Handpainted Floating Island Scene

Jakob Gavelli

Hi! Been stalking for a while and finally had enough courage to actually post something ^^

Trying to get into handpainted environmental art, I started modelling and drawing a few weeks ago and I'm having a really hard time getting the right feeling of it.

I began modelling my first scene this week and this is what I have sofar :


FloatingIsland_2012_07_25_01 by Jakpe, on Flickr

The island is just wrong.. Mega blobby and I really screwed myself over on the whole UV mapping. :[ I'm actually kind if pleased with the trees and the sprigs, even though they are a bit blobby. I'm not so sure about the overall color scheme of the blue-greenish vs the green-greenish.

Once again the bright green ground of the island kind if messes that up though. I'd like to remake the island but I don't know where to start.

Any comments are highly appreciated!



FloatingIsland_2012_07_25_02 by Jakpe, on Flickr

Darkmaster

Hi Jakob! Welcome to PC let me first just say that if you have only been modeling and texturing for a few weeks, then you are already off to a pretty nice start. It is impressive that you are getting things in engine as well. That shows a lot of initiative. So! Where I would start here is really dial in what you want to have as your focal point for the scene. Right now you have a really hot spot right in front of the tent that appears to not have any source as far as lighting. If you were to put a lantern or post of some kind, I think that would tie things together a little bit more. Also figure out what you want the focal point of the scene to be. Whether that is the lamp post, or some other more complicated hero prop.

A few technical things to pay attention to as well... Especially with foliage, make sure that you have smoothing groups set up exactly the way you want them, and also ensure you are lightmapping everything correctly. Check the pc wiki if you need further help with those issues. Other than that, keep going man!!

Jakob Gavelli

Thanks for the feedback! I didn't know about smoothing groups, the island looks a lot better now ( but still not good ) and I tried applying smoothing to the branches of the tree but it simply didn't work. Will have to look into that further.


FloatingIsland_2012_07_26_01 by Jakpe, on Flickr

Added a quick bonfire to try out some lighting and stuff, will take a bit more experimentation. The lighting on the island's side is a bit quirky aswell.. And I added som rocks.. and a couple of logs... and a poo-digging-spade =D


FloatingIsland_2012_07_26_02 by Jakpe, on Flickr

Jhburton

Looking pretty cool! keep it up!

waf

You're off to a nice start. The only thing that worries me is the scale of the island, the props on the island make it look like the island is really small, and the character wouldn't have much area to explore.

A few things you could do is either try shrinking everything you have so far by whatever makes you comfortable, or send in a scale-man mesh who will stand there and set the standard for your scene. If you feel scale man can't really enjoy his surroundings, then adjust.

Jakob Gavelli

@Jhburton : Thanks! Super nervous thinking none would comment. ^^

@waf : I scaled up the island a bit and I'm not sure if I like it or not. It kind of ruins the cutsie-look but it solves my space problems and actually makes it somewhat playable. ^^

I'd like to add some kind of air transportation which got you to the island ( On the top of my head I'm thinking air balloon with a optimist dinghy instead of basket, maybe tied to a tree? ).

It would also be cool to have a island with a lake slightly beneath the main-island. Aaaaand maybe a fishing rod dipping down into it?

Anyways, here's the big version of the island ( Who needs a toilet? ) :


FloatingIsland_2012_07_26_03 by Jakpe, on Flickr

Branch smoothing still not working, if anyone has any ideas I'm all ears.


FloatingIsland_2012_07_26_04 by Jakpe, on Flickr

ivanzu

Looking good you could use some more polys for the island if you want to get good silhouette and smoother look.I think that you have few overlapping faces on the edge of the island.

PyrZern

I like the Trees
About Island and air transportation. How about an airship fly-by ? And each island has a docking wharf made of woods or planks ?

Jakob Gavelli

@ivanzu : Thanks for the feedback. I'm really new to Maya and as you can see the island mesh is very unstable. The top of it is barely UV mapped ( hence the lack of texturing )and I'm dreading the day I'll have to redo it ( Tomorrow *shudder* ).

@PryZern : Me too! I'm still thinking about it. I'm imagining the character currently tenting on the island to be some kind of scout who's out camping, hence the Optimist Dinghy idea. I'm also considering a bicycle with a propreller on top or maybe just a simple kite of some sort.

Signing out for today. I had a major dilemma after my last reply.

Concerning whether to make it into more of a game level. Building a cliff face and make it more interactive, toss in some jumps and exploration.
OR
Keep it as is and make it into a portfolio kind of picture with no interaction whatsoever.

Both is ofcourse and option but I recently decided not to enlarge the island but instead keep the size and make it as I first intended, but still explorable ( even though it's small ). I think this was a wise decision as I'm afraid making it too big of a project would make me unable to see it through. I'm more of a game designer/programmer than an artist so I don't quite know my limitations yet. ( Wanting to create a whole awesome interactable world after a couple of weeks of modelling/drawing just doesn't seem realistic =p )

Thanks for all the comments. It's the first time I actually get to interact with like-minded people! *hugs*

ivanzu

You can try out 3D coat or blender to paint directly onto model.

Jakob Gavelli

@ivanzu : Hmm.. I'll have to check that out.. Kind of daunting to learn a new program though ^^

I remapped the island, yay.. Added a tiny (super WIP) lake at the back of the island. Repainted the sprigs and added some darkpurple blueberries to them and played around with the contrasts.


FloatingIsland_2012_07_27_01 by Jakpe, on Flickr

Progress feels very slow at the moment. I have no idea whatsoever to do with the island texture. I've tried adding some dirt to the camp and painting some grass but it never feels right and I just end up scratching it.

Lots and lots still has to be done and it feels as if every model is heavily WIP. Don't know if I should keep churning out WIPs or make a couple of them 100% done.


FloatingIsland_2012_07_27_02 by Jakpe, on Flickr