Initial Ideas

Focusing on the themes and my board on Samurai, Bushido & Shinto I want to create a 3D environment or diorama while also incorporating elements of 2D in areas like the environment design and sketches (like blocking out in 3D then moving to photoshop to draw it out before fully modelling it, almost creating concept art for my own 3D scene). So using a mix of 2D and 3D to create a 3D environment diorama of a Japanese or Samurai themed Diorama. In these scene I want to my main focus of a Torii gate in the center then build around it, adding things like tree/s grass and some shrine based architecture like banners or lanterns or even base the scene around a Shrine or Temple building (could have a bell building). Even just rocks and flowers to set dress it more as I would like to move towards a realistic scene. However there are elements that move away from realism that I would like to add such as the Kami and Yokai (gods and monsters) and things that suit the more mystical and spiritual side of Japan and Shinto. But not just set dressing the scene with spiritual elements but also play with the textures so that they may not be 100% realism focused and might have a specific art style instead depending on the theme of the piece, if it's dark and towards the sinister side it could have darker and more scratchy textures, or broken models whereas on the more light side the textures could look more "comfy" and cartoonish and don't impose so much threat. Colour wise I was thinking on the same colours of my board depending on the style or them of the diorama, but the main focus of colour would be the reds of the torii gate and any shrine architecture and how it contrasts to the green of any greenery. On the other hand if the scene takes a more dark tone, you would put degrading reds vs washed out greens. I also thought on the idea of splitting the scene with realism on one side and spiritual on the other, the 2 sides of the Torii gate. However you can also split the side of the Torii gate being both spiritual and having one be the good/enlightenment whereas the other would be the evil side affecting colour and texture. In the scene itself as well I want to depict a more spring or autumn based theme (so moving away from winter and snow or loads of flowers) I want greenery in trees and leaves along the floor while maybe also having a pink cherry tree depending on the season chosen. Also I've though about how destroyed I want the scene to be, while including shrine like architecture and having the torii gate, it could still be a battlefield or a place where a battle might have been. some poles might be broken, there could be dried blood or torn banners. Broken or burnt items with leftover swords in the ground. Although I'm not 100% on what exactly I want to include within the scene and the direction of the them I want to go towards, the 3D diorama allows for leeway with what I want to include or not include allowing for how complex or how simple I want to scene to be. The minimum however I would like to include a Torii gate, some environmental scenery with greenery (leaves, grass, maybe some flowers), rocks then some shrine set dressing with lanterns or shrine stand with some banners and stones. Then with some humanity involved with signposts or swords or an old fire, things left behind (offers to the dead?). Then modifying and adding assets to fit the theme chosen. Also then with the mix of 3D and 2D environment, If I move away from a Diorama and move to a render I can then add things in 2D if I don't have the skill to create them in 3D. But also if I decide to actually work on and develop proper shrine building I will simplify my other surrounding as a building requires more work.

Here are the 2 pieces that inspired my Idea of a 3D diorama:

Shrine Diorama - Lewis Hewison

I really like the scene, however I don't just want to recreate the scene: especially since it's outside my ability to include rain effects on the render and environment in Unreal engine and to use fire effects & lighting like having candles however I do want to try and learn to include some of these aspects if possible. Also I want to shift the colours and this scene although I'm heavily inspired by I don't like the lack of colour other than the red leaves on the floor. I want to include red leaves actually on trees and to make things like the torii gate and statues or any built thing to have paint to have that distinct red. Especially since I want to make the things in my scene look Wooden rather than stone statues like in this piece.

Ghost of Tsushima Inspired Diorama - Anand Halbhavi

Again including a mix of 2D and 3D but this time I'd do Assets instead of an environment or diorama. For my assets I'd make A suit of Samurai armour and sword/s to create a samurai set. I would use Japanese mythology and the ideas of shinto and bushido to affect the assets themselves. So in this case the project would be based around symbolism and how the design of the armour, weapons and sheath would symbolize this knowledge on Japanese gods or spirits and also how they view death. With things like seppuku, where you commit ritual suicide to bring back honour, there is symbolism in this honor and how it connects to the spirits of the shinto religion. But then there's all this mythology of monsters and demons that could almost affect the armour as with things like buddhism in japan the point of rebirth is to eventually reach enlightenment and move away from the evils of the physical earth. There is a lot of folklore and story that can be told through design of armour and assets. Thinking about things like the metals and materials of the armour which affect colour and theme can change the entire design. As you can make it lavish using things like silver and gold and ornamental engraving into it. But you could have it simple and blood stained, worn out colour and die with scratches and cracks as it's battle worn. Material and colour change the theme of the design extremely, as dark reds and light blues give off different emotions. Again linking back to the good and evil side of the spiritual side of Japan, you have whites, pinks and golds vs blacks and reds with saturation changes with whether or not it's mellow or stands out. Or you could go realism and move away from ornamental designs and focus on the actual parts of the armour like how these straps connect there and properly having a set with everything that connects. But at the same time you have the hierarchy in Japan with how important you are in the society affects how luxurious your set would be. Like generals would have a lot more gold on them and larger shoulder pads while also having a large mane on top or a larger moustache on the face mask.

Some Ghost of Tsushima 3D models made by TRACE Studio (taken from artstation):

This idea is more of a 2.5 where if the challenge of making a Suit of Armour and the weapons in 3D is too difficult and I can't do it, even when using a base model to build off of, I can move over to 2D and character design doing Character Concepts and turn arounds. This is again keeping the same themes of Samurai and Shinto but going full 2D rather than a suit of armour it would be a set of characters and their own armour - this time including the person underneath. There are elements here when blocking out in 3D can still be useful and thinks like materials and the texture of the armour or weapons would be easier to implement by using 3D tools like Substance Painter to get a more realistic look before transporting the look from 2D and stylizing them or trying to recreate them. This would be creating turn around concepts and final designs of characters that link to these rebirth ideas in Shinto using their armour and weapons as symbolism to show the character and ideas through. Using same colour ideas as before when it comes to what's spiritual or realistic during a time period of constant war and battle.

Moving towards designs and work like these: (maybe not including background detail, but designing and silhouetting the armour before moving onto colour and more detailed work to build it and add variations).

This time moving away from my original interest in the themes of Japan mythos, religion, culture and war with samurai and kami and the architecture of shrines. Instead moving onto a sci fi element as most of the inspiration comes from the game series "Destiny". As the game is centered around light vs dark and being reborn in this world of fleeting light to fight the darkness there are many special/unique "exotic" weapons in the game that have been forged in light or dark or both and have a lot of lore and story surrounding them. As such I have an interest in this idea of a mix of sci fi and modern weaponry to create this unique weapons designs that tell a story through symbolism and design to their backstory. I want to use a mix of 2D for Design and then 3D for the actual creation of a single or few (or just alterations on a single design) design and model of a weapon that I feel links to these themes of rebirth. Creating a gun and having it being reborn with these various magics and sources of power within the series. These sci fi weapons however can also take inspiration from the real world, as the destiny series is based in the future of the real world, but way in the future with aliens and a bunch of sci fi aspects but then because its built on top of real life it allows real life aspects to affect these weapons other than just fictional ones. As you have fictional elements like a hivemind with wicked magics that infect and take over like a disease and you have a travelling planet that releases from ai robots called ghosts that have the power to bring people back to life so they can fight against the enemies of humanity and use these powers that take the form of different elements like solar, void or arc and this leads to guns being influenced by aspects like real world mythos, game stories, alien races, future tech and magic all to build these unique weapons.

Destiny 2 Weapon Concepts (taken from Art Station):

Destiny 3D gun Models: