One of the things I would like to do is create some environment stuff in 3D.

So, the same guy who posted the beginner hard surface model tutorial had a short one on creating an environment. (Easy Dirty Terrains in Blender – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5ZvPMyQuy4)

This one was actually pretty easy. It only took me a couple hours for a 12 minute tutorial. Actually it might have been less than that, but I had to leave it and then come back to it a second day. That happened because what I had modelled and what was being displayed when I rendered were not matching. It was later that I realized that there was something that may or may not have been mentioned in the tutorial that needed to happen to get the modelling view and the rendered image to look the same. (Apply scale, for those that care).

I also used the monkey head (Suzanne, it has a name) which is a default shape in Blender instead of creating a device to stick in the sand. SO, here is a monkey head stuck in the dirt. Also note, I am not really happy with the result here as a bunch of my rocks look like they are floating and the ground looks stretched (because it is). However, it was a fun exercise!