Behind the Scenes: Abandoned Ice Cream Shop

INTRODUCTION

Hi, my name is Camila Oliveira and I am from Brazil. I discovered Blender about two years ago which fascinated me so much that I've been studying it since then. I’m really happy to share a few steps of my project.

INSPIRATION

I created this project to take part in a challenge at Revolution School. I really enjoy participating in challenges, especially because of the feedback I get. The challenge proposal was to create a scene with a winter theme. 

I was inspired by the winter where I live, which is wet and cloudy with no snow. 
I also got inspired by a song I like called The Woods, from the British band Daughter, which tells about a kid who got lost in the woods during winter.  

So, I tried to create a scene with winter, woods, and a kid. The idea of the ice-cream shop came up a bit later. 

PROCESS

Sketch

This is the first idea I had. I tried my best on a 2D sketch. It was just a kid in a yellow coat standing in the woods.

Block out

At the blocking stage, I felt this scene was too empty.

So, I started to think about adding another element. I thought about creating a scenario that seemed abandoned, with a post-apocalyptic feeling, so I decided to make the ice-cream shop.

Modeling

Since I had just one week to make this scene, I tried to do really simple modeling so I could focus more on the texturing. For most of the models, I just used a Bevel Modifier.

The most elaborated model was the character. I modeled it in Sculpt Mode. I wanted the kid to look mysterious, so I modeled a big hood and I put the kid’s eyes in the shadows. I wanted the kid to get most of the attention in the composition, so I made the jacket yellow and a bit shiny. 

Texturing

The texture I like the most is the texture of the ground. I did it in three parts: dry concrete, wet concrete, and moss. Then I used procedural masks to combine them. 

For the ice-cream shop wall, I created two materials: one for the blue part of the wall and one for the yellow part, but they are basically the same; the only difference is the color. Then I downloaded a wall texture from Polyhaven and did some adjustments. I also used Ambient Occlusion and Separate XYZ to create a mask and used it in the Mix Color and Bump nodes, to give the wall a worn appearance.

A really important element in my scene is the fog. I used Volume Scatter Shader and I put a Noise Texture with a bit of distortion in it. I also used Separate XYZ to make it less dense near the camera.

And that was it! Below are the final renders.

RENDER : Abandoned Ice Cream Shop

Thank you for reading my article, and I hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to ask questions on my social media. Have a great day!

About the Artist                       

Camila Oliveira is a 3D artist from Brazil. She is currently working as a freelancer.