3D project of the day: Lurking in the deep

All around the globe, hobbyist artists are creating mindblowing 3D art - this brilliant Lurking in the deep piece by artist Henning Sanden being a prime example.

“I really enjoyed coming up with the concept for the fish," he explains. "It’s a lot of fun doodling around in ZBrush, pushing and pulling shapes. Along with lighting, this is one of the stages I enjoy the most as you have so much control.

“Thankfully, the workflow for this image was pretty straightforward. It started of as a concept sculpture in ZBrush, which I retopologised then finalised before starting to texture in Mudbox. I extracted my various maps – spec, SSS colour, SSS amount and so forth – from my texture map and brought it all into Modo for rendering. I completed the finishing touches in Photoshop.

"Along the way, I did several test renders just to make sure that my vision was strong all the way through. I worked on the image in my (rather limited) spare time, and it took me about two months to complete.

“I’m currently a student at The Animation Workshop in Denmark, where I’m taking my Bachelor’s in Computer Graphic Art. I graduate soon, and hope to work in VFX making character models. I also work freelance as a character artist whenever time permits.

“The lighting of a scene or character is the best part of what we do. When you’re modelling, changes to a composition or a character’s pose can be difficult and time-consuming. But when you are adding light, you have the viewer’s emotions in the palm of your hand, and it’s easy to totally transform the mood of the piece.

“As an artist I am mainly inspired by one thing, and that’s being surrounded by artists who are better than me. I’m constantly faced with this at university and in online forums, and this really adds the fuel to my fire. You never want to be the best artist in the room.”

Liked this? Read these!

• The best 3D movies of 2013
• Download free textures: high resolution and ready to use now
• Hands-on review: Adobe After Effects CC