[WIP] Lovecraftian chapel environment (UE4)
I've been reading a lot of Lovecraft and visited a bunch of celtic churches to catch some references lately and though it'd be cool to merge those two things together into a small environment. I always wanted to make a european church because they have a very complex yet modular structure that makes them a good exercise. Also, they're interesting for composition.
The environment is a chapel located at the edge of the sea, under a cave. When the tide is high, the whole church is underwater. Seashells and seaweeds therefore called this place a home. When the tide is low, the church becomes a place of worship for a forgotten god.
I started gathering references:
I used a lot of personal photos I took in Bretagne (France), focused a lot on structural/modular elements and trims. I'm planning to introduce some marine elements like sharp rocks, bernacles, seaweeds, etc.. And will take a lot of inspiration from all the art around lovecraft's work.
I'm planning to get this done within a month or two. Here's a few shots of my blockout:
I feel like my composition could be stronger so any idea/feedback is welcomed :)
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i've some general comments about this interesting theme. i'll disclaim that my opinion comes from an outsider's view that lacks an intimate understanding of the writings but acknowledge the allure of it and am mostly familiar with the artwork inspired by it. from what i've gathered from snippets of the writing is a reoccurring component of the way things are described as unfathomable and indescribable, by what is not seen or explained, and i personally never see that captured by the art inspired by Lovecraft although the dark god doom mood is generally depicted on-point. i feel a correct treatment of these types of creatures and themes should hinge upon unique translations, being varied, abstract, and partially unidentifiable, 9 feet, almost 10 feet, away from the iconic mind flayer. i absolutely understand how that's no fun from a geek out perspective, which i feel should trump any artistic reasoning, just some thoughts that your cool project bubbled to the surface.
Thanks for this interesting insight @killnpc.
From that perspective, I'm thinking the silouette of my tentacular statue in the middle will evolve to something that less ressemble an octopus and more something organic and hard to describe, though still full of negative space to get some light going through.
I'm also thinking to put a bit of rocks climbing along the walls and make that a mix of sea rock (maybe with a flat state look) and organic/hard to describe stuff that could come from various animals/seashells. This should break the modular aspect of the church and make it harder to describe.
There sure is a lot of interesting material research do do 🤓.
I've been reworking my blockout a bit to figure out how to add a more organic feel to it. Also been reworking the statue silouette, I felt the shapes were already too stylized.
A bit more on the story:
The chapel is a place of worship of an ancient people of the sea. Human worshippers can only access this place where the tide is low, as the chapel is in a cave that's completely underwater otherwise. When the tide is high, the people from the sea would come and collect offerings made by the humans (body chained in front of the statue).
Humans would use doors but the ancient race would use the two water bassin next to the main statue and the tunnels dug in the roof to enter the church.
To relate to Lovecraft, I'm getting inspired by "The nameless city" novel, in which the readers discover a place of cult with odd architectural features, which they then understand once exploring further.
As the place was built by human worshippers, it follows humans architectural rules (hence the gothic chuch elements), but was progressively modified by the sea as the years went by.
I'll let that blockout mature over the weekend :)
Hey, cool blockout and atmosphere 👍️
I'd keep an eye on the statues' silhouette that it's readable and has room to breathe. If made from stone, thin pieces will likely break off over time. Overpaint with a very simple silhouette (maybe too simple)
Much success! 🚀