Wroclaw Underpass - Brick, Railing, Road

This material was kick-started when I was flicking back through some photos I took a couple of years ago on a trip to Wroclaw. I’d taken the photograph originally because I thought it was an interesting piece that could one day inspire a simple project: One material, Bricks and railings, presented on a cylinder, typical displaced render, all very standard. But then, as I progressed, it grew; maybe it would be fun to see if I could recreate the shot more accurately than a single displaced material would allow. Maybe it would even be cool to include the road as another mat. Eventually, it expanded to the result you see here, featuring a little modelled scene, 3 full materials, and a bundle of surfaces on top of that. I initially kept fairly close to the reference, but as I progressed, I decided to have some fun with it and worked in some of the details I find interesting, damage and leaks, etc. So the final piece is a bit grungier than its real-life counterpart.

I've also included some breakdowns to shed some light on the techniques that I used in the graph. I've been working in this more modular way for a while now. I find that creating surfaces in isolation helps me focus on catching the right look, independent of the larger structure in the end goal material and unobscured by some of the larger dirt and variation I usually add in most materials.

It has been nearly a decade since I have had some personal work to share. There have been plenty of false starts and projects that never quite crossed the finish line, but I have a few more cooking, so watch this space.