Dottie the Pinup Spacegirl
This is Dottie, and she’s my Pinup Spacegirl. This is my second full character sculpt done in ZBrush and textured with Substance Painter. I wanted to combine elements of classic a Pinup Girl with a Retro-Futuristic flair. While designing Dottie, I wanted her to represent powerful femininity. Here is the process from concept to final render.
Moodboard
After the Lonely Starman environment, I wanted to do one more project using the Retro Futurism aesthetic. This time I wanted to focus on women’s fashion during this period and to include elements from pinup, 1940’s “hairbangs” as well as 70’s mod fashion. I referenced video games such as Fallout 4 as well as TV shows such as The Jetsons and films like Meet the Robinsons for this project. However, I found myself developing my own fashion specifically for Dottie, so that I could create something entirely unique.
Turnaround
I developed Dottie using my moodboard and references and drew this three-point turnaround. I wanted her to be conventionally attractive for the 1940’s era pinup style while wearing an outfit that was recognizable as retro-futuristic. I found myself pulling from different eras to create a character who wasn’t tied to a specific time period, but rather embodied a mood and overall aesthetic.
ZBrush Blockout and Details
The first step in the process was creating a basic block out based on my turnaround. Using ZBrush, I focused on getting Dottie’s anatomy correct and ensuring that she was proportional before diving into clothing and accessories.
The next step was merging all the blocked out pieces together and adding the base details such as muscularity, facial details, and finalizing proportions. At this point, I was able to see Dottie come to life. Now, all she needed was some clothes
Final Sculpt
Posing and Look Development
The texturing process came after the posing process. I did this because I wanted to present Dottie as a digital maquette, so texturing her while posed allowed for the maps to bake accordingly. For the color palette, I wanted to include traditionally feminine colors like pink and purple to maintain her overall powerful femininity. The color shifting metallics of the jumpsuit emphasized the overall futuristic feel. I created my own materials for each of the objects, so that they don’t reference anything on Earth and have a genuinely otherworldly feel. Finally, I rendered the turntable in Marmoset Toolbag 4.
