How to Sculpt and Texture a Semi-Realistic Herbalist Backpack

Introduction

Hello everyone! My name is Konstantin Kusakin, and I'm a 3D Artist. I've been in the industry for over seven years. But I'm still passionate about optimization in the 3D modeling process and art in general, and I continue to explore these topics every day!

At the beginning of my career, I worked on sports simulators for EA as part of FuryLion Studio and then as part of the super-talented and dedicated outsourcing team Corbax Games. I worked as a Character Artist on some military shooters, mostly for Gaijin Entertainment, Saber Interactive, and currently working on a super stylish project, Lords of the Fallen 2 from CI Games.

The Beginning

The initial idea was to practice working with various surfaces. But at the same time, I focused on the composition, the interaction of large and small forms, the color relationships and contrasts, and that's where I put my artistic knowledge to use.

I started by choosing a theme. For me, it had to be something forest-related, nothing inspires me more than the forest.

Then I searched for interesting references and got to work. I started by blocking out the general look in ZBrush, created a base form in Marvelous Designer, and then moved on to an iterative, detailed refinement process.

To save time while sculpting, I always build objects from base blocks rather than starting from scratch. For example, for the crystal, I started with a chamfered box to establish the basic shape, added details using the TrimSmoothBorder brush and stone alphas, and then created the second half of the crystal through simple deformations of the original mesh.

Of course, every personal project involves a lot of experimentation. For instance, I found a branch in the forest and turned it into an amber sword, exactly like I used to do in my childhood.

This time, I decided to create a highly detailed high-poly model. While not strictly necessary, it was great practice. Usually, I add many details during the texturing stage to save time. Furthermore, I always leave room to refine the high-poly even during texturing, reviewing everything in the final engine render. I believe this is the only way to achieve a superb result.

Since this project was focused on honing specific artistic skills, I simplified the technical stage. I handled the retopology using Decimation Master in ZBrush, cleaned it up slightly in Maya, quickly laid out the UVs, and moved straight to texturing.

Texturing

I continue to constantly search for and supplement the reference board, which directly affects the quality of the texturing and the work in general. One of the texturing features I'd like to highlight is how I worked with the leather. I used a non-tiled texture from the Arroway pack, which already contains natural cracks and an interesting color combination.

I use several of these textures to arrange them based on the level of wear. For example, folds have more cracks than flat surfaces. Of course, I have to adjust the color using an HSL filter and add color variability using an overlay in another layer.

I also use a mask to match the leather texture for additional micro-cracks, manually painting the areas where I want these cracks to appear.

I've also been wanting to combine traditional art and digital for a long time, so I painted the base for the pattern on the teapot with watercolors and then projected it in Substance 3D Painter using the Wrap blending mode.

It's also crucial to check the readability and contrast of your materials. For this, it's best to desaturate the images in Photoshop.

I planned to create the render as usual in Unreal Engine 5. But because of the crystal and amber in the sword, I switched to Marmoset Toolbag and did it. It has very simple settings for translucent elements, and overall, it saved me time. For more convincing transparency, I used a separate material in the Transmission-Refraction mode, with Transparency enabled, driven on a map painted in Substance 3D Painter. And the key point, however, was adding a glowing mesh inside the sword and crystal.

Conclusion

In this project, I honed my artistic skills and explored several new approaches. Most importantly, I identified weaknesses and ineffective methods to avoid in my production work. For instance, in a professional game project, I likely wouldn't use a non-tiling leather texture simply because it's more time-consuming, and close-ups may not be a priority. In those cases, ensuring texture readability from a distance by focusing on large-scale patterns is more crucial.

I believe that research and analysis are key for any artist, and personal projects are the best place to make as many mistakes as possible. To all 3D beginners: be brave and don't be afraid to fail!

Konstantin Kusakin, 3D Character Artist

Interview conducted by Emma Collins