The Viewport Window - This was the first test using the new material.

The Shader Graph. What’s most important here is those 3 charts in the middle - they let me decide how much of each color (R, G, B) is included in my highlights and shadows. It’s how I managed to speckle purple and dark blue in the renders.

The Normal Map - This may not mean much to you, but trust me when I tell you I took a long time getting these dots right...

Phase #1

I knew I wanted to make a handful of elements I could reuse throughout the year for efficiency’s sake. At the same time, I had picked up Blender as a personal hobby. I decided to see if I could make all the elements I needed in 3D.

I had virtually no constraints for direction, so long as I included blue as a main color to match that semester’s color theme.

The tricky part of this phase was setting up the proper materials. I knew I wanted a painterly texture that responded well to light. Using my Krita skills, I made several noise patterns and overlaid them in the various colors needed for a normal map.

Andrew Thomsen. 2026.

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