Not dead, just lost in mythical Japan

Okami is the most beautiful game ever made, hands down.  And it's topped Ocarina of Time as my "best game ever", at least until Twilight Princess comes out (possibly).  But I'm not even past the "prologue" (15 hours in), so no spoilers mmkay?

As for some not-so-beautiful art, here's some renders from my Gnomon homeworks so far.

http://www.liuart.com/gnomon/monitorrender1.jpg
http://www.liuart.com/gnomon/monitorrender2.jpg
Intro to Maya assignment: NURBS; model the monitor in front of you.

http://www.liuart.com/gnomon/watch2.jpg
Intro to Maya assignment: NURBS; model watch from a picture.  We'll texture it next week.

http://www.liuart.com/gnomon/bunnies.jpg
Texturing 1 assignment: make some of these materials from procedurals: wax, rubber, opaque plastic, gold, glossy paint, glass, chrome, clear plastic, metallic paint.  I made all of them, some more successful than others.  The environment is ugly but it's just to see if everything reflects/refracts properly.

http://www.liuart.com/gnomon/mallet1.jpg
http://www.liuart.com/gnomon/mallet2.jpg
Texturing 1 assignment: texture a polygon mallet.  But I made it into a mallethead shark :)  Hand-painted textures just to see if I can.

Will have more in 1 or 2 weeks, including Okami-inspired brush marker practice!