Digital creative tools are dynamic and constantly evolving. Recent software and hardware advancements have given rise to the term of hybrid art. This term is also known as 5D art (2D + 3D), and it refers to the disappearing borderline between 2D and 3D art.

For the creation of this image for example, I used exclusively what is broadly considered to be a 3D application (Zbrush), but I also did a lots of 2D painting with it, aiming for 5D fusion.

The goal of this exercise was to create a matte painting in the fastest and most direct way possible. Since time was an issue, I timed myself to see how fast I could achieve an acceptable result, using hybrid tools.

This the process I used:

I sketched out my composition and established my perspective in a very rough way. I used a user made plug in called Zketch pad, to simulate pencil look and feel in Zbrush. This plug in can be downloaded for free at http://www.pixologic.com/zbrush/download-center/download-center.html

Using my sketch as a guide, I blocked in my basic colours. First I created a blocky shaped Alpha, and then I captured it to use as brush tip. This was the brush tip I used for all of my painting in Zbrush.