Week 7: Cube World

 

When we first started the Cube World project, I honestly had no clue what I wanted it to be. No concept, no aesthetic, no idea. So I browsed for inspiration and slowly, the idea came: since we had the isometric grid and floating base, I wanted floating islands, maybe something that would inspire the feeling of a mysterious forest, trees with overgrown roots and maybe a round faerie gate, taking you to other magical places (or, in the case of a video game, another level perhaps). 

I started gathering images in my mood board and jotting down ideas, the main things I wanted to convey through my drawing of the Cube World, and also the ways I might be able to do that: 

After the mood board was done, I started sketching some ideas, figuring out what exactly I wanted my mysterious floating islands to look like. I knew I wanted them to seem like they have been dislodged from a bigger piece of land. I also wanted a tree that would grow over the stone gate, some floating steps that would lead from one island to the other and some details, some kind of objects that would make the space look less empty. this way, I ended up with my first sketch:

It was nice, but a bit simplistic and didn’t portray the sense of mystery I was looking for. Plus, it gave me a bit of a childish vibe. So I made more sketches. The second one, I went for a similar form, but linked the two islands through the roots. I made the tree a bit more massive and the foliage flatter so it fit in with the composition:

The third one, I went for a slightly different approach, to see how it would fit: 

It resembled more of a temple entrance, hidden into the trunk of an old tree, merging with its surroundings. I liked the idea, since it gave off an eerie feeling, making you ask yourself what could be hidden behind that entrance, but I wanted to keep the original one of the faerie gate. I was conflicted, so I placed them all on the same page to figure out which one I liked most, which had the best composition and conveyed what I wanted.

For the first one, though I liked the form of the tree hugging the gate, it was the first idea and it seemed too simple. The two islands didn’t connect enough in the composition, something that the other two did well. The second one I liked, especially the way only the base of the tree could be seen, extending upwards and disappearing, conveying the massiveness. Still, I liked the third one in the picture best, due to the way the islands are linked to each other by the roots of the tree, making the composition flow nicely. 

I took the sketch and started painting over it, starting with the flat colours and working my way through the drawing, building up the shadow, the light and details:

Some details, such as the floating stone to the right, the bird in the tree and the changing in the stairs' positioning were added after getting feedback, and helped make the composition more balanced and interesting.

While working on this project I had the chance of getting out of my comfort zone, since drawing environments has never been my strong point. I always prefered drawing characters, rather than places. I was scared at first, thinking that I would not succeed creating anything, but I worked on it and pushed through. Though still a bit messy, my workflow has improved a lot too since the treasure chest project, helping me work faster through this one.