Sculpting the best character of the intake

Discover how Art Heroes Alumini, Pit Bibiloni, sculpted his first ever Stylized Character in Zbrush and developed her whole world during the process.
In this edition of the Art Heroes blog we meet Krisha, and her digital creator, Maximo "Pit" Bibiloni.

Pit tells us what it was like creating both an original concept and a Stylized Character for the first time in Zbrush.
Meet Pit Bibiloni
Tell us about yourself
My name is Maximo "Pit" Bibiloni, I'm from Argentina. I work as a 2D artist in a small startup. I like mostly figurative art, from digital or traditional worlds. I like when stories and emotions are generated or told by Art. I've been working with 3D in Blender since 2012, but only on low budget projects for my city university. I decided to learn Zbrush as a lockdown project, and the Monster Challenge was the first finished project I made in the software, but with a traditional sculptor's point of view.
How it started
What's the name of your Project? Where did the concept come from? Why did you choose it?
My project was Krisha, The Robot Huntress. She is from a heavy tech universe, where robots and humans inhabit as equals, but when robots go rogue there is this bounty hunter who excels at taking them down. I created my own concept for a deeper connection, and the drawing is a collaboration with my friend Santiago Lozano, from Sigel Studio.
Character Development
What were the main milestones for you?
I think then main milestones for me were:
- Creating a concept
- Getting the anatomy right
- Hard surface elements/Zmodeler
- Getting the model to substance successfully
- Creating the final composite in Marmoset.

The main milestones were aligned with my biggest challenges.

I found three major pillars that helped me to improve my project: The Zbrush Fundamentals program, the forum feedback, and the Q&A sessions with Danko Angelozzi, where he reviewed all the student projects giving live feedback and tips.
Challenges
What were your biggest challenges while working on this project?
I found Zbrush a real challenge. The course applies lots of Zbrush tools and tricks that I didn't know. In the end I did the Art Heroes' Zbrush fundamental course to help me understand the general logic of the tools and software.

One of the most difficult challenges I found was the hard surfaces and the Zmodeler. When I have tried in the past, before doing the program, I was lost and actually abandoned the whole thing.

I had an issue that the course shows you how to get your model to Substance, through a Maya process. But, I didn't have Maya, so I had to do it with Blender. I had a week or so of doing lots of research and getting help from my program instructors.

Another major challenge was the rendering and final presentation. I spent a lot of time trying lights, asking for feedback, and changing little things. The final feedback session from Danko Angelozzi in the community helped me to complete the project.

"Ask for feedback when in doubt. Feedback is not personal, it's about your work.

A fresh eye looking at your work can bring lots of interesting things to the table."
Maximo "Pit" Bibiloni
Art Heroes Student
How did you overcome these challenges?
I approached the challenges with patience, and keeping my marbles together. There were several moments where frustration was at the door, but patience kept me going.

The community and instructors' feedback was a key factor to get things done on course.

I learnt lots, from anatomy, to hard surface, Substance, Marmoset, posing characters and more. The program was full of shared knowledge and opportunities for self discovery.

Learning Zmodeler was my biggest eureka! moment, I had been avoiding it for months.

The GoZ- Blender plugin was a game changer also.
What's Next?
What are your plans for the future?
I was thinking of animating a little loop of Krisha, but I've now started a new project and am trying to apply all the stuff I have learnt on the program.
Final Project
Artwork: Pit Bibiloni
Concept: Pit Bibiloni + Santiago Lozano
Useful Links
Connect with Pit on Artstation: pit-bibiloni
Follow Pit on Instagram: pitbibiloni
Browse Santiago's character concepts on ArtStation: sigel


Learn With Us
Explore relevant programs and up your level
Make an appealing and production-fit character in 6 weeks
Learn the basics of ZBrush to bring any level of complexity on board
Text author: Maria JD
Artwork by: Maximo "Pit" Bibiloni
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