BUILD A BIZARRE BABY SCULPTURE

Find out how Oliver Schtiimann brings a creepy bust to life

- Oliver Schtiimann

As artists, we have the fantastic ability to create everything that we can imagine from thin air. Thanks to modern tools such as ZBrush, it’s even more fun to sculpt bizarre monsters and creatures. Bringing our artworks to life with stunning textures and photoreal lighting is the cherry on top of the creepy cake. During this tutorial, I’ll show you a simple but effective workflow to jump-start your own sinister sculpting.

01 CONCEPTUAL PHASE

Every sculpture starts with an idea. That can be achieved by making a few scribbles, 3D models, kitbashing, or concept artwork. My piece is based on German folklore, so I did my research on the creature and created an initial concept.

02 BLOCKOUT THE BASE SHAPES

Get going with simple shapes like cylinders, spheres and so on to create the base proportions as quickly as possible. That will help you keep the big picture in mind without losing yourself in the details. If you have a clear idea of your sculpt, always double-check your proportions against your main references.

03 REFINE THE PROPORTIONS

When you’re satisfied that the base sculpt has enough details to describe the silhouette, you can begin working on refinements by adding extra pieces such as horns, deformations, and any other eye-catching touches.

04 ADD EXTRA PIECES

For more visual interest and to stand as a counterpoint to the organic shapes, add extra non-organic pieces like drapery to your sculpture to make it feel believable in the world.

05 BLEND AND DETAIL YOUR MODEL

For a believable sculpt, start out by adding details to blend everything together. That will describe the volumes and help you to create a readable flow within your sculpture. Gather any additional references as needed and take a look at other materials to find inspiration for the shapes and volumes.