Time flies? Hm… I guess so. When I was working 
on this project, I would sometimes look out the window 
and see those beautiful 
clouds 
, sunsets 
, the red glow that lingered after the rain 
, and hear the rustling of the leaves 
on the trees 
, and I kept catching myself thinking that I had lost something, something very valuable to me: time.
Back when I was a kid 
, the first video games 
I played–they all had this kind of tropical 
, island-like 
, vibe, such as Heroes of Might and Magic III 
, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City 
, Sonic Heroes 
, Madagascar 
, Sid Meier’s Pirates! 
, Far Cry 
, Just Cause 
, Crysis 
, Just Cause 2 , and so on. Looking back at it, I felt like I wanted to pay some sort of homage to that era 
, while at the same time trying to rewind the tape 
and relive through those timeless moments 
once again 
.
It all started in June . I just opened up 
, created a plane and an ocean 
, set the lights 
and camera 
, added a few islands along with vegetation 
and bridges 
, did a couple of test renders and… nothing 
. I looked at the picture 
and couldn’t really understand 
what I was doing wrong. So, I decided to take a little break 
and come back to it later 
.
Then I tried again, and again, and again…
until I realized 
that I was missing the main ingredient–inspiration 
. I’m just that type of person who can’t do something just for the sake of doing it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I told myself, “Okay, enough 
. I won’t delete this one 
, but will save it till better times come, and then we’ll see what I can do with it 
.”, and so I did.
It went on like that till August 
, when suddenly something popped 
into my head and I was like, “I guess I need to take another 
at it and see what I can do now”. So, I quickly fired up as if I were running a marathon or something 
, looked at the whole scene once again and just started adding all kinds of objects here and there, straight off the top of my head. And when I was happy with the result I thought, “Well, maybe I could actually see this through the end. Let’s give it another try 
”.
This whole project was like a time capsule 
that took me back to those beautiful 2000s and 2010s. I didn’t intend to make something “impressive” or anything like that, but rather something that was very special to me 
. And I hope I managed to pull it off.
Welcome to The Islands , folks–a place that will always live in the past. Make yourselves at home 
. The story’s about to kick off. 
Every bit 
of an artwork has its own story 
, hasn’t it? Just let me guide you through each one of them real quick.
Picture No. 1 – New Visitors 
There are always new visitors that coming by to see our islands , nature 
, and wildlife 
. And our goal is to give them the best experience 
they could possibly have. Visitors come before money, y’know? 
Picture No. 2 – Seaweed 
We’ve always wanted to clean up the mess here. Our staff 
hasn’t been looking after this area for quite a long time 
, which caused the seaweed 
to grow really tall 
, so it is pretty easy to get lost here. Just make sure y’all got the map, fellas! 
Picture No. 3 – Good ol’ mates 
Our good ol’ mates decided to visit us over the holidays, so they grabbed their vessels 
, made a few calls 
, and 
! Now they’re here. Frankly, it’s always nice to see friends you haven’t talked to in a while. Oh, we should boil the kettle 
before they come! I’m on my way! 
Picture No. 4 – Matt’s Lighthouse 
Matt has been known as a professional sailor 
. He started out as a young cabin boy 
in his 
's, scrubbing the deck, learning how to hold the helm, fixing leaks 
, and doing all sorts of odd jobs 
. Now he’s a well-known captain with his own lighthouse, two boats 
that he likes to go fishing 
on from time to time, and a single vessel that he rarely uses nowadays because of its old engine which needs to be completely rebuilt from scratch. He also keeps an eye 
on that wind turbine you can see to the 
side of the lighthouse.
Picture No. 5 – Ecosystem 
Wind energy is quite common nowadays. It can be expensive 
, but at the same time, it allows you to generate 
electricity almost anywhere , even in small places that, at first glance, don’t seem suitable for it at all. Based on that, we made a decision to use exactly wind turbines that, as we think 
, suits us the best 
.
Picture No. 6 – Guard’s Lighthouses 
These are the lighthouses where our guard live, making sure that everything’s . They work in shifts, which means that if one of them is going to 
, the other one takes over patrols for him . They also have their own and provisions 
, which can be seen right there 
on the pier .
Picture No. 7 – Resort Area 
Of course, we also take care of the beach resort area , where our guests can sunbathe 
, have a drink 
, or just lie in a hammock under palm trees and take a nap . There are also wind turbines right there on the island, but thankfully, they don’t produce that much noise 
.
Picture No. 8 – Resort Area Pt. 2
We decided to add a few more resort areas so that we could host more guests compared to last year. And the best part? We haven’t changed our prices–they’re still exactly the same 
! Just remember to bring your own towels, hats 
, and sunscreens 
!
Picture No. 9 – Windmill
Due to the fact that we live on the islands , there’s always a chance that something could happen at any moment, so we need to make sure that we always have enough provisions 
and stuff. We built this windmill two ago, when one of the companies we had signed a contract 
with to supply 
us with food 
failed to deliver it on time 
. They were 
days late, which forced us to eat expired canned food 
. As a result, we got food poisoning 
, had to stay in 
for about a 
(week), and couldn’t do our main job . Now we’re fine, but hope it will never happen again.
It’s been one hell of a ride, hasn’t it? 
In conclusion, I wasn’t trying to make my best artwork. Don’t get me wrong. I just wanted to tell the story behind it and share what inspired me the most. Like I said at the very beginning, while making this artwork, I kept thinking about my past, my childhood memories, and that whole feeling of nostalgia that takes me back to those days whenever I think about them.
I hope some of you find something of your own in this artwork, something that takes you back to your best days too, just like it did for me .
P. S. Oh, and I almost forgot! There are hidden treasure chests 
right there on the map, just tell me how many you can find. They can be anywhere! 
P. S. S. You can use thumbnails right down below 
to ease the search process 
.
Here are all 
renders put together as well, in case someone wants to see them all in one place.
I also made these three portrait-mode renders just because I liked the idea of doing so. And if any of you want to use one as your wallpaper–you’re welcome!
Thank you for your attention!
