“Just learning the user interface and getting down the terminology has been a bit rough”

ZBrush is a wonderful sculpting tool for modelling, texturing and painting. It’s great for creating high-res models for 3D characters, clothing content and props for illustration, games, movies, and animations.

However, as expressed by many artists in our community (such as above), the learning curve appears dramatic and the interface is daunting to new users.

Studying ZBrush can be overwhelming if you don’t have the right steps to follow. There are tons of questions to answer and decisions to make. It’s easy to waste weeks or even months struggling to sculpt content, only to find out that you haven’t handled your geometry properly.

You’ve tried absorbing recorded tutorials, but sometimes there are missing pieces or it doesn’t simply feel like a good fit for your learning needs. You get sucked down a rabbit hole from hell dealing with the technical parts of ZBrush. You get bogged down trying to figure out what went wrong.

Do some of these questions sound like you?

I hear all of these frustrations and more every time I talk to artists wanting to use ZBrush and enjoy the powerful benefits of this top creative tool.

Another question is your learning style. Do you learn best alone or with a community? Better still would a live community help, led by an experienced ZBrush artist?

Your learning style is very much augmented with frequency. If you’re connected with a motivated group on a daily basis and meeting with an experienced teacher every week, that’s going to give you a higher creative output and provide you with stronger chances of completing projects. Remember all those half completed meshes you’d told yourself you’d finish one day?

With all of these questions in mind, that’s why we have created the “ZBRUSH FORGE : Live Sculpting and Solutions for ZBrush” held on a weekly basis, with other valuable learning benefits layered on top.

The live classes are led by John Haverkamp, who has been creating and teaching with ZBrush for over 12 years.

ZBrush / ZBrush Core and ZBrush Core Mini Covered

Each month John will provide a new imaginative theme and host 4 or 5 lessons,  leading you through a complete project, where you’ll enjoy creating new characters or props to take away and use for your own purposes.

ZBrush Forge : Grow with these Valuable Learning Points

John will help you to…

Who ZBrush Forge is for:

John Haverkamp : Proven Experience with ZBrush

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 12 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.

John Haverkamp ZBrush sculptor

ZBrush Forge Experience

Here’s the ZBRUSH FORGE Experience:

Monthly Theme

Each month we’ll have an imaginative theme, a “container” to create at least one character and/or prop. We’ll do this from start to finish and include some attractive texturing for the models to come alive. 

Weekly Meetings

Every Wednesday, John holds a ZBRUSH FORGE live webinar meeting composed of two parts:-

a) A ZBrush “clinic” for up to 30 minutes (free entry)

b) ZBRUSH FORGE live sculpting for members only (separate webinar room) : 1.5 hours

Private online group chat to interact between Zoom calls 

Any time you need some input or encouragement, you can turn to the private group to connect with other ZBrush creatives.

We’ve found that the a group chat is a powerful connecting tool to keep the conversation going between the weekly meetings.

This extends the benefits of the live ZBRUSH FORGE meetings. 

ZBrush Tutorials Library

Full access to tutorials created by John on sculpting swords, spacecraft, dragons, faces, orcs and more. Over $500+ worth of education.

Evergreen library. Each week’s live FORGE meeting is included in the library.

Resource Hub

John has a collection of ZBrush related information that he often passes onto his students.

VIP Add-On

The VIP membership level gives you one-on-one time with John with additional coaching and resources.

ZBrush Zone
$97 for one month
Entry for up to five live sculpting and clinic events for one month
ZBrush Classic / Core / Core Mini covered
Access to ZBrush Tutorial Library : worth $550
Connect and learn with committed ZBrush users in a private chat group (Lifetime access)
ZBrush sculpting resource hub
ZBrush Zone (VIP)
$127 for one month
All the benefits of ZBRUSH FORGE standard membership
A one on one tuition call (up to 60 minutes) with John Haverkamp
Detailed portfolio critique
Substance Painter products / texturing coaching
3D printing coaching