Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Model a Chair-Preparations

Many people do not know what a Swan chair look like. Its time to open up the internet browser and search for images. Or if you have an actual Swan chair with you, your lucky. You can look at a real model while modeling. This would simplify decisions and remove the need for guessing certain details that you are not available with image searches alone.

Knowing our model

We need to know what we are modeling look like. You can't do this without references to guide you. A simple image search with Google would provide you the references you need.

Gather several images that gives you different views of the chair. A front and a side view is great to use as a background image to guide as while modeling. Also, gather at least one image that shows the chair at an oblique angle so that it will provide a much more "3d" view. This will shows more clearly the shape of the chair, more than the front and side view alone would give you.

Loop study

Take time to study the model. For simple models like this, it would be quite quick, especially with experience. For this project, the loops are as shown bellow.

Swan chair's loops

The pink loop goes around the edge of the chair defining the chair's edges and thickness. The light green, light blue and light purple loops follows and create the form of the chair. The crossing green loops forms the bottom of the chair. The light blue and green loops contribute for the form of the "wings", while the purple and green loops form the back. Its a simple loop structure, its topologically (sorry for using the term) the same as this cube extruded to form a T (upside down so the loops would match more).

The T shape piece loops

While modeling keep these loops in mind and try to achieve the loops. For this project, the loops are achieved with simple extrusions of a cube, just like the T piece above, but in a form that looks more like the chair.