What design elements would boost the realism of my flying fantasy creature? Hilary Jenkins, Scotland
Answer
Mark replies
I start by designing the creature in 3D using the digital sculpting tools in ZBrush. This software has the option of working in symmetry, which helps me create a balanced body shape. I want to give my giant flying beast wings that are similar to the shape of large birds, without the typical silhouette that’s created by feathers.
I end up with a wing shape that’s somewhere between an albatross’s soaring and an eagle’s gliding profile. I add the antenna-like elements to give the creature extra balance, but am careful to ensure that they don’t affect the original silhouette too much.
After this sculpting stage I duplicate the creature, place them in a flying formation and do some quick render passes directly from ZBrush. I then import the renders into Photoshop and composite the images together. Now I paint over the creatures to better integrate them into my background. Because I already have the basic lighting information from the 3D renders, I only use quick washes of colours on Overlay, Soft Light and Color layers to add colour and more definition to my creatures. I also decide to change and erase back the silhouette of the wings slightly, to make them look thinner and fragile. This is one step that would have taken a long time using the original 3D model.
After deciding on a base colour I finish the creatures by applying some patterns to the wings and some additional complementary colours to the body and antennas. I bring the image together by adjusting the contrast and brightness, and fixing the hues using the Color Balance tool.