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This is what Bowser and Yoshi look like IRL
Pokémon fan artist Josh Dunlop is back with head-turning new portraits of Nintendo characters in all too lifelike 3D – this time from the Mushroom Kingdom.
Fan artist Josh Dunlop has made a name for himself on Instagram with his incredible – and sometimes disturbing – recreations of famous Pokémon rendered in 3D, giving us a glimpse into what it might take to be the very best like no one ever was in real life. From sentient vegetables to rippling mutant marsupials that can make your head explode, his vivid depictions of classic characters with reasonable dimensions and physics inspired pocket monster fans the world over – and now he’s back.
Exclusively for Red Bull Games, Dunlop has dreamed up what three classic Mario characters, Bowser, Yoshi and Toad, would look like if we were to fall down a warp pipe and up in World 1-1 rather than our own – or vice versa. Better still, he’s walked us through exactly how he weaves his magic, so that you too can have a go at giving us nightmares. Scroll down for the step by step galleries and his advice.
Josh Dunlop's rendering of Bowser
© Josh Dunlop
Bowser IRL rough shots
© Josh Dunlop
Josh Dunlop's drawings in rough...
© Josh Dunlop
A sketch of Bowser
© Josh Dunlop
Get inspired
While 3D imaging software isn’t exactly easy to use, perhaps the hardest part of the process for Dunlop is actually imagining what a lifesize Nintendo critter would look like – its contours, its expressions, its abilities, and in the case of Bowser, just how big he is. “What I like to do is find pictures of the originals first, preferably from every angle so I have a clear idea of what I’m working with,” Dunlop says.
Next up comes a good old-fashioned brainstorm. “Then I’ll create a moodboard or collage, with images from nature and so on to use as inspiration. I try to find unique and detailed images to pull from.”
Unsurprisingly for Yoshi, Dunlop circled in on the dinosaur’s trademark elastic tongue. “I’ll then go about sketching up different ideas and poses until I find one that works,” he says.
Chisel away in ZBrush
Dunlop’s next task is to model his creation in digital sculpting software ZBrush, an application used by video game publishers and movie makers alike. Though intimidating for a newcomer, the basic concept from which he starts is quite simple – drawing circles.
“I usually start with a sphere and use the move brush to explore shapes,” he says. “I make a number of spheres, slowly getting smaller and then pull them apart to make a tail. They’re great for quickly modelling arms and legs. Once I’m happy with the basic shapes, I’ll start the details, building up muscle mass, making skin creases et cetera, making sure everything flows naturally.”
Texturing comes next, followed by painting onto the polygons. “I use ‘fill colour’ to create base colours on each section of the model,” he explains. “I like to have the colours somewhat dark so they blend into the final design better. Then I start applying the different levels of patterns and texture until I’m happy. This can vary from a few to loads of colour depending on the model.” In the case of vibrant characters like Yoshi and the brightly attired Toad, this can be a time consuming task.
This is what Toad could look like IRL
© Josh Dunlop
Toad gets rendered in ZBrush
© Josh Dunlop
The creation of a background
© Josh Dunlop
Josh Dunlop's Toad gets some colour
© Josh Dunlop
Light the way with KeyShot
Dunlop then exports the image to 3D rendering software KeyShot. Now comes the external work – the lighting and the textures that make IRL Yoshi and Bowser appear so visceral, and not a little bit scary.
“I’ll begin with playing with the materials. For Yoshi, for example, I was leaning towards a tree frog, so I wanted its skin to be translucent, allowing a lot of light into the material. I’ll usually make the eyeballs black glass.”
“Once I’m done with the materials, I’ll look at the lighting. Whilst modelling I play with a few environment ideas in my head so usually I have a pretty good idea of what kind of lighting I want.” If necessary, Dunlop creates spheres with light properties to provide lighting that really makes the monsters pop.
Josh Dunlop's Yoshi IRL
© Josh Dunlop
Sketches of Yoshi
© Josh Dunlop
Yoshi in black and white
© Josh Dunlop
A colourful Yoshi in ZBrush
© Josh Dunlop
Photoshop finale
Finally, it’s time to put the finishing touches in – and the all-important scenery.
“In Adobe Photoshop I import all the layers into one file, making sure not to move them. I’ll then put them in a group folder so I can scale them all together into the size that fits the image the best. I’ll then begin to set the different layers, playing with the opacity and intensity until I think it works,” he says.
Dunlop then starts building the background. “I use a mixture of photographs and digital painting the build up the image. Plants are great to create points of interest.” Duplicating and blurring the top player gives a gentler sense of focal perspective, and then it’s a case of “placing them over all the layers, darkening them and blurring them further to make things look closer, creating a sense of depth.”
He’s still not quite done, though. “Finally, I’ll add some light washes over the scene, bringing everything together and even put in detail like dust particles and little insects. The final part before saving it out is putting a noise layer over the top. This gives it a subtle look of a photograph.” A photograph of a terrifying, 20-foot [6.1m] lizard wearing spiked metal chains and swinging an axe the size of a plumber.
How you can do the same
Dunlop admits that knowing exactly when he’s done isn’t quite a science. “I mainly go by the rule that if I’m striving for stuff to tweak I should probably put my pen down!” Overall, he’s got the process down to about three days for each drawing – so capturing every single pokémon is going to take him some time.
If you’re interested in getting into fan and concept art like Dunlop’s, he says there are great resources online. “There are some fantastic tutorials out there on YouTube, Vimeo and Gumroad. ZBrush is an amazing tool but can be overwhelming to a newcomer – I suggest playing with its sister program Sculptris first, as it’s far simpler and allows you to get a real grasp on it before moving up. There are other programs such as Maya, Cinema4, Mudbox and many more out there which are all amazing in their own right.”
Some of these can be expensive, but above all, Dunlop says you can’t put a price on the inspiration you seek. “Reference is your friend: even the world’s greatest artists use references for their world and it can really help you step your images up to the next level. Never tell yourself you are bad – everyone starts somewhere, you just have to keep pushing yourself and learn from failure, watch tutorials and never give up.”
So there you have it: how to draw Bowser, Yoshi and Toad and never sleep again. Lakitu and Kamek next, maybe? Just please don’t draw Mario, we don’t think we could handle that.
Creating your own characters IRL
© Josh Dunlop
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