How to Set Up an Aquatic-Inspired Environment Set in an Alien World

Introduction 

Hello, my name is Anthony Gal, I'm a French Concept Artist specialized in environment design. I started 3D art around the age of 16, purely for fun, without really knowing it could be a profession. After high school, I went to a 3D animation and video game school, which helped me learn the basics and discover different software programs. 

During my second year, I discovered concept art, and I immediately knew that's what I wanted to do. From that moment, I went through a huge number of tutorials to acquire professional skills, and I've kept learning new techniques ever since. I wanted to learn everything, and I still do. I believe most of the skills I have today, whether 3D, my pipeline, painting, design, and more, come from those tutorials.  

Inspiration

For my project, Octofungus Nest, I had the opportunity to participate in a 5-day workshop with Sung Choi to create an alien or strange type of environment. I began by gathering references, taking notes, and developing a brief and a story for my concept. I found one reference in particular that inspired this kind of tunnel, and I wrote my story around it.

The reference reminded me of a seashell, so I decided to keep this aquatic and organic aspect for my environment, and while reflecting on that, the idea of the tentacles came to me. Then I looked for other references, for the tentacles, the strange plants surrounding the scene, or the ground of this place and its colors. 

Once my brief was clear, I was able to start working on my image. At first, I made a quick color sketch, a mix of photobash and paint, to better define my design and composition. At this stage, I wasn't aiming for something beautiful, just putting my ideas on paper and getting a quick overview of my concept.

When this stage was approved, I did a blocking of my scene in Blender to validate the composition and the lighting. My 3D objects at this point were very simple, without any details or textures. I only applied a gray shader to see if the lighting worked.

Modeling

For the modeling of my main subject, I started from my 3D blocking, which I imported into ZBrush to refine the model. First, I cleaned up the volumes using the ClayBuildup brush, and I also added details to areas by using rock and texture masks.

Then I added smaller volumes in certain areas to bring in more detail. To save time, I used basic models from Sketchfab: a cactus, a rock, and a coral, which I deformed and duplicated to create more abstract shapes, and with the Bend Curves tool, I placed these objects onto my main model.

The last step of my modeling was adding the tentacles around my object. I sculpted a straight tentacle, then deformed it with the Bend Curves tool to adapt it to my model and create the curves I wanted. I also made a few adjustments to make the shape look better.

Once the modeling was done, I used ZBrush's Decimation tool to reduce the polygon count of my objects, then imported them into Blender, replacing my original blocking models, and that was it for the modeling part.

Texturing 

To save time, I reused the abstract objects I had made in ZBrush to create some of the plants surrounding my scene. For the others, I used Quixel plants that I modified in Blender, changing their colors and experimenting with displacement. That allows me to rapidly build a diverse and unique set of plants.

Next, I textured my models. For this, I work with procedural materials, so I don't need to unwrap the UVs. I only used abstract textures found online for the diffuse, and I plugged them into the Generated Mapping. Then I worked with Color Ramps to adjust the Roughness and Bump Maps to create the final textures.

Here you can see my Blender models with their textures applied. As you can see, it's not perfect, but since the goal is to make an image, it's quicker to paint and photobash during the paintover than to spend extra time refining these textures.

The final stage was assembling the scene. I placed the plants around my main subject and on the ground using Blender's particle system. Then I adjusted the mood by tweaking the lighting, the environment color, and adding an image plane for the sky. Once that was finished, the only thing left was the final render.

Painting

When the render is finished, I move into Photoshop to do my painting. My first step is to play with my render passes to improve the image. I usually use the Mist Pass, Ambient Occlusion, and ID Map to help select objects. Then I paint over the areas that aren't clean and I adjust my values, shadows, and lighting. To finish, I add textures through photobashing and paint where needed to make it look better.

Next, I add my background, and I change my sky. For this part, I use photos and apply adjustments to match the Colors, Lighting, and values so that they blend with the foreground. I use Curves, Levels, Color Balance, and Soft Brush painting to make these adjustments. I also paint over it to remove unnecessary details and improve the readability of the image.

Finally, I make the last adjustments to the image, on the values and atmosphere, painting, colors, and cleaning certain areas, and once that's done, the image is finished.

Conclusion

For this concept, it took me a total of five days to complete, including the idea research and the writing of the brief, which was the hardest part of the project. It was really important for me to come up with an original idea. There are already countless concepts with alien or strange themes, and I wanted to create something new, not just something that has been done a thousand times before.

In this project, my 3D render was less detailed compared to some of my other concepts, which allowed me to focus more on the 2D work and give it a more painterly feel. Personally, I think this adds something unique to the final result. On top of that, the paintover stage is one of my favorite parts of the pipeline.

Breaking the 3D and trying to make the image feel more alive is a very enjoyable part of the process. For anyone looking to improve or learn 3D techniques for concept art, I highly recommend the tutorials by Jama Jurabaev and Florent Lebrun for creating scenes in Blender. For ZBrush, Pablo Dominguez's "Environment Concept Art" course on Learn Squared is very good.

Anthony Gal, Concept Artist

Interview conducted by Amber Rutherford