Project 01 — 3D modelling

The Mantis

Empusa pennata — the conehead mantis
Year
REPLACE — 2025
Discipline
Modelling · Sculpting · Look dev
Tools
Blender
Role
Everything
Clay render of the mantis model
Clay render — REPLACE with a line about the shot

Inspiration

I wanted to capture the beauty of Empusa pennata — a mantis most people will never see closely enough to appreciate.

REPLACE — where you first saw it, what stopped you, and why a photograph wasn’t enough. This is the paragraph that makes the rest of the page worth reading, so be specific and be honest about what pulled you in.

Process

REPLACE — how you actually built it, in order. Reference gathering, blocking, sculpting the plates and spines, retopology, the antennae, the pose. Say what you did first and what you did last.

REPLACE — and the decisions. Why this pose? Why a clay render rather than textured? Decisions are what separate a portfolio from a gallery.

Challenges

REPLACE — the parts that fought you. Be concrete. Anyone can say “it was challenging”; almost nobody says which edge loop broke, or how many times they redid the raptorial forelegs.

  • REPLACE — a specific problem, and how you solved it
  • REPLACE — another one
  • REPLACE — one you never fully solved, if there is one

What I learned

REPLACE — the thing you can do now that you couldn’t before. This is the section hiring people read most carefully, because it tells them how fast you grow.