CHANTIL HUNT ESTEVEZ

My name is Chantil Hunt Estevez and I am an artist that loves to portray color harmony in environmental spaces. As an individual who began their craft in fine arts and visual storytelling, I find that exquisite visual compositions speak to the soul before any story is told. Art reflects the environment one experiences, whether that be through sound, movement or colors. For me, art is our home planet and our ancestors reflecting themselves through us. Much of my work throughout my time at UB has explored the relationship between art and science through tech. Through this work I have learned that art is not only a way to communicate without the need of fancy words, but a potential tool to teach.

The relationship between colors and balance in a composition could communicate an infinite amount of ideas before any word is uttered. My passion lies in environmental design, as an environmental artist and advocate.

A cozy mountain view, inspired by a hobbit’s house. The reds and yellows reflect the warmth and cozy energies in contrast to cooler greens and blues. Design not for profit or for display in the final game.

A spooky cauldron bubbling with a sun burst of earthly goods. The color palette from this 3D design is aimed to reflect how living beings give off poisonous warnings in nature to make players feel uncertain.

A saturated pond of ethereal spirits. Someone lives here, and a story is waiting to be told.

A collaborative capstone video game design project with character designer, Nicole Jansen. In order to broaden my understanding and versatility in 3D modeling and game development, We began looking at Unity as an artistic medium and rendering tool rather than some coding software. I found myself visiting the ways games become art: from 3D modeling environmental assets, to drawing textures, to world building, to shader scripting, to creating particle effects! I am grateful for Roystan Tutorials, Acorn Bringer Assets, Minions Art Shader Tutorials, and Imphenzia Tutorials for helping me in the early and ongoing aspects of environmental development. In the images below, one will find a few of Acorn Bringer Low Poly Assets that were used as asset placeholders until certain assets were further developed for upcoming iterations.

A community builder and a child of the islands, taking care of their home. A story of the Caribbean, and a story of Black, Indigenous, and Afro-Indigenous caretakers of the islands. Character base model derived from The_Regressor via Sketchfab. Textured and Rendered in blender and Unity 3D engines.

A Sea Turtle. The living symbol of life and fertility of the Taino and Carib peoples. Modeled in Blender and rendered in Unity 3D.

A saturated cotton candy sunset dipped in an icy blue ocean. Water shader created thanks to Roystan. Rendered in Unity 3D.

A Toon Style 3D Journey about sustainability & community care. Promoting players to help the environment, care for oneself as well as each other! Centering the narrative on diverse Black, Indigenous, and Disabled peoples in and out of the Caribbean.

Earthrise. In the center of this composition, a mother looking over her children, a child looking back at her, and an astronaut tripping over themselves. Rendered and textured via Blender.

Wandering. A depiction of what could one day be a game in itself. How fast can an astronaut run until they need to replenish oxygen? Rendered and textured via Blender.

Bunny hopping on the Moon. A silly render of a rigged 2024 Lunar Mission Suit. Astronaut Suit Modeled in Autodesk Maya. Rendered and Textured via Blender.

To evoke the spirit of adventuring the familiar unknown, I created a Lunar Surface, Earth and Astronaut Model from open source NASA data. In this project I explored how one can utilize pre-recorded data of actual landscapes and create accurate models, from image references. Designed to promote the work of the Astrobees in the 2020 NASA SUITS Challenge. These models were later used UB Astrobee's Lunar Spacewalk Simulation!

This collaborative animation was included in a series of stop motion animated shorts called Seasons. Just another wholesome tale of a group of trick or treaters in fall. As the environmental designer, I created the mixed media concept environment using textures from scanned construction paper overlaid on pre-drawn compositions.

Group Credits: Character Design and Animation – Nicole Jansen Story Board and Script - Nicole Jansen & Chantil Hunt Estevez Environment Design & Assets- Chantil Hunt Estevez & Daniel Datu Implementation - Cesar Ricardo Alvarez & Chantil Hunt Estevez Music: Jack Simms