Prepare for battle beyond the horizon with KitBash3D and cover artist Daniel Dana

If you’re just getting started with 3D art — or even if you’re a seasoned pro — KitBash3D’s ready-made asset Kits are an incredibly powerful resource. If you’re thinking of setting a creation in a war-torn future, their new Kit, Future Warfare, is perfect.

How did you get into concept art, and creating 3D art in particular?

I’ve always been creative in some form since I was a kid. I went to a high school that specializes in fine arts like photography and painting, and received a degree in graphic design from college, but I took a hiatus from art for the majority of my twenties.

It wasn’t until about three years ago, during the pandemic, when I had the free time to reinvent myself, so I entered the concept art/illustration industry via self teaching. I quickly learned that the best of the best were learning and implementing 3D into their workflows, so learning 3D is what introduced me to various studios and companies such as KitBash3D.

What are some of your favorite projects you’ve worked on, or studios / companies you’ve worked with?

I’m fairly proud of the fact that through hard work and persistence I was able to join the ranks of some of the best concept artists in the world at One Pixel Brush in quite a short period of time. Through OPB I’ve worked on several projects that are still under NDA, but I can say designing some weapons for Call of Duty: Vanguard will always be one of my favorite experiences.

Tell us about the story you told in the Cover Art piece.

Before I commit to a mood for an image, I feel it is extremely beneficial to just play around with the lighting and experiment. The lighting is half the battle on telling whatever story you’re wanting to tell and in this case, I was really liking the peaceful “calm before the storm” feeling of the lighting that this particular HDRI sky was giving me.

I also knew I wanted to see some soldiers in formation and thought about one particular Sergeant in front who’s possibly taking a moment to enjoy the view and thinking of that famous line from Apocalypse Now: “I really love the smell of napalm in the morning.”

What is your favorite model in the new Kit?

That has to be a tie between the awesome plasma cannon and the crashed pod. I knew I wanted to have those pods in the image somewhere, whether they were blasting off or crashing down.

What tools do you use to create your pieces?

I mainly use Blender for the raw renders, where I try to push the 3D as much as I can. And then I polish the render into a final image with Adobe Photoshop.

I’ve used the same Wacom Intuos Pro 4 for the past three years for almost every single thing I do in the Photoshop stage, and I love it. I’ve also been experimenting with more sculpting in 3D Coat lately, and the Wacom tablet just can’t be beat when it comes to finessing those details through pen pressure.

What do you have planned for the future? Anything exciting that you’re currently working on or have coming up?

I’m currently delving a little bit into Unreal Engine and more Blender for animation, so perhaps an actual short film of my own IP may be in the works soon.

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Learn more about Daniel Dana

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Want to try Future Warfare?

KitBash3D works with virtually any 3D creation software, including Blender, Maya, Unreal Engine, and more. Readers of Wacom’s blog get a special discount on this Kit to give it a try! It also works with KitBash3D Cargo, however — read on to learn more about that.

Wacom Discount Code: WacomFW30

• Kits: Future Warfare
• Discount: 30% off
• License: Individual license
• Valid: July 20, 2023 – July 27, 2023
• Limit: Code is available for single account use only

Introducing KitBash3D Cargo

Cargo is KitBash3D’s next evolution – free software which will revolutionize the way artists work with 3D assets! You can still purchase individual KitBash3D Kits and import them into your preferred 3D software. But with a free download of Cargo Basic, you will have instant, one-click access to all of your purchased KitBash3D kits. And with Cargo Pro, you get access to every model and material KitBash3D offers — over 10,000 assets!

1-Click import to your 3D software

• Load any KitBash3D asset in Cargo with 1 click
• Import models or materials directly into your 3D scene
• Support for Blender, Unreal, 3Ds Max, and Maya at launch

The Full KitBash3D Library 

• Over 10,000 models and materials available in Cargo
• Every Kit, every model – ready to import into your scene

Powerful search | Intuitive filtering 

• Search function – Find the asset or material you’re looking for fast
• Filter via keywords, genres, and asset sizes to streamline your creative process

Free Kit Transfers

• All of the Kits you already own from KitBash3D are unlocked and ready to use when you set up your account. You no longer have to load a full Kit into your scene, but instead can select and import individual assets as you need them

Cargo Basic is free to use! A selection of free assets, as well as any Kit already purchased from KitBash3D, will automatically transfer into Cargo when a Cargo Basic account is opened. 

Cargo Pro will give access to KitBash3D’s entire library along with Cargo exclusive Kits – no points, no tokens, no credits. Just $65 a month.

Click here to learn more about the features of Cargo, and to download it to try for yourself!