mhoyle.bsky.social

I’ve been working on some concept designs in blender 5.2 (for fun). Focusing on lighting and composition for ancient street scenes, with post production composite layering and complex texture maps. #blender #archaeology #daz3d

Whilst looking for some add ons for blender 5.2… and came across blend surface. It’s quite an old one, designed for 4.2 LTS. Why didn’t I know about this one before!! It does exactly what it says on the tin (as it were) so I utilised some existing assets to create this little diorama… #blender

Another “view” of the potters workshop I created in blender. Testing out my re-topo skills for the first time in a while was a challenge. But worth the time and effort to re-engage with the process. #blender #Romans

Having recently created some dioramas for large scale museum displays. I’ve been inspired and spent sometime developing some new detailed assets for future reconstructions. Created in blender and textured using the very powerful #FluentMaterialiser add on. #Blender #Romans #Photoshop

Amazing to see my reconstructions on display at the Unearthing Vindolanda: Footwear from the Edge of the Roman Empire exhibition in Toronto, Canada, at the Bata Shoe Museum from May 2026 until September 2027. With over 100 footwear-related artifacts from Vindolanda. #Vindolanda #Romans

A little bit of “tweaking” to an old (ish) reconstruction of a Roman pottery kiln for a display. Adding in some Nene valley colour coated ware pottery #blender #Romans #Daz3D

Different camera angle and a longer focal length shot of a Roman barrack block cutaway reconstruction. Produced for @batashoemuseum in Toronto. For their up and coming “unearthing Vindolanda” exhibition which opens in May. Created in blender #Batashoemuseum #Vindolanda #Romans #Shoes #Blender

Some WIP of a 4th Century Roman workshop cutaway reconstruction. Again produced for @batashoemuseum in Toronto, Canada. For their up and coming “unearthing Vindolanda” exhibition which opens in May. Created in blender. #Batashoemuseum #unearthingvindoland #Vindolanda #Romans #Shoes #Blender

Some recent reconstructions (3 in total) created for a new book by AOC archaeology! Here a taster of the cover image. You can explore the full publication here: www.sidestone.com/books/black-... #SiteStoriesSaturday #Archaeology #Heritage #BlackLochOfMyrton #AOCArchaeology #PublicationLaunch

Some WIP of a Roman barrack block cutaway reconstruction. Again produced for @batashoemuseum in Toronto, Canada. For their up and coming “unearthing Vindolanda” exhibition which opens in May. Created in blender. #Batashoemuseum #unearthingvindoland #Vindolanda #Romans #Shoes #Blender

Some recent reconstructions of a Roman leather workshop and close up of a cobbler at work. Produced for @batashoemuseum in Toronto, Canada. For their up and coming “unearthing Vindolanda” exhibition which opens in May. Created in blender. #Batashoemuseum #unearthingvindoland #Vindolanda #Romans

Another brilliant day teaching archaeological illustration with some lovely students in Durham today. #archaeology #Illustration #Lifelinglearning #DurhamUniversity

A bit more WIP for another illustration of a beautiful Medieval pewter disk. Drawn using Procreate. #archaelogy #Medieval #archaeologicalIllustration #digitalart #procreate

WIP on another personal project. Created in blender. Again, focusing on the lighting rig. By using Chiaroscuro, an art term meaning "light-dark," to emphasise strong, dramatic contrasts between light and shadow to create a sense of volume and mood. #blender #Medieval

Finishing off some personal projects. Firstly this one. The focus was on utilising the camera f stop, and realistic “god rays”. Created and rendered in #blender with some post production in #photoshop with a working title of The Hunt. #illustration #IronAge

More Friday night Archaeological Illustration using #Procreate. Slowly adding some detail of the cancellous tissue in this #Roman bone object. #ArchaeologicalIllustration #Archaeology #Romans #DrawAnyWhere

A bit of weekend illustration work on some lovely Bronze-Age sword mould fragments. I love the flexibility of procreate on the iPad #DrawAnywhere #Procreate #BronzeAge #ArchaeologicalIllustration #Archaeology

Some “warm up” work to get 2026 underway… a scene from last year with additional assets added and fog volumetrics refined #blender #medieval

Final render of 2025 (promise)! I had some fun tweaking the weather FX sliders and lighting rig #blender #medieval #snowscene

Final “tweaks” to the seasonal reconstruction… updated focal length and height setting on the camera which (in my humble opinion) helps draw the viewer it to the scene more and makes it “less flat” to view. #blender #Medieval #Archaeology

Something a little more “seasonal” this little Medieval street scene was created in blender and utilising the powerful weather fx plug-in to create the environment. I used blenders “add snow” to place snow on some of the assets⛄️… #Archaeology #Medieval #blender #Photoshop

A WIP on a flint knapping scene created using Blender and Daz 3D. Nice to refresh some skills from DAZ 3d and use their Genesis 9 deformers for figure modifications. Also playing with Blender 5 Multiple Scattering sky model #Archaeology #Mesolithic # #Blender #Daz3D

Another brilliant Archaeological Illustration workshop today at Durham Uni. It’s lovely to see the students confidence and skills developing. #ArchaeologicalIllustration #LifeLongLearning #Archaeology #Illustration

More #blender self improvement work, looking at scene construction and asset placement. Using small details to build a story. With some compositing post production work adding volumetrics #medieval #Archaeology #blender3d

WIP on a quick scene with some 3d mud splatters to test the Multiple Scattering settings of the Nishita sky shader. Still trying to tweak the exposure setting. Also trying to work on the focal length settings to create movement. #blender #blender3d #medieval #Archaeology

A bit of WIP to put together some assets and test blender 5.0. looking at some of the new array and sky shader updates… first impressions, a very good much needed update #blender #medieval #archaeology

Yet more “tweaking” on the water caustics and shaders from the previous render. These were to developed to give a calmer water surface. Created in Blender with some post production on Photoshop #blender #blenderartist #archaelogy #vikings

Further WIP on a recent reconstruction based on feedback. Some changes to the pitch of roof and construction of the roundhouse. By using a laser scanner of the reconstruction from Whithorn #blender #ironage

Some “tweaks” on a project to update some elements and textures. A re-imagined Viking settlement… for a bit of personal CPD. Created in blender and photoshop #blender #vikings #archaeology #photoshop

WIP on a small diorama using some existing assets and some new ones recently created. I I wanted to test them out in a low light setting, and utilised a new sky rig node setup #blender #illustration #vikings #archaeology

A re-working of an old reconstruction following feedback… roof angle and smoke distribution altered… light rig adding some warmth from inside the house. Inspired by The Crannog centres rise from the ashes (literally!)… #thescottishcrannogcentre #ironage #ironagebritain www.justgiving.com/page/

Brilliant day at the unearthing futures event for The Council for British Archaeology at the Great North Musuem in Newcastle. Inspiring the next generation, teaching hands-on workshops in archaeological illustration #CBA #Archaeology #illustration #GreatNorthMuseum

A recent diorama created using #blender and some post processing in #Photoshop. The aim of this image was take an existing scene (ground textures and vegetation) and re work to incorporate some new assets. #IronAge #Archaeology

WIP on the internal shots for the Saxon house using focused lighting set up in blender and some glow planes added in photoshop #Anglo-Saxons #blender #archaeology

Recent reconstruction of an Anglo-Saxon farmstead created in #blender #Archaeology #HistoricalReconstruction

Some WIP using water/vegetation decals and underwater particle systems… #blender #PhysicalWaterFX

Trying out some new water caustic effects in blender 4.5 and photoshop on a little diorama #blender #photoshop

More assets “tweaked” and added. A few adjustments to the lighting rig to a little diorama created in #blender #Romans #AncientRome #blender3d

WIP on a small diorama with the focus on character modelling and composition. created in #blender #romans

WIP on a new scene focusing camera film exposure, focal length and asset building. Created in blender #blender3d #ancienthistory #archaeology

Some recent reconstructions #ironage #archaeology #ancienthistory

Quick digital sparrow sketch #procreate #birds #digitalart

Some recent work for fun (WIP) testing out some dynamic sky and fluid water settings in blender #blender #Romans #Archaeologicalillustration #Rome #archaeology #ancienthistory

I bit more WIP over the weekend adding additional assets to a scene in blender #blender #romans #Archaeology #romanbritain

Some recent reconstructions I’ve produced using #Blender and #photoshop

Another procreate sketch #procreateart #procreatedrawing #digitalart

A little procreate sketch #Digital-art #procreate

Digital cat art #procreate

Another procreate study of Coco the cat #procreate #digitaldrawing

Coco the cat #procreate #ipad #digitalIllustration