust-covered dragon that hasn't gotten too much love since it was first created. My question was, how to update it without losing it's original look? I played around with it a little until I got a stylized result that I liked. The original subject material was made out of copper, so I tried to reflect that with it's new default texture set. I also included a stone version to honer the original.

Dragon X is now version 3! With smoother geometry and a complete beard, it looks more like the subject material that first inspired it. It has better normal maps and nicer textures, as well as a few other Oriental-themed material sets, Jade and Gold! I wanted so bad to make it Jade when I was first sculpting it, but I had no idea how to design my own substance materials back then. I also didn't know how mirror mesh models without flipping the normals, turning the model inside-out, and causing upload errors so only the sculpted version was mirrored. Now I can safely upload mirrored mesh models and Dragon X was the first thing I updated with that. Cheers to mirrors, and substance-material authoring.

This remake was one of the first examples of something I really tried to hand-sculpt the detail on. It's not too bad for a first-ish attempt. The gargoyle was one of my first statues and I wanted to give it a modern makeover. I can't believe it's already been about 3 months since I actually completed it, but left it sitting around in my inventory along with some of the other updates. Being too busy to actually take pictures for the marketplace and update the listing? Ayuki please..

Back when I first made the cobra, I didn't know how to use any other sculpted primitive type besides 32x32. So I couldn't make a long body like what's possible with a 16x64 and as a result, it's body was split into multiple sections. That has always bugged me. I decided to rework it next knowing it was simple enough that it wouldn't take me longer then a couple days to do. I gave it a base to sit on and textured it with a golden material that I came up with after combining a few different substances together for some depth. End result = SHINY! The idea to make a gold one came from Ancient Egyptian themed statues and artifacts.  

There wasn't any particular reason why I decided to update this one when I did, I planned to update everything and was picking random statues to to practice on. Practicing brushstrokes for adding folds to cloth were the main focus of this update so I can get a little better at it for when I do the angels. This was also done when I was starting to experiment with Substance Painter a little more. It gets it's metallic look from experimenting with Smart Materials in Substance.

Well, I almost forgot about this blog! Just as I was returning to Second Life last year, First Life had to go and get a little crazy. I ended up with a full-time job, involved with sudden family developments and finding myself with little to no time for the computer in general. Shocker right? Although sometimes on weekends I do find myself playing around in zbrush for an hour or two if I'm in the mood to have a little bit of sculpting fun. I haven't forgotten about my plans to update my store while developing my mesh skills enough to switch to full-mesh works at some point. Over the past few months I've been reworking a handful of my sculpts, picking statues at random to play around with for a couple of hours each weekend. I've been fine-tuning my texturing, as well as normal detailing. As I was working with the Gargoyle remake, I finally had the thought to get rid of prim eyes and do them solely with normal maps. I also tried this with the Kitsune but it needs a lot ...

I finished my eleventh dragon today, which is basically an upgraded Dragon X. It has all the details I wanted to give to X but couldn't with it's prim budget of 15. I doubled the prim allowance on this one to make room for the details and the difference is pretty noticeable. It was actually originally going to be the remake of Dragon V, but it ended up looking so different by the time I got done with it that it ended up being number 11 instead. I'd love to remake the unlisted dragons, II and V, and I'd also like to make the releases a lot more frequent but Jade Leaf Studio is something I only work on occasionally.. when I'm in just the right mood or struck with a sudden burst of inspiration.

I mentioned a little while ago I have a lot of remakes planned which I'll be working on occasionally - and the first pack I updated was the lantern trio ( they're one of my favorites ) these remake versions won't be frequent but an update every other month is still better then every other year right? I'm still working on my UV unwrapping so that I can switch to mesh only releases soon. These remake versions (or Version R) releases have entirely new geometry and textures with the aim of reducing land impact and include mesh versions with materials. For the most part I'll try to stay true to the original design, ( like I did with Lantern I ) but in a lot of cases I'll be totally redoing anything I find too old looking, or too repetitive. With Lantern II for instance I remodeled it into an eastern dragon to add variety to the pack, so that we don't have 3 western dragons and for the most part I kept the original style of the light section. Lantern III was...

Dusting off the Shop I've been gone for a long time but I'm returning to SL and I have resumed sculpting. Even though I've fallen pretty behind, sometimes breaks are necessary in life. Interests come and go.. and sometimes.. they even return.. usually with the help of badgering from friends. Dragons 9 & 10 Dragons IX and X have been released today which mark my first releases in ages. They are SCULPTED. Why? Maybe it's because I stopped building for years, and fell behind on mesh.. OR it could be that I'm just a stubborn old school builder.. who knows! Update: They are also MESH! I just updated both dragons to include a mesh version with.. drumroll please... MATERIALS! After what seemed like an endless stream of failures I've finally managed to produce functioning normal maps without all of those crazy artifacts and glitches I was getting. Update on Mesh I would like to say mesh statues ARE coming - but there are a few thing...

This month's release is a beautiful Fairy Statue! What makes her special is that she's my first ever full color statue, which had a stunning outcome. It separates her from my previous releases and gives her a life-like feel, but if color is not your thing, there's the usual Stone, and Marble texture sets as well. All 3 texture sets are included with and without shadow maps mixed in. The challenge was adding in more detail then my previous humanoid-type sculptures like eyes and toes, and trying to cover the overlapping joints. I've never mixed red and purple for my daily choice of clothes but this fairy makes it work! EDIT: It's a Sculpty :) I keep getting asked if it's mesh, the fact that some of you couldn't tell is saying something! Color Rules! :D

I finished my 8th Dragon today, and I gotta say it's pretty slick looking. The first version strait from Zbrush was 66 Prims and I needed some extra time to drop the prim count down to 30 while keeping all of it's details. I also gave this one Bronze, Silver and Stone Textures so there's more to love ;) Turning shiny on to give it a metallic look gave some startling results with Nirans Viewer. With No flickering parts, top quality and perfect details this just might be the best Dragon yet.  

Ever since I changed my EULA I have had a lot of messages about the policy on transferring my statues to other Grids. I was surprised at just how popular the other grids are becoming. After your messages, and with the Linden Labs Terms of Service update that attacked 3rd Party Exchanges without warning, a lot of people are heading to other grids and so I have once again revised my Terms of Use ( EULA ) to allow Grid Transfer. Sculpt Maps are once again included Full Permission for this reason. Once again thanks for your messages and feedback.                                                                           ...

I've been working on a few new sculpt kits as well as the updated older kits. Every statue box has been updated, while some have had no changes, each one gets the newer Rezzer which is easier to use. The updated boxes will be replacing the current Jade Leaf Studio listings this month. Gargoyle Statue I : Prim Count Reduced from 21 to 6. Gryphon Statue I : Prim Count Reduced from 19 to 11. Koi Dragon Statue I : Prim Count Reduced from 29 to 9. Dragon Statue VII ( 7 ) : Added new Textures before it's Release. Multiple Default Texture selections available. A couple of my friends owned a copy over a month before it's Marketplace release and agreed that it could use a new coat of paint. Angel Statue I : Prim Count Reduced from 39 to 19. Dragon Statue IV ( 4 ) : Prim Count Reduced from 32 to 27. Mirrored Version and Mirrored Rezzer added. Dragon Statue III : Prim Count Reduced from 40 to 28. New Textures have been made. The old asphalt texture has been rep...

Been a little while since I made a new item, so I released a Mermaid, something that has been suggested quite a few times! She is gorgeous with a detailed face, hair and sculpted hands. Will change the title from 'Mermaid Statue I' to 'Mermaid Statue' as there will not be a sequel to her. Only mermaid I will ever make - honest! She has a beautiful figure and is my most dashing humanoid sculpture to date. 

I updated Dragon Wall Lanterns I, II, and III to include shadow maps and newer textures. Lanterns I and II got a sculpt makeover, while Lantern III only got a Shadow/Texture update. ( it was cool enough as it is ). Also my recent new release is Cobra Statue I, a simplistic yet bold sculpture of a Cobra standing ready to strike, and has a Symmetrical design making it perfect for building with. Think of all the places it can go. Temples, Pyramids, the Virtual Sky's the Limit.

I keep finding more little problems with my other unreleased sculptures, so I'm going to take my time and get them right. I was told they were nothing serious but I don't lie when I say that I do my best ^_^ If something bothers me, I go back and try fixing it. Tweaking Tweaking Tweaking.

I started rolling out a few of the gen2 sculpts starting with Reaper II, followed by Demon I and Angel II. Eagle was next but it's getting scrapped due to glitches in the wings and tail. I will continue with the rest and circle back to fixing the Eagle later.. Y-Y Shit Happens. So much for releasing all 10, I get to go back and fix a few.. I might try yet another approach to the feathers when I go back for repairs. The Feather technique used in Angel II was also used for Eagle I, but the feathers can get glitchy, I got lucky on the Angel. I thought 10 feathers per Prim was good, but Inworld tools can do better then Zbrush in that area so I might turn to them for a little help on this.

Hello to all of the people ( me? ) reading the blog I never update! I'm currently working on a new Batch of statues which I'm gonna call...the Generation2 Batch! I wanna make a Sequel to the Statues that people actually like - plus make a few new subjects entirely :D I'm not gonna post too much right now, but I can put up a sneak preview - a good portion are under 30 prims, which for the Eagle was REALLY hard to figure out how to do. But. I did it. so yay for me. <3 You may ask why I don't simply release the ones I have finished already! Before you do, the answer is simple! I'm too lazy to bake textures :3 I wanna release 10-15 of them at a time in the next month, (that means finishing up all the half finished ones I walked away from) Thus the name, Gen2 Batch! Sneak Preview of a few of them :