Abstract

This article focuses on organic sculptural forms and the artistic approach to creating sculptural solutions using the user interface and current industry standards of digital sculpting software, specifically ZBrush.

The work follows the methodology of sculpting through primary, secondary, and tertiary forms. Through various sculptural solutions, the article examines and reflects on form in an artistic way, considering shape characteristics, primary forms, and silhouette.

Student: Albert Gregl

Mentor: doc. dr. sc. Winton Afrić

1. The Role of Individual Segments in Digital Forms

2. Use of Specific Tools During Digital Sculpting

3. Analysis and Comparison of Digital Sculptures

4. Evaluation of Specific Sculpting Methodologies in Context

5. Digital Sculpting Using Perceptive/Receptive Methods

Let’s take a look at Image 11 and how the individual segments of the sculpture are organized:

a) The body of the hippopotamus, where we can also see the silhouette of this segment of the sculpture.

b) The head of the hippopotamus, which is open, and the methodology for this will be explained later.

c) The nails—according to the anatomical atlas, the hippopotamus has four joints, totaling (16) segments.

d) The eyes—each eye consists of two spheres, which is necessary for applying different materials.

e) The bird—it is not the main subject of this sculpture, so its solution is stylized; the bird consists of (4) segments (body, beak, eyes, legs).

f) The teeth and tongue—there are a total of (15) segments.

We see that the segments of the sculpture are divided into multiple pieces of geometry as explained in the previous chapters.

Notice the head in Image 11, where a new methodology has been applied to this piece of geometry.

By inserting inverse shapes, we cut out the cavity that we’ve called the hippopotamus's mouth.

Each segment has its material assigned in ZBrush’s 3D space; these materials show the surface characteristics of a piece of geometry, e.g., shiny or matte.

The sculpture represents a complete and somewhat anatomically correct solution for the hippopotamus.

The goal of this sculpture is to define the secondary forms of the large and small surfaces of the body and head of the hippopotamus as accurately as possible.

The sculpture’s body less faithfully shows some anatomical parts, such as the hind legs and tail, but the front part around the head tries to define how the hippopotamus is positioned in space through the folds of the skin.

Finally, Image 12 shows the fully realized hippopotamus sculpture. Details can be viewed in an online 3D viewer, as with previous sculptural solutions.

Final look at the hippopotamus in 3D space: