CANOPY

You know that feeling when you look at something and you think, how on earth did they come up with that?

I find the machinations of creativity fascinating. Taking reference from what we know and holding tight to that tenuous link as we seek the new. How far can we push ourselves into the unknown? And even then, it’s not just the idea, it’s the execution where those boundaries are drawn. The battles I’ve seen architects wage as they see their vision through planning, approvals, and construction until the relief of the final result. 

For me, my process is fuelled by a passion for the built form, and the joy to practice the skills I have as an artist. This most recent concept came to me as a vision…

It was just a single fleeting idea. No hint as to where it came from. It has been in my head for a long time, so finally, I made a start. Not only because the idea was trying to get out, but because it is so different from my previous concepts. I’m trying to diversify what I produce artistically. This design is much more grounded. It sits on earth rather than elevated like my other designs and it’s circular in nature. To go further again with the concept, it has a more retail/commercial application.

As any artist or architect will know, working with clients can be challenging. It can be difficult to see what the client does in their minds eye and understand exactly what they want. You would think as this was my own project and as I was also the client, it would be a lot easier. Not so. 

While the actual modelling and rendering of this project was straightforward, there was a lot of design work beyond what my initial inspiration gave me  in order to fill out all the detail you see in the images. I had to consider the specifics of the restaurant, but more than that, each shot was planned progressively so that every angle would showcase the elements necessary to the story. 

You will see the orientation of the building needed to be such that it could be seen from the waterfall, and vice versa from the feature tree back towards it.

In many cases in a commercial studio environment, individual artists take on separate shots and only focus on what is seen in each. In this case I use just one 3d file with 8 stationary cameras, each with a separate keyed sun position. I did this for one of two reasons that are yet to play out. For file simplicity I may choose to animate these shots and render in the Chaos Cloud, or I may export the whole thing into Unreal using Datasmith. Either way, I took this opportunity to challenge myself in planning and efficiency, and am really happy with the way it came together.

I wanted to capture the feeling of the space, and even added a few subtle people to show commercial activity. It helps sell the idea of a restaurant and definitely helps convey the scale.

Probably the most important asset for this project is some rock assets from Quixel Megascans. They really help sell the environment, and quite frankly modelling and texturing the terrain by hand would have taken longer than I had time for, especially when you have access to such great assets. As usual, I used Forest Pro to scatter some of the trees and the ground cover.

I wish it was easier to describe the process I follow to help other aspiring artists or architects. In part it’s why I am trying to share some of my thoughts. However as you would appreciate, it isn’t always that simple. Art is a process, as is Architecture. Doing both at the same time takes practice. I spent a couple of months on this in my spare time, moving shapes, testing angles and bit by bit building up each area iteratively.

After each session I would test render all cameras and use those to markup and cross check against the others. I even had my kids help me find reference, and give feedback, which was beautiful to watch and engage with. Ultimately it helped my progress with mini clients to contend with. I think it’s important to show people your work, even as it progresses. Be open to ideas and feedback, and get help wherever you can. You may not know where that single vision comes from, but to bring it to life you may need help, even from the smallest of places.

If you ever have any questions or need some help, by all means reach out and get in touch.