Since my post “2D Artwork to 3D”, I wanted to see if I could achieve a 2D look using only shader nodes. However, the “pure shader” result felt too plain and lacked that sketch-like feeling. After taking a few days off, I decided to pivot.
Since I’m currently learning retopology, UVs and texturing, I used this project as a practice ground. I still wanted a node challenge, so the hair is almost entirely shaders (99% procedural and 1% vertex paint), while the rest is hand-painted using Ucupaint addon with a touch of shader nodes. I also stopped trying to replicate the reference 1:1 and instead used it as a guide to focus on making something that just looks good on its own.
Along the way, I discovered the Compositor, which I used for the background and final look. That was really fun to work with.
I’m really happy with the result, even though the node density started crashing Blender almost constantly on my poor laptop😭 It was a massive learning experience for shader nodes, compositor and texturing with Ucupaint.
If you actually read all of this, thanks for taking the time. I’d love to hear your thoughts and I hope you guys like it.
Thanks a lot!!
It was on the shader side. Any time I would make a big change, Blender would freeze for a moment and, depending on its mood, it would either crash or just keep going. I think it’s probably my fault, since I was trying things out, I had nodes everywhere.
For Ucupaint, I used about 2–4 layers: one base layer and the others to add details on top, mostly set to Mix, Multiply, or Screen. It’s a really good tool; the amount of things you can do with it is impressive. So, I would recommend it, especially if you can’t afford Substance Painter.
That shader looks really nice! When I saw the image I thought it was 2D, that just shows how well you’ve captured the 2D look for this! And the character is really adorable too.
wow, i thought the result was concept art, it look amazing. look like hand painted. i got a question, so do you sculpture the person like that pose or make a full peson then pose it with rig
Thanks!!
I sculpted the character directly in that pose. I kept each part separate so I could adjust the placement easily, and once I had the pose I wanted, I started refining everything. I don’t know how to rig yet, so this was the best way for me to do it.
Really well done! At first I thought it was some kind of Grease Pencil work. So you’ve definitely achieved your goal .
The only thing I’d like to point out is that the temples of her glasses are missing. The glasses would never stay on her nose like that .
There are a few people here on the forum who would be very happy to rig her up for you without sharing the model publicly.
(Lately I’ve been teaching myself to rig things that are already posed, lol, but your model is clean enough that some minor editing could get it to a clean A-pose.)
i am little late to this thread but learning rigging as someone suggested would be help ful because you can manipulate her to be in any pose. I haven’t experimented with sculpting yet, that’s one area i would like to get into.
Seeing all the recommendations makes me want to try rigging on my next project. I will probably do a simple full-body character first to learn the basics. If I do, I’ll probably share the model so other people can practice with it too.
Maybe for the next project haha. I want to start sculpting full body characters to challenge myself more. I will probably share some of the unrigged models when they are done.
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