Concept

      So, before I started this project, I wanted to go in with a plan and a concept drawing. So, I'm an okay artist. I can sketch a decent landscape and I can sculpt some interesting figures, but as far as concept art... I can't doodle diddly. I came up with the idea of using interior design software to construct a draft model.
     My default place to find free and trial software has been www.download.com. It's not great and it's loaded with click-bait that could easily cause you to download something you did not intend. With this said, I recommend you exercise caution. If you can sketch something by hand or already have the software to do it, go that route first. What I found was a free trial for Panoplia which you can download on the site mentioned above. It wasn't the perfect match, but it was the best fit I could find. It has a load of built-in furnishings, decor etc. You can even view the concept in 3D from whatever camera angle you want. You just cannot import your own patterns, objects or re-size the textures/props. This really limited how authentic my concept could be compared to what I had visualized. That being said, it was a good start. Below is what I came up with, however uninspiring.

    As you can see, the photo mounted in the center is definitely not a 19th century portrait. There is no wood casing or wainscoting. The wallpaper is not what I planned on using and the sconces are candles, not electrified. Perhaps it was an unnecessary step but I thought I'd include this since I actually went through the effort of making the digital prototype. I'm not sure it even helped, but you've got to start somewhere. Next post I will go over the sconces and wallpaper I bought that I basically built the whole structure around.