The Lumen Icons - Rookie Entry

The Lumen Icons is a triptych of digital celestial jewelry looks. The goal of my work is to merge two different art mediums into one beautiful piece. In this case, I was merging Motion Design with Editorial Photography.

PROCESS: Experimentation

My creation process started with what I envisioned in my head, and how I was going to transmit that into a form that everyone could view, partake in, and enjoy. I really love motion design, but I also really enjoy editorial photography. Thus, my thesis for merging the two mediums began to take shape.

I started by experimenting with a photograph of my model Kaisin that I took prior. I tried compositing assets that I designed in Cinema 4D with the photograph in Photoshop, but I wasn’t getting the results that I was looking for. I wanted to be able to have the shadows cast from the objects to be dynamic with her face. In other words, I wanted everything to be procedural so I wouldn't have to keep repainting the shadows whenever I moved or added jewelry assets.

Evoke - Second Pass

For each look, I started with a photoshoot session, and then I used camera projection in Cinema 4D.

Once I modeled the head and did the UV maps and projection, the fun jewelry experimentation began! I initially started with RedShift render at first (above) but I wasn't happy with the shadows and what the shadows were doing with the mesh when I tried to animate the jewelry, so I switched to Octane (below).

After a lot of critique and revisions, I decided to go through with a look that encapsulated the head and would open up revealing the face inside. Above are a few viewport captures.

Once everything looked right I set the piece to render and ta-da! There she goes! I then basically did the same process with the other two looks and that was my process for my art collection!

Thank you!