Illumina the Great
Hello Hivers! Today I wanted to showcase an older build that I made on the Aliquam Creative server. This project was started when I posted a photo on the inspiration channel of our discord back in 2019 and I was challenged to make it myself by Feriach, one of the server owners.
I was not at all good at organic builds so I decided that this would be a good opportunity to refine my skills as a builder and step out of my comfort zone. Like I had said, building organics was not something I ever spent time on and I was a bit nervous to begin the project.
Mostly I focus on building large structures and fantasy style landscapes and buildings, so I at least knew how to create a setting for the piece, but when it came to the finer details I had to 'wing' it.
To begin, I used the extremely handy body building tool on the server. This made the basic shape and limb positioning a cinch. I still had to fix some joints, shapes, and add other anatomy to mold it into what I wanted. I set one model aside for backup and the other I coloured and shaded by hand as best I could.
After that, I made the clothing. I used a copy of the spare model to put the cloth on using Arceon Loft tool, and again fine tuned it to fit the contours of the body. I then deleted the model and was left with a fresh dress template.
I then compiled the different elements and began working on the crown. This part could have been better and I wasn't entirely satisfied with it, however in the end it came out decently.
And finally, I added the finishing touches. The two snakes, one on the leg and the other on the arm, were less than ideal, but as I said this was my first organic project I had made. The fantasy wings were difficult to emulate the delicate nature, but after a few hours of tinkering I settled on this look.
All that was left was to set the scene! I made a wheel in Photoshop, and using a runic alphabet I typed the slogan into the circle. It reads 'Queen of Snakes, Goddess of Desolate Wastes' and I simply put the image in and refined the lettering and changed the colour and rotation.
I also hand made the runes on the floating rocks, and then filled the sky with lights and rocks to give an illusion of fiery hail.
The setting was now complete! I had taken an image and turned it into an artistic rendering using Minecraft, and in the end I was quite satisfied with the outcome! The striking contrast between the burnt umbral canyon and the glory radiating from the model makes for a truely provoking image.
About the Author
Hi! I am @Maxrazorwin, and I have been building in Minecraft since Beta 1.6 and have gradually been honeing my building techniques since. In 2017 I discovered Aliquam Creative and was given an outlet for my creativity to be put to the test.
Questions? Be sure to contact us on our Discord (https://discord.aliquam.org/)
Want to see the progress so far? Just visit Aliquam Creative Minecraft server and enter '/hive open maxrazorwin Illumina' in the chat to see this project in full!
