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Case Study - Environment Design

Stoick's House - Environment Concept Design for How to Train Your Dragon (2025)

This is a behind-the-scenes look at my environment concept design work for How to Train Your Dragon (Universal Pictures, 2025). I was part of the production team responsible for designing key locations, including Stoick's house and the Viking ships.

Blender·Photoshop


I was asked to explore a few versions of "weird" shapes for the houses. These are the initial sketches.

Initial concept sketches for Stoick's house - shape exploration for How to Train Your Dragon

Actually, I wasn't getting any feedback at that stage, so I could just have fun with it in peace! My second update.

Second iteration - house design exploration for Stoick's house, How to Train Your Dragon
Second iteration variation - Stoick's house concept design, How to Train Your Dragon

Here's what my next update looked like.

I was tasked with designing an additional wing for the house.

Third iteration - refined house concept design for How to Train Your Dragon production

And finally, the version that some of you might recognize from my ArtStation.

Final approved concept - Stoick's house environment design for How to Train Your Dragon

Over the next few days, I was implementing changes and versions suggested by the Art Director and working on additional exploration of design details.

Additional wing design exploration - Stoick's house, How to Train Your Dragon concept art

Then, we experimented with different colors for the facade.

Architectural detail explorations - Stoick's house Viking architecture, How to Train Your Dragon

This is what a shot shared from the film set looked like.

Facade colour exploration - Stoick's house exterior colour study, How to Train Your Dragon

Viking Ship Concept Designs - How to Train Your Dragon

Viking ship design explorations - How to Train Your Dragon environment concept art

This is what a shot shared from the film set looked like.

Film set reference shot - How to Train Your Dragon production, Universal Pictures

This was the final look of the ships in the movie.

Final ship designs - How to Train Your Dragon environment concept art by Aleksandra Wojcik

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