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ZBrush Forge : Sculpting a Chess Piece from a DAZ 3D Figure
October 22, 2023 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm BST
Imagine a game where strategy meets artistry, where each move is not just a tactic but a testament to the craft and creativity of the artist behind the pieces. Welcome to our immersive ZBrush course, where the ancient, strategic game of chess converges with the limitless boundaries of digital sculpting.
Chess has always been a source of fascination, not just for its intricate gameplay but also for its beautifully designed pieces, each with its own story, form, and significance. Now, through the lens of ZBrush, we’re offering you a unique opportunity to breathe life into these iconic forms, forging a bridge between historical admiration and modern digital artistry.
Whether you’re a budding digital sculptor or a seasoned artist looking to diversify your portfolio, this course will enrich your ZBrush journey. Dive deep into the world of design principles with live sculpting and detailed texturing as you craft a consistent and captivating chess set.
This is not just a course, but a journey through time and creativity, we invite you to join us in merging the legacy of chess with modern day digital design.
John Haverkamp provides a new series of coaching classes improving your ZBrush sculpting skills so that you can:-
- Master the intricacies of design principles, enhancing your artistic vision and creating consistent, captivating chess pieces.
- Elevate your ZBrush skills by learning advanced sculpting and texturing techniques, setting you apart as a proficient and versatile digital artist.
- Develop a unique and personal style that resonates through your entire chess set, making every piece a work of art.
John’s experience includes ZBrush as well as Substance Painter, World Machine, Unreal 5 and Modo so he’s open to including these other tools in this course’s workflow for students in the premium sessions.
Each class will comprise of a free 30 minute open workshop where John will begin the basic work of the session and expand the teaching with more detail in a premium session afterwards lasting up to one hour.
Technical Topics Covered
By attending John’s ZBrush workshop series, you can expect transformative growth in your sculpting skills and creative process. This will equip you with the ability to:
Mastering Subtools and Polygroups:
As you work on different elements of the chess pieces, you’ll learn to effectively use subtools and polygroups in ZBrush. This will allow you to efficiently manage, modify, and organize different parts of your models, ensuring consistency in design across all chess pieces.
Understanding and Applying ZBrush’s Sculpting Brushes:
Crafting the intricate details of chess pieces will enhance your familiarity with ZBrush’s diverse array of sculpting brushes. From carving delicate details to smoothing surfaces, you’ll explore and understand the right brushes to achieve desired textures and effects.
Creating Consistent and Realistic Textures:
Texturing is vital for bringing realism to your chess pieces. The course will delve into ZBrush’s powerful texturing tools and techniques, helping you apply consistent, high-quality textures across your chess set. You’ll explore tools like Surface Noise, Alpha Textures, and Spotlight to achieve various textures.
Utilizing ZModeler for Hard Surface Modeling:
While working on chess pieces, you’ll use the ZModeler brush for hard surface modeling. This allows for the precise creation and modification of mesh, enabling you to design parts like the base or intricate patterns on the chess pieces consistently.
Achieving Harmony in Design:
An overarching learning point is ensuring harmony and consistency in design across all chess pieces. You’ll learn to maintain consistent proportions, styles, and details, ensuring that each piece complements the others, while still standing out individually. This involves an adept use of ZBrush’s symmetry, scaling, and measurement tools.
By focusing on these learning points, you will not only produce a beautifully consistent chess set but also solidify your ZBrush skills, making you adept in various aspects of sculpting and texturing within the software.
Design Topics Covered
Topic 1 : Introduction and Exploration of Historical 3D Scan Chess Sources
Objective:
- Understand and internalize various historical styles and aesthetics by exploring historical 3D scan sources and existing chess pieces.
Details:
- Explanation of the importance of exploring different historical styles.
- Understanding and copying an Egyptian piece to internalize the techniques and aesthetics.
- Demonstration by John Haverkamp, sculpting and explaining the muscle memory.
- Homework: Students find a historical style and piece to recreate.
Topic 2 : Adapting and Dreaming Up Your Style
Objective:
- Learn to dream up a style that matches a chosen reference to create the other pieces.
Details:
- Discussion on being culturally and aesthetically agnostic in sculpting.
- Explanation of avoiding being stuck in one style for versatility.
- Example: Creating a king or queen piece inspired by the Sphinx.
- Homework: Students create one piece in their chosen style.
Topic 3 : Exploration of Diverse Historical Sculptural Art Styles
Objective:
- Explore various historical sculptural styles for inspiration.
Details:
- Understanding different historical references (Louis chess set, classical Chinese, Egyptian, Gothic, etc.)
- Exploration of different aesthetics and breaking the hedgehog mindset.
- Example: Demonstrating sculpting in various styles.
- Homework: Students explore a different historical style and create another chess piece.
Topic 4: Finalizing Chess Set and Critique Session
Objective:
- Finalize the chess set and understand the nuances through critique.
Details:
- Discussion on determining whether you are a fox or a hedgehog in terms of style.
- John will demonstrate fixing and finalizing a chess piece.
- Critique session where John and peers provide feedback on students’ pieces.
Additional Notes:
- The course may be extended with an extra session for creating the chessboard or exploring further styles.
- Continuous emphasis on learning by doing and example.
- Opportunities for students to share their work and get real-time feedback.
- Ensuring students not only focus on creating the pieces but also understanding the different aesthetics deeply.
Event Series Details
Date : Each Sunday at 19:00 BST (London) / 11:00 PDT (Los Angeles) / 14:00 EDT (New York)
Free session (30 minutes) followed by 1 hour premium session.
Official start date : Sunday the 8th of October at 19:00 BST
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Ticket Options
Free Ticket
- Entry to the first 30 minutes of each workshop
- Excludes recordings
Premium Ticket
- Entry to each whole session.
- HD searchable recordings of each session.
- Private forum
- Gain the model content created by John Haverkamp in the sessions
- The ZBrush Complete Library : Every Zbrush related tutorial we’ve produced in one giant searchable library (over 25 hours of teaching from John) on ZBrush, Substance Painter, 3D printing and more!
- How to sculpt a face (5 parts)
- Prototyping : Rapid Character Development from Artbreeder to DAZ Studio (2 parts)
- Sculpting and Texturing Spacecraft (4 parts)
- 3D printing
- ZBrush sculpting fan art
- Sculpt a helmet (1 part)
- ZBrush 4R7 (1 part)
- Substance painter (2 parts)
John Haverkamp
About John Haverkamp
John Haverkamp was born in Ohio and then moved to the pristine Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia at a young age. There he spent a semi-isolated childhood re-enacting the Lord of the Rings and being corrupted by Dungeons and Dragons. Always with the fondness for the fantastical and medieval, Art school drove him deeper into Luddite territory by granting him the skills of a traditional metal-smith. This meant post-college jobs making copper fountains, welding and steel fabricating, casting and finishing bronze sculptures, and working for an architectural blacksmith throughout his twenties.
Digitally, John got sucked into cyberspace and the arcane mysteries of 3D studio max. The perfect software match for John was Zbrush discovered over 15 years ago. Now he teaches digital arts and ZBrush, constantly endeavouring to improve his craft as a digital-sculptor and visualizer through personal work, illustration and indie game projects. As part of his workflow he also uses Substance Painter, Modo and Unreal.