Stylized Characters Program
Create your best Zbrush character in 6 weeks
Artwork by
Nathan Gardner
Skill level
Beginner
Intermediate
Intermediate
Feedback
Unlimited feedback and paintovers from your mentor
Duration
6 week program + 2 bonus weeks
Assignments
Due on weekly basis
Live Mentorship
Sessions every week
Course format
Pre-recorded + live mentorship sessions
Software
Zbrush
Marmoset
Program Overview
Battle-proof Methodology for Stylized Characters
Full Process in HD video
14 + hours of step-by-step pre-recorded videos in HD covering all the tools and techniques
All Files For Download
Download step-by-step ZBrush and Marmoset files and look at the progress
Anatomy + Organic Sculpting + Hard Surface
Learn how to work with the three building blocks of any character, make believable faces, clothes, hair, armor and accessories.
"It's amazing, from zero to hero for real.
The goals are clear, the path is clear, its an achievable goal, in a very straightforward way.
Teaches you the how, by making it with a good portfolio piece at the end."
The goals are clear, the path is clear, its an achievable goal, in a very straightforward way.
Teaches you the how, by making it with a good portfolio piece at the end."
Maximo "Pit" Bibiloni
– Freelance 3D Artist | Traditional Sculptor, Argentina
CREATED by
Marlon Nunez
Art Director & Co-founder
Studios worked with:
- Blur
- GoodByeKansas
- Electronic Arts
- Criterion Games
- RealTime UK
- Slightly Mad Studios
Notable projects:
Love, Death and Robots Seasons 2&3 (Netflix)
Call of Duty Cinematic
Cyberpunk 2077 Cinematic
Assassin's Creed Valhalla Trailer
Subnautica Cinematic
Zombie Army 4: Dead War
Program mentors
We're proud to bring you the expertise of some of the best artists in the industry
Nathan Gardner
Lead Digital Paint Artist and Compositor, Industrial Light & Magic
Notable projects:
Black Adam
The Book of Boba Fett
Hawkeye
Loki
The Mandalorian
Jurassic World 2 & 3
Star Wars Episodes 8 & 9
Aquaman
Annihilation
Interstellar
Man of Steel
The Dark Knight Rises
Studios worked with:
- Industrial Light & Magic
- DNEG
- Scanline VFX
Notable projects:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Everwild - Eternals Trailer
Alfredo Baro
Character Artist, CFX Artist
Studios worked with:
- Mikros Animation
- Magic Hammer Studio
Notable projects:
Oxya Origin
Nikki Steinbach
3D Stylized Character Artist, Creature Artist
Studios worked with:
- Room8 studio
- Ubisoft
- Level99
- Oxya
- Delirium studios
- Ouiplay
Juan Hernandez
3D Character Artist
Studios worked with:
- Framestore
- PFX
Notable projects:
How To Train Your Dragon (2025)
Imaginary Friends (2024)
Fantastic 4 (2025)
Wonka (2023)
Deadpool 3 (2024)
Loki: Season 2 (2023)
Program week-by-week
Artwork by
Terry Fischer
- Lesson 1: Custom Interface and intro
- Lesson 2: Sculpting the head
- Lesson 3: Sculpting the torso
- Lesson 4: Sculpting the legs
- Lesson 5: Refining the body
- Lesson 1: Sculpting the hands
- Lesson 2: Refining the head
- Lesson 3: Blocking out the hair and cap
- Lesson 4: Extracting the jacket
- Lesson 1: Extracting the t-shirt
- Lesson 2: Extracting the pants
- Lesson 3: Starting the boots
- Lesson 4: Adding elements to the boots
- Lesson 1: Shoulder plates
- Lesson 2: Creating the weapon
- Lesson 3: Building the kneepad
- Lesson 4: Beauty pass
- Lesson 5: Organizing the file
You will learn what makes a truly appealing character and know how to navigate:
- Facial asymmetry
- Perfect profile view
- Proportions of the lips and the face
- Character look and personality from different distances
There are so many reasons why you should never present your character in a T-pose or an A-pose. By doing so, you will lose an opportunity to showcase the strengths of your project and demonstrate its full beauty. After completing this module you will make an overall pass and add tiny details that will add textures and story to your character.
Remember, you are an artist, and every piece you create is telling a story, so in this module we're taking the most important steps to finishing it.
Remember, you are an artist, and every piece you create is telling a story, so in this module we're taking the most important steps to finishing it.
The first thing you will need to do if you're planning to texture your character is to create UVs for it. You might find some difficulties, so we will go through the whole process and try to address the most common issues and demonstrate how to solve them, too.
In this module you will grab the textures polypainted in Zbrush and give them a final touch by creating additional maps. After finishing character texturing in Substance Painter, you will render in Marmoset.
Included with the PrograM
save
$1000+
on software and tools from Art Heroes partners
Get up to 15-50% off on tools and software like Marmoset toolbag, 3D Scan Store and others.
Plus, enjoy our Student card to get access to much more.
Plus, enjoy our Student card to get access to much more.
Program Flow
01
Practice + post
Watch pre-recorded videos, post updates about your progress on our student community to get mentors' feedback.
02
Get Unlimited Feedback
Post progress and get paintovers from your mentor. Have all your questions answered and never feel stuck again.
03
Refresh your knowledge
You can revisit at any time to refresh your knowledge (or maybe - make another character following the same steps!)
Artwork by student
Xanthe Sinclaire
Our students' feedback
Martin Carrillo, Ecuador
The best part is the simple way that Marlon approaches a difficult character, and the way he breaks it into simple steps to achieve an awesome character! Because the course gives you exactly what it offers, you can learn a cool workflow and how to tackle a character from point A to Z.
– Art Heroes student
Sebastian, Mexico
I learn new techniques to create art from the instructor who is the expert. Also, I got a lot of feedback to help me improve from other instructors and fellow students.
– Art Heroes student
Julio Padula, Argentina
I learned a lot, so I think it is super recommendable. The workflow and the constant correction of the mentor has given me another view of my work process.
– Art Heroes student
Sean Olsen, Ireland
I loved the length of the videos, it covered enough for me and then let me go off and figure stuff out for myself. The character I had was not the same as in the videos and there was a lot of room to go my own way. For me that was good as I had done enough step by step courses and some things don't stick that way. But using what I was taught in the videos on my own character brought up new challenges and locked a few things into place.
– Art Heroes student
Francesco Gianfreda, Italy
The feeling of improvement the course gives to you - it's the best thing for me. Thanks to the overall organization and Marlon's human and technical skill the process of trial and error was not frustrating but funny and challenging. I've never stayed up so long at night having so much fun in "making 3D".
– Art Heroes student
Momoko Okabe, Canada
Marlon gave very good advice and the pace of the course was just right. I learned lots and faster way to learn than just looking around random Youtube by myself.
– Art Heroes student
Our students' feedback
The best part is the simple way that Marlon approaches a difficult character, and the way he breaks it into simple steps to achieve an awesome character! Because the course gives you exactly what it offers, you can learn a cool workflow and how to tackle a character from point A to Z.
I learn new techniques to create art from the instructor who is the expert. Also, I got a lot of feedback to help me improve from other instructors and fellow students.
I learned a lot, so I think it is super recomendable. The workflow and the constant correction of the instructor has given me another view of my work process.
Marlon gave very good advice and the pace of the course was just right. I learned lots and faster way to learn than just looking around random Youtube by myself.
The feeling of improvement the course gives to you - it's the best thing for me. Thanks to the overall organization and Marlon's human and technical skill the process of trial and error was not frustrating but funny and challenging. I've never stayed up so long at night having so much fun in "making 3D".
I loved the length of the videos, it covered enough for me and then let me go off and figure stuff out for myself. The character I had was not the same as in the videos and there was a lot of room to go my own way. For me that was good as I had done enough step by step courses and some things don't stick that way. But using what I was taught in the videos on my own character brought up new challenges and locked a few things into place.
Compare us to alternatives
College
Art Heroes Programs
Free tuts
Pre-recorded courses
Affordable
Fast Progress
Only relevant industry tools and pipelines
1:1 feedback and connection with mentor
Support around the clock
Community that keeps you accountable
Our students work at
Student gallery
by Pit Bibiloni
by Irinel Radut
by Xanthe Sinclair
by Bruno Pellegrino
by Victor Zolkin
by Pit Bibiloni
by Irinel Radut
by Xanthe Sinclair
by Bruno Pellegrino
by Victor Zolkin
Meet our students!
And learn what its like studying with Art Heroes
Prices and application
Join today, places are limited
Each group is limited to 15 students
Full Access
FUll access +1:1 mentorship
or $260 x 6 months
$1497
Weekly private sessions
Final project review with your mentor
Join the class today and start learning!
$797
or $150 x 6 months
What's included?
14+ hrs of High-quality pre-recorded HD videos
Unlimited mentor feedback via private forum
BONUS: Software discounts
Downloadable Tools
Private Discord Server access
Program certificate
Lifetime access to all materials
Bonus 1
Software Discounts
Bonus 2
LookDev mini-course
ART HEROES GUARANTEE
Try risk-free for 2 weeks
Not sure if it's the right fit? Try the program risk-free for 14 days, and if something doesn't look the way you wanted, ask for a refund.
No questions asked.
No questions asked.
FAQs
Check the start dates of the intake, select the one you'd love to join and apply! As soon as you register, you will have access to community and pre-recorded videos and then you just wait for your intake to start.
Yes. You will get an invoice as soon as you complete the checkout, and if you need a business invoice for reimbursement, email us and we'll be happy to provide this too
The bulk of the program is offered as pre-recorded HD-quality videos. There's a private community of the program where you are able to get your questions answered, as well as live sessions that you can join.
Feedback is offered in private community of the program and via live group sessions. You can post your WIPs as frequently as you want and your mentor will help you get unstuck faster.
Yes, you are eligible for a certificate upon course completion and submission of your final project.
The program is split on 6 modules, and we estimate about 3-4 hours of workload per module. We estimate one module per week, so it will take you 6-8 weeks to go through the course.
You will need ZBrush, Marmoset and Substance painter. As Art Heroes student you are eligible to free Substance Painter for 1 year, and discounts for both Marmoset and ZBrush.
For most of the softwares, you will be able to get a student discount (or a free academic version) by showing your attendance certificate. When you join, you can download this from your student area.
Within our programs we're mainly teaching Zbrush, which is why it would be hard to follow in case you're using Blender. However, we're teaching from zero, so it won't be a problem!
Join Stylized Program Wailist
Join the waitlist and make sure you don't miss any scholarships and early access to the next intake. We'll keep you updated.
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