The Life Cycle of the Anna’s Hummingbird
About
As one of the world’s smallest birds, hummingbirds have extreme biology and metabolism, allowing them to hold quite a few records in the animal kingdom. This illustration shows the life cycle of the Anna’s hummingbird including the incubation, hatchling and adult stages, including mating. The overall design choices lends to a classic style, drawing the viewer to inspect the piece closely. This piece was a response to a modelling course assignment primarily aimed at introducing the Zbrush program to students.
Client: Leah Lebowicz, UIC BVIS
Format: Poster Print
Software: Pixologic ZBrush, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator
Research and Ideation
After background research was completed and learning goals were determined, thumbnail sketches were created to identify the best layout to showcase the hummingbird’s life cycle on the poster.
Production
I experimented with different methods of sculpting feathers and created a feather library with different types of feathers for the wings, tail and head. Some of these feathers were added to the hummingbird using nanomesh. They were also used to create alphas to create feather texturing on the body. Fibermesh was also used to give the body longer hair-like texture.
Drafts
The models were then painted and rendered in ZBrush. The background and models were rendered separately to reduce total polygon within a single file and all render passes were composited in Photoshop. Text and graphical elements were added in Illustrator.
Final Piece
Revisions were made to improve the overall color balance and design of the composition. Red berries were added to the trees to add more of a red hue to the piece and improve color balance. Subheadings were also colored red to improve visual hierarchy.
