Welcome to The Empire Monthly Challenge!
You are all welcome to stretch your artist legs. Get out of your comfort zone or artist block, and unleash your full potential!
There are no winners or prizes, it's all about challenging yourself. The deadline is purely to indicate the start of the next challenge, if you need more time to finish up that's okay.
Modifiers are optional rules for the challenge that allow you to push your skills even further!
Environment Challenge - Lighting Focus
The Staircase
In this challenge we want you to forget about complex models, but fully focus on rendering out this shot. Nail the composition and lighting first, then move on to accurately portraying the materials and their subtle roughness.
Whilst the focus is on lighting, creating the correct textures will be relevant too. Notice how there is barely any noise in the diffuse in the scene, it's all normals and roughness!
Prop Challenge - Hard Surface Focus
EE-3 Carbine Rifle
In honour of the new Star Wars movie, but also the Mandalorian series we challenge you to create the EE-3 Carbine Rifle used by Boba Fett.
Based on the Webley No. 1 Mark 1 Flare Gun from the British army it often sports a dark metal or rusted look on-screen, but we'd love to see you incorporate wood, some camouflage wrappings or other ideas!
Substance Challenge - Material Focus
Art Nouveau Doors
As we are entering the new year, it's time for some new art, or "art nouveau" in French. Most popular from the 1890's to the 1910's it combines forms from nature like plants and flowers with dynamic curves creating a sense of movement.
For this challenge we've got a tough one ready for you, we'd like you to recreate this intricate door designed by Lavirotte. Creating the subtle curves and he worn down wood so provide some good practice!
Door by Jules Lavirotte, picture provided by SiefkinDR
Substance Challenge - Material Focus
Lizard Scales
The scales of the desert spiny lizard, or sceloporus magister, will change colour to regulate the lizard's body temperature, sometimes turning to very vivid blues, yellows and reds depending on the surrounding climate.
Nailing the colours, but also the almost metal like reflections of the scale should be fun to do. You could even use specular colour to try and fake the almost iridescent feel of the scales!
