Aetherion | Heart of Arcane Power
Early exploration of irrigation wheels, that turned into water wheels
Lineup of some of the architecture. I wanted to have an oxidized copper with treated copper accents
Early water wheels exploration with different color scheme
Breakdown to show the sine-wave of the inner wheel.
Early thumbnails that didn't capture my vision. I wanted more final fantasy vibe instead.
Potential composition. I liked the repetition of wheels that I used for the final image
Painting test for some of the colors. I really liked the warmth against the cool, and this inspired me for the final image.
At last, my fantasy city painting is finished! Lately been a fan of sketching in 3D, it's so cool to deform objects in intricate ways.
I have a lot of exploration and brainstorming, but I want to add some more production sheets and material call-outs as well.
This time I also put in all my “failed attempts” and iterations, which helped me find the final design. Originally I wanted an irrigation wheel, this turned in to water mills. I didn’t like the visuals of them. I tried sketching out thumbnails, it was okay, but not what I had in mind.
I wanted to push myself, so I made another painting testing the colors, I liked the warm tones on the blues, but the contrast wasn’t there. Composition was nice and I really liked the repetition of wheels. I wanted something a bit more final fantasy-ish.
Began to sketch more in 3D, created helix shapes, something I never tried. It began to take shape and I love how the shapes became playful and imaginative. However I was missing grounded elements like grass trees and terrain.
So I tried again and I did some paint over on the 3d. Really like how it turned out in the end!!