Research
The game I decided to research on is Ori and the Blind Forest. I purchased it on steam and played it for about 2 hours. It is a lovely drawn Metroidvania-style game with beautiful journey.
The plot is a fairy tale. The spirit tree in the forest narrates the story of a guardian spirit ‘Ori’. He was adapted by a creature called Naru. Naru died when forest wither came and Ori was left alone.
Ori encountered Sein and began a journey to find three elements to recover the forest. They met two primary characters, Gumo and Kuru. Many moving plots happened during the game. In the end Naru was back, and Ori finally restored the forest.
It shows the connection between natural and life. I like the design of the gates and spirit well in this game.
Thumbnailing and Story
I had an inspiration about a herbalist ‘Illino’ who lives in a forest and planting herbs and cure people’s diseases with her herbal potion.
Ori and the Blind Forest revoked my inspiration about her. It also gave me some ideas about how I could design the facilities near ‘Hidden Spring’ in the forest where Illino grow herbs.
Thumbnailing: a gate of the Hidden Spring, a stele of the spring, a lamp, a kettle and a lotus pond.
I like the idea of the lotus pond the most. It reminds me of the Great Fairy Fountain in Zelda Breath of the Wild when I finished drawing.
Concept Art
When I was researching on water-filled bamboo tubes, I found a Japanese device to frighten away animals. It is called Shishi-odoshi. These fountains are intended to startle any herbivores such as deer or boars which may be gazing on the plants.
So this artefact would be a fountain for Illino to protect her herbs. The water of this artefact comes from the hidden spring.
I took inspiration from this design and created my first concept art.
Model & Texture
I used Maya to model, and used Photoshop to draw the texture.
Render
At First I render it in a normal way with some Arnord default settings.
However, what I really want is traditional ink painting.
I duplicated the mesh to create a outline of the mesh.
Final Outcome