Week 1 Challenge – Environment Design

Inspiration

For the environment design challenge, I created a run-down dystopian city inspired by games like The Last Of Us and its sequel. The references used included art inspired by the games as well as regular cityscapes to get the correct perspective and shape for the buildings.

Process

To create the cityscape, I started with an initial sketch following perspective lines; after that I created a colour palette and blocked in the base colours before moving onto shading them and adding detail. As the light is diffuse there arent any harsh shadows.

I created the background clouds by blocking in chunks of different shades of grey then blending them into each other to create and overcast look. Then after finishing the buildings, I used an airbrush tool to obscure the more distant structures.

evaluation

With more time I’d improve this work by adding more detail in the foreground and creating more realistic lighting as the grey fog makes the image seem flat. The piece could also be improved by adding more detail in the foreground and having the lines of the piece point towards a more important focal point.

References

Fig 1 – Andy Walsh, Post Apocalyptic Ruined City [Digital], Available at : d4we0mt-4a8073b7-19a6-4765-8f73-947ca8c62bdd.jpg (686×930) (wixmp.com)

Fig 2 – Unknown Author (circa 1897-1924), A photochrom postcard published by the Detroit Photographic Company, Available at : File:Detroit Photographic Company (0610).jpg – Wikimedia Commons