Unravel the mysteries of an ancient empire with KitBash3D

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. And if you’ve ever wanted to create a 3D world of ancient wonders, their new Kit, Age of Egypt, is right up your alley.

Concept artist Gaëlle Seguillon created the latest Kit’s cover art. We spoke with them about their process for creating the piece, and how Wacom products fit into their workflow.

Please introduce yourself to our community and describe your creative journey up until this point. How did you get into creating 3D art specifically?

Hi, I am Gaelle Seguillon, concept artist for the movies and games industry. I started my career as a digital matte painter at MPC after graduating from the VFX school Artfx. I pursued this career for the following four years, working on various movies like Guardians of the Galaxy, until I decided to switch careers to become a concept artist and got the opportunity to join the ILM art department.

Even though I was already occasionally using 3D tools as a matte painter, it’s really when I became a concept artist that I started using it more and more. Switching from Maya to Blender profoundly changed and improved my workflow, giving me more efficiency and flexibility. I now use 3D very often as part of my concept art workflow, especially for world building and creature design.

What are some of your favorite projects you’ve worked on?

Definitely Guardians of the Galaxy as a matte painter. Not only because it was my first job, and first blockbuster, but also because it was so much fun to work on. I was able to create crazy sci-fi environments and it was also my first step into concept art. Later on, I had the chance to join the Prehistoric Planet concept art team at Jellyfish Pictures, and it quickly became my all time favorite project! It has everything I Iove: beautiful filmmaking, photography, nature, and dinosaurs!

Tell us about the story you told in the Cover Art piece. How did the story come together?

I wanted to recreate an Egyptian city, but different from what we are used to in historical representations. It had to feel historical, so the challenge was to make it look unusual without using fantasy or sci-fi elements. So my idea was to play with levels and a water management system. The waterfall adds a great element of wonder and ties everything together.

What is your favorite model in the new Kit?

It’s hard to choose because they are all great and full of details, but I loved playing with the different obelisks, they are so iconic and visually interesting to compose the image. 

What tools do you use to create your pieces?

I start by sketching quick thumbnails in Adobe Photoshop to have a composition that I know will work and a visual guide for when I will start the layout in Blender. I then create a layout, and do lighting and rendering in Blender. I worked the lighting alongside the layout because it plays a big part in the composition. Once my AOVs (beauty, mist, shadow, volumetrics, glossy direct) were rendered with Cycles, I took them all into Adobe Photoshop and started playing with them to get the overall lighting and mood I wanted. The last steps were painting over to add details, life, and remove some of the “CG-ness” of the renders.

How and why do you use Wacom products in your workflow?

My Wacom Intuos Pro is an essential part of my workflow. So much that I cannot see myself working without a graphic tablet, not without suffering a massive loss of productivity. I don’t usually realize how essential it has become, it’s just there on my desk, like my mouse and keyboard.

I also use the not-so-known Wacom Art pen. It allows me to paint with the rotation of the brush directly with the pen. This is one of those things that you think is quite useless or is just a gadget, until you try it and wonder how you were getting by without it!

I cannot compare Wacom with any other brand as I have only ever used Wacom tablets. But I can say that I had a Wacom for more than 10 years, and it never failed me!

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

Hopefully more exciting games, movies, and documentaries. No matter what, I will continue painting dinosaurs and traveling the world 🙂

Learn more about Gaëlle Seguillon

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!