Fab Creatures Wood Fire

7s

Animation created using 3DS Max. Small pile of roughly 10 wooden logs made up of various shapes and sizes. Moving wooden flames hover above and flicker.

Fab Creatures

Read the project write-up This is the technical write-up

Inspired by nature

A miniature fantastical scene which shows off the natural beauty of wood, Fab Creatures uses subtle animation and a continuous zoom as a simple device to move us through this sculptural space. 

triangles Created with Sketch. circles2 Created with Sketch.
Rough sketch of the character with the head of a fox as a standalone character, and then within the scene. These are initial rough sketches for design purposes, on a light brown background with annotations.
Colour artwork of the character with the head of a fox that has been coloured with various shades of brown. With the additions of pink, blue and black for details and contrast. The scene is on a grey background, next to a photo of a wooden dear and painted wooden paddles for artistic reference
Image shows the scene of the character with the head of a fox. The image has been made up in 3DS Max however is still in grey scale.

We've been wanting an excuse to work with wooden textures for a while now, and what better way to explore than with some fantastical nature-y scenes! 

Part of the fun of this piece was establishing the layout and what kinds of creatures we would feature. The design includes 2 wooden frames, each with its own scenario and character, adorned with natural elements and the odd fun item thrown in, such as the love heart and the radio.

What fox is complete without a pair of wings? 

circles3 Created with Sketch.
In colour version of the scene of the character with the head of a fox. Created in 3DS Max  and with a Black background and a shadow.

You can't go wrong with a few neon pops of colour and if you look closely you'll notice a range of wood tones, gradients and textural details which help to give that tangible feeling of real wood, rather than something built in 3D. 

Keeping the background dark helps the final piece to pop, and sets it off as a sculptural piece like something on display, magically coming to life. 

hops1 Created with Sketch.
Read the project write-up This is the technical write-up