[FINISHED] - Sakai No Arashi - (Samurai Katana - Dramatic scene )
polycounter lvl 5
Hello everyone , this is my first ever post in these forums
I'm leaning Substance Painter and some other softwares to try to land a job in the gaming industry and build my portfolio as a texture artist
This is my 2nd project using substance (technically 3rd) and i was hoping to get feedback from the more experienced people in this community
I'm gonna highlight this asset in a dramatic scene later on 
* This is a render using vray
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I'm still struggling with implementing art fundamentals in my pieces - but the goal here was to highlight the subject and make it pop out of the background using light and color/contrast , all while giving the environement it's proper place in the scene to feed as much informations as possible about the story i'm trying to tell.
This was intended at first to be an exercice in substance painter using different techniques and applying techniques i've learned from some professionals to solely paint the katana, but it evolved into a whole scene in which i had to model most of the assets and environnement (except the sword), create a composed image to highlight my subject and try to tell a deeper story through elements in the image and for a bonus why not add one or two easter eggs referencing the game.
I've only painted the black wooden walls as well as the table and of course the sword (which i have some more little ideas and details to add) - i still have to work on the elements in the background and the floor (the Tatami + Wooden floor near the wardrobe)
* STORY : The sword was abandoned by his owner or was placed by another person in honor of the samurai insinuating either the samurai renounced his "bushido" and moved on, or he passed away (notice the absence of the Wakizashi - the short sword used for Seppuku if the samurai has to end his life) - either way , details on the sword (blood and scratches) are the tale of his last battles : brutal and intense, i tried to add as much story telling elements on the sword as possible through the damage, dirt and blood.
The environement is overtaken by nature which indicates the presence of humidity and water in the surrounding area (maybe an abandoned hut ...) - also the growth of the grass, ivy and moss is an indicator of how much time has passed since the sword was placed there, as well as the logs of broken wood that fell from the roof - all of this says that at least 5 years to a decade has passed to render the place in that state - Now i was tempted to add dust everywhere but i made it subtle to further emphisis on the humidity of the location.
I was hoping for some critics/feedback regarding this work in progress about any thing art or technical related as i'm trying to take my 3d art to the next level - I think i'm going in the direction that i intended in the begining but it always feels like there's something missing or not right.
Obviously some assets are still not textured as of yet.
Besides that, it's looking very solid.
Here's a little preview of the texturing done today.
I created the asset using Marvelous Designer then textured it with Substance painter - i didn't push the details too much because it's a background asset and it's bathed in dark shadows so i thought this level of details is sufficient.
Here's some more shots of the assets i worked on :