I’ve always wanted to create a piece that reflects my childhood hero, Conan, with my own vision. Here’s a breakdown of the steps I took to bring my version of Conan to life in 3D.

First Shape:
Too athletic... The bodies of the Hyborian era were not the aesthetic muscles of a modern gym.

Second Shape:
Now, with imperfections, abdominal fat, and stronger muscles where the brutality of the period was more demanding; illuminated by the closest light of fire and moonlight.

The Face:
I wanted to portray Conan as being almost 50 years old, with a face similar to Tony de Zuniga’s style, who illustrated him with a heavy face, a large, hunched body, with the air of someone who has experienced many victories and defeats. I refined this to a grimmer, older look.

Shadow and Light:
Conan’s skin is always described as looking like bronze. I adjusted the shaders on his texture so that it always looked like it had a shiny layer of sweat, almost resembling metal, and that it worked well in environments with high contrast of light and shadow.


Shape & Wardrobe:
In Blender, I improved the body shape and then created the clothes. Most of the wardrobe assets came from the internet, but I made sure to create his classic belt from scratch. I’m still going to create everything else in Blender, but I wanted to show you the progress of the process.

Here is Conan, waiting to ride into some adventure, saving some of my female characters from the claws of a monster or an evil sourcerer.

I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I did creating it!

Any suggestions on which of my female characters should act alongside Conan? Let me know in the comments! I'd love to hear from you and create art that you'll enjoy.