INTRODUCTION
Hello, my name is Guilherme, and I am a 31-year-old from a small town called São Joaquim da Barra/SP, Brazil. I am a motion designer but I am entering the world of 3D and, frankly, I am never leaving! I started working with my father in his appliance repair shop, and he encouraged me to watch movies and cartoons. From there, I began to study and take courses. I graduated in Audiovisual Production and entered the world of Motion Design. Currently, I work in this field, but two years ago, I started to seriously study 3D, and I fell in love with it!
INSPIRATION
The inspiration for this project came from seeing the original art of the amazing artist, Natasha Small, on Instagram. I really like the Disney/Pixar style, so I usually opt for modeling characters or creatures in this style.
PROCESS
I always start by analyzing the concept and creating some initial shapes to define the most basic geometric forms of the model.
Then I gather all the reference images that I will use in the process. I use the software PureRef to group and manage these images.
Starting with simple geometric shapes, I try to find the best form for the character right from the beginning.
I start creating some simple curves, already guiding them towards the correct silhouette.
Right after that, I apply a remesh and start creating curves that resemble the reference more closely.
With the silhouette ready, I apply Dynamesh once (between 32 and 64, always low) and continue refining the silhouette. At this point, I also usually add more objects to the scene, such as large accessories, eyes, hats, etc.
I apply another Dynamesh (64 to 128) and start marking where the finer details will be.
With the correct form, I create polygroups to do the remesh and create the UV map.
With the correct mesh, I apply 3 to 4 levels of subdivision and then start the process of fine details (wrinkles, marks, dirt, etc).
Here, I created the beveled details and painting.
I created the rest of the form, leaves, and twigs, and applied a very simple painting.
After that, I exported the file in .FBX to continue the process in Blender.
I modeled a simple cup and applied a simple glass shader.
For the tea, I created everything within Blender, including a mask for the contact surface of the seadragon in the tea.
Shader Body:
The light setup was simple: two lights for the background, one main light, one back light, and one reflector.
And that was it! Below are the final renders.
RENDER: Ginger Leafy Seadragon
Thank you for reading this article. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me through any of my social media accounts. Have a great day!
About the Artist
Guilherme Medeiros is a 3D artist and motion designer from Brazil, currently working with motion graphics and learning 3D.
