Item Inventory

 

This digital project has been one of my favourite projects so far as it has given me a chance to practise my skills in texturing and trying to produce convincing objects in the form of a game inventory. For this brief, I wanted to create an inventory inspired by a darker, more demonic theme such as Dark Souls for example. I really liked the idea of creating a set of objects which all portrayed a dark and more gothic colour palette as this type of rendering is something that I have never tried before. In the posts below, I will present each week's ideas and references along with some strengths and areas for improvement. I used a range of reference images of different materials from online in order to inform my own objects and to gain inspiration. Each week I made a mood board of colours and my references, which I referred back to frequently throughout the rendering process. The image below shows the completed 10 objects that I rendered for this brief.

Item 1: Hydra venom sealed by a druids spell

This week, I put a lot of thought into the concept behind my first object as I really wanted to start by challenging myself to draw something made from glass as in the past, I have found drawing this material and understanding how it reacts with light and fluids challenging. I decided to use a range of reference images to design this pyramid-like shaped bottle with metal corners and a metal dropper lid. I really liked the idea of using a more unique shape as I thought it would be interesting to incorporate a mixture of geometric, sharp shapes and round ones in the form of the lid. My idea for this object was initially some kind of venom in a glass bottle. Whilst I was in my kitchen I saw a bottle of fairy liquid and thought that it would be a great reference to use for a green poison inside the bottle as it really shows a range of neon like green tones inside a clear container. This is how I first got the idea for the green venom. To fit in with the theme of my objects, I also wanted to add some kind of curse on it; however, I opted to rendering a paper seal to tie in a runic and druid like aspect, incorporating real runes and adding another material that I could practise rendering in the form of paper. 

I found the glass with the green liquid inside challenging, as I had to consider where the light source was coming from, how that would refract from the glass to the liquid inside and how it would react to other elements such as the lid and paper. I had to really consider which parts of the objects would absorb light and which parts would reflect and refract it in relation to the light source. I am really pleased with the overall design and concept of this object; however, I can see some inaccuracies with the rendering of the metal. As the metal looks quite clean, I think it has less of a realistic property to it. However, I did try my best to concentrate on the hard and soft shadows which would have been created by the lighting. The idea with the paper assets was that they had a druid's spell written on them and contained the curse within the bottle, meaning that no one could get to the hydra venom. I think I would like to continue with the theme of silver and possibly add some more red colour into my next objects to tie the demonic theme in more. 

Item 2: Blade of the Demon's Embrace

This week, I wanted to make a weapon to add to my game inventory. Therefore, I decided to look at some references of interesting looking daggers and elvish swords. I really liked how the elvish blades looked in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit so I wanted to create a jagged and almost artistically serrated edge. This would also tie in well to my gothic and demonic theme, as the blade will look fluid and slick but also deathly. I sketched a few quick ideas of how I wanted the blade to look, using some references of elvish blades. I decided I would use a dark red, cloth wrapped handle with a second smaller blade at the other end, allowing the user to use either side if necessary and for aesthetic purposes. I found rendering the blade quite challenging as the look of metal I was aiming for was more of a gunmetal effect, which was difficult to render because I made the shadows and edge highlights quite contrasty. It ended up being middle ground so, after feedback, I went over some of the harsh white edge highlights I had drawn and then knocked them back. I wanted to really capture a reflective quality of the metal in contrast to the light-absorbing cloth on the handle. There were a lot of different faces on the blades, facing different direction so I had to think carefully about which parts of the metal would have highly reflective areas and which would not be catching as much light. I added some rings onto the edge of the dagger to represent kills of final bosses and small, scratched tally marks to represent other final blows. The idea is that every time you get a kill on a final boss of a dungeon or level, another ring is added to the blade. Once 8 rings are collected, the blade gains a significant increase in stats and damage. Once I had finished rendering the metal using the references, I decided to use a glow effect using Photoshop to make some of the runes glow on the side of the blade to emphasise the fact that is it cursed and demonic.

 I think overall the design and structure of the blade is good; however, I think next time I would add some more wear to the metal to create a less clean look to it as this would make it more convincing. The name I chose for the blade, Blade of the Demon's Embrace, is because daggers are typically quick and stealthy items, therefore, I thought 'embrace' would be fitting as it portrays fluidity and slickness. 

Item 3: The Serpentime

This week, I wanted to incorporate an element of wood into my inventory. Therefore, I chose to draw a sand timer. This would also allow me to practise drawing glass and metal again as these are materials that I have previously found challenging. I like the way sand timers are structured, with the use of interesting and fluid forms of glass combined with ornate wooden frames. I decided that I would incorporate metal into the design by adding a serpent going up each wooden frame. I also added metal rims to the wooden frame for aesthetic and protective purposes. If I were to repeat this, I would not include these as I think they take away from the wooden render slightly as I did have to spend a lot of time rendering them and trying to correct where the light would hit. I will draw some more wooden objects in upcoming weeks in order to practise drawing wood. I also decided to add a metal pentagram to the top of the timer. After receiving feedback, I had to knock back some of the white highlights as it was overpowering and made the object look a bit less convincing. The glass was tricky to render as it was in a round shape this time, unlike the potion bottle. Therefore, any highlights were a lot more fluid. I also added some more details onto the wood in my second pass after feedback, including some elements of wear and knife slashes or damage. The contrast between the light absorbing wood and the metal was something I really focused on achieving as I wanted to clearly show the different materials within the object. I added metal spikes to the top of the timer (around the pentagram) so that they would point downwards to 'hell' along with the pentagram when turned over. I thought this would be an interesting asset to add and would also tie the metal in a bit better. Throughout my drawing, I made sure to refer to the references which I presented on the board above to try to present a convincing item. 

Item 4: Dracthars Drip aka 'The Ring of Dracthar'

 

The next item for my inventory is this silver ring with a red ruby or red crystal inside. For this particular item, my aim was to really focus on very harsh highlights and colours within a gemstone and metal; therefore, I wanted my light source to shine very intensely onto the item so that I could portray the depth of the cut gem and all the refracting colours. I focused heavily on using references for this object as I wanted to draw the dynamic reflection of the gemstone accurately and to convincingly portray that it has been sharply cut. I noticed that there were a lot of blue undertones within the metal of some of my references and, in addition,  some very harsh blacks where a black tarnish has been added in order to sharpen the details that have been cut into the metal. I tried to replicate this onto my own piece in order to create a very sharp and dynamic object. I looked at a number of different crystals and decided that I really liked the ones which refracted very warm tones of orange and yellow under the harsh lighting. I also added some metal wings on either side of the main body of the ring to add to my gothic theme. My gothic ring references were very useful and aided my understanding of cut gemstones and rendering jewellery. There was a lot to consider when rendering this object as the dynamic reflections were very sharp; however, my references really helped me to know how I needed to paint in the shades. 

Item 5: The Sinners Satchel

This is my favourite item that I have rendered so far as I really enjoyed painting in the dragon scales and the different tones in the leather. I haven't had much experience in rendering leather before so it was interesting to asses all the different tones and sheens to it. I found a range of leather bags as I wanted to add a bag of some kind to my inventory. I found one picture of a bag on Pinterest which I really liked the design of so I decided to use this as my primary reference and to adapt it a bit to make it fit in with my theme more. I decided to render using more natural brown tones for both the dragon scale parts and the basic leather panels. For this part, I used a lot of my secondary references to try to properly convey the texture of  leather and how the panels would be stitched together and structured. I liked rendering the leather as it was very rich in fine details and texture which I spent a lot of time picking up on my own bag. I also decided to draw the dragon eye decorative piece in the middle, set in metal, to further practise rendering some other materials and to link the object in with being made from dragon skin.  In upcoming objects, I would like to add in some more dragon related items to my inventory to tie in with the bag. I used some other types of leather to inform my choices when rendering in some green tones as I noticed that a lot of leather had some cooler green tones in it, especially through wear and tear. The bag has loops to go onto a belt and could be used by a player to store items whilst also carrying some kind of magical quality through the dragons eye. It could be an item attained by slaying some kind of dragon such as Alduin from Skyrim. 

The bag has a buckle fastening and is highly structured. Overall, I think the texture I tried to create on this item was very successful compared with my other items as there were a number of finer details I was able to pick up and convey more convincingly. I also like the design of the bag influenced by my references. 

Item 6: Chest of Malevolence

This was probably the most challenging item that I have rendered so far because there was a lot for me to consider when drawing it in terms of structure, perspective and the amount of elements I chose to include on it. I chose a range of online references of which I liked the forms and structures and used them to influence a demonic chest idea. To tie this item in with the rest of my inventory, I included some pentagrams, runes and red gemstones. My idea was that the chest would be a cursed chest,  which could be unlocked through a series of achievements in game and that inside would be loot which would allow the player to really progress in their strengths. However, the opening of the chest would be very difficult to attain. It is an item that could be collected by a player and opened at a later time once a series of quests had been completed and a key earned to unlock the loot. I added chains, a magic lock and a lot of metalwork to create a harsher and more intense look to the chest. I also looked at some references for the type of wood I was going to render in. I opted for a more yellow toned wood as I didn't want it to blend in too much with the warmth of the crystal assets. I paid careful attention to the grain of the wood and any change in tone due to ageing, shadow or wear. There were a lot of different materials to focus on, which complicated the piece. My references were very useful when it came to drawing the structure and correct perspective of the chest to make it look as convincing as possible. Overall, I think my attention to detail is improving and I am paying closer attention to my refences in order to render something more convincing. However, some of my textures still look a bit clean so I will work to improve this.

Item 7: 'Harpies Tooth' 

I really liked the colour palette for this item as it allowed me to render some highly dynamic structures and highlights within the interesting crystal forms. This piece was also heavily influenced by references as the shapes the crystals form are very complicated and require a lot of careful observation so that all the tones presented in the piece work together. Light travels through crystals and this particular type of crystal that I chose to draw had a more translucent quality to it rather than being completely transparent. Therefore, there were some areas where more light was being let through than others and places where it was more dense as there were lots of layers that had formed. I had to consider this when rendering my piece. I chose a red colour palette again to tie in with the demonic theme. This allowed me to pick up some very dark burgundy tones, almost black, and also some very warm orange for places where more light was passing through. I named this item, Harpies Tooth as the beautiful structure of the crystal reminded me of a tooth. There were a lot of quite geometric faces within this object also, so a lot of hard shadows were being cast where no light was being reflected off the faces and no light could pass through. Overall, I'm happy with this render and I am pleased with my attempt at showing how light would pass through some areas of the crystal. As for context within a game, this item could be acquired by a player and then placed in some kind of beacon in order to trigger an event or to open some kind of door or chamber. 

Item 8: Spellbook of the Binding

This type of item is an essential for a lot of fantasy RPG games. Therefore, I decided to render a spell book made from wood, leather and a metal pentagram to tie it in with the previous objects. I found it a challenge to draw the perspective of this book correctly at first as I decided to draw it at an angle to showcase both the pages and spine of the book. It took me a few attempts to get the accuracy of the drawing right and for it to look correctly structured and convincing. I also found the perspective of the pentagram challenging as it is viewed at an angle from the top down. I used the transform tools on Photoshop in order to get a more accurate circle in perspective to the rest of the book. I made sure that I paid attention to the details, such as the plait fastening and metal buckle clips. I was pleased with the colour palette of the type of wood I choose for which I referred to some refences. I did another, more yellow, toned type to contrast with the warmth of the leather and the red bookmark to create a clear difference in textures. I paid attention to the grain in the leather and the light absorbing qualities of each material including the discolouration of the pages and wear of the leather. This spell book would be picked up or bought by a player in order to boost any magic stats or add extra magical abilities to a players skill set. Overall, I am pleased with the item as I like the colour palette which I choose as it emphasises the contrast in material and the different grains in the wood and the leather. 

Item 9: Elizabeth's Skull

For my next item, I decided I wanted to draw a skull as I thought bone would be an interesting material to render as it has a very unique texture and reaction to light. Therefore, I opted to draw a dragon skull to tie in with some of the more dragon-like elements of my previous items. I found it challenging to capture a lot of texture within this as there didn't seem to be much contrast or tonal differences in colour. The colour palette consisted mainly of warm toned colours such as yellows and browns with not much variation. In addition, I didn't really have an opportunity to display a good lighting source. As bone is such a light absorbing material, there weren't many harsh highlights or very sharp and dark shadows apart from in cracks and other details, due to the material being quite light. I tried to capture some of the joins in bone plating and some of the smaller holes within the render. So far, this is my least favourite item and I will definitely have to study bone a little bit more in depth in order to correct mistakes. This skull would be dropped by Elizabeth the dragon when she has been killed by the player and can be used to craft into things such as weapons, potions or armour or can be kept by a player as a trophy from killing the boss. 

Item 10: The Reaper's Chalice

For my last item, I decided I wanted to draw a stone chalice with a gothic theme. I had previously included a lot of dragon-like elements and there were a lot of of really good references online of very detailed and attractive gothic chalices. I used these as heavily inspired references to my final chalice as I really liked the grim reaper and deathly stone look on the chalices. I decided to incorporate a few different tones into my design such as blues and purple to add more dynamic impact to the chalice and to make it look a bit more magical. The actual design was influenced by the chalices from my refences and includes dragon talons and a grim reaper in the middle, hence the name of the item. The stone doesn't reflect much light apart from some of the edge on the carved details. I rendered the metal rim around the top in a similar way to the ring, with very harsh dark blue shades along with white highlights as well. This item was fun to draw as the design was very intricate and allowed me to really embody my theme into it. I added slight amounts of scattering onto the surface in order to present the stone like texture. Overall, I am happy with the design of this chalice but I feel that I should have used references of actual stone in order to achieve a more accurate representation. I think I got a bit carried away with the aesthetic qualities of this item over the accuracy and convincing qualities. 

Finally, I presented all my items on this PNG. I made my own leather texture background with embossing and burnt paper so that the items would stand out. I also watched a tutorial for how to make metal text in Photoshop to make the inventory look more professional. I looked at some inventory UI for reference to making this. Overall this project really helped me develop my observational skills along with my material rendering skills. I continue to need practise to get it perfect; however, I think by doing this I have improved considerably.