pearl

stylised + expressions

Hand sculpted and procedural: no scan data, no photo-sourced textures. Rendered in Cycles.

3D CHARACTER | ALL ASPECTS

progression

STEPS:

Initial concept art, sculpt: body, clothing and initial hair placement objects, retopology, hard surface modeling: teeth, eyes & jewellery, UV unwrapping, sculpted expression shape keys, surfacing: skin vertex colours, eye texturing, jumpsuit garment material, grooming & groom materials, rigging, posing, lighting, compositing & rendering.

wireframe

closed eyes | SCULPTED EXPRESSION: meditative smile

retopology with grooming and garment displacement

hard-surface

jewellery

concept

character detail

I hand-drew concepts of Pearl with her facial expressions being a focus in creating her character from the beginning.

To test the design of her face and bring her to life I sculpted a few expressions (in several iterations – I am very grateful to have been mentored on facial retopology by Digital Artist Marcus Boos).

I textured Pearl with a nod to her namesake, a black sea pearl – with an aura of elegance; iridescent and aloof, yet at the same time seeming to mysteriously invite us in. With a tiny hint of wickedness, a little remorse and glimpses of humanity, I imagine her to be involved in some kind of espionage.

I’m excited to exaggerate the expressions further in the next character!

REFERENCES:

Sandra bernardo, @sandrabernardo – instagram.com/p/CW28q7ArVTu/?hl=en, posted 19.11.2021
Photograph of Audrey Marnay, sourced from pinterest pinterest.com.mx/pin/622763454693045607/
Elsa, Frozen, frozen.disney.com/elsa
Mirage, The Incredibles, disney.fandom.com/wiki/Mirage_(The_Incredibles)
Photographed by Robbert Jacobs, Flourir For Peet Dullaert’s Visionary Projects Fall 2017, anneofcarversville.com/style-photos/2017/4/9/udqy5iwhndwm8le9u1faiyuypo756l
W Magazine Cover featuring Emma Corrin, by Maura Egan, Photographs by Tim Walker, Styled by Harry Lambert, wmagazine.com/culture/emma-corrin-the-crown-anna-x-interview
@zposternak wearing Helmut Lang for #HELMUTATHOME, sourced from pinterest, pinterest.nz/pin/297378381652554646/
p.x.miranda, Oil on Canvas – 100x100cm, Ahora from I Presenti series, + Louis Janmot, Maybel Royds Flower Pattern, @p.x.miranda – instagram.com/p/CgroEYXInga/?hl=en
Silk organza garment detail, own photo

CREDITS:

Pearl is the first stylised 3D character I created, (in Blender 2.93 – 3.2), following the exceptional Stylised Character Workflow with Blender course for film production by Julien Kaspar, in his creation of Rain and Snow at Blender Cloud.

Stylised Character Workflow with Blender course: studio.blender.org/training/stylized-character-workflow/