Behind The Scenes: Mystery Shack (Patreon)

As we progress with out work and try out different styles, there is an opportunity to apply them on some of our older works. You see, even though I'm always looking for ways to improve my techniques, there are some works that withstand the sands of time, and look great even if they're less detailed or technical.

And there is one other reason I decided to rework my old low poly diorama. The original Mystery Shack is from a cartoon show. So anytime you're building something like this in 3D, you already need to think outside the original. And how would it look like, if you go way too far with the style transfer? That's what I wanted to find out, so I decided to change the cartoon into more realistic setting.

Visit the full Pinboard here

The research for reference is kind of obvious here and not a lot of things to find for inspiration. But it's not one bit less important to do. When you go for reproduction like this, it's essential to look at things from all the perspectives. Get a read on all important details.

That's why I included multiple styles of Mystery Shack reproduction, even the pixel art. There might be some details that get to stand out in different approach and it's a great learning excercise.

So I got all the references and the original. Why on earth would I waste time sketching it? Same as with the references, when you draw something, it's a great brain exercise. It forces you to pay attention to details, to proportions, the overall stylization of objects.

Suddenly it's a mindful problem solving activity, and you realize there are so many things you didn't give a second glance when looking at references.

So the reference gathering and sketching can work both ways for you. Either it helps you to collect a lot of different ideas and help create a brand new composition out of nothing, or they can help you to explore an existing motive down to a last nitty gritty detail and get the most out of your production time.

You can watch the process video on Youtube