Discover the creative journey behind Myrrai, a unique character blending mythology, nature, and personal inspiration, as Clark<\/strong> brings her to life through a mix of hand-painted and semi-realistic art styles.<\/em><\/p>\n Hi, my name is Marcus Clark, and I am a 3D artist and filmmaker from Baltimore, Maryland. My introduction to Blender came from taking up LEGO stop-motion animation as a hobby when I was a kid and being inspired by other LEGO animators using Blender and other programs to enhance their short films with CG elements. From there, I was introduced to the official Blender Open Movies and YouTubers like Dillongoo, who further inspired me to take the next step into 3D.<\/span><\/p>\n After years of developing my 3D skills during my free time, I eventually landed a job working on a video game and a film. My goal is to be able to share my own stories and characters and hopefully inspire others to pursue their own passions.<\/span><\/p>\n Myrraissa\u2019ahuakoia, or \u201cMyrrai,\u201d is a major character from my fantasy worldbuilding project that I hope to develop into something larger in the future. She is, of course, loosely inspired by dryads from Greek mythology and popular fantasy depictions of \u201cplant people,\u201d but with my own little twists to fit the lore and character I\u2019ve developed.<\/span><\/p>\n For her design, I drew inspiration from many sources, such as the Sylvari from Guild Wars 2, along with some art by Giselle Almeida and clothing elements from different real-world cultures. For example, the overlapping beads she wears were inspired by those worn by the Krobo people of Ghana. I am also a fan of the Horizon video game series and drew some inspiration from the outfits in those games. Besides these, I also drew from my real-life experiences, such as during a trip to Hawai\u02bbi, where I photographed the strange Heliconia rostrata plants (lobster-claw plants). Pretty soon after, I began thinking of ways to incorporate these into Myrrai\u2019s design.<\/span> In terms of art style, I pulled from many different places. I was most inspired by the <\/span>League of Legends<\/span><\/i> cinematics and <\/span>Arcane<\/span><\/i>, which have a hand-painted style. However, I wanted to incorporate these painterly textures with semi-realistic PBR materials. Two other inspirations for me were <\/span>Dishonored<\/span><\/i> and the <\/span>Airborn<\/span><\/i> showcase by Airborn Studios, both of which have a painterly PBR look that I\u2019m very fond of.<\/span><\/p>\n I began Myrrai with a human base mesh that I\u2019d created previously, since my goal was to avoid spending too much time on retopology or having to make new characters entirely from scratch for my larger project, especially since I knew this character was meant to have a very human-like appearance.<\/span><\/p>\n I then used Blender curves and placeholder meshes to block out what the leaves on her head would look like. During this process, I did test renders constantly with vertex colors painted onto the meshes to further imagine how she might look when finished. At first, the heliconias were going to be very short, but I thought this wasn\u2019t making use of how unique the real plants are. So, I experimented later on with different variations until I decided to have them fully grown on one side, both in the front and back.<\/span><\/p>\n As stated, Myrrai\u2019s leaves were originally made with curves in Blender using an edited curve circle as the bevel object. To taper the points, I did so manually using Alt-S on both ends of the curve.<\/span>INTRODUCTION<\/h2>\n
INSPIRATION<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nPROCESS<\/h2>\n
Modeling and Sculpting:<\/h3>\n
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<\/span>Using this base mesh, I went back and forth between Blender and ZBrush to do rough concepts of how she could look. I played around with her body shape and proportions for a tall and athletic look, while also trying to emphasize a slightly more non-human body shape and face. As far as sculpting her body and face, it wasn\u2019t anything too special. I carved grooves along her skin, taking some inspiration from real muscles but making whatever changes I thought would add a nice flow to the lines and give her an organic, plant-like feeling. I tried not to go too realistic, holding back on some details and using the pinch brush to sharpen some of the edges.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
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