➡️ARTSTATION - there are more pictures, Sketchfab files, etc.

And here you can see the sculpture, the very first concept.

Naturally - by following the link to Artstation - you can see all the renders with the forester and his fur.

So, in the last post I said that "ShiDo" is the best friend of the forester - the main character in the project of the same name and I then - take too much on myself and like one day come back to this project. Said the ambition was high, but the skills weren't enough.

But another reason I stopped - I realized it would take me a lifetime to do this project. To learn everything and especially what I'm not really interested in. It's one thing when you watch some cartoon, cinematic or movie and imagine making one yourself, and another thing when you dive into it all and realize that not all aspects of creation are interesting to you, and I always live by the principle: "don't do what you're not interested in"...

And gradually I was on this path - it was not so easy. It's not so easy to quit everything and start your own way, which is 100% - you are interested in =) Because there were duties - in the form of Youtube-channel, where I promised to realize a lot of things, also - there were promises with this project in interviews for Corona Renderer, 80lvl and so on. There were unforgettable emotions after being liked by Aaron Sims, whose company makes the most awesome monsters, I think some you 100% saw in the series "Stranger Things". Even though he liked the other work.

My unflagging interest in new technology and wanting to cover anything and everything. I already wrote about it =) There were so many things that led me astray, but at the same time - gave me the experience of realizing, "what do I really want?"

It was still 2017 and then - I was still undecided =) So all aspects of creating this character you see - did it myself. The monster was so impressed with everyone that they invited me for an interview. First at 80.lv, where I told about my huge world for forester, and then @coronarenderer

At that time they had just added a cool skin shader and I was really curious to try it out. In fact - my first serious render in Corona =)

Heh, I think you already noticed the relation =) That everything I've always had was a first. As if I was doing some tough challange, that's how I gradually developed as a 3D artist.

In this job - there were a lot of challanges...

First of all, to sculpt a monster that I had never sculpted before. Make fur, all sorts of vials, bandages, axe, torn boots, monster skin, etc.

The process of sculpting this creature:

And also the process of rendering and creating the wool:

I had to learn Substance Painter, understand how to draw skin, glass, scuffs and other things in it. Also pumped up sculpting in 3D-Coat, which I liked better than Zbrush at the time. Because it - a long time ago it had a SculptrisPro mode, as they call it, and a lot of other cool features that are still - much more than Zbrush and the developers keep improving it. No, I love Zbrush, I really do =) And it has - great features too. But the 3dCoat - more =) ahaha.

The forester's name is Frank, and actually, at first - he wasn't that ugly. The forester was just an ordinary man with an axe, but over time the forest turned him into this creature and made him a guardian of nature. The most interesting thing is that the oblivion of the forest, which I imagined - was perfectly shown in the game Kena:Bridge of Spirits.

It's funny that the game came out much later than I started creating this project. Once upon a time - I already said that the parts of each person's brain are connected and the thought processes sometimes overlap =) What goes into your head comes to others at the same time =) Many aspects of our lives prove this. So I was not surprised that the same idea of the forest came to the creators of this game a little later. Specifically, 4 years later =)

Frank lives in a fairy forest along with the forest fairies, Mooka and Duya. Mooka is orange and Duya is blue.

The Forester is actually a very large project that would include several characters and the environment in which they would all be placed. The main goal of the project was to put my all into it and show all the experience I've gained since 2009, as well as learn new tools that could speed up my work.

By the way, a few environment concepts - I did make for it and recorded a bunch of Making Of:

I always set the bar very high and want to achieve quality results. This I said in an interview for Corona Renderer, but later I realized that it is better to grow in one area and become very steep in it =) In 2017 of course - I didn't fully understand it =) but about that in the next posts =)

Here - Frank story ends =) Write in the comments what global projects you've come up with. You can even share some links to them. After all, mutual PR is the best thing people come up with.

Thank you and have a nice day!

With respect,

Andrew.