Sculpting and Texturing a 3D Portrait of Rick Owens
Satoshi Takazawa talked about the workflow behind the Rick Owens portrait, explaining how he sculpted the face with ZBrush, textured the wrinkles, skin spots, and veins, and created the coat.
Introduction
Hello! I'm Satoshi Takazawa, and I'm a Creature Modeler in the VFX industry. When I was a kid in Japan, I grew up watching Hollywood films such as Star Wars and Harry Potter, and I was fascinated by their visual effects. I dreamed of working in that world someday. I studied Industrial Design at a university in Japan, and during my assignments, I started using Cinema 4D, which was my first real step into 3D.
After graduating, I moved to Canada and started developing my character and creature modeling skills at school. Over the past few years, I've worked on creature and character assets for feature films and episodic projects at ILM and Framestore.
Films and fashion have always been major inspirations for me. Through personal work, I like to express what I love and what influences me as an artist. Over the past few years, I've created several personal pieces that were closely connected to the kinds of film projects I work on professionally.
Rick Owens
However, I hadn't created a fashion-related personal project yet. That's why I decided to sculpt a portrait of Rick Owens. His creations are extremely distinctive, and every collection consistently inspires me. His dark, gothic, and brutal aesthetic has a strong presence, and I wanted to capture that mood and character in this portrait.
I sculpted the head in ZBrush, using my own original base mesh modeled in Maya. To save time, I used TexturingXYZ data for tertiary skin details. For grooming, I used XGen. One useful tip is to gather strong references and import them as image planes, then bring the camera as close as possible.
This approach is always a huge help for modeling and accurately placing hair guides. For the coat, I collected reference images and analyzed the garment pattern. I then modeled it in Marvelous Designer and retopologized the model in Maya.
For portrait work, I also recommend using video references when possible, not only still images. Videos often reveal subtle forms that are difficult to read from photos, and they help you notice missing details that improve likeness.
Topology & Texturing
For this project, I used my own original base mesh that I modeled in Maya a few years ago. The approach was fairly straightforward: I handled the topology, modeling refinements, and UVs entirely in Maya.
I used TexturingXYZ textures as a starting point, and I textured the asset in Mari using its node-based workflow, which is my favorite way to work.
To achieve likeness, I focused on capturing small details like wrinkles, skin spots, subtle discoloration, and veins. First, I projected high-quality photo references onto the head in Mari. Then I separated key details from the photos and created masks for elements like wrinkles and spots.
After that, I brought those masks into ZBrush and used them as guides to sculpt and refine the forms based on the maps. This back-and-forth between texture information and sculpting helped me push the likeness and realism.
Rather than a single difficult layer, the main challenge was balancing all the skin detail layers together. In addition, I created extra displacement variations for lookDown and eyeClosed shapes, which were triggered when those shapes were activated. This helped maintain believable skin deformation and preserve fine details in different facial poses.
Lighting
For the key render, I mainly used HDRI lighting along with a simple light setup. I rendered everything in Arnold. I also tested the model under multiple HDRIs to check the forms and validate the diffuse.
In compositing, I did basic color grading in Nuke. I also added a subtle layer of noise and created a black-and-white version, which ended up being my favorite presentation of the piece.
Conclusion
For me, the hardest part is always finishing. I told myself "it's done" at least three times, then I went back to adjust the sculpt, refine the likeness, and push the piece further. I don't see that as a compromise. It's simply the reality that deadlines are difficult for artists. Portraits may look like a simple subject, but they're actually one of the most challenging types of work.
My advice is: don't rush. Spend the time you need and struggle as much as you need. This process is completely normal. I also highly recommend studying other artists' workflows. There are so many talented artists sharing their process online, and you can learn a lot by seeing how they approach each stage.
For this project, when I started looking at development, I followed Sefki Ibrahim's character creation course, and I learned a lot, especially about look development and, in my case, rigging for presentation. The course covers essential steps for building characters at a high level, and it's definitely worth the investment if you want to develop your skills.
