This may look like a painting, but it's actually a 3D Blender scene

The free software Blender is best known for 3D modelling and animation, but it's increasingly being used for 2D animation, including for creating painterly looks.

The 3D Artist Hewa has demonstrated a perfect example as part of his regular 'day-to-day learning' posts on social media, and his followers are blown away by the style, which shows how Blender straddles the best 3D modelling software and the best animation software.

Hewa's latest piece is typical of his style, infusing an everyday scene with atmosphere. Depicting a woman distracted by passing planes as she pours a drink, it looks like a kind of impressionistic genre painting brought to life by animation. The familiar subject gives the phrase 'day-to-day' a dual meaning, and the gentle animation and lighting has an almost soothing feel.

Hewa lives and works in Japan and has been working and developing as a artist since 2022. You can see more of Hewa's work on his Instagram account and website.

See our roundup of Blender tutorials for help if you're getting started in the software. And for more inspiration, see how Gints Zilbalodis used Blender to make Oscar-nominated Flow.