Lighting

The light in each scene has to be determined very early in the painting process to make sure that all textures relate to it. Most of the food models are lit from the top left with either a warm-yellow toned light that hits the top surface of the object. With the light source being positioned that way, I can paint in the highlights accordingly to that, which makes the lit parts pop out more. To emphasize the shadow parts, I usually choose a cooler tone to create an interesting hue shift and contrast to all the warm shades within the scene and piece of food. This is achieved by a gradient which begins past the lightest part of the model and gets gradually darker towards the back. To give each model a more realistic look, I also make sure to paint in shadows in different colors that would be cast by the object, for instance with the Salmon, I colored the shadow underneath it that casts onto the rice in an orange/brown tone since its color reflects on the rice.

Gyoza Model:

Handpainted Gyoza Dumplings by Curlscurly on Sketchfab

Lessons

The biggest lesson I’ve learned during this project is to never be afraid of using references, especially real-world ones, for painting, even if the goal is to create stylized artwork! Actually sitting down and analyzing how the fried part of the gyoza looks like from close up, what makes a croissant look crispy without relying on normal map information or in what way the texture of raw salmon interacts with light is way more helpful than trying to copy a specific painting style. Whoever wants to create handpainted and stylized textures should have a great understanding of the real objects and their textures to be able to stylize them in a natural and pleasing way. I feel like I had a great leap in quality in terms of my textures in the past months thanks to this delicious yet educational experiment. However, a challenge I faced throughout these studies was the danger of getting lost in too many details, which can end up in making the models look too noisy. At the same time though, I learned that it’s fine to scrap a failed (and even detailed and almost finished) attempt and just try to paint again on a fresh canvas. In the end, it all just boils down to practice and determination to learn through these challenges.

Handpainted Nigiri Sushi Combo by Curlscurly on Sketchfab

Links:

Handpainted Croissant Dessert by Curlscurly on Sketchfab

Jasmin Habezai-Fekri, 3D Environment & Prop Artist

Interview conducted by Kirill Tokarev