Magical Door to a Mathematical Universe

3D Editorial Illustration • Quanta Magazine • 2021

FOR
Quanta Magazine, 2021. Reuse prohibited.

WORK
Art direction, concept, 3D modeling, painting

TOOLS
ZBrush, Rizom UV, 3DCoat, Cinema 4D, Redshift

INFO
Mathematical objects and systems burst out of a magical doorway leading to another world. A stylized, hand-painted and subtly-animated 3D illustration for a 2021 Quanta Magazine article on symplectic geometry. By Kelsey Houston-Edwards: Mathematicians Transcend Geometric Theory of Motion.

“That’s one of the exciting things about math. You can go through a door and you wind up in a completely different universe.” - Jack Morava, mathematician at JHU

3D art: Mathematical objects and systems burst out of a portal leading to another world.

Still: A fantastical, magic portal to a symplectic-geometric world

The color scheme is a nod* to one of my favorite games: Death’s Door — a charming and darkly-comedic Soulslike RPG about a little grim reaper crow. The music and gameplay are as fantastic as the art!

* Not intentional at first, but along the way the subject started to remind me of it so I decided to run with it.

WIP of 3D art: Mathematical objects and systems burst out of a portal leading to another world.

Process

© Olena Shmahalo