Texturing Motivation (Room Model)

Texture Motivation for Model Room

My original texturing aesthetic surrounded on the bright neon colours prominent in 1970’s disco culture. I chose this original direction from a willingness to do the polar opposite of what a ‘regular’ room would look like. Unfortunately, shortly into this texturing I found myself being dissatisfied with the overall look of the room – partly due to my own inability to make such bright and contrasting colours work in a cohesive fashion and partly due to the fact that I do not actually like the neon colour palette.

I then researched more into similar styles relating to my original idea and found an interest in the 1970’s retro colour palette. Almost at a polar opposite to the neon colours of the disco scene, on the other side of the coin was a very earthy colour palette which was also very prominent at this time – one of oranges, yellows, browns and whites, similar to the image below:

Another feature was the use of repetitious geometric patterns (usually done within these colours) such as circles or squares or interesting combinations of shapes. Many of these shapes tended to be in patterns which would repeat in certain ways to give a new overall look, as in the examples below:

My new problem became one of balancing out these rather complex patterns with plainer textures. While looking at many different pictures I found that, while walls (and even roofs and floors) tended to have these elaborate patterned designs, much of the other items in such rooms (i.e. chairs, tables etc.) tended to be very plain, more focused on plain whites, browns or yellows. This provided me with the balance I needed and, as such, I went with one couch in brown and the other in yellow.

My final aesthetic concern was to have a theme within the main style. I chose to go with a sort of ‘artists pad’ (for lack of a better term). These little pads, or studios, were very popular amongst artists, musicians, writers and other artisans of the period as a communal place of relaxing, discussing world issues and, mainly, of creating art – whether it was in drawing, painting, music, film or writing. I chose this room to be a music studio of sorts. This accounts for the brick wall surface on the left side and the parquet floor as many different surfaces were usually put together in these creative spaces. Although it overlooks a discotheque, it is in itself much more in line with rock culture of the time. In particular, as I’m a big fan of 70s progressive rock, I thought I’d add touches of this genre to the room’s props. This is where the picture on the wall becomes relative (‘Can’ were a very obscure 1970s krautrock band), the magazine on the table (Showing Peter Gabriel – who, when with Genesis, epitomized everything that was progressive rock in the 1970s) and the Persian rug (many of the 70s bands in all genres would play concerts with the entire stage floor covered in Persian carpets – Led Zeppelin and Yes were the most popular purveyors). These additions made further sense when they adhered to the colour palette I was working within.

Overall, I am fond of the room’s aesthetic. Besides applying the textures, I enjoyed applying certain reflections, glosses, frosts (as on the table) and other texturing effects which give the room a more life-like look.