Autumn Colours

There is something magical about the autumn. It gives us just a few weeks of beauty as all the leaves go from green to oranges and reds, before they all fall off and winter rolls in. Today’s builder, Averine, has captured that short time forever in his fiery-coloured build.

“It is simplistic,” he tells me, “a stretch of road running across an undeniably alluring forested countryside, basking in the beautiful warm colours of autumn.” But don’t let this description fool you! A lot of hard work went into making sure that everything on the map was exactly right.

“I started with the terrain as the base, making it orange, red, and yellow as though it was covered in leaves. The highway came next: its various twists and turns are angled to closely hug the hills beside it. Then, I created six or seven trees of various colours and sizes, and proceeded to paste them at different orientations throughout the landscape,” he explains.

He then added some hidden details to jazz the whole thing up a bit. For example, nestled a little way from the road is a wood cottage, with flowers planted outside, a well for fetching water, and a torch by the door that glows like a beacon in the dark forest. “I’m sure nobody would say no to living there!” Averine tells me. I would certainly like to visit – there’s not many places you could get so much peace and quiet!

It’s not just the cottage that demonstrates Averine’s attention to detail, either. The trees themselves are cleverly designed with lots of different kinds of blocks to add texture to their gorgeous colours. “I put rose bushes in some of the leaves to give more variation to the red colours, and dead bushes can also be found on the taller trees, representing leafless twigs,” he says, to give me an example. “All in all, unconventional blocks, when used in the right places, can greatly improve a build.”

He tells me that the build was a great way to try out new techniques, especially as it was his first landscape build. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from the process, it’s to constantly try,” he explains. “Experiment with new building techniques, or try a new thing. I told myself, ‘just do it, if you screw up, at least you know where not to screw up next time!’” Some great advice that applies to more than just Minecraft building!

Averine says that it even helped him in his schoolwork. “I'm still in college and the concept of experimenting applies heavily here too – exploring new study methods and thought processes,” he tells me.

He says that he’s really pleased with the whole build. “I'm surprised at how well it turned out, given this is my first attempt at a terrain-based creation. But I really like the vibes this build gives off. The colours, the feeling, and nature combine elegantly.”

Now, he wants to use everything that he’s learned to create better builds in the future. “I’m better at structural building, but I hope that in the future my builds will start to incorporate both terrain and structures,” he says.

It’s this perseverance that’s carried Averine from the beginning of his building hobby. After he tried to join the Wynncraft build team but was turned down, he decided that the only thing to do was to keep learning and try again. “Seeing the ‘sorry but your application was denied’ message numerous times kept pushing me to improve my work. I gradually improved to the point that I managed to secure a builder position on the server!”

But clearly that hasn’t stopped him from continuing to learn and get better. Practice makes perfect after all!

Renders by: Ruyh and 4newlife. Build assistance: FrozenJelly