Fredo Viktor Bernardo: 3D character artist

3D artist Fredo Viktor Bernardo creates detailed character and creature sculpts – check out his workflow, inspirations and artwork...

3dtotal: Tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you, what do you do, and where are you located?

Fredo Viktor Bernardo: I am an artist by heart who just fell in love more with studying shapes and forms and sculpting them. I work as a freelance 3D artist, accepting jobs like 3D characters and or creatures for film, TV and games, digital sculpting for 3D printing, and other 3D artwork for other media.

3dt: Where did you find the inspiration for your latest gallery entry? What's the story behind its creation?

FB: This Serpent God project was initially inspired by a local fantasy character called Zuma. To be honest, I made several attempts at creating this; the first attempt was pre-ZBrush days, but they didn't work, probably from my lack of skills, software/hardware constraints or lack of inspiration or art direction. But in mid 2015, after doing my Dracula piece that was inspired by Boris Vallejo's painting, I felt my sculpting skill was good enough for me to flesh out my own Serpent God concept, so I started taking this project more seriously and pushed myself to finish it no matter what. Lastly, I realized that this personal art concept is somehow expressing how much the works of my all-time favorite artists Caravaggio and Bernini have influenced my art career, and my growth as an artist.

3dt: What software and plug-ins did you use to create this image? Did you face any difficulties, and how did you overcome them?

FB: I used ZBrush, Substance Painter, Octane and a bit of Maya. The biggest challenge for me was texturing, since I had to learn Substance Painter from scratch and I have not done any texturing project as challenging as this before. But thanks to a couple of my artist friends, I was able to pull it through.

3dt: Do you normally use this software in your workflow? What other software and plug-ins do you favor?
FB: Yes, ZBrush is my primary 3D program and Substance Painter will be a big part in my workflow from now on as well. I like the Octane render program because it's just so easy to use but I would also like to try KeyShot very soon. I highly recommend Caliper's Masters plug-in from HazardBrush; it's a great addition to any 3D printing workflow.

3dt: Are there any particular techniques that you use often? Or do you like to experiment?

FB: No special techniques I believe... and yes I love to experiment new techniques.

3dt: What are your artistic ambitions?

FB: To have fun creating collectible figures and hopefully teach sculpting.

3dt: What software would you like to learn in the future to expand your portfolio and skillset, and why?

FB: I'd like to explore more Substance Painter/Designer, V-Ray and Marvelous Designer.

3dt: How do you keep your portfolio up-to-date? Any tips?

FB: Basically, I do a lot of sculpting studies and on the side, I enrich my visual library by looking at great art a lot, and watching quality movies and TV series.

3dt: Who are your favorite artists, traditional or digital, and can you explain why?

FB: Caravaggio and Bernini (art gods) Philippe Farraut (a master), Mike Butkus and Chris Lovell, (superb artworks and very cool artists) Darren Yeow (awesome artist/businessman) , Cesar Dacol (a great artist and a great teacher), Daniel Bel and Caleb Nefzen (very humble and kind artist friends with massive killer artworks).

3dt: What can we expect to see from you next?

FB: Hopefully more original figure sculptures, portraits and game art.

Related links

Head over to Fredo's site
Serpent God in the gallery
Grab a copy of ZBrush Characters & Creatures