Crafting Lies of P-Inspired Mysterious Knight with ZBrush & Substance 3D

Introduciton

Hi! My name is Pavel, I'm a 23-year-old Character Artist currently working at Corbax Studio.

My journey into 3D art was a natural evolution of my lifelong passion for both traditional art and video games. As a kid, I attended art school and spent countless hours sculpting with clay – anything I could imagine, I tried to create with my hands. That love for form and character naturally led me to the world of 3D.

I’m entirely self-taught. I developed my skills through a mix of YouTube tutorials, online courses from CGMA, Wingfox, Gnomon, and lots of personal experimentation. Over time, I became especially interested in character art with a realistic style – sculpting, detailing, and pushing believable forms is what truly drives me.

Currently, I’m working at Corbax Studio, where I’ve had the opportunity to contribute to several high-quality projects and grow as part of a professional pipeline. Being surrounded by passionate, skilled artists has been both motivating and educational.

My goal is to continue evolving as an artist, take on more complex characters, and eventually contribute to cinematic, narrative-driven projects where strong character design is key to storytelling.

Inspiration & References

It’s been quite a while since I worked on a personal piece – around a year and a half. During that time, I’ve been fully immersed in production work, learning a ton and constantly growing as an artist. But at some point, that inner voice – the “inner artist” – started pushing to make something personal again. Something just for the sake of art.

I’ve always had a strong interest in medieval aesthetics, and after another playthrough of Elden Ring and Lies of P, I felt inspired to create a knight-type character grounded in that dark, gothic fantasy vibe. I wanted something that combined all the materials I love working with – metal, leather, fabric, ornamental detailing – and something that carried a strong presence, a mood.

That’s when I stumbled upon an incredible concept by Oleksii Turaiev; it had everything I was looking for. The design immediately clicked with me, and I knew it would be the perfect base for a personal project. From there, I began gathering additional references: real-world armor, baroque patterns, textures, fabric folds, and materials from scanned libraries to build up a believable and layered look.

The main goal was to enjoy the process and tell a story through the materials and forms – something tactile and grounded, but still stylized enough to feel like a character from a dark fairytale or twisted puppet theater.

Modeling

When starting any new project, I always begin by collecting references, mostly through ArtStation and Pinterest. Honestly, it’s a fairly quick process for me because over the years I’ve built a solid base of favorite artists whose work I deeply admire. I already know where to look when I need great examples of specific materials – whether it’s the way someone rendered worn leather, layered fabrics, or stylized metals.

Alongside that, I also gather references from real-world materials – things like actual photos of metal, leather textures, and medieval fabrics. This helps me strike a balance between artistic interpretation and believable detail, and gives my work a more grounded, tactile feel.

For me, the blockout stage is much more than a rough sketch – I treat it as a crucial foundation for the entire project. I aim to create a fairly detailed and clean blockout rather than simple placeholder shapes.

At this stage, I already try to achieve a solid mesh with “decent” Sub-D-friendly topology and the proportions I’m aiming for. That way, by the time I move on to the high-poly sculpting, all that’s left is to focus on refining the surface and adding details.

All of the clothing was created using Marvelous Designer, which gave me a great base for realistic folds and natural layering. The props and armor elements were modeled using Maya and ZModeler in ZBrush, depending on the complexity and type of element. This workflow gives me full control over both form and detail from the very start.

One of the interesting design challenges was creating the faces on the armor. I wanted them to have distinct expressions to give more character and storytelling to the piece. Since I was fairly limited on time, I decided to use the Multi Expression Basemesh from 3DScanStore as a base – it saved me from sculpting each face entirely from scratch while still allowing me to modify and integrate them into the armor design.

Thanks to the detailed blockout I do early on, the high poly stage for me is all about adding surface detail – the structure and proportions are already in place. Let me briefly walk through how I like to approach different materials like cloth, metal, and leather.

Fabric

Let’s take the cloth element as an example, particularly the hanging fabric piece on the character. I usually start by creating base folds either by simulating in Marvelous Designer, sculpting them manually in ZBrush, or using scanned fold alphas. Once that base is done, I mask out the areas where I want the fabric to look torn or frayed.

After that, I run a ZRemesh and give the fabric a bit of thickness along the edges, which gives it a more realistic feel. The next step is a detail pass – I add ripped and torn edges using custom brushes and damage alphas I’ve collected over time (many of them from ArtStation). I then layer in memory folds to emphasize wear and structure.

Finally, to give it an extra touch of realism, I add threads and fibers. For that, I use a mix of FiberMesh for fine fibers and the CurveTube brush.

Leather

For the leather parts, I try to go beyond throwing on a generic leather pattern – I always aim to give the material some character and life. First, I sculpt in the folds and deformations to make sure the leather doesn’t feel flat or synthetic. Even simple straps should have creases, tension areas, and slight bends, just like they would in real life.

Since I was going for a more medieval and worn-in aesthetic, I made sure to add torn and rough edges to the leather belts and straps, especially around connection points or loose ends. This helped sell the idea of a rugged, lived-in world.

Lastly, I added wrinkles and breaks in the leather surface, especially in places where the material might have bent or aged over time. As for the leather surface pattern, I sometimes include it during the high poly stage using alphas, but for this project, I decided the sculpted deformation alone provided enough visual richness.

Metal

For the metal surfaces, I wanted to go with a hammered metal look, something that feels forged and hand-crafted rather than clean or factory-made. To achieve that, I started by sculpting an irregular, slightly bumpy surface that mimics the look of metal that's been hammered into shape – this immediately adds a more grounded, medieval vibe.

After establishing the base surface, I went in and added small dents, scratches, and chipped edges to break the uniformity and show wear and tear. I also included some signature cuts and damage on certain armor pieces to help with storytelling – things like sword slashes or impact marks hinting at the battles this character might’ve been through.

For those wondering about the ornamental patterns, there's no big secret – I simply used sculpted alphas to emboss the designs into the surface. It’s a straightforward technique, but very effective for adding that final layer of visual richness.

Retopology & Unwrapping

After finishing the high poly, I moved on to the retopology stage. I usually do this part in Maya. I’ve experimented with different tools for retopology over the years, but Maya ended up being my go-to. It’s the most convenient and flexible for my workflow, especially thanks to the bridge with ZBrush, and the ability to start with base meshes or primitives as a foundation for the retop.

My approach to topology is fairly standard: I start by creating a very low-poly base mesh, keeping all the main shapes and edge flows in mind. Then, I apply a subdivision modifier to preview the final smoothed result. Since I aim to make animation-ready game models, I always follow proper topology rules to ensure the model deforms well during rigging and skinning.

Once the topology is done, I move on to UV unwrapping. I use RizomUV for this part. It’s a straightforward process, but I do try to be as efficient as possible. For this project, I used six 4K texture sets. I packed the UVs tightly and made sure each UV set had around 90% space utilization, which helped me maximize texture resolution without wasting space.

Texturing

I did all the texturing in Substance 3D Painter, and like with the sculpting phase, I approached each material type, which include fabric, leather, and metal, with its own logic and layering. Here's a breakdown of my workflow for each.

Before diving into specific materials, I want to briefly touch on my overall approach to texturing.

I believe the most important – and often the most difficult – part of texturing is preserving and emphasizing all the details we build in the high-poly sculpt. Too often, I see amazing high-poly work that gets lost in the final textures.

Since we're making real-time game characters, what the player (and viewer) sees is the textured, optimized model, not the sculpt. So, it's absolutely critical to highlight and enhance all the high-poly beauty in the texture work to make the final model shine.

Fabric

For the fabric, I wanted to create a sense of wear, exposure to the elements, and story. Here's a breakdown of how I built the texture layer by layer:

1. Base Layer – A solid base representing the primary material, like linen or rough wool, depending on the specific garment.
   
   
2. Variation Pass – Added subtle color and roughness variation to break up the surface and make it feel more natural.
   
   
3. Dirt & Stains (Stencil Pass) – Using stencils and hand-painting, I added dirt buildup, smudges, and stains in logical areas like folds, contact zones, and bottom edges.
   
   
4. Curvature and Highlights – Emphasized the shape and folds with curvature maps and added slight highlights where the fabric catches light.
   
   
5. Micro Details – Introduced tiny fibers, clumps, and pilling for extra realism up close.
   
   
6. Damage & Edge Wear – Reinforced the sculpted tears and frays with roughness breakup and painted damage maps.
   
   
7. Blood and Final Dirt Pass – To finish, I added blood stains, more grime, and surface imperfections to give it a grounded, used-in-battle feeling.
   
   

Leather

When texturing the leather parts, I aimed to enhance the sculpted story and bring out the medieval feel. Here's how I built the texture in layers:

1. Base Layer – A solid leather material with a rough, matte surface to reflect age and use.
   
   
2. Color & Roughness Variation + Curvature – I introduced subtle hue and roughness shifts, as well as curvature highlights to accentuate form and natural wear.
   
   
3. Damage Pass – Added scuffed areas, minor scratches, and deeper cuts or indentations based on the sculpt. These were enhanced with grunge masks and manual painting.
   
   
4. HSL/Color Correction – Fine-tuned hue, saturation, and lightness to unify the leather across elements and reinforce material readability.
   
   
5. Edge Breakup & Worn Leather – Emphasized worn edges, especially on straps and folds. Added detail with grunges and masks to break up uniformity.
   
   
6. Final Pass (More Damage & Dirt) – Finished with extra detail damage, subtle dirt accumulation in seams, and roughness breakup to enhance realism and storytelling.

Metal

For the metal surfaces, I aimed for a hand-crafted, story-rich "hammered" look that fits the medieval aesthetic. Here's how I built the texture:

1. Base Metal + Basic Curvature – Started with a smart material base, applied curvature highlights, slight edge brightening, and roughness breakup to give a realistic metallic response.
   
   
2. Cavity Pass & Roughness Detail – Added deeper roughness variations and enhanced cavity areas with darker tones and golden dust, pushing subtle complexity into the form.
   
   
3. Color Breakup – To avoid a boring, monotone metal, I introduced color variation: slight blues, greens, purples, especially in midtones and shadows, giving the surface life and visual richness.
   
   
4. Final Detail Pass – Layered in scratches, rust, micro dirt, and all the fine grunge details that tell the story of wear, age, and battle. Some signature dents and cuts from the sculpt were reinforced here for storytelling.

Lighting, Rendering, & Port-Production

For the rendering and presentation of The Puppet, I used Unreal Engine 5.6.
The project was rendered entirely in real-time using the Lumen system, which delivers incredibly dynamic and realistic lighting without the need for baking or complex setup. One of the main advantages of working with UE5, especially in its latest versions, is how intuitive and flexible it is for artists. The real-time feedback, especially with Lumen and Nanite, allows for quick iteration and cinematic-quality results almost instantly.

I didn’t use any post-production this time — no Photoshop, no DaVinci Resolve, nothing.

What you see is straight out of the UE5 viewport, which honestly still surprises me with how far real-time rendering has come. I used to render in Arnold, and while it has its strengths, achieving this level of quality and speed would’ve been far more time-consuming. UE5 gave me the freedom to focus on the art and storytelling, rather than wrestling with render settings.

For lighting, my goal was to emphasize the dark, dramatic tone of the character and to bring out the richness of the materials I worked so hard to sculpt and texture. I used a fairly cinematic setup – something inspired by classic three-point lighting, but with modifications for mood and story.

In Unreal Engine 5, I relied heavily on Lumen’s global illumination and reflections, which allowed the materials to react naturally and dynamically to the environment. I set up a strong key light slightly from the top-front angle to define the silhouette and forms of the armor and fabric. A cooler rim light from the back helped separate the character from the background and gave that heroic, high-contrast profile.

Additionally, I used subtle fill lights with a very soft intensity to prevent the shadows from getting too flat or losing detail. I made sure that each camera angle had slightly tweaked lighting to highlight the facial masks, ornamental shapes, and worn surfaces on the armor. The blood and dirt details also came through better with carefully placed accent lights.

The environment was kept relatively neutral and subdued, so the character would stay in focus. I didn’t want the background to overpower the subject, but rather serve as a supporting tone.

Conclusion

The project took me around two months, working mostly on weekends.
Honestly, it all came together surprisingly fast. I didn’t expect it to move so smoothly, but I think that’s thanks to how much experience I’ve gained over the past couple of years working in production. Having a clear goal and a focused idea helps streamline the process.

The main challenge for me was balancing artistic ambition with time constraints. Since I mostly worked on this in my free time, I had to plan ahead and be strategic, especially when it came to elements like the facial masks on the armor. To save time, I used 3D Scan Store’s Multi Expression Basemesh rather than sculpting each one from scratch. I learned that even in personal projects, smart use of available tools and assets can make a huge difference.

Another important thing I was reminded of is that personal work is essential, not just to grow technically, but to stay passionate and connected to why we started doing this in the first place.

As for advice to beginning artists: Don’t be afraid to start small, and don’t get discouraged by how overwhelming things can feel at first. Focus on learning one thing at a time: sculpting, topology, texturing, rendering… piece by piece. Also, finish your projects. Even if they’re not perfect, there’s so much value in seeing something through from start to finish.

And most importantly, keep your passion alive. If you love this craft, it will push you forward no matter how hard it gets.

I.S.Pavel, 3D Character Artist