Deciding a Theme
For my main theme, I was immediatley drawn towards fantasy. This is because I spend much of my free time creating and planning DnD campaigns for my friends, and being able to create an asset fitting with this theme would allow me to represent many of the ideas I have had visually.
When it came to deciding a sub theme, I had many more options to choose from. Before narrowing my choices down, I managed to decide on creating some form of crystal as it was a key item in the last DnD campaign I ran and I wanted to create an asset at least inspired by it. To help myself visualise and to develop my idea further, I searched Pinterest for images which were similar to what I had in mind yet slightly different so I had chance to explore different approaches to my initial idea.
Asset Idea
After some research, I decided on Beauty as my sub-theme, as I wanted to create a crystal held in a stand on an ornate pedestal. As I plan for my main building in my landscape to be a temple, I believe that this would make a good centre piece as it will be an artifact displayed at it centre. I also want to make the pedestal fit in with the surrounding area, but with the crystal held on top being a shade of purple/blue to make it significantly stand out. After I collected these images, I decide that I would sketch a final version of my idea physically, so I could show the ideas that I had gathered from Pinterest combined with the mental image of my asset from my head.
By sketching out my plan for the asset, it means I have a better visual image of what I plan to create instead of Pinterest images which I’ve only taken aspects from and don’t truly represent my idea. It also allowed me to test out different looks for my asset and figure out which I prefered. I eventually decided to have the crystal part of my asset suspended in a stand instead of having it floating or held by a chain. I think this will work better than the other ideas as it will not distract from the rest of the asset but will still be fitting with my chosen theme.
I believe that my asset will make an appropriate and effective centre piece for my environment as it embodies the theme of Fantasy Beauty well by being both aesthetically pleasing and fitting for a fantasy world too. It will also be the most intriguing of the assets in my environment and will be the centre of attention because of this, making the viewer wonder about the story behind the mysterious yet beautiful crystal display.
References
Fig.1 – Momo Ne Momo (2019) Mana well [Digital artwork] Available Online: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/mq0mW9 [Accessed 15/05/23]
Fig.2 – Leaf Blade (n.d.) Vain crystal iPhone wallpaper, Available Online: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/601863937721712547/ [Accessed 15/05/23]
Fig.3 – Unknown (n.d.) League of Legends Rune, Available Online: https://euw.leagueoflegends.com/en/featured/preseason-update/8200-8229?build=21102113 [Accessed 15/5/23]
Fig.4 – Kosik, A. (2020) Arcane Crystal [Digital artwork] Available Online: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/YamJV6 [Accessed 15/05/23]