Telling stories through lighting

"Telling stories through lighting" is my personal portfolio, it describes how I feel whenever I start a new archviz project.

Before starting with the images, let me tell you a brief introduction to my own story, as it has had a great influence in all the projects that I am going to present below.

During the last two years I have lived through some of the events that had brought me here. First of all, I became a mother and the experience transformed me in some many ways, but I didn't noticed until a year later, when I lost my last job, in this exact moment I realized that I had to pursue my dreams and learn what I feel I have always wanted to do, telling stories through images and bringing spaces to life.

Back to childhood

“Playing, for a child, is the possibility of cutting out a little piece of the world and manipulating it, alone or with friends, knowing that where they cannot reach, they can invent it.” Francesco Tonucci.

Architecture: The kindergarten school El Til-ler, by Eduard Balcells, Ignasi Rius and Daniel Tigges Arquitectos, in Barcelona, Spain.  

The exterior images are based on the original photographs by Adrià Goula. I really enjoyed researching and imagining the activities that take place in a kindergarten and then capturing them at different times of the day.

The image above shows the arrival at the school, the early morning lighting  is warm, generating a sense of welcome. Next image is set in the kindergarten's playground, the day is clear and children can enjoy themselves playing in the midday sun.

Now focusing on the teachers, on the resting space at the entrance of the classroom, a semi-shaded space that invites to relax while watching the children playing in the playground

For the interior images I chose a classroom for 2-3 year olds and the eurythmics hall.

I wanted to show the children's classroom in two different moments of the day. The first moment is focused on the preparation of the day's activity by the teachers, the sun is rising and everything is orderly and calm. 

The second moment is the classroom after the pupils have arrived and the activity has been carried out, with daylight and a more lively atmosphere, with the typical messiness of children.

In the eurythmics hall I wanted to experiment with artificial lighting. I recreated a sensorial activity where cold coloured lights play a leading role, in contrast with the sunset dying the sky with its orange hue.

With this last image I wanted to show a detail of the construction set on the classroom table, with a very horizontal light that accentuates the geometric figures.

The making of

This project was modelled with 3dsmax and rendered with VRay. To scatter the vegetation as well as the glasses, bottles and balls I used Forest Pack. The postproduction is made with Photoshop.

These are the phases in which I have created this project:

1. Modelling the base architecture and the terrain to choose the framing and make lighting tests.

2. Testing color prior to texturing in order to try the colour palette and adjust the lighting.

3. Creation of the final materials and choice of assets and vegetation for each scene.

In the sliders you can see these phases in reverse order, starting with the final render.

This project has been a challenge in itself, as it was the first large-scale project I had undertaken. All the architecture, the terrain and the fixed furniture of the classroom were modelled by me. Some assets have also been modelled by me, such as the books, the construction set, the hoops, balls and coloured glasses. The rest of the assets and vegetation were downloaded from different sites like Sketchfab, 3dsky, Polyhaven, Quixel Bridge, Ambient CG, Textures.com and CG Trader.

The fabrics of the eurythmics hall and the cushion were modelled with Marvelous Designer, here I show some images of the process.

An example of the materials created for these scenes. The wood for the facade, the railing and plywood for the interior cladding.

Is it fall already?

"End of September, it's early in the morning, the little inhabitant has woken up and looks at the pool wondering if she can still have the last swim of the season, while she enjoys breakfast in her favourite corner of the house.”

Architecture: Villa Jesolo in Lido, Italy, by JM Architecture.

This was my first render for my master´s degree in butic The New School. The task was to portray this villa from our particular point of view.

I did this project last summer, while my 18 months-old spent the day looking out of the only picture window we luckily have in our flat, the only accesible point for her to look out onto the street without having to ask adults for help. So I tried to imagine her in Villa Jesolo and think where she would spend her time. I found that corner of the house, in front of the kitchen, facing the pool and I said: “Here! This is where we would definitely find Amanda.” 

The making of

As this was my first render ever, the challenge was to find a suitable workflow, so I did a lot of testing and backtracking until I found how I had to light the scene to show the mood I wanted to convey.

Once the framing was chosen, the process of lighting, texturing and choosing assets for the composition was a bit disorganised. You can see below some of the tests I did.

An example of the materials created for this scene. Granite for the exterior tiles and white rendered finish for the walls.

The best of you

"Breastfeeding is an act of love that has been with us, mammals, since the beginning of time." (Famous quote in relation to breastfeeding).

This project responds to two exercises done during the master's degree, in which I wanted to deal with the same subject, breastfeeding, as a way of expressing what I felt at that moment through my own experience.

One of the tasks was to model a complex object to show our skills in advanced modelling with 3dsmax. To do this I chose an object that I had on hand, so that I could manipulate it and recreate it as realistically as possible.

 In the second task we were asked to represent one or more of the five senses. I chose touch and smell, which are the first senses with which a newborn baby relates to the world, their mother.

With this image I wanted to capture that moment of wakefulness at night when the baby is feeding and their two primary senses are awakened to seek the mother's breast.

The making of

This project is very special to me, not only because of its significance, but also because I set myself the challenge of modelling all the elements that appear in each of the scenes. The only exception was the wicker basket, which I downloaded from 3dsky.

Everything has been modelled with 3dsmax and rendered with VRay. Postproduction has been made with Photoshop.

I modelled the rocking chair and the cradle based on designs seen on the internet, while the star-shaped lamp and the breast pump are objects I have at home. 

All the fabrics (curtain, cushion, rocking chair cover, cot sheets and blanket) are made with Marvelous Designer.

An example of the materials created for these scenes.  The wooden table, the wicker basket (which I changed its original material),  the rocking chair cover and the cushion.

The aromatic garden

"Inside the house is hidden their little treasure, the place where they spend hours enjoying their passion for plants. A modest garden that floods the rooms with its aroma of mint and basil."

Architecture: Casa Claudia by Arturo Sanz and Fran López architects, located in Valencia, Spain.

The framing of the images is based on the original photography by María Mira.

I chose this small house because I fell in love with its courtyard, so I started to imagine what life could be like for the people who live there. That's how I came up with the idea of making an aromatic garden. I am pretty sure that my mother would be the "Claudia" in my interpretation of this house.

A place to enjoy day and night. I wanted to try two different types of lighting, one during the day, with the sun high, with no other light sources than a VRaySun, and one at night, combining artificial lighting in the interior.

Life inside the house revolves around the courtyard. The original space is conceived in this way and I wanted to reflect this in the lighting, the composition of the images and the setting. All assets have been carefully chosen to fit the story and mood. 

The making of

Architecture was modelled with 3dsmax and rendered with VRay. To scatter the vegetation I used Forest Pack and the postproduction is madre with Photoshop.

As in the children’s school project, when I did this project I had a fairly organised workflow.

In this case, as I had the reference framing, I first modelled all the architecture based on them. Then I tried different types of lighting to enhance the architecture and evoke the stories that the house suggested to me. Finally, I textured all the architectural elements and placed the chosen assets, most of them downloaded from Quixel Bridge and Polyhaven.

In the sliders you can see this proccess in reverse order, starting with the final render.

I found it very challenging to create the materials in these scenes. Specially the flooring and wall cladding made from machined pieces of terracotta. These are some examples of the materials I have created for this project.

What’s next?

As part of my master's training I am learning Unreal Engine 5. I'm currently halfway through my final project, which is based on the previous house, Casa Claudia. I hope to show you the results soon!

I would like to thank…

…you, for taking your time watching and reading throughout all my portfolio. I really appreciate it!

…all The Rookies organization, for giving us, the new 3D artists, the opportunity to show our work.

…all the staff at butic The New School, for their guidance and support during this experience. Special mention to Federica Asaro, Jacob García and Paula Reboleiro.

I hope you have enjoyed these images!

Feel free to leave a comment if you have some feedback. High fives are welcome! ;)