About Me
Hi there! My name is Hayden VanEarden. I’m a 3D artist living in California. I currently work for a studio in Hollywood as a Project Manager. I can be found on most social media platforms as Hayden8or (Instagram | ArtStation).
Inspiration
I really enjoy creating 3D models with the illusion of looking 2D. It can be challenging at times to create depth based only on a 2D image, but I find the result really satisfying. This particular scene is based on artwork by Camila Amanda.
Modeling
This scene was created entirely using Blender version 2.82. It was important to me that objects looked like they had a hand-drawn outline. Luckily, Blender has a modifier called Solidify that makes it easy to do. Normally this modifier is used to add thickness to an object by solidifying it. In this case, I gave the objects a negative thickness, creating a shell around the objects that would be used for the outline. I also checked the ‘FIip Normals’ box which would reverse the visibility of the polygons only on the newly created geometry. This way it is possible to see the original object while the geometry created by the Solidify modifier just looks like an outline.
To create the clouds I used a lot of spheres and arranged them until I was happy with the shape.
Next, I used a boolean modifier to combine all the spheres into one solid object. I needed a solid object for each cloud to create the outline using the solidify modifier, but the topology wasn’t important for the effect.
For the clouds and the moon, both the inner object and outer “outline” object have their normals reversed because they both have objects inside of them that need to be seen.
Texturing
To create the illusion of a flat shadeless image in Blender, I used an emission shader for all materials. An important step is to check the Backface Culling box in the Material Properties settings for the materials being used for the outlines. This, combined with the reversed normals is what creates the illusion of the outline.
The textures were hand-painted in Blender. Most of the objects had their UVs projected. Only the cup was traditionally unwrapped.
Sketchfab
I set things up in Sketchfab very similarly to how I had them set up in Blender. The materials automatically appeared in the emission slot when I imported the file. The exact same 2D effect is also possible by putting the materials in the base color and setting shading to shadeless. I set Faces Rendering to single-sided for the outline materials. There are no lights in either scene because the objects are self-lit.
For post-processing, I added a touch of grain and a bit of bloom.
About the author
Hayden VanEarden
3D Generalist
