This image is close to the final version of the environment for the "John the Happy Commuter" animation. I spent a long time hand-painting (in Photoshop) the tile texture of the walls, in an effort to take away the digital look that usually follows tile-like textures. Also spent time applying different specular maps to make sure the tile looked shiny, while the grout kept it's grime.

Creating environments for my character animations is NOT my favorite thing in the whole world. I tend to get a little too realistic with them. Case in point, Nikki's Nightclub. Everything in here is either reflective, refractive, or gives off some kind of light. It's a nightmare for someone who's got just their one lowly little processor. If I remember correctly, rendering the backdrop for the Nikki character animation sequences took approximately one full day. And it was just single still. I'm still happy with it, however.