ZBrush, KeyShot & Photoshop - CRAFT A HIDEOUS ALIEN NIGHTMARE

Follow along as character and creature artist Kyle Brown makes xenomorph fan art inspired by Alien: Romulus

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Artist PROFILE

Kyle Brown LOCATION: US Lead concept artist Kyle works in games and live action. He adores all things Star Wars, Aliens and Jurassic Park. His list of projects include Star Trek: Discovery, Star Citizen and Blood Line: A Rebel Moon Game.

https://bit.ly/3ZsuMGX

I've been a fan of the Alien series for as long as I can remember.

James Cameron's Aliens is one of my favourite films of all time thanks to my mum, who let me see it at a young age. My parents are a huge reason why I love doing what I do! Seeing Alien: Romulus, Fede Álvarez's incredible contribution to the franchise, with it's impeccable attention to detail and adherence to the aesthetics of Alien and Aliens, inspired me to start my own piece.

It's a love letter to H.R. Giger's perfect organism: the xenomorph.

In this tutorial, I'll showcase the workflow that I utilise on most of my final creature designs. We'll look at the initial reference gathering, quick thumbnail iterations, 3D sculpting in ZBrush, rendering in KeyShot, and final compositing and painting in Photoshop. I use 3D blockouts to give me forms that I can work and rework in 2D, allowing me to see a design from multiple angles and provide opportunities to explore.

I'll cover general digital sculpting processes and render setups, before finishing with post-processing effects. I use these techniques to create filmic moments that showcase the design and give the audience a sense of the creature in a moment they'll see on the big screen.

Suit up, because in this tutorial no one can hear you scream!

1 Getting started