--- title: Turning a 2D Illustration into a 3D Scene with a... description: 3D environment artist Shuming Zhang details the creation of The WoodLand Pizzeria, a stylized 3D scene reimagining a 2D illustration by artist Nonohara in... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/turning-a-2d-illustration-into-a-3d-scene-with-a-hand-painted-look-1gcchqvoz twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Turning a 2D Illustration into a 3D Scene with a Hand-Painted Look | daily.dev og:description: 3D environment artist Shuming Zhang details the creation of The WoodLand Pizzeria, a stylized 3D scene reimagining a 2D illustration by artist Nonohara in... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/turning-a-2d-illustration-into-a-3d-scene-with-a-hand-painted-look-1gcchqvoz og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/1GCCHqVoz.png og:image:alt: Turning a 2D Illustration into a 3D Scene with a Hand-Painted Look og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Turning a 2D Illustration into a 3D Scene with a Hand-Painted Look **[80 LEVEL](https://daily.dev/sources/80lv)** · 9 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary 3D environment artist Shuming Zhang details the creation of The WoodLand Pizzeria, a stylized 3D scene reimagining a 2D illustration by artist Nonohara in Unreal Engine. The interview covers reference gathering, a Maya-to-ZBrush-to-Substance 3D Painter asset pipeline, use of Nanite and Displacement Materials for bricks and roofs, a PCG snow setup with triplanar shaders, and procedural texturing in Substance 3D Designer using Slope Blur to achieve a hand-painted look. It also describes custom foliage and water shaders, Niagara particle effects, Lumen lighting, and the three-month production process along with advice for beginner 3D artists. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How can I achieve a hand-painted look using procedural textures in Substance 3D Designer? Apply an appropriate amount of Slope Blur to both the Base Color and Normal maps. Slope Blur on Base Color breaks up overly smooth edges into irregular, watercolor-like marks, while the same treatment on the Normal map introduces subtle surface irregularities that create brush-like lighting effects from different angles, reinforcing a painterly feel. _daily.dev surfaces workflow breakdowns like this for artists refining procedural, hand-painted texturing techniques._ ### How do you get a stylized snow effect in Unreal Engine without modeling separate snow meshes? Combine a PCG (Procedural Content Generation) snow coverage setup with a Triplanar Mapping snow shader. This approach produces a sparkling, magical snow look while avoiding the extra work of building dedicated snow meshes and UV layouts, making it efficient for large environment scenes with seasonal variation. _Environment artists tracking efficient PCG and shader techniques often follow breakdowns like this on daily.dev._ ### What techniques create a hand-painted foliage shader look in real-time engines like Unreal Engine? Use spherical normals plus a custom shader broken into modules for Gradient, Bottom Shadow, Front Color, and Top Highlight, recreating the color blocking and light relationships typical of hand-painted vegetation rather than relying on realistic lighting. A camera-distance-based self-shadow control adds detail up close and simplifies at a distance for a consistent stylized look. _daily.dev helps technical artists find real-time shader breakdowns for stylized, hand-painted vegetation._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Breakdown: Turning a 2D Concept Into a Detailed & Stylized 3D Scene](https://daily.dev/posts/breakdown-turning-a-2d-concept-into-a-detailed-stylized-3d-scene-syyxdpke5) · 80 LEVEL · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Designing a Stylized Pastry Bakery with Substance 3D & Unreal Engine](https://daily.dev/posts/designing-a-stylized-pastry-bakery-with-substance-3d-unreal-engine-xlpere6rn) · 80 LEVEL · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Creating a Detailed & Vibrant Scene with Unreal Engine & Substance 3D](https://daily.dev/posts/creating-a-detailed-vibrant-scene-with-unreal-engine-substance-3d-lcnnftsjr) · 80 LEVEL · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Shaping Fantasy House on Cliff Environment in 3D](https://daily.dev/posts/shaping-fantasy-house-on-cliff-environment-in-3d-4vxzneywk) · 80 LEVEL · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Turning a 1800s Painting into a 3D Environment](https://daily.dev/posts/turning-a-1800s-painting-into-a-3d-environment-3cd7c0y5u) · 80 LEVEL · 3 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#game-design](https://daily.dev/tags/game-design), [#unreal-engine](https://daily.dev/tags/unreal-engine), [#substance-3d-designer](https://daily.dev/tags/substance-3d-designer) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/turning-a-2d-illustration-into-a-3d-scene-with-a-hand-painted-look-1gcchqvoz) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Turning a 2D Illustration into a 3D Scene with a Hand-Painted Look","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/turning-a-2d-illustration-into-a-3d-scene-with-a-hand-painted-look-1gcchqvoz","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/turning-a-2d-illustration-into-a-3d-scene-with-a-hand-painted-look-1gcchqvoz"},"datePublished":"2026-09-01T10:18:07.733Z","dateModified":"2026-09-01T10:18:36.720Z","description":"3D environment artist Shuming Zhang details the creation of The WoodLand Pizzeria, a stylized 3D scene reimagining a 2D illustration by artist Nonohara in...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/e3c2042c3b907068251454e997f3ab92?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/e3c2042c3b907068251454e997f3ab92?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"80 LEVEL","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"80 LEVEL","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/78eebcd76c154e6bbfd565fed7dc4093","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/80lv"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/turning-a-2d-illustration-into-a-3d-scene-with-a-hand-painted-look-1gcchqvoz","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"game-design,unreal-engine,substance-3d-designer","timeRequired":"PT9M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"80 LEVEL","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/80lv"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Turning a 2D Illustration into a 3D Scene with a Hand-Painted Look"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/turning-a-2d-illustration-into-a-3d-scene-with-a-hand-painted-look-1gcchqvoz#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How can I achieve a hand-painted look using procedural textures in Substance 3D Designer?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Apply an appropriate amount of Slope Blur to both the Base Color and Normal maps. 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