Storytelling with Environments - from Brainstorming to Rendering [Coloso, Luhan Wang 2]
- Publisher
- Coloso
- Product Type
- Video Course
- Author
- Luhan Wang 2
- Language
- English
- Duration
- 08:13
- Release date
- Apr 1, 2024
- Skill level
- Project Files
- Yes
- Product Price
- $140
Narrative Environment Design, One Step at a Time
New to environment illustration and unsure where to begin? Or perhaps you are still searching for a style that feels uniquely yours? Join concept artist Luhan Wang on a complete journey through narrative environment design.Follow every stage in detail—from placing the first line on a blank canvas to applying the final finishing touches. Learn how a simple idea develops into a richly detailed environment filled with storytelling elements. Strengthen your concept through confident linework, thoughtful composition, and carefully refined color.
Drawing on years of professional experience, Luhan shares the decisions and techniques that make environment illustrations feel believable, immersive, and emotionally engaging. By the end of the course, you will have the skills and confidence to create a narrative environment from scratch, along with a finished artwork ready for your portfolio.
Professional Concept Artist Luhan Wang’s Portfolio
Explore a selection of Luhan Wang’s professional environment and visual development work.Why Take This Class?
Environment Design Is Like Planning a Vacation
Reaching the destination may be the most exciting part of a vacation, but the journey begins much earlier. Choosing where to go, planning the itinerary, packing your suitcase, and boarding the plane are all essential parts of the experience.Environment design works in much the same way.
In Luhan’s second class, you will explore the entire creative process—from the earliest brainstorming stage to a fully rendered environment that feels personal and complete. If you have ever wondered why certain backgrounds immediately capture your attention or how carefully chosen details can deepen a story, this course will show you how to achieve the same effect.
Improve your environment illustration skills, strengthen your visual storytelling, and discover a creative approach that feels uniquely yours—all while enjoying the process as much as the final destination.
Nine Practical Class Exercises
- Ideation
- Mood-board development
- Perspective
- Structure
- Composition studies
- Thumbnailing
- Value
- Color
- Time-of-day exploration
Instructor
Luhan Wang
Hello! I’m Luhan Wang, a visual development and concept artist currently working at Eidos-Montréal.Before entering the video game industry, I contributed to several animated productions for studios including Nickelodeon, DreamWorks, and Netflix.
Environment design has always been a special art form to me because an environment can tell a story entirely on its own. Details, colors, lighting, and composition can all reveal what happened in a space, who inhabits it, and how the viewer should feel.
I’m excited to share my creative thought process and professional workflow with you, and I hope they will support you throughout your own artistic journey.
Class Highlights
Storytelling Through Environmental Details
Environment design is not simply about filling an empty space. It can serve as a powerful vehicle for storytelling.An environment may communicate a literal narrative by revealing what the location is, who lives there, and what happened through the objects left behind. It can also tell a more abstract story through atmosphere, emotion, lighting, and color.
Throughout this course, you will explore different methods of incorporating storytelling into your environments and learn how to make every visual choice feel purposeful.
Transforming an Idea Through Linework
Once you have an idea, the next step is to give it a clear visual foundation.Although every artist works differently, linework can be a powerful tool for establishing perspective, defining structures, arranging assets, and developing the composition that guides the rest of the process.
Learn how lines can serve different purposes and how changes in line quality, weight, and function can improve the clarity and depth of your environment.
Building Atmosphere with Color
Color completes an environment while also strengthening everything established during the earlier stages.It can reinforce the story, clarify the structure of a scene, establish a particular time of day, and evoke a specific mood or emotion. Explore several approaches to color and lighting, then learn how to use them in harmony with the composition, values, and narrative details of your scene.
Curriculum
Section 01: Orientation
01. Life Is Too Hard, So Let’s Go on Vacation—but First, Coffee!- Meet your instructor
- Overview of what you will learn
- Recommended websites and software
Section 02: The Basics
02. Where Do We Want to Go? Brainstorming an Idea- Understanding environmental storytelling
- Defining the subject
- Choosing a mood, atmosphere, and emotional direction
- Creating a believable concept
- Developing an effective research process
- Useful research tools
- Creating a focused mood board
- A practical introduction to perspective
- Essential composition principles
- Applying perspective and composition together
- Creating thumbnails
- Exploring ideas through quick sketches
- Comparing compositions before committing to one direction
Section 03: Setting Up the Scene
06. Creating Our Itinerary: The Rough Pass- Establishing perspective and the horizon line
- Setting the scale of the environment
- Framing the main subject
- Blocking in basic shapes
- Using references effectively
- Creating visual levels
- Adding depth to the scene
- Maintaining a consistent sense of scale
- Refining the environment with reference material
- Understanding structural fundamentals
- Grounding characters and objects within the environment
- Making architectural and environmental elements feel believable
- Understanding the purpose of linework
- Improving line quality
- Using line weight to communicate depth and importance
Section 04: Developing the Linework
10. Choosing Additional Stops: The Second Pass- Adding secondary storytelling elements
- Arranging objects in visually engaging ways
- Guiding the viewer’s eye
- Supporting design choices with references
- Experimenting with scale
- Introducing organic shapes
- Creating greater variety in visual patterns
- Avoiding repetitive environmental design
- Balancing positive and negative space
- Preventing visual overcrowding
- Creating breathing room
- Distinguishing purposeful details from unnecessary excess
- Using references during the refinement stage
- Adding the last details
- Introducing texture
- Clarifying the main subject
- Preparing the scene for color
Section 05: The Coloring Process
14. Packing Our Suitcase: Preparing for Color- Choosing between lined and lineless approaches
- Exploring coloring tools
- Breaking down the complete coloring process
- Storytelling through color and light
- Establishing mood
- Giving every color choice a purpose
- Studying film references
- Studying photography references
- Useful research and coloring tools
- Supporting the composition with value
- Strengthening silhouettes
- Creating depth
- Applying atmospheric perspective
- Establishing the base palette
- Applying local colors
- Reinforcing the structure of the scene through color
- Using lighting to establish time of day and mood
- Working effectively with references
- Understanding color temperature
- Strengthening the composition through light and shadow
Section 06: Completing the Scene
19. Adjusting Our Uncomfortably Narrow Seat: Final Lighting Pass- Refining silhouettes
- Adding reflected and bounce light
- Increasing the sense of depth
- Improving the overall lighting hierarchy
- Applying texture
- Completing final corrections
- Polishing the scene
- Preparing the artwork for presentation
- Reviewing the complete environment creation process
- Final advice from Luhan
- Course conclusion
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