From the first time I laid eyes on this wonderful character concept by Raul Urias, she had my attention. With only 3 months of experience at the time, my instructor wisely advised me to wait. Before being ready for a challenge like this, I needed more time to assemble the right toolbox of skills.
I was patient. A whole year later, when I finally had the chance to make my first CG portrait for Texturing 4 class, I knew the time had come to give this a shot. The skin was textured in Mari using TexturingXYZ, and everything else was done in Substance Painter. The groom was made with Yeti (feather cards textured using Megascans).
Zbrush basemesh sculpt + Mari texturing preview
3D Mesh
Mari Texturing
Lighting and compositing determined a large part of the final look. I started with more traditional portrait lighting (more dramatic, less lights), but ended up with a total of 14 lights and a much brighter scene overall. This began to evoke a more graphic and modern 2D feel, which I happily leaned into as it felt like a tribute to the unapologetic boldness of the original concept.
AO Pass
Diffuse Pass
Specular Pass
Wireframe
UDIM + UV LAYOUT
Interpreting a more abstract 2D concept like this one was equal parts exciting and tough. I really enjoyed the opportunity to express my own artistic vision, but made sure to represent the key shape language, color palette, and clear cultural influence.
All in all, I'm happy with how she turned out. Each step of this piece taught me something new, and I proved to myself that what was an insurmountable challenge just a year ago on my art journey was now entirely possible.
