I’ve been experimenting with fantasy concept art lately, focusing on environments and large structures like statues and landscapes. It’s quite outside of my comfort zone but I’m really enjoying the challenge. This is the final render of my latest one:
It features a Buddhist temple sitting atop a magical ocean in the middle of a large lake. You can see several elements which I’m trying to improve on and include in more of my renders, such as the thick forests, mist, waterfalls, and birds for scale. The lighting was a challenge, as I wanted to highlight the immense scale while also providing aesthetic contrast and distinguishing the different elements clearly.
The clay render makes it easier to see how the lighting serves the scene. It was challenging to emphasize the shadow across the middle without oversaturating the rest of the scene.
I’m quite happy with how the rock texture came out–I think it “makes sense” in that it looks like rock while also sticking with the flowing, rippling vibe of the piece (see the trees for example). I intentionally chose not to use the same sort of flowing texture on the floating rocks; I wanted these to feel solid and heavy, so their levitation would seem more magical.
I’m not overly satisfied with the coloring of the trees, especially in the well-lit portions of the image. The trees and how they interact with the background lighting is something I need more practice with.
I’ve been including this little sailboat in all the artworks I’ve been doing with this theme. I like the idea of a story of this little sailboat going around the ocean, viewing these mystical places.
If you’re interested, I’ve uploaded a tutorial on how to make the ocean water to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPpJtC6gGCQ
I’m honored!