The 3D Model That Taught Me Everything I Did Wrong (And Still Looks Great)
/Over fifteen years ago, I commissioned concept artist Alexey Yakovlev to explore a series of potential spacecraft designs for The Amaranth Chronicles: Deviant Rising. I asked him to develop a range of silhouettes distinctive, functional, and evocative of the universe I was building. From that initial batch, one design stood out.
Labeled simply as “Big Fish,” the sketch captured something uniquely aligned with the tone of the story and the spirit of its lead character. It struck the right balance between elegance and weight, mystery and purpose.
I selected “Big Fish” as the foundation for the ship that would later become the Amaranth—the primary vessel piloted by the story’s protagonist. Alexey later developed it into a fully realized digital painting, one that became a visual anchor for both the narrative and the aesthetic of the series.
Both the original concept sketches and the final artwork are shared below and can also be found on the Artwork page of the official Amaranth Chronicles website.
(Final digital painting of the Amaranth)
While the images above might seem like concept art for a sci-fi game or animated series, they were created to visualize a ship I imagined while writing my published science fiction novel, The Amaranth Chronicles: Deviant Rising.
I’m a very visual writer. I often need to see the shape of a world—its architecture, its ships, its atmosphere—before I can truly bring it to life on the page. When I first started developing the story, I knew the protagonist would be flying a ship that wasn’t just a mode of travel, but a piece of her identity. To help shape that vision, I commissioned concept sketches. What I didn’t expect was how much that one image—“Big Fish”—would end up influencing the tone of the novel itself.
That ship would go on to become the Amaranth, flown by the novel’s lead character, Lithia Boson.
Who Is Lithia Boson?
Lithia is the heart of Deviant Rising. She begins the story as a survivor—someone who has lost nearly everything, yet refuses to become what the world wants her to be. She’s resourceful, defiant, and unwilling to give up her freedom, even when it would be easier to submit.
The Amaranth becomes more than just a ship for her. It’s a vessel of autonomy, a home, and eventually, a symbol of rebellion.
While the novel explores complex themes of identity, surveillance, and moral ambiguity in a distant future ruled by artificial governance, Lithia’s connection to the Amaranth grounds the story in something deeply personal. Her story, and the ship’s, are intertwined.
“Now it was hers to take back in the delivery ship she affectionately named the Amaranth, to a place far away from where she grew up. A place called San Francisco.” - The Amaranth Chronicles: Deviant Rising
The name Amaranth wasn’t chosen at random. In the novel, Lithia remembers her mother telling her about the amaranth flower—something that never fades. The ship becomes a symbol of that idea: resilience, memory, and the refusal to disappear in a world that tries to erase everything that doesn’t fit.
It’s not just a vessel. It’s the last piece of who she was, and the first step toward who she’s becoming.
Not long after the concept art was completed, I began modeling the Amaranth myself in 3D Studio Max. At the time, I was co-writing The Amaranth Chronicles: Deviant Rising, and I wanted a way to visually anchor the ship in my mind as I wrote.
My efforts with 3D modeling actually began years earlier when I was a late teenager attending Ohlone College in Fremont, California. I was fortunate enough to study under a man named William Pacius, one of the founding members of Pixar. He taught a course on 3D modeling for video games, and his passion for the craft was infectious. He didn’t just teach me how to use the software—he taught me how to love it.
That early foundation stayed with me. So when it came time to bring the Amaranth to life, I turned back to what I had learned and began building. It wasn’t perfect—not by a long shot. My UV mapping was clumsy, my materials were rough, and the detailing was trial-and-error. But I was determined.
Strangely enough, I still consider myself a newbie by my own standards. But for the first time, I could spin the Amaranth in 3D space and see it from every angle—feel its weight, its silhouette. It made the universe I was writing feel real.
Press the Play Button and then click and drag the image.
The Evolution of the Amaranth — Where AI Fits In
Years after Deviant Rising was published, I found myself returning to the ship—this time not as a writer, but as a builder, curious about how far technology had come.
That’s when I discovered 3D AI Studio, a tool designed to convert concept art into rough 3D models. I was skeptical at first, but impressed by what it could do. I fed it one of Alexey Yakovlev’s unused sketches—the same black-and-white thumbnails he originally sent me years ago—and it returned a surprisingly well-formed 3D model. It wasn’t final, and it lacked detail, but it had the right shape and structure to build on.
But then I tried feeding it the concept art I had based the Amaranth on. The AI couldn’t quite handle it. The design was too complex, too nuanced. That’s when I realized something surprising—and honestly, gratifying.
The version of the Amaranth I built imperfectly, handmade, full of trial-and-error, couldn’t be recreated by AI. And that felt good.
Tools like 3D AI Studio are remarkable. They offer a new space between concept art and specialist 3D modeling, acting as a kind of bridge. But they don’t replace the intuition and patience that go into crafting something from scratch.
They’re assistants, not authors.
Looking Ahead
Seeing the Amaranth, and the other ships, fully realized in 3D has been a reminder of how far this adventure has come. From a few rough sketches and late nights spent in 3D Studio Max, to finished novels and models you can explore in real time, it’s been an incredible evolution. Technology has changed. But the heart of the story, the part that’s built by hand, with imagination and persistence, remains the same.
As The Amaranth Chronicles universe continues to expand, these ships will continue to evolve too. New designs. New missions. And always, a connection back to where it all began with a simple sketch and an idea that refused to fade.
Thank you for reading. If you’d like to see more artwork, models, and updates about the next chapter of the series, visit the Artwork page or follow along for future posts.
