I just finished up this nasty, terrifying creature. In the realm of D&D, when you see one of these, run. Don't cast Magic Missile, just run...
Using the new tools of ZBrush 3.5 R3, I built a base mesh from a simple skeleton of zspheres and sketch spheres. Once the sketch spheres were organized, I converted everything to 40k mesh, divided a few times and began sculpting. The new brushes made is so easy to put the sharp edges and details I was aiming for. The original image I used for reference has segmented plates, much like dragon scales. I was having problems recreating that effect so I abandoned it altogether and went for something that had a slightly hard looking texture.
The texture was painted with Polypaint in Zbrush starting with some simple blues, reds, and browns speckled across the surface. By alternating between deep crevice masks, I was able to quickly bring out the contrast of the high and low areas using yellows and light browns.
The render was done in 3ds max 2010 using the SSS Fast Skin shader. I utilized the reflective properties of the shader to add some extra reflection of the environment, making the surface look slick and gooey.
Overall, I'm quite happy with the results and have already implemented ZBrush into my daily workflow. Being able to quickly move, sculpt and paint detail is so invaluable. If you haven't already tried it, I highly recommend giving it a shot.
