Skull Mask (Render)
Please ignore the terrible textures on the lamp and wooden post...
I originally started this project to create a skull shaped mask for a character in a game that I'm currently working on, but decided that it would be best to explore more of Blender's features as to increase the quality and efficiency of my future models.
I'm quite pleased with how the mask came out, though the topology ended up a little...erratic, after a mistakenly applied subsurface modifier. I used an image of an actual skull as an initial guide for the shape, but took some artistic liberties as to give it a more "childlike" appearance. Is it the skull of a child, or is it designed as to be childish? I like the potential implications by not answering that question from a storytelling perspective.
The skull I used as a base was pinched from "Skulls Unlimited" as their store page offered some very clean images from the front and side perspectives. A link has been provided to this page on the image to the left.
The background I used is titled "Moonlit Golf" and was acquired from HDRI Haven. HDRI Haven offers a tonne of amazing HDRI (ie 360° UHD images, similar to those on Google Street View, I suppose) for free! Ideally I could have used any image of a moonlit night sky but I took this project as an excuse to learn as much as possible, so it seemed appropriate to over-engineer where possible.
I know it seems odd to put so much effort in to the mask, only to skimp out on the lamp and post, but my biggest issue in the last few years in everything that I've tried to do has been feature creep. I start with a mask, but then it dawns on me that "It'd look so much better with a proper scene!" And before I know it I'm in to week 3 on what should have been a 3 day job. Thus, I'm trying to hone my focus to what is most important.
This is especially important for me to remember as I already have 3 other projects that I'm working on and I'd rather not burn out on or forget about any of them.
Finally, all textures were generated with Blender's shader editor, allowing me to discover the roles in which each shader specialises and how they can be combined to create interesting effects. I've created both a flat and brushed metal texture, leather "flesh" and "hair" textures, as well as a stylised bone texture for this mask.
I quickly applied the metal texture to the lamp and the leather hair texture to the wooden post to build the scene to simply accompany the mask, allowing for a more interesting render. I implemented a simple 3-point light system as to be more "realistic," making use of the lamp as a primary light source to build contrast and make the mask more eye-catching.
Anywho, you can find this model on CGTrader if you want a closer look, or check out the render below!
