Franck Besançon: The Workflow Behind Personal Style of Dark Art & Body Horror

Introduction

My name is Franck Besançon, and I'm a freelance 3D Concept Artist based in France, specializing in Body Horror.

My background is quite unusual. I didn't go to art school, and I'm self-taught in 3D. I've been working in the communications/advertising sector since 2002 (!), doing motion designs, websites, ads, and other things for all sorts of clients.

My first contact with 3D software was in 2019. I tried a bit of ZBrush and sculpted a few things. I decided to go serious about it in 2021 because I needed a breath of fresh air in my daily work routine and wanted to create my own things.

Since then, I've spent almost all my free time sculpting and creating images (I'm very monomaniac when I decide something). I try to produce at least one new piece of artwork every week.

I was lucky enough to be offered the chance to contribute to several projects, both games and films, such as Silent Hill: Townfall, Altar (a forthcoming film published by A24), the indie game Final Girl, illustrations for the tabletop game Mothership RPG, and several unannounced games and movies still under NDA.

At the risk of sounding cheesy, my greatest achievement is to have succeeded in creating an audience on social networks, and now being in touch with people whose work I admire and who served as references when I started out.

Images are made to be seen, so getting comments and support from people who enjoy my work is a fantastic experience. I'd like to sincerely thank everyone who has given me a like or a comment over the years because it's partly thanks to them that I've been able to evolve and continue to produce.

About My Personal Art Style

It came naturally right from the start of my 3D journey. I've always been drawn to monsters and horrors. Ever since I was a kid, I have been fascinated by the bad guys and villains in every film I have seen. 

My style can be defined as Dark Art and Body Horror. Although it may sound strange, I don't consider everything I do as horror. Of course, the visuals show horrific things, but I try to convey a message and a narrative into them. I always try to mix the beautiful and the horrible, a mixture of repulsion and attraction.

I'm very inspired by societal facts, religions, and the balance of power between people. Many of my creations denounce certain injustices, certain atrocious contexts, trauma, or pain. I'm interested in the darker sides of people.

Body horror allows you to portray strong emotions by exaggerating proportions and distorting bodies to emphasize a message, and that's what I like about this style.

There are already tons of artists out there doing magnificent, cozy, and beautiful things that make you dream and escape. So, I like to think that I'm giving people a mirror or a magnifying glass over things they don't want to see.

My inspiration often comes quite simply from the news. A simple, sordid news item can inspire me. But I'm also inspired by the whole network of artists that I've built up over the years and by everything else I see. I also enjoy looking at images of archaeology, ancient rites, and extinct religions from all over the world.

Workflow

For my personal projects, I write down all my ideas in a document. I have over 200 lines in it. It could be ideas for shapes, details, or emotions/moods. I start with one of these ideas and visualize it. Then, I go into ZBrush and start sculpting. To save time and be more efficient, I quite often reuse pieces that I've already sculpted as a base and resculpt part of them.

I tend to improvise a lot, so if, at any point during the sculpture, another idea emerges, I build on it. For my personal projects, the important thing is to have fun, with no constraints.

Once the sculpture is finished, I switch to KeyShot. There, I use custom mats, place my lights, et cetera. And I assemble my renderings in Photoshop and paint over them. Sometimes it's just a few color adjustments and curves; other times, I spend more time painting. Each project is different!

A good example is my cenobites series. Given that I did one a day for the entire month of October, first in 2022 and then in 2023, the workflow had to be efficient to keep up the pace. I spent an average of 6 hours sculpting and reusing parts.

The rendering was fairly simple. I'd prepared a KeyShot scene with a few lights, smokes, and custom mats, and all I had to do was send the model in and adjust these elements a bit.

As for Photoshop, I had a series of actions to get the same look for the whole series and go quickly. I usually do a skin render and a glossy/bloody red render, so I can mask parts on Photoshop and tweak levels and curves and paint over. In the end, once the sculpture was finished, it only took an hour to get the final image.

This series was very formative for me. The pace was hard to keep up, but I managed to hold it together. Now, I have over 60 original designs and am exploring the possibilities of doing a book with 100 of them. If all works out well, it might come out next year!

For professional work, it's pretty much the same sequence, except that I spend a lot more time thinking beforehand. Reusing part of the sculpts as a base and having KeyShot scenes and materials ready is a key point of 3D efficiency. It's quicker to draw a sketch, but you can be really quick in 3D, too, when you have an organized workflow.

I don't do sketches before the first sculpting pass. When I start sculpting for a professional job, there's almost no improvisation; I know where I'm going. The way I see it, concept art is an answer to a problem or a need. It has a purpose and a function, so there's not much room for randomness.

To be efficient, you also have to know when it's good enough to convey your ideas and not spend too much time on details. I usually do a quick sculpt and quick renders to add more details in Photoshop directly, as it's simpler and quicker.

Topology Work

Simple answer: I don't touch it. For a long time, I wondered whether or not I should learn these technical aspects.

When you're self-taught, it's often intimidating. There are tons of software and techniques out there, and everywhere you look, you see crazy work and talented people. However, time is the most precious resource, and learning takes a lot of time.

So I asked myself a simple question: what's my goal? I came to the conclusion that you can't do everything. I'm not naturally drawn to the technical aspects of 3D, optimization, UVs, and so on. I like making images and coming up with ideas.

I know topology and basic UVs aren't so complicated, so if one day, a project or an opportunity requires me to learn these techniques, I'll do it (begrudgingly, but I'll do it).

About Texturing

I don't use proper textures. I use custom mats in KeyShot and Photoshop paint. I sent a blank sculpture without Polypaint in KeyShot, and I applied my mats.

For my materials, I mainly use translucents, and I play with the density of the polygons. My meshes are in ZBrush Sculptris, so there's a greater or lesser density of polygons on the different parts. I couple this density with materials that use Curvature nodes, which makes for interesting variations in color.

Then, I used a lot of Photoshop to add variations. It's easier to paint a net of slime than to sculpt one. As I want to produce images first, it's a quicker workflow to set up ideas.

Lighting

The important thing for me is not to hide anything and not make images too dark. This goes against the grain because, in horror, we play a lot with shadow and suggestion. In my personal work, I like to show as much as possible. I like to use shadows, but my images can be bright and colorful.

When it comes to lighting, I have a fairly classic workflow: I start with shadow and black. I use HDRIs in KeyShot to get an overall light, and I put highlights where I want the focus or reflections to be.

I like to use .vdb volumes to create colored, slightly abstract smoke backgrounds. As I specialize mainly in characters, the background is less important, so I use it mainly to set a mood and make my characters stand out.

Creating Appealing Renders

I think the most important thing to learn about making appealing renders is to avoid the trap of putting in too much detail. What's important is that the image is structured and clear.

You can use grids, Fibonacci ratio, et cetera. But in the end, if the image is too complex, it'll lose its strength. Don't be afraid to erase details and blend shapes in the background to make the important parts pop more.

A Few Advice for Beginners

Don't accumulate tons of tutorials, and don't spend hours studying anatomy before doing anything – just start creating, keep going, and it will improve, each brushstroke is a step forward. 

There will never be a better time to do things: the best time is now, and it doesn't matter if you don't have confidence in yourself; it'll come in time. Practice and patience are the keys to everything.

You can find me on Instagram, X/Twtiter, Bluesky, and LinkedIn.

Franck Besançon, 3D Concept Artist

Interview conducted by Gloria Levine