Sculpt a dynamic creature pose
Legendary creature artist Steve Lord reveals how to sculpt a fantasy creature in pose from start to finish
Steve Lord Steve is an awardwinning artist, whose work spans from public commissions to video games and fine art. He has worked for Frank Frazetta and Rhythm & Hues, and others. www.bit.ly/209steve-lord
This tutorial is about sculpting believable creatures in a dynamic pose without symmetry. I know for a lot of people sculpting in pose is a scary proposition. I will try to break it down so it is not so daunting and hopefully you’ll find it’s something that you might actually like to do!
Why sculpt in pose? I think you get a better feel for the piece, instead of trying to fight a t-pose into shape, you can get more nuanced. I think all digital sculptors should do some in-pose pieces every now and then just to keep up their skills. I know from personal experience I get lazy when I use symmetry too often, my skills start to atrophy. The competition for quality jobs is also getting tougher so any way you can stand out from the crowd can’t hurt. I also almost never use layers; I try and keep the process as much like traditional clay as possible, which means extensive use of Dynamesh.
Using this piece, that was made from scratch for this tutorial, I will focus mainly on anatomy and pose. Coming from a traditional background, sculpting in pose is natural to me: I know it might be frustrating for some of you who don’t have that kind of background, but keep trying as it’ll get easier each time.
Gathering reference and learning anatomy can help ease you into sculpting in pose. I use my anatomy books as reference for this tutorial. Even though we are creating a made-up creature, understanding anatomy is essential for believability. I also look at Youtube for reference of animals fighting and posing, to ensure I get an accurate model. For all the assets you need go to creativebloq.com/vault/3dw209