“I love to see how the model comes together and starts coming to life!” – how this 3D character artist breathed life into a compelling concept using Maya and ZBrush

Marcos Emilio Cuesta Carrasco is a 3D character artist from the Dominican Republic. His piece is based on the concept ‘Arlinoe, the Guardian of the Boy-King’ by Simon Gocal. Marcos used a combination of Maya and ZBrush for the modelling, switching into Substance 3D Painter and Unreal Engine for other stages. Here we look at his artwork in more detail.

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Marcos says: I was browsing ArtStation when I found Simon Gocal’s concept. I just fell in love with it and decided to do a 3D version.

I used Maya for the retopology, UVs and hair cards, ZBrush for the high-poly, Substance 3D Painter for the texturing, and Unreal Engine for the rendering and look dev. I decided on using Unreal for this project because I wanted to do real-time modelling and learn more about the engine. For the hair, I used an add-on for Maya called GS Curves, which is super useful and easy to work with.

The hardest part for me was the reliefs. I just drew on the forehead area of the helmet, but for the other reliefs I made 3D versions and then converted them into an alpha. More than anything, I enjoyed creating the textures and look dev, as I love to see how the model comes together and starts coming to life!

Check out Marcos’ ArtStation.

This content originally appeared in 3D World magazine.