This portrait was made as a tribute to David Attenborough. It’s taken me the best part of a year to finish, during which I have learnt so much about 3D portraiture. I don’t usually have this amount of patience with my work, but I felt that David Attenborough is such an important person to so many of us, that this portrait deserved my best effort.
If anyone hasn’t seen his latest documentary ‘A Life On Our Planet’ I would highly recommend it. Definitely one of the most moving films i’ve watched in a while; showing all the devastation we have done to our planet. The film is hard hitting and sad towards the beginning, but the second half is very positive where he shares his vision for the future and how we can put things right if we act now. In his own words – “If we take care of nature, nature will take care of us.”
Sculpting
Below is a sculpting time-lapse in ZBrush, beginning with a simple sphere and ending with a sketch that I could use as a base to develop the likeness.
See below a screen shot of the final sculpt in ZBrush.
Look Dev
Here you can see a full breakdown ranging through the modelling, grooming, look development process. Then finishing on the final rendered portrait.
Final Portrait
“When I began my career I had no idea I would be chronicling a story of change on such a planetary scale, one with such profound implications for all life on Earth. We have brought ourselves to the very brink of disaster the likes of which we have never seen before. I’ve witnessed it with my own eyes.
But this is not my story, it’s ours, the story of everyone alive now, and it doesn’t stop here. We are all living through these extraordinary times and the final chapter is ours to write. It might feel like a moment of hopelessness, but actually, it can be our turning point. We know what we need to do. By making the right choices in the next ten years, we can begin to rewild the world, and create a rich, thriving, sustainable future for ourselves on Earth. We can yet to become the heros of our own story. We have it in our power. Disaster or triumph… What happens next is up to us.” – Sir David Attenborough