Twilight Gravekeeper

My entry for the 2024 character design contest - a graveyard worker hanging out with some cheerful ghosts!








! REPORT
Some development pics!!!
For my initial concept, I wanted to challenge the notion of death and graveyards as grim, miserable places - death is a part of life, after all, and graveyards can often be very peaceful places of rest!

From that idea, I sketched out a practical graveyard keeper with practical yet comfortable gear. I love blending the antiquated with the modern!

I tried to push the proportions of the keeper's body towards a coffin shape! Some other ideas, including a pet gargoyle and a spray bottle full of holy water, were unfortunately outside of my time frame.

For my colour variations, I colour dropped from photographs I had taken in a graveyard - I loved the warm pinks of brickwork and earth and how they melded into the coolness of the sky and the grave.

The finished model sheet - I like to keep my model sheets loose so I can have some freedom in the modelling process!








I sculpted the graveyard keeper in Zbrush, switching into Maya for UV correction and then substance painter / stager for texturing and rendering.
The sigil on the back of the keeper's high vis jacket is actually an Apotropaic marking from medieval England, used to ward off dark influences. I made a clean alpha version for texturing, along with an alpha vector warning of a poltergeist that I was sadly unable to use.

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And that's the full development process! I had a blast making this little dude and learned a lot - I'm convinced the person who made the retopology and UV unwrapping tools in Zbrush is an actual wizard or perhaps mage, they're insanely powerful.
Thank you for viewing, and I hope you have a wonderful day!
For my initial concept, I wanted to challenge the notion of death and graveyards as grim, miserable places - death is a part of life, after all, and graveyards can often be very peaceful places of rest!

From that idea, I sketched out a practical graveyard keeper with practical yet comfortable gear. I love blending the antiquated with the modern!

I tried to push the proportions of the keeper's body towards a coffin shape! Some other ideas, including a pet gargoyle and a spray bottle full of holy water, were unfortunately outside of my time frame.

For my colour variations, I colour dropped from photographs I had taken in a graveyard - I loved the warm pinks of brickwork and earth and how they melded into the coolness of the sky and the grave.

The finished model sheet - I like to keep my model sheets loose so I can have some freedom in the modelling process!








I sculpted the graveyard keeper in Zbrush, switching into Maya for UV correction and then substance painter / stager for texturing and rendering.
The sigil on the back of the keeper's high vis jacket is actually an Apotropaic marking from medieval England, used to ward off dark influences. I made a clean alpha version for texturing, along with an alpha vector warning of a poltergeist that I was sadly unable to use.

---
And that's the full development process! I had a blast making this little dude and learned a lot - I'm convinced the person who made the retopology and UV unwrapping tools in Zbrush is an actual wizard or perhaps mage, they're insanely powerful.
Thank you for viewing, and I hope you have a wonderful day!
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! REPORT