Underworld Ascendant "Progression of an Art Concept" Blog Update

OtherSide Entertainment's official Underworld Asdcendant website is sporting a new blog update called "Progression of an Art Concept" that features art lead Dave Flamburis taking us through the process of creating a piece of digital concept art. An excerpt:

For this piece, I start with no lights at all, just a black scene, and add a single point light. And then another, and another. I'll add a few fill lights to pull out ambient form, but the key lights, which are brighter and colored, are the scene's focal points. So although the previous slide shows a much denser environment, we strip away most of the form and re-add it one light at a time.

The lights are casting shadows and are fully dynamic. I'm using 3ds max's Octane renderer, which allows me to use dynamic shadows directly in the viewport, so there's no need to render out a frame. It's a real-time environment and aside from lack of global illumination, it does a decent job of establishing mood.

Next I'll snag the viewport and bring the image into Photoshop for overpainting.

The rock formations along the back are derived from the cathedral-like forms. There's a dynamic and fantasy aspect to the rocks. However, I left the center entrance more defined for contrast. I want a nice cluster of worked stone around the opening. I'm also playing with the idea of using stalagmites as small columns. Not quite sure if this is going to survive the concepting phase.