Get Inspired By Reference

Peter Polach shows how he sculpts and lights a diorama to help fuel his creepy, but illuminating digital art illustrations.

Painting over photos is generally frowned upon, because it’s often associated with infringing on someone else’s hard work. Yet when it’s done ethically it becomes an effective mixed media strategy.

For this workshop I want to try something new. Reaching my limit of imagining a complex 3D scene with tricky lighting combined with nostalgic feelings for my days of sculpting have prompted me to find my stash of oil-based clay and build my scene, which has proven to be both a useful and fun break from the digital world.

I decide to keep my first clay scene simple, with just one figure and a basic environment: a ruined wall, industrial pipes and general rubble.

Doing this prior to painting saves me a lot of time that I would otherwise spend fixing a picture that just seems odd for reasons unknown, as is so often the case. Better still, the irregular shapes of clay combined with natural light create situations that wouldn’t occur in a digital model of a similar scene.

This approach has promise and could solve several problems I’ve been having with my compositions, as well as increase the depth of a scene and reinforce the feeling of reality that I’m seeking. I’m hopeful for the future as I continue with more ambitious projects.

Aside from the sculpting aspect, the rest of my creative process follows my usual painting steps.

1 A hazy glimpse

I start with a simple sketch where I decide on the basics, such as the creature’s physiology, pose, light sources, composition and the overall mood of the illustration. Keeping my choices simple and vague enough ensures it’ll be relatively straightforward to translate my ideas into a diorama. I continue by selecting references that I’ll need, such as photos of urban ruins and factory environments.

2 Possibly pointless, but fun