Cyrus Kian | Dark Knight

by cyruskian on 22 May 2024 for Rookie Awards 2024

Hello! I'm Cyrus Kian, a Character Artist based in Vancouver with a passion for dark fantasy characters. Here is my Rookie Awards entry, a breakdown of my latest character and some of my past works. Enjoy!

9 217 1

Round of applause for our sponsors

Cyrus Kian | Dark Knight

by cyruskian

Please enable JavaScript to accurately view projects and entries.

Dark Knight

Here is my latest project, based of the amazing concept by Lundi Kim. Go check them out!

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/39gnAD

I was drawn to this character because of the striking silhouette and the intricate armor that mixed smooth metals and organic shapes.

Gathering reference for this project was somewhat challenging as the concept is so otherworldly, I looked to other inspirations such as Giger and Scorn for the texture and shape of some of the armor.

Modeling

For the head I used a base mesh from 3D scan store and transform it to what I want using the basic brushes and the move tool. I will later combine the normals that I have sculpted with the scan normals to get the desired look.

All the blocking and sculpting of the armor was done inside Zbrush, after I'm happy with the forms I will retopologize the meshes in Maya.

I mainly use the Clay Buildup, Trim Dynamic, and Dam Standard brushes for the armor.

I made the hair by placing hair cards in Maya and using Fiber Shop to texture them, making sure to build the hair in layers to get a more full and 3D look.

Texturing

For texturing I like to create smart materials that can be used between meshes and even projects to speed up my workflow. I start with my smart material as a base and add several layers of breakup and wear to add realism to the metal.

I'm also constantly going back and forth between UE and Substance iterating to see how it looks in engine and make sure its going in the direction I want.

Rendering

I start off by lighting the scene with soft ambient lights and then highlight where I want the eye to focus, like the shoulders. For this character I wanted more top down lighting for a moody feel.