3D Artist on Bringing Chinese Art to Digital & Using ZBrush for iPad

3D Artist Zhelong Xu is a principal 3D Artist at NVIDIA and an art consultant for Tencent TiMi Studio Group. In a recent interview with Maxon, he shared why he uses ZBrush, talked about his inspiration and workflow, and compared desktop and iPad versions of ZBrush.

Zhelong Xu said that he had been using ZBrush since 2002. It breaks "the barriers between technology and art," and the artist uses it almost every day for professional and personal work. He grew up around the tradition of ceramic art, and traditional Chinese art became an "inexhaustible" source of inspiration for him. The creator sees himself as a "folk artist" and craftsman in the digital age and, in his art, seeks ways to reinterpret the style of traditional art with modern digital tools.

The artist's creative process starts with quick sketches on paper or a tablet. Then he applies textures in Substance 3D Painter, sculpts in ZBrush with Scluptris Pro and DynaMesh, and continues using the ZRemesher and Subdivision toolsets to create high-resolution models.

Zhelong Xu shared that the features of ZBrush, such as its customizable interface and intuitive brush system, make it the best tool for his creative work. As for an iPad version of ZBrush, he finds it very functional and efficient. It features almost all the functions of the desktop version, including DynaMesh, ZRemesher, all brush attributes, FiberMesh, and Shadowbox, along with the Dynamics menu. The artist also notes that the iPad version of ZBrush is very convenient for use while commuting or traveling.

The highly anticipated iPad version of ZBrush was announced in October 2023 and released last month. In addition to the features of the desktop version, the tablet application introduces many new functions, like the ability to customize the Apple Pencil's double-tap or Pencil Pro's squeeze gestures for actions like framing a mesh in the document or enabling PolyGroup. In our interview, ZBrush's Product Development Manager Paul Gaboury shared a behind-the-scenes look at ZBrush for iPad's development and told us more about its features.

Read the full interview with Zhelong Xu here and don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.