3DArtist of the Month
Chen Chen
3D Character Artist
This month includes a happy discovery of many, given the figures of Artstation (16K followers), and it is not for less since this artist demonstrates impeccable taste and meticulous control of the folds.
- Artist Name: Chen Chen
- Portfolio: https://www.artstation.com/alexcchen
- Role: 3D Character Artist
- Tools normally used: Zbrush, Maya, Arnold, Marvelous Designer, Substant Painter, Photoshop
- Popularity: 16,194 followers in Artstation (30th of September 2022)
- Hashtag: Unknown
- Location: Shanghai, China
We loved many things about this artist that we accidentally found on Pinterest and we ended up scrutinizing her portfolio from Artstation to see more works and confirm the many notes of delicacy that well demonstrate the thoroughness of her poses and the balanced selection of the folds, which are excessive when they should be and simple, scarce and directed when they only need to contribute to the lines and movement of the model.
One could always allude when talking about the folds, to the wonderful faculties that Marvelous Designer provides, where it is true that a wise control of this tool makes you go part of the way, but… as long as you are clear about where you want to go… the thickness of the folds, their consistency, their buoyancy, the gaps and hollows…
Once everything is decided, comes the retouching part in ZBrush to fit the new piece and correct possible errors, include new folds, and accommodate the existing ones…and Chen Chen gives us a clear example of how to use all of this to make our character look realistic, comfortable and desirable.
In this work, we can see what we were talking about the formidable folds; how well they play to such a careful face with soft and perfect lines; the pose in balance transmitting fragility and serenity seeking to enthrall and cover a sensation of delicacy, innocence and simplicity that simply satisfies.
The hair, although thick and with rounded edges, works very well and manages to denote the faculties of voluminous, dense and light hair that works well with the scarf and aptly complements the rounded features of the face.
We also liked the control of the direction of the textures in the hat (especially the edge of the brim), scarf, skirt and cuffs.
The work can be seen well when we look at it closely which despite it denotes XGen collisions in the cap and ears, it is true that they are difficult to perceive in the composition and have little or no impact on the final result of the piece.
One of the aspects that most attracts attention is the success of Chen Chen’s character’s posture which work so well !! and it is not for less, since she uses very well the famous Contrapposto; an Italian word that gives name to the pose where most of the character’s weight falls on one leg.
The center of gravity is aligned with the weight-bearing foot generating movement by deriving the asymmetrical balance to the pelvis and this to the shoulders and arms.
Contrapposto has a series of points that should be taken into account to maintain the balance of the pose.
These would be…
Conflict that must exist between the balance lines of the shoulders and the pelvis, where if the left shoulder is lower than the right, the right part of the pelvis should be higher than the left crunching that side of the body.
The center of gravity is aligned with the foot that bears the character’s weight.
The head is in balance with the shoulders and lined with the weight-bearing foot.
The pose describes an “S shape” along the body line from the neck to the pelvis. and then down the supporting leg.
The horizontal axis of the knees matches with the pelvis.
In addition to all this, the artist turns her knees inward, a very fashionable position that I constantly see in Japanese models, which well retains a certain sensuality for wanting to safeguard the model’s intimacy.
The Balance line (pink), which coincides with the y-axis of the character’s center of gravity due to standing position, is correctly aligned with the foot that supports the most weight, conferring credibility and perfectly distributing the character’s weight between his two support points despite being an asymmetrical pose.
Next, Chen Chen challenges us with the posture, making it contradictory in the following work where the horizontal axis of the shoulders, pelvis and knees match. Despite this, it continues to work perfectly well since she solves the situation by taking both feet to the ground weighed down by two heavy shoes and giving the appearance of moving more weight to the weaker point by stretching the left arm down and lighting the other one by moving it up.
A well-known representative of the technique we were talking about would be the one used by Michelangelo’s David, whose posture is very similar to the one chosen by the artist.
Last words: Chen Chen is bringing new styles and fold references to our PureRef boards and is also motivating us to keep improving our Marvelous Designer skills and posing tips. We are eager to see the new artwork she is preparing as always offers fresh air and talent to this amazing 3D world.
What do you think about this artist? Do you know anything more about her? Do you know anything about her social networks? …Leave us your comments and help us to continue learning from these great examples.
Miguel Angel Torio
HandyTales Founder & CEO
