Art Direction for Film: Creature Design & Development

From Photoshop to Unreal Engine 5 with Ehsan Bigloo

Ehsan Bigloo demonstrates how he designs creatures for the entertainment industry. Whether you’re a character or creature designer, concept artist, digital sculptor, or simply interested in developing your storytelling skills, this workshop is a fascinating insight into Ehsan’s complete workflow, from sketch to final presentation.

The workshop begins with a detailed look at a design brief and short script based on Ehsan’s own sci-fi/supernatural horror character, “Quehsalien.” He explains his thought process when developing words into a visual narrative, and the initial sketching begins with traditional media before jumping into Photoshop, where he then lays down a paint-over to establish the basis for the final illustration. 

ZBrush is brought into the pipeline to sculpt the primary and secondary forms of the design, testing the visual appeal from a three-dimensional standpoint. ZBrush also serves as a great tool for testing the lighting and mood of the character using KeyShot and creating a simple rig for the creature model for early limb locomotion tests. Ehsan also uses ZBrush for the Polypainting process while considering what the environment of the creature would be and how it would move. The final design is then rendered with KeyShot and composited in Photoshop.

Diving deep into the art direction, Ehsan demonstrates how to create keyframe artwork using real photographic plates and how to set up the lighting for creature shots, discussing everything from camera lens to color harmony. Continuing the art direction, Ehsan explores different design routes, first using ZBrush and Photoshop while offering his professional industry insights. He also uses Maya to set up a quick, non-production joint/skeleton rig and make simple locomotion tests in Maya before rendering with Arnold. 

In the final stage of the workshop, Ehsan prepares the model in ZBrush and then bakes maps in Substance Painter before sending the creature to Unreal Engine 5, where he explores other shot designs and set-dressing, mood, and lighting with Lumen to bring the creature to life.