Colson Engelberger - Entry 2021, "Into Dreams"

This environment served as my Senior Thesis at Ringling College of Art and Design. When constructing my environment, I stood by certain pillars of design that would help to convey the mood of my space. I wanted the environment to seem whimsical and fantastical, yet also serene. This project has taught me more than I ever thought I'd know, and forced me to grow exponentially as an artist within a relatively short amount of time. 

Pictured below is the entrance to the garden. I wanted the outside to feel archaic yet welcoming, as though one was returning to their comfort place after a long time of hardships. 

Throughout the garden are various shrines the player worships. These provide a direct link to the Garden's patron goddess. By communicating with her, the player is able to travel deeper into the ruins. Pictured below is the first of these shrines. The shot below's composition was nailed down very early in development, and stayed fairly consistent from the earliest concept art to the finished product. 

Below is the deepest point in the Garden. The final shrine and where the player makes their final wish. While the shot above came to me very naturally, this shot definitely went through the most iterations to really get right, changing compositions multiple times before landing on the final. My biggest takeaway while working on this shot was that I model and block out spaces quicker than I can paint them, leading me to put less of an emphasis on my drawings and more time using primitives to block out my ideas.

The player character, Nikos. The player controls him to explore the garden and rid him of a curse that is slowly killing him.

Below is a trailer I made to show off the shots and environment in motion!