3D Modeling and Concept Rendering

📍 LOS ANGELES, CA | ORLANDO, FL

I’ve always gravitated toward futuristic, optimistic pre-visualized concepts. Being a lover of all things Disney, I often focus my designs and ideas on fantastical new attractions or themed environments that could be found in a park. I take a big, bold idea from initial rough sketch, to refined illustration, base 3D modeling, and final concept rendering. This process typically can be as quick as a few hours, or take a few days to perfect. My goal, however, is to always materialize a lightning bolt of an idea as quickly as possible.

All works in this page are personal passion projects and not affiliated with The Walt Disney Co. or others.

A lush themed space to admire a tropical rainforest

The idea: a group of suspended restaurants and observation areas mounted on wooden support beams. I imagined them placed in a setting reminiscent of South Pacific islands like Fiji, Samoa, and French Polynesia. I covered these structures with large leaf-like awnings and conical thatched roofs. Top-down, they overlap and circumscribe, forming flower-like shapes nestled in between palms, bamboo, and rocky cliffs. A waterfall feeds into a small lagoon with one of these structures seemingly floating on it.

Winding narrow pathways and footbridges cut across the landscape with unique views of the structures. I’ve thought of adding a large lodge in the back. This themed hotel could round out the experience, offering shopping, dining, play, and finally lodging in this beautiful setting.

The modeling and rendering process

I sketched the original form study in Procreate. This came from a lightning-bolt idea I did not want to lose. I then brought this rough sketch into Shapr3D for iPad and modeled the outstanding features like the palm-leaf awnings and thatched roofing. I brought some low-poly renders back to procreate for better concept rendering with paint-overs and artistic lighting, but that remains a work in progress, as I focus on the detail of the spaces and storytelling. All done on an iPad Pro.

Tiny worlds for wandering

In my cityscape work, I try to design narrow alleyways and thoroughfares reminiscent of real-life, dense and mixed-use urban environments. I love being able to navigate through them visually, creating unique atmospheres that can each serve to tell stories.

Playfully stacked architecture

A stylistic preference for my architectural modeling is structural stacking, similar to the geography-constrained villages most prominent in the Mediterranean and Middle East. The intricacies of multi-level navigation and the unique spaces it creates are what draws me most to the style.

German Fortress Meets Fantasy

Schwerin Castle in Germany first pulled me in with its striking two-tone exterior. A high-contrast, unmistakably royal color profile: golden walls, accented with sharp, dark rooftops and gilded trims. My eyes locked onto it from several blocks away.

The walls themselves are lined with windows enmeshed in this rigid facade that looks like an exoskeleton. Relieved ornaments and columns lend strength and authority to the structure.

Process

I knew I wanted to spend time with it – to study it, draw it, and play with its form in 3D. After sketching a base model, I decided to mold it into the traditional style of a fairytale castle. I lifted its profile to draw the eye toward a singular tower raised high above the rest.