Rocky River (Hand-Painted Style)

Artwork Finished Projects
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qc_river0050
qc_river00502880×1620 403 KB

Done entirely in Blender, the vast majority of what you see is procedurally generated. (I sculpted the landscape, everything else is shading nodes.)

Based on a concept by 2D FX artist Quentin Cordonnier. I followed his breakdown step by step, adding my own artistic choices where I felt like it :slight_smile:

Procedural Material Details / Node Setups

Rock/riverbank material

2022-06-30 09_05_31-Blender H__blender_qc_river.blend
2022-06-30 09_05_31-Blender H__blender_qc_river.blend1871×902 258 KB

Waterfall base

2022-06-30 09_02_26-
2022-06-30 09_02_26-1906×803 157 KB

Waterfall

2022-06-30 09_03_37-Blender_ H__blender_qc_river.blend
2022-06-30 09_03_37-Blender_ H__blender_qc_river.blend1904×869 188 KB

Top sparkles

2022-06-30 09_15_33-
2022-06-30 09_15_33-1910×868 189 KB

The main water shader is too complex to fit in one screenshot. The ripples around the rocks are a slightly modified version of the waterfall base. For each ripple, I shrink-wrapped a plane with a few subdivisions to the water surface. As the water is constantly displacing and shifting, this allows the ripples to stay in the correct place.

Thumbnail

qc_river0050_square
qc_river0050_square2880×2880 451 KB

110 Likes
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That is pretty damn nice. Great job! :smiley:

1 Like
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Thank you, I really appreciate that :slight_smile:

1 Like
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It does look like it’s properly hand painted, something I’ve never been able to quite achieve. It’s good stuff.

2 Likes
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Thanks :slight_smile: Hopefully the node setups I posted can be useful to you, let me know if you’d like any other node setups or anything, I’d love to help you in your efforts to recreate this look

2 Likes
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Miscellanous Screenshots

1: the rocks I used with the NatureClicker add-on inside the water.
2: A different angle.
3: A clay render with outlines, which shows a little better how the shrink-wrapped planes worked

2022-06-30 09_05_57-Blender H__blender_qc_river.blend
2022-06-30 09_16_13-Blender H__blender_qc_river.blend

2022-06-30 09_25_55-Blender H__blender_qc_river.blend
2022-06-30 09_25_55-Blender H__blender_qc_river.blend1274×723 493 KB

7 Likes
7

That is super cool, it really looks handpainted. Thanks for sharing the node setups!

1 Like
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awesome! the water animation is so satisfying to watch

1 Like
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Thank you :slight_smile: I hope the nodes are helpful!

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Thanks :slight_smile: isn’t it? If it wasn’t melting my computer I would have made it longer haha

11

Wow, really beautiful work!!

1 Like
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Thank you, I really appreciate that :slight_smile:

13

I featured you on BlenderNation, have a great weekend!

2 Likes
14

Love it! :heart:

1 Like
15

Thanks man, it’s an honor :slight_smile:

2 Likes
16

Really Great

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Thank you :slight_smile:

1 Like
18

You’re on the #featured row! :+1:

2 Likes
19

Thank you, I’m delighted :slight_smile:

2 Likes
20

Congrats! Well-deserved. :+1:

1 Like