Cthulhu Calling

Do you dare answer the call?

  • Final Composition

    The final composition of Cthulhu Calling, this was created from a number of render passes generated in ZBrush and composited together in Photoshop.

  • Concept Sketch

    Created with good old fashioned pencil and paper, then scanned and embellished in Photoshop.

  • ZSphere Armature

    The ZSphere armature the model was built from, tons of tentacle action.

  • Model In Progress

    The model being built, here the body base mesh is partially complete and I'm building out the ZSphere armature for the wing bones.

  • Model Before Posing

    The flat colored model rendered in ZBrush, this is before using Transpose Master to pose the beast!

Project Description

Ominous visions and dreams of Cyclopean cities beneath the sea can mean but one thing, Cthulhu is calling! This ZBrush sculpt was conceived during a beach vacation when I had way too much free time, due to being pasty and fearing sunburn, so I nestled inside and read up on my H.P. Lovecraft. Specifically his short The Call of Cthulhu in which he outlines our subconscious fear and dread of the hideous beast that lurks beneath the sea waiting to rise again, Cthulhu!

From a modeling standpoint this was a pretty basic sculpt, I started with a ZBrush ZSphere armature and refined the sculpt into its final form.  The rendering was entirely done in ZBrush using various diffuse, specular and shadow passes and then composited into an angry seascape in Photoshop.  The After Effects turntable was created just because I love fooling around After Effects.

Project Details
Client Personal Project
Date January 2013
Categories Sculpture
Software Adobe After Effects
Adobe Photoshop
Pixologic ZBrush