ZBrushCentral

Portrait of a Warrior

It seems a common refrain but it really has been a long time since I posted work - so long that my entire user gallery went to the aether when the forums were updated with the release of ZB3.

I did this for the last Gnomon challenge ‘Portrait of a Warrior’. I wanted to do an old warrior reflecting on his past, the blood on his hands and the horrors he had witnessed. Because of the theme and the historical nature of the character (late 16th century), I wanted to go for a more painterly look, something I always felt ZB does well.

The simpler cylindrical parts of the armour were modelled in XSI, otherwise all other modelling was ZB. Because I was pressed for time, in the end I sculpted just for the camera.

The lighting consisted of two normal lights (one yellowish at upper left, one reddish at lower right) and a LightCap setup. The LightCap was similar to the setup used by Pixolator in the Ready, set, render thread with the car, except I used coloured textures rather than alphas. Only the specular channel was used with the textures to give the ‘reflections’ in the armour.

Rendering is a simple ZB BPR beauty pass with a really tiny amount of painting in Photoshop. SSS for the head and hand, reflective materials for the metals and a small amount of fibermesh for eyelashes, eyebrows and stubble. I didn’t have time for any compositing but may have a fiddle with the passes at some point. Basic background painted in Photoshop.

Attachments

_beauty_04_crop.jpg

closeup_beauty_03.jpg

Bits_01.jpg

i know him :slight_smile: Yeah great work. And thanks a lot for sharing york work process :+1:

very good job, I like the old finish, but how you got the background.?:+1:

Love this! The light is beautiful.

Pretty interesting worfklow, I will definently check that out mate!
Thanks for sharing, really nice posting, great mood in the potrait.:+1:
All the best and happy sculpting,

  • Kenny:)

Beautiful work! Very evocative of Rembrandt.

Subtle and smarter for it.The surfaces become a quiet study in light. Much to admire.
Nice to see a post from you Bonecradle.
My best wishes

very nice!

Very nice indeed. He kind of has my nose.

Thanks for sharing. Very painterly.

WOW…Beautiful job done with him…Really captured the mood/feeling that you set out to capture…reflecting back and inward.:+1:small_orange_diamond:)
Excellent process and technique also…Thank You for sharing that.:+1:…Luv the warm color pallette that you chose to go with…Really an Outstanding work of Art. :):+1:

Glenn

I love this work, my friend!:+1:

Phosforced: Thank you. He didn’t do so well in the end - maybe next time I’ll do a fantasy character :slight_smile:

PFC666: thanks - the background was simply painted in photoshop.

mdg3d: thanks, I’m glad you like the light. I got lucky with his placement while fiddling - sort of a part happy accident.

KC-Production: thank you. I don’t know if my workflow is the best - because of the short deadline I was going for quick and dirty. ZB has so many options there’s certainly no lack of choice.

voodoodad: thank you - I’m sure I heard Rembrandt shudder in his grave :slight_smile:

boozy floozie: hey Boozie, it’s great to hear from you. And I also got to see all your lovely work I had missed after clicking on your name (the icons disappear so fast now) - it always makes me feel wistfully better to see them

Ehren: thank you for your compliment

monstermaker: thanks, and a fine and characterful nose it is - just perfect for profiles :slight_smile:

willt: thanks - painterly is what I was trying for. With LightCap it is sort of like splashing colour around

SpiritDreamer: thank you - and I appreciate you seeing the mood of quiet introspection - I did wonder at times if it was really there.

andreseloy: it’s wonderful to hear from you andres. I hope you and your family are well.

it´s such a great picture.like an old painting. i don´t understand why this is not the first place by the gnomon contest.

I missed this excellent thread.
Great work. A top row for me. Serious artwork here.
@Bonecradle, are you familiar with Andrew Wyeth’s work?

Michalis - thank you. I am not greatly familiar with Wyeth, although had seen Christina’s World often. But intrigued by your question I looked him up and found Buzzard’s Glory. While working on this picture I did have the feeling it was familiar but don’t think I had ever seen Buzzard’s Glory before - rather I cribbed the profile style from 16th century portraits. The background was a solution to a problem and allowed me to show him looking into blackness. I had tried various ways of doing it that didn’t work well and ended up on what was (no disrespect to Wyeth) probably the obvious solution that provided light/dark contrast on both ‘sides’ of the picture. They are all old problems of course, and I have no doubt that any paths I take will be well trodden by better feet than mine :slight_smile: