sadhu

hand-sculpted and procedural

No scan data, no photo-sourced textures. Rendered in Cycles.

3D PORTRAIT | ALL ASPECTS

progression

STEPS:

Initial sculpt, retopology, shape keys, sculpted pore and wrinkle detailing, hard surface modeling: eyes & jewellery, UV unwrapping, surfacing: utility texture baking, skin colour painting, skin material, specular variation & subsurface scattering zones, eye, jewellery & face paint materials, cloth modeling, simulation & materials (excluded in final renders), grooming & groom materials, lighting, compositing & rendering.

GROOMING | Facial + body vellus hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, moustache, beard, goatee, sideburns and scalp hair and bun in layers.
Reaching towards realism with a combination of the groom, vertex groups, weight painting and procedural accents.

HARD SURFACE | Modeled and sculpted glass and prayer beads, utilising an array of blender’s modifiers and procedural texturing treatments.

SURFACING | SKIN: Built up with hand-sculpted pore and wrinkle detail, hand-painting, procedural blemishes and subsurface scattering zones.
EYES: Pairing modeling with procedural materials to create the sclera, iris, pupil and meniscus.

sculpt & groom

sculpted pore and wrinkle detailing of skin and face paint, skin utility texture baking

wireframe

retopology of bust followed by UV unwrapping

influences:

The culture and asceticism of the Sadhus has been of long-time interest and inspiration to me. I created this 3D portrait of Vijay Nund in my best effort to portray his humanity, spirituality and his physical beauty, with deep respect and with no commercial interest. As a piece of artwork, this is my attempt at a representation of the likeness of Vijay Nund, however likeness is a challenging journey and this is but one artistic interpretation.

I first discovered Vijay Nund in Joey L’s photojournalistic “Holy Men” series and in the accompanying documentary; BEYOND; directed by Cale Glendening, in Varanasi, India; and their work has been of significant inspiration and reference (links below).

REFERENCES:

Marzia Franceschini, Indian Sadhu praying in Pushkar, India, atlasofhumanity.com/indiansadhus
Joey L., Portrait of Baba Nondo Somendrah, Varanasi, India, joeyl.com/portfolio/category/holy-men
NAGA SADHU PHOTOGRAPHY, Sadhu, in.pinterest.com/pin/229402174758954719/
BEYOND Opening title, Directed by Cale Glendening, Varanasi, India, caleglendening.com/varanasi-india-beyond, Photograph by Joey L.
Stephan Vanfleteren, photograph from Surf Tribe, stephanvanfleteren.com/surftribe/
Joey L., Ascetic priest Baba Vijay Nund rows a boat along the Ganges River, Varanasi, India, joeyl.com/portfolio/category/holy-men
Brian Hodges, featured in Behold, The Beauty Of Pushkar’s Holy Men by Mallika Rao, huffpost.com/entry/pushkar-holy-men-portraits_n_5661537
Yulia Serdobintseva, Japa mala, Prayer beads made from the seeds of the rudraksha tree, dreamstime.com/japa-mala-prayer-beads-made-seeds-rudraksha-tree-image170800434

CREDITS:

Sadhu is the first realistic 3D portrait I have created (in Blender 2.93 – 3.2), following the HUMAN: Realistic Portrait Creation with Blender course by Kent Trammell, in his creation of Colin at CG Cookie. I’m ever grateful for Kent Trammell’s incredible masterclasses and expert workflow – I enjoyed every step of the journey and discovered a true passion for 3D portraiture while creating this piece.

HUMAN: Realistic Portrait Creation with Blender course: cgcookie.com/courses/human-realistic-portrait-creation-with-blender