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23rd CG Boost Art Challenge for 3D Artists - Improve your 3D Skills!
For our 23rd challenge, we received 95 submissions showing us the true power of nature.
Our jury had a good but also hard time judging all the great accepted submissions. Each judge voted for their own top 5 artworks. We also picked three random winners for the challenge raffle, see all the winners below.
Regrading the prizes, we will contact the winners during the next few days.
Congrats to the winners and honorable mentions, and a big THANK YOU to our sponsor and everyone for taking part!
Now scroll down to see the winners.
We’re congratulating Rudi Witt for winning the first place!
Follow Rudi:
Artstation
“Future past – No one knows who built these structures of stone or what they were used for. The Wise Ones tell stories of an ancient civilization that vanished from the face of the earth…
I wanted to show the power of nature that works over long periods of time. What would it look like, if we were long forgotten…? I especially enjoyed sculpting the different stone assets and make them look old and eroded.
Most of the fine details are not really visible in the final picture, but the exercise was a lot of fun. 🙂 And I learned a lot about creating more complex shader node trees. Using render passes for compositing in Photoshop was a cool new experience too!“
Created using Blender, Quixel Mixer and Photoshop.
Lukas Walzer: “Wow! I love the huge amount of detail and foliage clutter here. Although the composition is crowded with plants, the character is effectively composed into the scene and beautifully lit.”
Gregory Smith: “Wonderful coloring and lighting in this entry; the environment is expansive and atmospheric, full of detail but not overly busy.”
Wybren van Keulen: “It’s surprising to see that 3 of my favorites in this competition have chosen an extreme portrait aspect ratio. It works. I really like the contrasting lighting that frames the main character.”
Eugenia Peruzzo: “This shot tells the story of the place and the character at one glance. Good use of complementary colors, lighting and composition. Extra point for the quality of the modelling and vegetation.”
Ewa Wierbik: “Amazing atmosphere, amount of details and point of focus. Love the mood and the lighting. You can just feel the local inhabitant will jump on you to protect his territory taken by nature. Despite the fact that the approach to the topic is not very unusual, the whole image is very complex but clean and pleasing to the eye.”
Ken Liang: “Interesting concept. I like the overall composition and lighting. The nature elements are very lush and beautiful. Great character as well.”
We’re congratulating Mark Simonella for winning the second place!
Follow Mark :
Artstation
“The power of nature resides also in small creatures. I made this artwork using Blender.
Here’s my workflow: First I modeled the nest which is a half uv sphere with three particle systems (fresh twigs, dry twigs and moss). Eggs have a procedural musgrave colored texture. I used the cell fracture add on to make the broken egg. Finally, I added some leaves and branches to create the bush.
Rendered with Cycles and some color grading with Gimp.“
Created using Blender and Gimp.
Lukas Walzer: “A very nice and almost photoreal attempt at the more calm and subtle aspects of nature’s power. I like especially the carefully crafted nest!”
Gregory Smith: “This is a really charming entry; the narrative reads instantly, and it’s a well executed render overall.”
Marius Iatan: “A very strong symbol for the contest theme, as this is the real power of nature. An image that conveys positive feelings, with good detail and lighting. Well done!”
Wybren van Keulen: “This truly captures the power of nature. You probably spent a great deal of time on weaving the nest, but it’s well worth it. The mix of differently colored twigs, moss and leaves are very believable, and it’s a very relaxing image to look at.”
Juan Hernandez: “Amazing render! I am impressed by the way the nest was done, there is so much variation and I cannot really see any intersections, love how it is all tied up. Outstanding piece of work.”
Ewa Wierbik: “The hatching process is a very interesting approach to the subject, it is something ordinary, but unique at the same time. The eggs and the nest look very realistic, at first glance it looks like a photo. Very pleasing to the eye, yet very simple.”
Masha Bazueva: “I really love the idea behind this work that shows us that the Power of Nature can be not only destruction but also a birth of a small beautiful life 🙂 Very well executed, I like the lighting and the composition.As a tip to make it better I would probably try to bring the wood colors to more reddish tones and would make greens a bit more vivid.”
We’re congratulating Natalia Romero Aguirre for receiving the third place!
Follow Natalia:
Behance
“Name of the composition: The Waterfly Effect
Inspiration: So, have you heard of the butterfly effect? “The flapping of the wings of a butterfly can be felt on the other side of the world.”
Story: Spreading her wings, the waterfly shook the world with the force of a gentle flapping.
My process: I have used 3D softwares for almost 8 year as an Industrial Designer, always making 3D for production. This is my first (real) attempt to create an original 3D art.
As a designer I like to start with the concept, a thought of the power of nature and realize that what most impress me is how connected it is, in a way were even the smallest part of it… like a butterfly can be connected as something as powerful as Tsunami.
When my concept is ready I draw (not very well) but looking for some composition that I feel meaningful and that can fully express the concept. When that was done I start playing with my newest toy, an Oculus Quest 2 headset. With them, I discover GravitySeketch, whish allowed me to model in a very organic way, and with this tool I created the Waterfly. I finish the model in all detail and exported to 3Ds Max where I model the rest of the environment. The tree is the only 3D asset that I download. When the model was finish I use Vray settings to accommodate the lights, materials and textures. For the final touch I edit a little of the colors and shadows in Photoshop to make it more dramatic.
Takeouts from the contest: As I mentioned, this was my first contest. I felt the topic to be inspiring and the fact that it had a deadline push me to actually finish the render. I try many times, but my procrastination Monkey didn’t let me finish. Furthermore, I will love to keep participating, even get some feedback from the jury.
My dream is to be a 3D artist and work on something where I can fully use and grow my skills.”
Created using GravitySketch, 3ds max + Vray and Photoshop.
Marius Iatan: “Very nice artwork, with the elements just blending together the right way to make a whole. Love it!”
Aidy Burrows: “Great spherical presentation, brilliant take on the theme. The decisions made where to amplify and exaggerate vs where to simplify are really well-chosen. I liked this image a lot it made me think of protection and evolution and many more ideas all wrapped up in wings. :)”
Eugenia Peruzzo: “A very cute Diorama that shows how nature can be beautiful but at the same time ruthless, as the butterfly is hugging while also destroying the city. I love the colors and the composition which makes it really stand out.”
Darko Vucenik: “I love the presentation of this piece. The way tsunami is presented as a butterfly and city as a micro-planet diorama works very well. The blue, translucent, shimmering tones in the wings are absolutely beautiful.”
Juan Hernandez: “Beautiful piece of art. I really enjoy how this was put together. I like how there are many layers forming the spherical shape and the overall idea is original. Well done!”
Ken Liang: “Overall great design work but could use some more refinement.”
We’re congratulating Artzai Elorza Arana for receiving an honorable mention!
Follow Artzai:
Artstation
“Deer, the king of the forest! Elusive and elegant, innocent and beneficial. The great power of nature his sense of kindness, gentleness and compassion.
At first, I thought about the subject, I had the idea and I drew it for use as a composition reference. So, I modeled it in Blender and I tried to use sculpting of Blender but because of deadline I ended up switching to ZBrush. Then lighting, fur, fog, volumetric clouds and lighting again. Finally, rendering with Cycles and Photoshop for color adjustments.
I am very happy with these challenges because I learn a lot .:)”
Created using Blender, ZBrush, Substance Painter and Photoshop.
Lukas Walzer: “Not very detailed, but extremely bold in its impressive exaggeration of the stags’ sizes and the gigantic blood moon!”
Eugenia Peruzzo: “I think you fully understood and depicted the topic of this challenge. The colors are vibrant and at the same time unsettling. The nature overpowers the scene making feel the human condition small compared to the power of nature. It is a simple concept but well executed. Brave choice making an animal with fur the main focus of the scene.”
Darko Vucenik: “This image oozes epicness. From the fiery moon, towering stags to well-chosen low camera angle and that little guy in the rowboat that underlines the whole scale of the scene so well. Super vibrant colors work so well here. Great technical execution and wonderful artistry.”
Martin Klekner: “The color palette and composition is strong with this one. It makes me return to it over and over, enjoying especially the top part of the render. The bottom part would deserve some more details, especially the foreground landscape elements. Impressive job nonetheless!”
Masha Bazueva: “I absolutely love the composition and the color palette of this submission! The deer with that giant orange moon behind and the small landscape conveys me a sense of something huge and epic. Great work!
I would add just a bit more details to the ground to make it look more natural.”
We’re congratulating Anton Varyukhin for receiving an honorable mention!
Follow Anton :
Artstation
“On the ruins of civilization. Nature survives where the most intelligent creature perishes …
In the original concept, there were many objects such as dust, debris, stones, and more. But the book on photography read at that time changed everything. It was decided to minimize geometry and apply photographic techniques. Although CG are devoid of the shortcomings and problems that photographers face, recreating these limitations and trying to solve them with new tools incredibly pumps the perception of both worlds.
I haven’t entered the challenge since it was the Weekly CG Challenge. The last four days have been very fun, thank you.”
Created using Blender and Photoshop.
Lukas Walzer: “A simple yet very charming still-life! I love the texture details on the chipping paint!”
Gregory Smith: “The color is so rich in this image – it’s a picture of a sink, but it’s so far elevated beyond that read through the excellent design choices made here.”
Ken Liang: “Neat idea but I feel like the wall is overdone and too busy to really notice the nature elements.”
Masha Bazueva: “Really love the colors of this submission. The composition is pleasing, the texture of the wall is so detailed and the small floating light particles are the icing on the cake. Well done!”
