I've been expanding my skill set to include matte painting techniques such as 3D modeling, photo-bashing, and camera projections.
Using primitive shapes and a model kit I created the castle and surrounding village in Maya. I then used Quixel Megascans textures for the castle, buildings, and background hill. When it came to UVs I used the camera based coordinate feature in Maya.
Maya's MASH instancing network allowed me to create a particle system on the hill mesh. Multiple tree models gave the terrain diversity and a naturalistic quality. Each model was given its own network in order to dial in the look I wanted.
When painting clouds I use a mix of traditional painting and photobashing. Alpha channels help me extract forms and details to enhance the the painting.
I challenged myself to build this scene completely in 3D. I really enjoyed being able to move my camera around and change lighting scenarios on the fly. It was much more flexible than doing the layout by hand. I used primitive shapes to add dramatic shadows to the scene.
With Gaea's procedural node-based workflow I quickly created multiple mountain ranges. By changing the seed value in my primitive shape nodes I was able to achieve vastly different variations while maintaining the look of the environment.
I use Redshift's Sky Dome with HDRI's to create natural lighting on my 3D scenes and models.
With this piece I heavily relied on photobashing. I used a simple 3D sketch in Maya for the initial layout and applied photo textures on top. Since I wanted to achieve an overall stylized look, I simplified by painting on top of the photos.
I use Nuke to project my layers on to cards and simple geometry I created in Maya.
Thanks for looking!