red car
in Neon City
This UE5 project is an exploration of translating a painterly illustration style into a 3D environment. By blending a standard PBR workflow with custom hand-painted textures and meticulous post-processing, I try to capture the soul of the original concept.
Highlights
Aesthetic-First Grading
I used a custom shading setup specifically modified for color grading, giving me precise control over chroma and saturation. I also applied emissive properties where needed to maintain color purity. Almost every object in the scene underwent manual hue adjustments to ensure each color block stays true to the reference and aligns with the illustrative logic.
Painterly PBR Textures
I used Photoshop, Substance Painter, and Substance Designer to create various types of hand-painted stylized textures. While integrating expressive brushwork into the base color maps, I selectively retained certain physical attributes of the materials. By crafting subtle height and normal variations, I ensured the 3D models maintain a unique, handcrafted feel even under changing light and shadow.
Atmospheric Crafting
While I used post-processing for final grading, the fog and clouds rely less on built-in engine effects and more on custom shaders and noise textures. I also used the Niagara system to create drifting smoke, building a sense of layered aerial perspective that brings dynamic life and breath to the digital environment.
Concept art
vs. finished scene
Concept Artist@Ismail Inceoglu
Their Website: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/6bOy45
Thankyou for the amazing art!!