by Wes Bedrosian

Day of the Dead Skulls

This semester’s 3D Illustration class has made their Day of the Dead skulls.

In Mexico, it is tradition to make clay or sugar skulls for the Day of the Dead. These sculptures are elaborately decorated with a variety of motifs.

This project asks students to sculpt a skull and decorate it in any fashion they prefer. The decorated elements are applied by way of hand painting and the use of found or pre-made designs that are applied like a decal.

After applying color, students mask the design and inflate the colored areas. This gives the appearance of raised paint. After completing the sculpting and painting phase using ZBrush, the skulls are taken into the render engine called Keyshot where they are given a porcelain appearance. Shelves and a distressed brick wall are created to display the skulls. 

Pumpkin Patch

Our 3D illustration class is getting into the Halloween spirit with this group of pumpkin sculptures created in ZBrush. Each student learned to make a pumpkin shape, hollow it out and carve a face on it. Later we learned how to add a stem and even cut off the top of the pumpkin for a more realistic look. The grass was made using a feature in ZBrush called ‘Fibermesh’. Color and materials that simulate lit candles were added in the end.