3d art

Artist
Showcase
Waldemar Bartkowiak
I’m a 3D artist from Poland. I have a generalist
background, which allows me to do a wide range of CG
work from drawing concepts, lighting and animation
to composition. My favourite areas of 3D art would be
modelling and texturing. For my day job, I create
realistic assets, but in my spare time, I like to create
more stylised artworks, like this one.
Incident Zero LightWave
3D, ZBrush, Photoshop,
Fusion (2009)
This is my admission for
the Polish CGTalk contest.
I tried to achieve a more
illustrative look than a 3D
render. The story behind it
feels like a cheesy, B-class
sci-fi movie. In a desert
laboratory, while
researching a new
bioweapon, something
has gone terribly wrong.
A squad of special forces
soldiers is sent in to rescue
surviving scientists and to
retrieve research data. I was
trying to get a book cover/
poster look.
04
Material surfaces
Adding textures and materials
The texturing process for this
project was quite unique in that the
decision was taken to hand paint most of the
textures instead of using photos. We did use
some pre-made textures (predominantly from
www.cgtextures.com) for the base and to add
a touch of realism, but the main part of the
texturing was done using a Wacom Intuos
4 tablet. Start by painting the base colours
for the various parts.
05
After applying the base colours
to the parts, break them up with
some procedurals. Procedurals add some
variations to the colours and change the tones.
Next, create a mask to get rid of the paint from
the metal parts and to show the grey steel
underneath; you want to achieve a weathered
look. You can also add some grunge or noise
to make it more interesting.
06
Now, it’s time
to add the rust to the
plates. To get this effect, we
used a combination of photos
from CGTextures and handpainted
stains of darker rust.
You want to end up with
different variations and stages
of decay for different parts.
Don’t forget to add rust to the
rest of the metallic parts of the
car. Try to keep the rust to the
seams and on the most
exposed areas where there
is little to no paint, by using
previously created masks.
Greed LightWave 3D, modo, Photoshop (2008)
This is turntable sculpt from my demoreel called Greed. The life of
a noble knight that fought many battles and monsters, completing
numerous quests and dangerous tasks, finally comes to an end.
He was defeated by his own weakness – greed. After slaying the
monster and returning with the treasure chest, he gets stuck in the
swamp. With the chest full of gold, he was too heavy to move, and
starts to slowly sink in the swamp. Refusing to let it go, he dies from
exhaustion, but still holding his treasure.
216
07
Next, make
scratches in all
the metal textures. On the left
side of this image, you can see
the clear metal, while on the
right, you can see it with a
Scratch map applied. Paint all
the edges with a grungy
brush, and make them
brighter than the rest of the
surface. This enhances
specular highlights, and also
defines the shapes better. You
can also paint drips onto the
rusty surfaces under bolts,
which combined with
Ambient Occlusion, creates
a great grungy look. You may
need to paint extra highlights
on the cloth surfaces to make
the wrinkles more visible.
08
The last part of this stage involves painting dust
textures. To do this, you’ll need to use a combination
of procedurals and grungy brushes. Try to add more dust on the
lower parts of the car, and less on the top. The most dusty parts
are, of course, the tyres, so they will need extra layers on the
treads. We included quite a lot of dust to tone down the colours
and make the car blend better with the background. Also, this is
the time to add the important small details for the finishing touch
– such as bullet holes, scratches, leaks, etc.