I was brought on to Paul Coulthard’s God of Bones project, currently being developed into a short film, to help develop this key vista shot of a serpent frozen mid-death, calcified as it collapses into stone. The idea was to capture scale, weight, and a sense of halted motion, which the initial compositions weren’t fully achieving.
Working closely with Paul, I refined the framing and atmosphere to push it to the final image seen here. The serpent design was supervised by Christian Bull and modelled by Laurens Rasti and Wilmar Ballespi of Shoot First.
How I created a large-scale serpent scene
01. Concept Sketch
The process began with a rough sketch by Paul. The goal was to establish mood, violence, and vast scale in a single moment, with the serpent caught mid death throes.
This drawing defined the initial composition, rhythm, and motion, giving me a clear direction for how the creature should move through space.
02. 3D layout in Blender
I began blocking the scene in Blender (see our guide to the best 3D modelling software). I built the environment and placing the serpent within a large-scale rocky formation. Paul and I worked together to balance readability, scale, and dynamism.
The focus was maintaining the serpent’s presence while keeping an intentionally unstable cinematic arrangement.
03. Rendering and final paintover
I rendered the scene and integrated photography and paint to add ocean spray, rock textures and atmospheric detail. I also refined the serpent’s head calcification, a challenging effect to communicate clearly.
At the end, we flipped the entire composition.
Gear up
If you need to build your own art setup, see our guides to the best drawing tablets and the best laptops for 3D modelling.
This article originally appeared in ImagineFX. Subscribe to ImagineFX to never miss an issue. Print and digital subscriptions are available.
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