Ogsken, the lord of the woods

Hi! I'm excited to finally introduce my first character design project that I created at Skyup Academy. The theme was to create a character inspired by European mythology, making it personal by adding new features and creating its own story. The workflow started with sketching the character, sculpting it with clay to create a maquette, digitally modeling it in ZBrush, and finally rendering and lighting it in Maya with V-Ray. I chose to create a creature inspired by Slavic mythology, blending together an orc and a leshen.

This is the Ogsken, the lord of the woods. He is a powerful and mysterious spirit bound to the forest, who guards and cares for nature and animals. It is said that he dwells in the deepest and most inaccessible places of the woods, fiercely protecting his domain. He is known to punish those who dare to harm the forests and kill animals, casting terrible curses with his magical staff. However, he can also be a benevolent creature to those who love and respect nature, granting favors in exchange. Some stories tell of lost travelers who have encountered the Ogsken, who gave them directions to find their way home on the darkest nights. Others recount hunters who were punished for their cruelty.

I chose to draw inspiration from the Leshen because it's one of my favorite mythological creatures, and it also appears in one of my favorite video games: The Witcher 3 - Wild Hunt, a famous game by CD Projekt Red, which inspired me. In the end, I approached it with a cartoon style, not too realistic, trying to maintain some of its original features like the deer horns, claws, scary appearance, and skin resembling tree bark.

These are the rough concept sketches on paper, to give a first idea of ​​what the character would have looked like. I hadn't drawn for a long time, so it was a bit difficult to start again, but it was very enjoyable and satisfying to invent my own character from scratch.

After the sketching phase, I began shaping the maquette using monster clay. But before getting my hands dirty, I had to do extensive research for references to analyze proportions, anatomy, volumes, and textures. Then I started with a wire skeleton, which I filled with aluminum foil and tape, and began covering it with a thin layer of clay. As I added more and more volumes and details, the character took shape. It was my first time creating a maquette, and I used monster clay. I really enjoyed it, and it was fun!

After the traditional sculpture phase, it was time to move on to digital sculpting in ZBrush. During the creative process, you can notice how much the character has changed from the maquette. I wanted to improve his appearance and some parts of the body like the skull and fur cloak. I had some difficulty shaping the hands and head, but despite this, I am happy with the final result, and I hope you like it too!

Some details.

After sculpting the character in ZBrush and posing it, I exported it to Maya to set up the lights and finally render it with V-Ray. As you can see, I tested various materials for the sculpture and different types of lighting, and in the end, I opted for a red fill light and a black background. What I wanted was to convey emotions like fear, terror, and anguish, giving the feeling that the character is not always a benign figure.

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading and taking a look at my project. It means a lot to me. Give a 5 if you liked it!