INTRODUCTION
Hi! My name is Nicolas and I am a Colombian motion graphics artist with a sweet spot for both 3D and 2D animation. I discovered Blender 8 years ago and since then, I have fallen deeply in love with its environment and community.
INSPIRATION
My inspiration for this piece comes from the Studio Ghibli movies as well as the amazing work of Blender artists. I saw their creativity to blend 2D and 3D in such a beautiful way that I knew I had to experiment with those tools and techniques.
PROCESS
References
I started collecting some references using PureRef which is a great software for creating a mood board, taking early notes, and putting all my ideas in one place to visit whenever needed.
Modeling
The modeling of the mushroom house was the first thing I did and then I built the rest of the project around it.
In the beginning, I envisioned the mushroom house in a forest surrounded by tall grass but I could not get a nice composition, and that made me drift from the soil-type scene to the floating islands, which were more in the fantasy realm and aligned with my inspiration.
When I was done with the environment, I started with the little creatures who live in this cozy space.
I am not a particularly skilled 2D animator so it was important for me that the design was simple as well as their movements.
Shading
I followed some YouTube tutorials for the Toon shaders, particularly the Lightning Boy Studio’s tutorial which helped me get a better understanding of a complex light setup in a cell shade style.
Finally, I used Lexica to create the sky background image and After Effects to render the final piece including the music.
RENDER: Mushroom Islands
Thank you for reading this article. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me through any of my social media accounts. Have a great day!
About the Artist
Nicolas Garcia is a motion graphics artist from Bogota, Colombia, with more than 12 years of experience in the industry, currently working as a lead motion designer in a Dubai-based studio.
