priapus

Arcadia - WorkDoc

Added 2025-03-02 16:47:40 +0000 UTC

Background information on the making of the Arcadia series

Completed: 17 Aug 2025

You can download the images at the bottom of this post.

1. Opening Scene

In this series, we revisit the worlds of "The Forbidden Fruit" and "The Garden of Eden," two stories set in a distant future, within a distant solar system.

This time, we find Michael and his massive boyfriend Alex being dropped off at a remote location on Arcadia, a small planet orbiting Tellus. The area has been depleted of its resources by a large chemical plant suddenly falling silent after sending a stress signal. All communication has ceased, prompting the deployment of a special team to investigate.

We met Michale as a medical officer in the first series, when he was flown to a military base on Tellus to inspect the effects of the planet's environment on a group of recruits. It turns out they had developed unusual strength, powers and abilities. The most notable among them was Alex, who has now become a force of nature in his own right. It was love at first sight, and the two have since become inseparable. The other two teammates, Bruno and Scott, are also a couple, but the sexual chemistry in the team created a dynamic that includes all four of them.

In contrast to the previous series, the story begins in a desert landscape, where human activity has stripped the earth of all its riches, leaving it a barren and hostile environment.

For this part, I used the “Red Range Terrain Tiles” as the background, and the “Secret Power Station” along with the “Abandoned Excavation Tunnel” as settings for the hostile environment in the opening scene. It’s clear from the start that this is a dangerous place.

2. The Station

Michael and Alex arrive at the maintenance station to find everything operational, yet all crew members have mysteriously vanished. As darkness falls rapidly, they are left with no choice but to seek a safe place to spend the night. Although there are ample supplies available in the crew quarters, Alex has something else in mind for dessert.

For this part of the story, I used the Dirty Canal, Sci-fi Underground Tunnel, Cable Canyon and HAB - Sci-Fi Living Quarters. Here are some test renders for the settings in this part of the story:

Another Station Room

The gloomy apartment room was the first setting I created for this project, even though I wasn't sure of its purpose at the time. I based the room on a model called Stardust Saloon by Stonemason.

It eventually became the living room on the other side of the screen in the scene where the two couples interact in a 3D environment. My initial idea was to use the location as a shelter within an abandoned industrial complex, but I believe this option works just as well.

3. Industrial Waste Land

In the second chapter, our heroes depart from the station in a large truck to explore the industrial area, following a signal that guides them beyond the abandoned and eerily silent complex into a scorching desert, where they find a second shelter for the night, now accompanied by their teammates.

I envisioned this planet as entirely depleted of resources, leaving only a vast, burning desert caused by an enormous industrial complex that takes hours to cross. In the staff room of the rundown rig, they pass the time playing poker, with the rule that the winner takes all, unaware of the dangers lurking in the darkness of the raging storm during the night.

3. Arcadia

Following yet another close call, our team emerges into a vastly transformed realm concealed behind a colossal gate nestled within a mountain. The new brutalist-inspired environment features a minimal, futuristic aesthetic—Arcadia, a safe haven from the harsh forces of a decaying outside planet. All missing personnel from the industrial complex were relocated here as a safety precaution. While residing in Arcadia, they have been exploring and experimenting with the possibilities of a boundaryless, unrestricted environment. Although suspicious, our team of heroes is impressed, and as their mission appears to be complete, they are persuaded to take a break and stay for a while. It’s a hard decision.

For this section of the project, I drew inspiration from the brutalist architecture models by FWDesign and Tom Bianchi's black-and-white photography series featuring men by the swimming pool.

Brutalist architecture is a distinctive style that emerged in the mid-20th century, characterised by its use of raw, exposed concrete and bold, geometric forms. It emphasises functionality and honesty in materials, often resulting in large, imposing structures with a minimalist aesthetic. It's a perfect setting, as the contrast between the bare plane surfaces and the male nude creates a striking visual effect.

A beautiful illustration of this can be found in Tom Bianchi’s ‘Out of the Studio’, which depicts intimate, candid moments of gay men relaxing by the pool, emphasising sensuality, vulnerability, and natural beauty through warm tones and soft contrasts.

An overview of the setting used in the last part of the series.