Making of Hermes Statue Zbrush – Blood of Zeus – Tsaber

Hello Everyone,

I was very entertained by the Original Netflix anime series “Blood of Zeus”. Some may consider the series kind of underrated, but it had a strong plot. I always entertain the mythological tales and movies, whether they’re related to Greek, Norse, Persian, or Egyptian mythology. As the series was so inspiring, I decided to sculpt Hermes Statue inside Zbrush (Hermes Blood of Zeus). The incarnation of Hermes in the story was quite outstanding, so I thought I can experiment with the idea. Hopefully, we get to see more of Hades in the second season of Blood of Zeus.

As for the first step (Hermes Statue Zbrush) I decided to play around with the pose. I know I could have gone with a more dramatic pose with some twisting in the movement, but I didn’t want to block the exposure of the body with the arms or legs. Also, I needed to consider how the cloth and cape flow would affect the general silhouette of the statue. I usually start with separated arms and legs to play around with the pose. I know most artists decide to sculpt bodies with ZSphere, but that doesn’t show me the details I need to see. It’s just my personal preference to start with separated parts.

We’ve seen the mythical bracelet Hermes wore in the blood Of Zeus anime series. Well in the anime series, the Bracelet looks simple. Of course in 2d animations, that’s the most logical approach. Since I never go with easy and simple concepts, I decided to add more details to the piece. In fact, I wanted to make it super detailed. Obviously, I’ll be doing that step by step. Firstly, I get the shape of the bracelet right. Secondly, I start to divided the piece, then I apply some rough sculpting so that I can visualize my idea in 3D. Finally, I start to 3d model every little piece on the Bracelet using different methods.

The helmet of Hermes was very essential since he puts it on every time he decides to sprint. Honestly, it looks more of a hat to me. Again I decided to add my own touch and details to the helmet. This challenge took me a whole week to finish. I admit that it that the process became very exhausting. On one hand, I wanted to showcase my abilities in the detailing, and on the other hand, I was losing more time to sculpt new projects. Eventually, I was really happy with the result.

I enjoy working on floating fabrics. I feel I have a lot of freedom in creating clothes. The floating fabrics truly create a dramatic feel that exists in the arts during the renaissance. Hermes is in the pose of running, so the floating cloth would a powerful touch on the statue. Just like any other piece, I start the sculpture from a simple piece and slowly I start to add more definition. I try to give a few breaks along the process so that I make sure every time I get back to it, the cloth would feel natural. Perhaps it’s more intelligent to use Marvelous Designer to sculpt clothes. However, I think it’s better to master one program and one method before moving on to learn a few partial features of another program.

Since the belts around the waist are very thin pieces, I didn’t apply so many details since they may not be seen clearly from the distance. I simply made one piece of a Greek pattern and created a brush with it. Use that custom brush, I managed to make a chain-like pattern. It’s an easy task, but requires patience.

I also made another decorative piece to add more complexity to the belts. I didn’t sculpt highpoly pieces for it, since it’s a very small piece. Creating highpoly objects only makes the file heavier. Perhaps That’s a habit of mine from my experience with 3dsmax.

The armor pieces on the legs weren’t so different from the sculpting of the bracelet piece. I applied the same methods I’ve used on the bracelet. I agree that I didn’t apply as many details on the armor leggings since I wanted to finish the project faster. But I think maintaining the consistency of the design still took a great deal of my time but I believe it worth it. It’s impossible to sacrifice quality over time.

As for the face, I followed the same face from the anime. Usually, Hermes was portrayed as a vigorous and playful god in Greek mythology. He was the main source of inspiration for Flash in DC Comics. However, in Blood Of Zeus, Hermes is a very calm and cautious character. I decided not to compare these two versions and decided to simply enjoy the show. In a way, he blended well in the story.

You can see Hermes sculpture in the following link.

Hermes Sculpture Portfolio.