How to set up a city scene with unique architecture using Blender

introduction

Hello folks! I’m Matthew Hickey, an environmental artist looking for my first role in the games industry. My passion for 3D art began a few months before I started studying. I wanted to get a head start on some of the things we would be covering in the course, so one of the tutors recommended I try Blender and I’ve been hooked ever since.

I studied games art and design at Norwich University of the Arts. After graduating, I developed my skills using various online resources (tutorials, articles, breakdowns) and collected feedback on my work through Discord servers such as ExperiencePoints and Dinusty Empire.

My interest in environmental art began with games like Minecraft and Terraria. I would spend hundreds of hours building elaborate bases, outposts and camps and adding small story elements.

First steps

The Strange City project was largely inspired by a beautiful piece of conceptual art by Ukrainian artist Maksym Harahulin. I liked the sense of scale and how the composition felt almost claustrophobic, even though it was a fairly large space.

The concept is very reminiscent of the Dishonored games and through this connection I found many impressive images of neoclassical architecture in the city of Edinburgh. As I refined the blockout, I decided that I wanted to incorporate some of these details into the design of the buildings and my cladding.