Recently I’ve had an issue while learning how to build and it has come in the form of an exterior. I can build an interior decently well but where I have a problem with is the exterior. The main two hypothetical solutions would be to use a reference picture or put a build from memory in there. Problem is with the reference picture, I always straight up copy the building or it looks way worse than the building and the end result. No in between, how can I prevent copying the picture while still maintaining creativity and it looking good. Whenever I use a picture I feel like I’m not even building my own build but copying another one, when I change it up it looks terrible. How would you change up these pictures successfully for example? How should I change it depending on the genre (for example, this is for a scene for a neighborhood of townhouses, how would I change up the environment for it)?
This is really my main issue with building as a beginner, I can’t creatively make an exterior and when I use a reference picture it feels like copying (even though I can copy well, it isn’t really my build).
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Instead of copying the reference completely, you should try simply building the things that stand out the most, or possibly just copy the overall style. Working from reference can sometimes turn out very well, if done correctly. However, it might be best if you add in some differences to make it unique. Maybe to add in a bit of originality, you could change a few colors or materials and possibly even create some smaller details of your own design. References are a great tool, but they are usually just for getting a basic idea of what you want to create.
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