Sandtray World Project Reflections: Tractor

As a content developer, I'm typically quite busy creating new assets for various Minecraft projects... and as much as I'd like to showcase that work, I'm usually under an obligation not to share until the official release of those Minecraft projects (we like the content to remain a surprise)! 

A few of those projects have now reached that stage, so I'll be showcasing some of this work with insights/reflections over the next few months. 

 As some of you may be aware, Ellie Finch of PlayMode Academy has recently launched her Sandtray Therapy world, of which I was profoundly honoured to help develop. It's an amazing and unique tool, and Ellie and I had a lot of fun brining her vision to life. As an artist, it was an exciting opportunity; one rarely gets a request for such a large, challenging and diverse asset list in a single project: creatures, vehicles, furniture, structures, animals... overall 40 completely unique entities were created for this project. 

Ellie identified early on in the development that she wanted drivable/rideable vehicles each with smaller, placeable "toy" versions; we quickly settled on a list. While not the first, or the most challenging to build, posted here is our tractor. I spent a lot of time looking up pictures of tractors before I decided to go with a something that had a lot of built-in positive vibes, a design inspired by a childhood toy of my daughter's that we had fun playing with together when she was younger.

Those of you that a sharp-eyed may see that I've worked in a subtle reference to one of my other many interests. This is something I do frequently do with most of my art; a wee nod to something that has at some point brought me joy, or influenced my growth as an artist. 

Can you spot it? 

I was particularly pleased with the detailing on this piece and ultimately how it turned out. I had a lot of fun while building it, and I feel that shines through on the final product.