I’m currently learning Blender for 2D art. I want to be able to use and reuse environments for my illustration and comics. Right now I’m really burned out with 2D art. I wanted to update my blog with what I’m currently working towards.
3D in general is Great for
Concepting ideas
Photobashing
Re-occurring backgrounds for your comic or indie animation.
Re-occurring assets like swords, special armor, jewelry, abilities, etc. (anything that will be time consuming to draw over and over again)
There are a lot of free existing assets out there, you just need to download them and incorporate them into your scene
I’m including a thread of tutorials below which has resources that explain what file types you need to look for, how to import them, and how to set them up in your scene
Why Blender
Blender is a free and open source 3D modelling software. It can be used for 3D modelling, texturing, UV unwrapping, rigging and animation, fluid and smoke simulation, rendering, particle simulation and more.
Blender is great because:
Its widely used so there’s a ton of video tutorials, forum posts, and articles out there for when you get stuck.
Its relatively beginner friendly
Inspiration
Some 2D Artists Who Use Blender
Felicia Chen and Aliya Chen
Twins who are both concept artist in the entertainment industry. Here are a few of their works to inspire you:
Full credit to Katie DeSousa for this list of resources
You can find the original thread here. I have copied it into this blog post using the Save to Notion bot (which I would highly recommend for all my fellow digital resource hoarders out there).
Read more of Katie’s Thread
Katie @KatieDeSousa:
Hey 2d art folks!
If you are interested in learning #Blender3d to create references/kitbash for your concept art/illustration/comics, I compiled a few beginner tutorials geared towards scene setup, lighting, materials, and importing pre-made models instead of modelling~
Katie @KatieDeSousa:
First, @grantabbitt did a fantastic Blender 3 intro that focuses on moving basic objects around, giving them materials, setting up lighting and fog, and rendering a scene! youtube.com/watch?v=jnj2BL…
Katie @KatieDeSousa:
A useful thing to learn next is how to take advantage of asset markets to quickly set up props for a scene~ you'll need to know the basics of how to import (link/append) those files! This is a great video on that specific topic: youtu.be/ldHOfvE52QA
Katie @KatieDeSousa:
You can find free models to practice with pretty easily via digital asset markets, but to make it dead simple, one of the Blender3 demo files is actually a room diorama with a bunch of furniture and props! You can download the Cube Diorama here: blender.org/download/demo-…
Katie @KatieDeSousa:
If you're going to be compiling a library of assets to have on hand for your projects (example: recurring props for a webtoon/comic) you'll find this tutorial on the Asset Browser super handy youtube.com/watch?v=NMpjb7…
Katie @KatieDeSousa:
The person who made that tutorial also followed up with a guide to making your own diorama room, which is a great primer for setting up interiors with walls and windows and using downloaded textured materials for floors etc. youtube.com/watch?v=28-ZMp…
Katie @KatieDeSousa:
If you want to set up larger scale outdoor scenes you'll want to take advantage of sky textures, and a really amazing one comes free with Blender: Nishita Sky youtube.com/watch?v=rqTO55…
Katie @KatieDeSousa:
for a lot more flexibility in your environment lighting, you'll want to familiarize yourself with using HDRIs - luckily they are easy to set up and tons of free ones are available online! this tutorial has a great overview~
youtube.com/watch?v=dbAWTN…
Katie @KatieDeSousa:
As this thread is geared towards 2D artists, I am making assumptions on level of skill and familiarity with general rules of picture-making, like composition and lighting, but this tutorial on portrait lighting might still be of interest! youtu.be/kKXTU1EImF4
Katie @KatieDeSousa:
another handy trick in Blender that 2D artists might find useful, is the ability to import 2D files as planes and then use them in scenes as props/backgrounds! useful for distant buildings, trees, clouds, characters, etc. youtu.be/we70l7gRo0U
Katie @KatieDeSousa:
Here's a fantastic scene set up overview showing how you can use a mix of 2D images and 3D assets to create a full scene~ (Grant's channel also has guides for creating the pumpkins/candles) youtube.com/watch?v=VJK7Y6…
Katie @KatieDeSousa:
And here is another overview of an artist setting up a bit more of a complex scene~ it's more of a timelapse than a follow along, but these overview videos can be really useful in learning about new techniques in Blender youtu.be/FlNF4X2Koqw
Katie @KatieDeSousa:
A good thing to remember if you're using Blender for 2D is that you don't need to do things the "proper" way! You're not making scenes for animation or props for games, so go ahead and be sloppy if it gets you what you need to supplement your 2D work.
Katie @KatieDeSousa:
I avoided linking to tutorials about intermediate 3D modelling, sculpting, UVing, etc. This is because while those skills are useful, they're not the most useful things to start with for the purposes of creating basic scenes for perspective/light/shape reference.
Katie @KatieDeSousa:
Hope this was a helpful little thread that might lower the barrier for 2D artists wondering where to start learning 3D 😊✨ Happy holidays!
Katie @KatieDeSousa:
P.S. just had to share this playlist as it's a fantastic set of mini-tutorials that perfectly exemplify making shit that is "good enough" and not stressing about perfection~! youtube.com/watch?v=U1f6ND…
