Hello! 

After reading the theme, I spent time reflecting on the idea of a 'personal oasis'. I really tried to dig in deep, thinking about what this means to me. 

This year has been a challenging one, but one thing that has helped me find moments of peace amongst the chaos has been creating art. Being a digital 3D artist professionally, I've recently reconnected with traditional 2D sketching as well as clay sculpture.

Often I will enter a state of focus and zen when observing and creating art. To me this zone has become my personal oasis and safe space. I hope to capture this feeling with this project. 

Initial Mood Board

A few images to help set the mood for my project. My goal is to create a portrait inspired by traditional sculpture and carving. I hope to incorporate some hands into the piece and also hint at some water elements as this called out to me when thinking of the personal oasis theme. 

Thumbnails

Here are some quick thumbnails where I attempted to capture the mood I had envisioned. Although I liked option A as it has the essence of a moment of inspiration and a spark, option B more closely aligns with my interpretation of the theme.

A moment of stillness and peace. 

Sculpt Progress

I began sculpting the portrait loosely based on the wonderful Hannah from

Jens Claessens referece pack.

Once I had a rough head worked up, I quickly sketched out some further ideas directly in the ZBrush canvas. Inspired by another image from Jens ref pack, played with the feeling of pushing the hair behind the ears, ready to engage and focus at whatever lies ahead. I also experemented witth moving/carving into the base plane to what effect this gives.

I decided to stick to the direction of my initial thumbnail sketch B, evoking the feeling of a still body of water and as if the sculpture is emerging from stone.