Software Used :

ZBrush, Maya, & Photoshop

Introduction :

Hi, my name is Jonas Skoog, a 3D character artist living in Stockholm, Sweden. I loved manga and anime when I was younger and Dragon Ball Z was one of my favorite series. It therefore felt natural to pay tribute to my childhood heroes/villains with a 3D sculpt. The purpose of this image was not to exactly replicate one of Buu’s forms, but to create my own interpretation – although you might find a lot of Kid Buu in there! Got to love artistic freedom, right?

Refrences :

Collecting good references is key when sculpting! That is why every time I start a new project I search both the “reference folder” on my PC and the internet for vital references. I then create a collage of the best ones (Fig.01) and keep the rest in a folder nearby. I actually took the process even further this time and ordered the entire Buu Saga on DVD, as well as the game Dragon Ball Z: BurstLimit for my Xbox 360! Although Buu does not appear in the game itself, it was still a great source of inspiration! After that I sketched out concepts to establish the right direction and style (Fig.01).

Fig.01

Modeling :

To get the ball rolling quickly I used a generic basemesh (Fig.02) I had lying around, which I then modified in Maya to resemble Buu. Once imported into ZBrush it was all a matter of establishing a good silhouette by using the Move brush. It was now finally time to pull out the Claytubes brush! Being a traditional sculptor I must say that this is my all-time favorite brush since, in my opinion, it is the closest to clay that you can get in 3D. Love it! By working your way up from the lower subdivisions one by one you can get a smooth mesh and details exactly where you want them without any lumps. One important thing when sculpting organic characters is anatomy references. This is why I always keep the book Anatomy Drawing School by Andas Szunyoghy next to me at all times. Two other life savers are www.3d.sk and ZBrush Character Creation by Scott Spencer.

Fig.02

For micro details, the standard alphas that come with ZBrush work best for me. My two favorites are Alpha 58 and Alpha 23 (Fig.03). With these and the right stroke settings you can create almost everything from pores to tiny wrinkles.

Fig.03

The Radial menu from my Wacom Intuos 4 is a real timesaver. Here you can see the brushes I use the most in my sculpting. I always try to improve my workflow to be a better and faster artist so this menu is evolving alongside me as I learn new stuff (Fig.04).

Fig.04

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