Introduction: Castle of Light

By emilyma2009
About: I am a high school student from The Lawrenceville School, I'm a maker who loves blending art and technology to create fun, meaningful projects. Whether it's a gift for family, a surprise for friends, or someth…

I am A High school student(9th grade).

This work explores the fusion of digital modeling and physical craftsmanship. A conceptual castle made of translucent rings is first modeled and rendered in Blender, then physically recreated using white cardstock and installed inside a floor lamp. The result is a dual creation—one virtual, one tangible—that merges lighting design, digital art, and handcraft.

Inspiration: Fairytale castles, glass structures, dusk lighting, installation art in galleries

Visual Atmosphere: Dreamlike layered architecture glowing softly at dusk; ring forms suggesting depth and ethereal space

Crafting Considerations: Modular design with layered slices to facilitate physical assembly using paper

Supplies

Rendering Software： Blender


Materials:

  1. White cardstock (several sheets for layered silhouettes)
  2. Metal wire fruit bowl (used as the mountain-shaped base)
  3. IKEA floor lamp (base light source)
  4. Double-sided tape (for clean attachment)
  5. White glue or hot glue (for stronger bonding)
  6. Marker pens (for sketching silhouettes)

Tools:

  1. Utility knife (for rough cutting)
  2. Precision craft knife / X-Acto knife (for fine carving)
  3. Scissors
  4. Ruler (for measurements and alignment)
  5. Pencil (for sketching and marking)

Step 1: Search and Design

Sketch and cut out silhouettes of castle towers, trees, walls, houses, etc., on each ring using a craft knife.

Use an inverted wire fruit bowl as the base to form a “mountain” shape, while also allowing light to pass through.

Design figures like knights and dragons for a narrative touch.


Step 2: Modeling Phase (Blender)

Base Geometry

  1. Start by deleting the default cube
  2. Add five cylinders without caps to form ring structures
  3. Each ring has different radius and depth to create layering
  4. Rename them Ring_1 to Ring_5 for easy organization

Material Setup

  1. Create transparent materials for each ring
  2. Use image textures with alpha channels to achieve semi-transparent patterns
  3. Material settings:
  4. Blend Mode: Alpha Blend
  5. Shadow Mode: None
  6. Base Color: White
  7. Alpha: 0.7 for translucency


Step 3: Lighting & Rendering

Environment Light

  1. Turn off world lighting
  2. Set World Color to pure black to highlight the scene’s artificial lighting

Key Light (Warm Center Glow)

  1. Add a Point Light at the center of the rings
  2. Color: Soft warm yellow (e.g., RGB 1.0, 0.8, 0.4)
  3. Power: 3000–5000W
  4. This acts as the primary internal glow source

Secondary Light (Dusk Ambience)

  1. Add a Sun Lamp with low intensity
  2. Set angle from behind or side to simulate dusk backlighting
  3. Color: Orange/yellow tint (e.g., RGB 1.0, 0.6, 0.2)
  4. Creates shadows on the outer edges and enhances mood

Camera & Render Settings

  1. Use Cycles rendering engine for better transparency and light realism
  2. Camera faces the model from the front with slight elevation
  3. Enable transparent background under Film settings

While rendering the castle, I placed a vertical plane behind the model and applied an image of the evening sky to it. This way, I could directly generate a complete render with the background included.


Step 4: Make the Silhouette Rings

Cut 5 circular rings of various sizes from white cardstock. Each ring will sit at a different height.

Attach each ring to the wire bowl “mountain,” spacing them evenly apart. Their different sizes naturally create varied levels and depths.

Step 5: Install the Light &Enjoy the Effect

Place the floor lamp under the structure. The upward light will make the carved paper glow softly and semi-transparently.

When lit, the layered paper rings form a magical castle-scape full of story and shadow, visible from multiple angles.