At first glance, it might look a bit shabby but to me, that’s exactly what completes the picture. There’s a strong contrast between the building and its surroundings, and somehow, it all just works. The roughness, the bold colours it fits perfectly with the dense, jungle-like environment around it.

It’s busy full of colours, small details, and visual noise. You can tell the owner was trying to make the building as eye-catching and cheerful as possible. And that effort, even if it’s a bit chaotic, really resonates with me and the core idea behind my project.

It’s that mix of imperfection and personality that makes it stand out.

There’s nothing particularly special about it at first glance it’s just a tyre shop made out of a container. But that’s exactly what I find interesting. It shows a kind of everyday creativity how people make use of what they have, turning something simple into something functional. That kind of resourcefulness really stood out to me.

What seems to be a bar or cafe creates this simple yet welcoming atmosphere.

The fact that it appears so isolated makes it stand out, and its small effort to provide extra space for customers really brings warmth to its presence.

This house feels like a good example, as it appears to be made from two containers joined together, highlighting the same concept I was looking into and showcasing practical housing solutions for communities with fewer resources.

Its simplistic and ‘’unprofessional’’ appearance is what particularly sparked my interest.  

1. What does this picture make me feel and think about? 

It feels natural and beautiful. The rural atmosphere is what I find most wonderful.  

I am captivated by how cultural differences influence the ways people navigate their environments to adapt and shape/express their own ethnic identity.  

Personally, I like this one more than the previous. There’s something about it that reminds me of a journal page from an old video game almost like something you’d find in Far Cry 1. That raw, slightly chaotic energy is exactly what I was going for.

I also chose this as a reference for my 3D modelling experimentation because of its roof and canopy’s geometrical structure and intricate details, which I really liked and wanted to challenge myself by recreating it. 

At first, I was a bit unsure about using this approach since I don’t have much experience with it. Normally, when I sketch, I rely on lots of quick strokes to form straight lines. But this time, I took a different route every line was drawn in a single motion.

I chose that method because I wanted a bit of wobbliness in the lines once again, leaning into the imperfections rather than avoiding them. And honestly, it turned out to be a great decision. Definitely worth the extra time and effort.

Instead, I resolved this by turning to the imagery available through Street View. It gave me a lot more clarity and allowed me to see the details I needed, which made the whole sketching and modelling process much more manageable.

I deliberately avoided focusing on urban houses, as they felt too plain and uninteresting. Instead, I kept my attention on the more unique and characterful buildings found on the outskirts places that felt a bit rough around the edges, but full of life and creativity. That variety really aligned with the core ideas behind my project.

I unfortunately later came to realise that my intent wasn’t clearly communicated. And because of that, I’ve shifted my focus to a more detailed approach, to highlight/showcase my artistic skills. 

I did run into some issues with proportions for example, the house ended up much taller than it should be, and it should’ve been longer to match the reference more accurately.

Even with those mistakes, I don’t think it turned out too bad. One thing I’ve noticed, especially comparing this to the previous sketch, is that I’m consistently getting the roof structure right the proportions there feel solid. Once again, I tried to keep things from getting too busy and focus more on the overall feel than on the precision.

I want to mention that I was already pretty tired when I started this one it was late, and honestly, I was feeling drained. That’s not an excuse, but it definitely affected how things went. From the very beginning, I struggled with the proportions. You can probably tell everything feels a bit off.

It might look like the simplest sketch out of all of them, but for me, it was a nightmare to work on. I got really frustrated while drawing it. It’s actually the only sketch where I used a ruler before this, I was just freehanding all my lines, and that approach had been working pretty well.

This one, though, just didn’t come together the way I had hoped. Which is especially disappointing, because I was the most excited about drawing it. It reminded me a lot of a previous project where I was designing a house out of a shipping container so there was a personal connection there. But even so, the result didn’t quite live up to the idea.

The aim was to capture the feeling of colour without actually using any just black and white. I didn’t plan to spend much time on it, but something about it pulled me in, and after five minutes I found myself completely absorbed.

I’m not particularly happy with how it turned out, and I think a lack of experience with charcoal held me back this time. I’ve managed to create nicer pieces with it before, so I know it’s possible.

Even though I didn’t quite manage to express how vibrant and full of colour the idea was, there’s still a hint of that mood in there probably thanks to the palm tree, which brings a bit of a tropical vibe on its own.

I chose it because I needed another image to experiment with charcoal. Even though the composition is more polished, you can still see those bold colours popping through, which really caught my attention.

It offered a slightly different kind of challenge, but still fit within the visual language I’ve been exploring throughout the project.

I chose to work with a watercolor brush because I felt it really fit the concept. There’s something about not having full control over it that actually worked in my favour. You can see I went outside the linework quite a bit, but to me, that only adds to the piece.

Overall, I think the digital painting managed to communicate my ideas pretty well. I didn’t end up doing the ground partly because I was worried it might throw things off, and partly because this was just an experiment. I didn’t plan to spend too long on it anyway.

I used the selection tool to start painting, and it ended up being a really fun process I genuinely enjoyed working on it. I tried to keep things balanced and not let it get too busy.

Just like the previous digital painting, I think this style fits my concept really well. Again, I wasn’t too focused on staying perfectly within the lines. I stuck to simple colours, avoided shading, and leaned into the imperfections just like in the original reference.

Overall, I think this piece captured the core of my idea and helped communicate it clearly.