Shinto Diorama

JfourArt

Edit: Final images!

Hey guys, so I started this project to work on my environment art (sculpting in particular) and to put together a finished piece that I push as far as I can. I figure that posting here is a good way to get feedback and stay accountable. As such, I'll try to keep this post updated.

For this diorama, I wanted to portray a mystical well centered in a Shinto-inspired shrine/garden, at night. I'm aiming for a realistic style with bold colors and strong lighting.

I put together a moodboard containing elements that I wanted to pull into the scene, as well as some reference.





And used this to throw together a rough concept, primarily to get a handle on the colors and composition I was after.



From there, I built some basemeshes and imported them into Unreal Engine, to better visualize the scene and tune the scale of everything.





Using the basemeshes as a starting point, I'm currently working on the highpoly sculpt for the well itself.





Like I said, feedback and critiques are greatly appreciated. Thanks for stopping by!

Ged

Good start. Critique from me would be, the rocks on your well look like they stick out too much, it doesnt look well built ( as if humans built it out of the right rocks to fit eachother) find better references like this https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/dbc6e494/dms3rep/multi/mobile/fountain-788430_1920-800x533.dm.edit_6KaDGJ.jpg

The composition of the whole scene isnt very interesting in the shots youve posted. perhaps better camera angles would help that but my thought is that you may need something to contain the scene a bit more eg clouds around the back or trees around the back or something, it just looks a bit open and lonely to me.

keep going!

JfourArt

Thanks for the feedback. I agree, now that you mention it, the rocks on the well just don't fit together as well as they should. In terms of the composition, I do plan on it being a night scene with a heavy sky, so I'll see how that works to better draw the scene out from the background. I like the trees idea though, so I'll definitely keep that in mind, as well.

I appreciate it, thanks again!

JfourArt

Wanted to get another update in on this before I go away on vacation for a week.

Sculpted more surface detail and edge wear in on the well itself, still a long ways to go though.

Redid the bricks as well, although I still plan on scaling them in a little bit more tightly. Much happier with them now than the original design.

Finished sculpt of the lamp.

And the textured lamp in Unreal Engine.

Not completely final, I plan on tweaking colors a bit as I get more assets to this point.

JfourArt

It's been a good deal of time since I last updated this post, so I figure it's about time to put some more out there. I've spent a fair portion of the time getting deeper into ZBrush and sculpting in general, doing a few studies here and there, as that was one of my goals from the start.

A few shots of the current state of the scene.

The grass placement is very rough and definitely not final, among other things.

Some shots of the grass and foliage meshes.

Made in ZBrush using Fibermesh.

And then textured in Substance Painter.

The lavender really breaks up the grass and offers some subtle color variation.

The Torii gate itself.

And the (tentatively) finished well sculpt.

Which I'm currently working on the lowpoly for.

As always, feedback is a huge help to me, and thanks for stopping by and checking it out!

JfourArt

A few more shots. Down to the last 5-10% here, not too much else to add. Lighting is done primarily with a number of static/baked lights, a few stationary lights to get shadows on the moving foliage, and some particle lights to add that candlelight flicker.

JfourArt

I've updated the initial post with some final renders. Once again, thanks to everyone who checked it out, and be sure to check out the full project at https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Jy8Ln