Cube world project

 

Initial research

I have started my project by using websites such as art station and Pinterest to research some possible concepts that I might consider taking on board for my cube world project. When I began looking through I was really inspired by the final fantasy xv type environments as this type of thing is not something that I usually draw, therefore I thought this would be a good starting point in order to push myself outside of my comfort zone. I began collecting images onto a photoshop document which reflected a sort of light imperialistic atmosphere. My idea then progressed onto artists use of turrets and levels as I thought his would be something that I could apply to the cube world element as layering is something that I think would lend itself well to the highly 3D perspectives. I also loved the religious look to a lot of these refence image, it has inspired me to add an aspect of religion to my cube world in some way. Lots of these pieces of architecture reminded me a lot of Venice or Greek buildings and colour pallets, this is something I would like to incorporate into my own work.

Research developments

I have then gone on to picking out a few of my favourite reference images from my initial research and briefly annotated them to give me an idea of some of the qualities that these pieces have that I might want to incorporate into my own ideas and concepts. From doing this I have further refined my ideas to a more specific concept and colour pallet. I really liked the idea of having 2 contrasting environments therefore I have included some images of doom like scenes covered in lava. I find the idea of water vs lava to be something that I could possibly include as the clashing colour pallets do create a sense of chaos and destruction in the atmosphere. As I previously mentioned the environments from Final Fantasy XV have been something that have very much inspired me and would be a totally new style of working for me to be able to push myself with. I liked the level of 3 dimension that I could create with archways and bridges, therefore I will try and draw some concepts with this in mind as a focal point. As for the colour pallet I liked the cooler tones of blue for bodies of water mixed with harsh tones of orange to be something I might bring forward into my concepts. 

-For this project I really wanted to step out of my comfort zone and make something which combined elements which I found interesting personally and those which I am not so familiar with.-

-To progress I would like to further refine my ideas and possibly analyse an environment to really focus down on the elements I like and why I like them so I can go about drawing some of my own concepts.

Analysis

I decided that in order for me to grasp a real understanding of the ideas that I wanted to take forward that It would be a good step in my development to briefly annotate this digital piece from Final Fantasy XV. I have picked out some of the main features of the image that really drew me in. From this I have refined my ideas further and chosen some key elements that I would like to play around with in my next steps of creating some brief ideas.

Refining my ideas

From my research and analysis I took some of my favourite elements and made them into my own little concepts for my cube world. These are just some brief thumbnail drawings only showing basic tones to highlight the 3D aspect of them. I decided that I wanted to include multiple 'islands' instead of just having one block as I felt this embodied the idea of 'cube world' more. I also wanted my project to tell a little story through the flow of the water and the different layers progressing on from each other. As I really liked the arches, bridges and waterfalls these were a focal point that I took into each design. I also decided that I wanted my cube world to have a priest and temple like element, this can be noted through the crosses and temple like turrets and pillars. 

Evaluation- My previous research really helped me construct 5 different ideas but ideally I would have liked to have done more, however I was careful about my time management as I wanted to have enough time to fully render my final piece.

Colour pallets 

I decided to bring forward idea 2 into the next part of my development stages as I liked how the composition fitted together, with the 2 waterfalls and archway bridge. I wanted it to being in all elements which I liked from my previous research. 

On this development page I experiment with gradient maps in order to get a better idea of what kind of atmosphere I was going to create. From research I had already found that I liked the lighter plastery neutral shades for this project as they are something I don't usually go for when doing art. I chose to take forward the 1st colour pallet but incorporate elements of both the 3rd and 4th as part of my corrupted idea. In some ways I would like to create an ethereal atmosphere but I may try and progress with an open mindset of possibly adding in an almost eerie twilight like one lit with a few lights.

Final concept refinement 

The page showcases a more refined set of blocked out colour ways as I wanted to see how my ideas about adding corruption and lava would fit in with the composition. I really liked the 3rd idea where the lava was starting to flow into the water and the priests temple was slowly falling apart and being consumed by the lava. I also liked the ay the the lava and water flow seemed to be infinite and both waterfalls didn't have a source, this added an element of magic to it. 

 Sketch and Rendering

This was my final sketch of my developed idea using the isometric grid. There were however some inaccuracies with my sketch which I had to correct during the rendering process. Next time I will be more accurate with my initial sketch so I wont experience these issues later on.

Here is an example of my rendering process and how I firstly blocked out the basic tones and used clipping masks in order to start building up value and texture of the element. This particular part was going to be coated in a worn away plaster which has signs of previous paint marks on. To create this texture I used a range of experimental brushes along with harsh bold shows combined with softer shadows to create a 3D rounded effect. I wanted the different textures of my piece to be very clear, crisp and easily identifiable. Through out my process I was constantly thinking of how the material would behave under the circumstances, adding cracks and heat to the materials pushed me to think about this. I also really struggled to get the steps to look like they were curving around the turret and when I did get it right I did like how the piece has lots of curved edges, I then opted to change the staircase to straight to add in that sense of stiffness and structure as variation because I included a lot of arches.

I found the water block particularly difficult to render as I wanted to achieve that slice like look but also make it look translucent and like light was shining through. I had never tried painting water before this task but it was a valuable learning experience for me. I think looking back I would have liked to have rendered this further and created a more jelly like look to it using harsher highlights. I also thought carefully about where the light would be coming from and how it would behave on each side of the cuboid.

Here is the finished greyscale render with no gradient maps. I wanted to ensure that my render was as sharp as possible so that when I did apply my gradient maps the textures would look as crisp and easily identifiable as possible. For each different material I looked at a range of reference images so that I could get a better idea of how the substance behaved. 

Backgrounds

After adding a range of gradient maps onto each aspect of my greyscale render I started creating some gradient backgrounds to use. I originally wanted to make a more detailed background, however when I started I noticed that my details were getting lost and it was becoming to distracting. I really wanted my cube world to stand out and really pop out to be as 3D as possible. Here are some of the different passes. On some of them I also added cloud rings around the strictures as this was an idea I took from my previous mood boards . However again I didn't really like how cluttered it made the piece look, I felt like they took away from the crisp 3D cube like look I was trying to achieve. For idea number 3 I tried some black smoke at the bottom but again I felt like the scene became too busy, I had taken this idea from some of my doom like illustrations but I felt for this concept It didn't fit as well as I initially had thought. 

Final Piece and my thoughts

Here is my final finished cube world piece, I am pleased with my colour pallets of the gradient maps and I think doing the analysis on the FFXV piece really helped my choose colours that would fit nicely with the priestly ethereal like theme. Another thing to note is that I added some small statues of women holding water jugs. I wanted to add some water features into my piece as I was inspired by those that I saw amongst my mood board images. I also wanted to add more of a sense of flow, also I wanted to create more of a big contrast between either side of the cube world, from very blue cool tones to very warm harsh tones. Adding these extra water features helped me create this clashing and chaotic atmosphere. I wanted to try and imagine my cube world as a preview to a level in a game to I tried to add several points of interest and layers to it, to create that sense of progression. As I wanted to step out my comfort zone and render forms textures that I would not usually pick I feel like some elements could have been more dynamic such as the water. Overall I tried to challenge myself into a concept that is completely new to me, there are elements that I would like to refine my skills on with some more practise, however I really enjoyed this brief and creating my finished piece.