From Model to ZBrush Splash Screen: Process of Crafting Lady Made of Rock

Introduction 

First, I would like to thank Even Mehl Amundsen for allowing me to use his concept. His artwork made me fly to a magical world, where the girl was frozen within living nature and could listen to the forest’s secrets through the crows.

Lady Rock

For this project, I will use PureRef, ZBrush, RizomUV, Substance 3D Painter, Blender, and Photoshop.

The second step is to look for references to make my life easier. I use Google and Pinterest; both are good choices for this stage. I created albums on Pinterest to save and keep all my references organized.

After that, I make a final selection from them, download everything, and open all the images in PureRef. This way helps me to have a clearer and more organized vision of the project.

Sculpt Time

Blocking

I am going to start using a ZSphere Mannequin Ryan female. Before adapting and posing it for my sculpt, I load my reference into ZBrush using Texture/Load Image. This way, the image is added to a new project and also appears on the canvas.

I use Ctrl+N to clear the canvas. Next, I append an empty plane to my scene. I assign the texture map: Active Tools/Display Properties/Double Side to prevent the reference from disappearing in the back view.

I sometimes like to add my reference to my project because I can use it in a more efficient way.

I adapt the mannequin to match the proportions of my composition and pose it. Once I’m satisfied with the general proportions and movement of the figure, I press ‘A’ to activate ZSpheres to Adaptive Skin and generate my mesh.

I organize my polygroups, use ZRemesher, and continue adapting the mesh to achieve the general shapes. I model the hands in a separate project in T-pose and then append them to the scene.

At this stage, I block out the main elements at a very low level, focusing only on composition: rocks, water, vegetation, and birds.

For the birds, I use a ZSphere base bird from ZBrush (Zeezoo Finch) and adjust it to define the overall composition.

For the vegetation, I sculpt one element in T-pose and move it with the Gizmo/Transpose Type/Bend Curve.

For the trees, I start from a cylinder and extrude it into the final shape. I use Sculptris to add more details to the curves and add knots.

The following step is to sculpt one of her feet. I delete some polygons, close the mesh, and extrude each toe. Then, I refine it to a higher level of detail.

I disable Dynamic Subdivision and select the sculpted foot. I duplicate it, mirror it, and position it on the other leg. With both meshes open at the ankles, wrists, feet, and hands, I merge everything into a single mesh using ZModeler/Bridge/Two Holes.

I organize my polygroups and add the last details to obtain my general shapes.
At this stage, I’m working without subdivision levels, using only Dynamic Subdivision.

Head

Now I move on to the second stage of sculpting. I'm going to sculpt each part in a new project to avoid a heavy file and to have more control and a cleaner final scene.

For the head, I clone the body of the girl in a new project. I reposition the body by moving and rotating to create the head in T-pose with X symmetry.

Before importing the final head into the main scene, I model the hair.

I start with a simple base mesh for the hair. I duplicate the mesh to avoid subdivision levels and add locks of hair using the Curve Tube brush. To use this brush properly, I adjust the Curve Modifier Size in the Stroke Menu to create them from a wide base to a thinner tip. This allows me to add locks of hair to her head. For other locks, I activate Picker/Ctrl+Z to create them attached to my main hair.

Once I have the overall distribution, I start to move the locks to create flow and movement in my figure. At this stage, it doesn't matter if the topology is deformed because I prioritize artistic freedom. Afterward, I use ZRemesher to restore clean topology in my meshes.

I refine the strands by flattening areas and sharpening edges. For the braid, I sculpt it in T-pose and then deform it using Gizmo/Transform Type, Bend Curve.

I am in the second stage of sculpting. I want to bring all my blocking meshes to this level of finish. After that, I will adjust the general shapes again and increase or decrease the number of locks. I treat the sculpture as something alive, allowing it to evolve organically throughout the process.

I clean my clone project by deleting unused meshes and renaming everything for better organization. Then, I transfer all subtools using ZPlugin/Subtool Master/Copy Folder and Paste into the main scene.

Since everything was sculpted in T-pose, I need to move all the models I’ve made so far – head, hair, and body – to use this last one as a reference to re-pose the head again in my main scene.

Once everything is placed, I save it as a new project with the same main name and a new suffix indicating the new meshes I added to the scene: “Gossip_v001_Blocking” and “Gossip_v002_Head”. 

Body

I repeat the same process: cloning the body into a new project. This time, I also include the head for better visual reference.

I duplicate the body at low resolution (without subdivisions) and use it as a base mesh to create clothing.

I hide unnecessary polygons and use Delete Hidden to isolate areas in the torso and legs to create the clothing.

I adjust the mesh using Dynamic Subdivision. Once the shape is defined, I use the ZModeler brush, Polygon/Extrude All Polygons, to add thickness. Then, I crease borders, refine the cloth, and continue sculpting.

For the straps:

1. Duplicate the cloth at low resolution.
2. Isolate the waist loop and delete hidden polygons.
3. Mask the end of the plane strap.
4. Use Tool/Deformation/Polish by Features to have a straight strap.
5. Extrude all polygons with the ZModeler brush.
6. Add a central loop.
7. Select it and scale it down a bit to adjust it to the waist.
8. Activate Dynamic Subdivision and adjust the entire strap to my character.

I duplicate and reposition the strap for the arm. I delete unnecessary polygons and close the mesh using ZModeler/Bridge/Edges.

I mask all the mesh except the tip of the strap, and I use the Gizmo + CTRL to extrude the tip polygons. I move it following my character's form. I activate Dynamic Subdivision, adjust it to my final shape, and mirror it in X to obtain the other one and adjust it.

I move all clothing elements into the main scene.

Environment

In this stage, I define four elements: rocks, trees, small vegetation, and water.

Rocks:

1. I use the Trim Curve to cut all my blocking rocks and refine the shapes.
2. To generate big breaks in the rocks, I duplicate the big rock and cut it in two using the Trim Curve (I make the cut in the same direction but not on the exact plane, because I want it to appear broken, moved, and worn out).

1. Cut and flatten some borders to make a more realistic finish.
2. Make small rocks between the big ones to help obtain a more natural scene.
3. Mask and move to create some angles like rock shards.
4. Add textures to everything.

For smaller rocks at the bottom, I'm going to use a rounded oval. I cut it using the Slice Curve, which generates new polygroups. Then, I hide this new polygroup, Split Hidden, Close Holes, Group by Normals, and ZRemesher, keeping the polygroups. In this way, I obtain a lot of new small rocks easily.

When I have the number of pieces I want, I move each one using the Transpose tool, cutting and sculpting them like the big rocks. I duplicate some of them, move, round, and modify the first ones.

Trees:

I use Snake Hook and Sculptris Pro mode to block the final shapes. After that, I apply ZRemesher, project details, and refine.

Small Vegetation:

I sculpt leaves and plants in T-pose and duplicate them across the scene. I deform them using Gizmo/Transform Type Bend Curve, adjusting the twist and adding points when needed.

I adjust each element individually to achieve a natural look.

Water:

For the water, I isolate the base polygroup at the bottom of the base. I extrude it and sculpt subtle ripples where the foot interacts with the surface.

Once finished, I merge everything into the main scene.

Birds

I sculpt a bird in T-pose with the wing open. For this, I use primitive forms and Sculptris to obtain refined shapes quickly. Then I use ZRemesher and assign my polygroups to organize my final meshes before posing the different birds.

For the claw: I sculpt it in T-pose, move, and mirror it in X. For the wings: I sculpt four types of feathers and position all of them across the wings, tail, and neck.

I started with my reference bird only to keep in mind a general size.

I adjust all my polygroups because I'm going to use them to generate automatic UVs with ZBrush.

Before posing the birds, I'm going to make slight variations between the different birds to get a more interesting scene: fatter, taller, smaller.

I pose each body using the T-pose mesh and the wings and tail with Gizmo/Bend Curve.

For folded wings, I manually adjust feathers and mirror in X.

I use my blocking birds to determine the position and pose of the birds. I place all birds into the main scene.

Details

Now, it's time to move all my sculptures to the next level. I'm going to apply more details: add elements, texturing, and adjust the composition slightly.

Texturing

UVs

I assign the polygroups in each subtool, planning to use them to generate automatic UVs in ZBrush.

Additionally, I use RizomUV to generate some manual UVs for the body, cloth, and head. When I have all my polygroups generated, I organize the meshes one last time in subtools, considering how many groups I want to transfer to Substance in order to generate the UVs on the same map.

I use ZPlugin/UVMaster/Unwrap with the Polygroups option activated.

Substance 3D Painter

I have all my subtools ready with all levels of subdivision.

To move it to Substance 3D Painter: Go to Texture/Substance Bridge. Select the following options: All Subtools, Smooth Normal, Auto Bake Mask, Low & High, Per Subtool. Send to Substance 3D Painter and wait for the auto-bake.

Time to paint.

When I am satisfied with the result, I export all the texture maps and render my model with Blender.

Rendering

Blender and Photoshop

At this time, I'm going to do my renders with Blender and finalize post-production in Photoshop.

Impact

I’m very happy to have contributed to this project as a beta tester in 2026, and moreover, it was selected to appear on the ZBrush 2026.2 homepage screen.

Moreover, Maxon decided to use my model in some videos to promote the new bridge to connect ZBrush and Substance 3D Painter.

Conclusion 

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me. You can see more renders and work on my Instagram, Facebook,  LinkedIn, and ArtStation.

Ana Roman, Digital Sculptor