Mercurial Forge is a 3D character artist living in the Netherlands and working in the games industry with over 15+ years experience. He taught anatomy and character modeling master classes at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. He worked on large projects like the Spyro the Reignited Trilogy and with acclaimed game directors such as Keita Takahashi. His primary work is stylized anatomically correct characters.

He is currently freelancing for clients around the world; consulting on game developers needs; and teaching privately everything he knows about art. He is communally recognized for these two sculpts:

Over his years in the industry he's taken on additional disciplines such as, game VFXs pipelines using UE5 niagara, Programming with C#, C++ and blueprint, shader creation, HLSL, and materials. He is a generalist in all character adjacent disciplines.His work often draws heavy inspiration from the games of his childhood, such as:

  • Vagrant Story

  • Banjo Kazooie

  • Chrono Trigger

  • Super Mario RPG

  • Front Mission

  • Super Mario

  • Legends of Zelda

  • Final Fantasy Tactics

  • Metal Gear Solid

  • Final Fantasy XII

  • Valkyria Chronicles

  • Tactics Ogre

FAQ

  • I'm interested in working with you on a project, are you available?

    Possibly, if I'm interested in your project. Please read my Freelance page. I'll reply within a few days or weeks.

  • Can you give me some tips on 3D modeling?

    Yes, and I actually do personal Mentorships. I mainly focus on teaching people my techniques and thought process for character sculpting and anatomy.

    However, in general there is no secrets to 3D, it's a lot of hard work and dead ends that propel you forward. Just remember, failure is an opportunity to look at what went wrong and avoid that mistake next time.

  • How did you learn anatomy, any recomendations?

    Anatomy is a life long study, not something you learn in a few months and never think about again. Anatomy is also a piece by piece learning process. Once you learn about, say, the deltoids, you really have no choice but to continue to learn about the surrounding muscles as well. Since the muscles all fit together to know one you must know the other and the cycle continues.

    I recomend starting with the face, neck, and chest, like you see in classical bust sculpture. From there your anatomy will bloom outwards and then wander the figure and form, learning as you go. Every new sculpt is a new chance to study and learn.

    I recommend the following anatomy books:

  • Figure Sculpting Vol.1 by Philippe Faraut

  • Figure Sculpting Vol.2 by Philippe Faraut

  • Portrait Sculpting by Philippe Faraut

  • Point Character Drawing Set & Secret Character Drawing by Taco

  • Your art makes you look like a pervert!

    When you view my art, and all you see is a perverse context, that says more about you, than me.

    This is a very American view of nudity and breasts in art. I don't hold myself back in expressing my art because you feel uncomfortable.

  • How can I get into contact with you?

    ArtStation, my Contact or Twitter are your best chances, as neither interrupt me directly.

  • You banned me on, Enter Social Media Platform Here, can I be unbanned please?

    No, if I banned you it was a for a reason, find another platform I'm on and lurk this time.

Art

The Eks
Design Works

Projects

I regularly work with private clients interested in my art direction and character modeling choices. Clients often come to me specifically for my skills in anatomy and beauty. I'm happy to work on teams or alone on modeling projects. I prefer to focus mainly on sculpting, however I'm also happy to lowpoly, uv, and texture as needed for projects.I'm primarily a remote freelance artist working for teams that need my specialized art services or technical knowledge. I can also help develop and setup character art pipelines and document / detail style guides for artists and teams.

Areas of Expertise / Services Offered

Art Services

  • Character Sculpting - Game / Collectable

  • Character Modeling - Lowpoly, UVs, Textures

  • Character Animation - Rigging & Animation.

Art Direction

  • Visual Design Consultant & Art Direction

  • Character Art Pipeline Creation & Supervision

  • Technical Supervision of Real-Time Visual Effects

  • Game Animation System Supervisor

  • What kind of work do you take?

    Freelance and Contract only at the moment. I like to work for myself.

  • What are your fees?

     That depends on a lot, but typically:

  • €350 a day.

  • €1800+ per sculpt.

  • €3500+ per game ready character.

  • €1000 per inch collectable/toy sculpture

  • Contact me for consulting / art direction rates

  • How long does it take you to sculpt ______?

  • Full Game Ready Character - 1.5 - 2.5 Weeks

  • Full Sculpt - 1 Week

  • Nude Sculpt Character - 1-3 Days

  • We have a big project, can we work out a deal?

    If the project is big enough and consistent enough I'll consider a deal. Lets talk.

  • Can you handle larger volumes of work?

    If projects are larger in scale or tight on deadlines I may employ other artists--trusted collaborators. In this situation I am always the sculptor, assistants only help with lowpoly and uvs.

  • Our project is top secret, you'll need to sign some paperwork before we can share anything.

    You need to be able to tell me something before I'll care enough to sign paperwork.

  • I'm an art director and your work would be great for our next project.

    I've heard this a million times. Don't reach out to me if you're just adding me to a list of candidates to interview. If I wanted an interview I would've applied to your company.

  • Can we hire you to create some characters for us?

    Yes, I won't accept any job without first seeing the concept art and or already existing models. I only work on projects I feel I can contribute to or align with my skills and style.

  • It's not exactly your style but we think you could match it!

    No. I'm not interested in being a wrist trying to match or mimic someone else's style. Please if you're going to hire me, hire me for my art and my style. I'm not interested in copying other artists.

  • It's NSFW.
    I'm not shocked by nudity, obviously. Lets talk.

  • It's sexy ladies.
    I'm in.

  • We're working on an iOS/mobile/browser game and...
    I’m out...

  • NFT project…
    No.

  • It's not ladies exactly but they are still sexy!
    Sounds good lets talk.

Mercurial Forge

Mentorships

Mercurial Forge

Character Artist
Mentorships

What makes the female figure so sexy and appealing?
What goes into dynamic anatomically accurate figure sculpting?
What techniques and resources can you use to improve your modeling?I've spent my career honing these very skill sets. Take a mentorship with me and help narrow your focus, tackle problem areas and gain access to everything I know about figure sculpting and character modeling. Each session we go in-depth into a topic of your choice, with a focused lecture.

Mentee requirements

I specialize in stylization to semi-realism for sculpting, low-poly modeling, posing, texturing PBR materials, and hand painting. I work primarily in ZBrush but also Maya and Blender. I can guide you through your project to make an optimal game production-ready character, or standalone sculpture, with a focus on making the end result as appealing as possible.You will either bring your own WIP projects, or I can help you decide on a new one. I’ll provide visual feedback with paintovers and sculpt-overs.I can answer craft and technical questions to the best of my ability, as well as give career advice or portfolio reviews.I do not teach: Realism, Rigging, or 3D Animation.

What I Offer

I work best with students already familiar with 3D character creation and DCC software. I recommend students to work on their own personal projects. I specialize in stylized but anatomically correct semi-real characters. Late-Term students, Master students and junior or associate character artists can learn the most. But I welcome advanced students looking to deepen their anatomy skills or learn new techniques.

This Mentorship is NOT for beginners, I recommend taking a structured course that will teach you software skills and general character creation pipeline as opposed to this mentorship.

Common Topics of interest

Technical

  • 1. Clothing Creation

  • 2. Mouth Interiors

  • 3. Eye Sculpting

  • 4. Dynamesh to Topology

  • 5. Hair Sculpting

  • 6. Full Character Process

  • 7. Phases of Sculpting

  • 8. Sphere Sculpting Exercise

  • 9. Stylization

  • 10. Muscle Grouping

  • 11. Skin Compression

  • 12. When to ZRemesh

  • 13. Using Polypaint Makeup

Beauty

  • 1. Face

  • 2. Nose

  • 3. Mouth

  • 4. Chin to Forhead

  • 5. Eyes

  • 6. Neck

  • 7. Hair

  • 8. Eyebrows

  • 9. Symmetry

  • 10. Smooth Skin

  • 11. Eyelashes

  • 12. Hands & Feet

  • 13. Figure

  • 14. Muscles

  • 15. Grace

  • 16. Smiles

  • 17. Skin Tones

Sexy

  • 1. Breasts

  • 2. Butt

  • 3. Hips

  • 4. Belly

  • 5. Nipples

  • 6. Areola

  • 7. Lips

  • 8. Back

  • 9. Pubis Mons

  • 10. Curves

  • 11. Gravity

  • 12. Fat Pads

  • 13. Bulge

  • 14. Waist

  • 15. Legs

  • 16. Weight

  • 17. Silhouette

Sign up Information

Sesson Types

  • $150 Individual consultation / review
    career advice, portfolio reviews, paint/sculpt overs
    review your wip projects - help you decide on a project to strengthen.
    paid via paypal before session

Each Session Includes:

  • 1x Live video lecture on agreed upon topic for the session.

  • Local recording of Live Session

  • Customized homework tasks

  • 1x offline video critique on project / homework of your choice.

  • Stay in contact via discord for questions and feedback

How It Works

  • Meetings take place over Discord

  • In the unlikely event of power or internet outages I will offer rescheduling possibilities.

  • My Time Zone is CET

  • 3D Software Required (if 3D artist)

  • -- ZBrush 2022.7+ (Recommended)

  • -- or Blender 4.0

Unsure about a Mentorship? Schedule a free In-Take Meeting!

Ready to start? Schedule a Mentorship!

Your Responsibilities

By signing up for this mentorship you are making a commitment. I expect you to take this seriously, be responsive on Discord, show up to the meeting on time, do the work asked of you. Mentees who disrespect my time, show a lack of commitment, or try to abuse rescheduling because they are feeling lazy will be withdrawn from the mentorship at my discretion.

  • Please respect my time and your own by being ready to begin and end sessions at the agreed-upon times.

  • I don't offer last minute rescheduling unless there are extreme circumstances.

  • If you are more than 15 minutes late to a session it's forefit.

FAQ

  • Q: Will there be nudity?
    A: Yes, we are artists. If you are uncomfortable with nudity I am not the mentor for you.

  • Q: Is there a maximum number of sessions?
    A: No, you can sign up as many times as you like.

  • Q: Is Blender okay instead of ZBrush?
    A: Yes, I can use Blender but prefer ZBrush and showcase most tech in ZBrush.

  • Q: I can only afford ZBrush Core, is that okay?
    A: ZBrush Core lacks functionality and as such will limit you. It's acceptable, but not recommended.

  • Q: Can I work on a personal piece with your guidance?
    A: Yes, I'm more than happy to follow your project and offer critical and direct feedback on your project.

  • Q: I'm going to be late to a session what should I do?
    A: Notify me ASAP, If you arrive late, the session will still end at the agreed upon time.

  • Q: My schedule has changed I would like to pick a new date and time for sessions
    A: Reschedule the event using the link in your calendar invite / e-mail. Don't abuse this.

Mercurial Forge

Drawing
Mentorships

If you're seeking a drawing mentorship you probably find yourself in the valley between your current skill and your eye for quality. You can tell when work is good but you cannot achieve that quality no matter how hard you try.A mentorship is about growth and improvement. Style will come naturally as you improve your core skills. I can help you improve your drawing with a deeper understanding of anatomy, form, flow, and the fundamentals.

Unsure about a Mentorship? Schedule a free In-Take Meeting!

Ready to start? Schedule a Mentorship!

What to Expect

Some main areas I can help with:

1. Your accuracy and appeal. Together we can improve your ability to draw figures from memory by better understanding the proportions and anatomy of the figure.2. I can help you grow your mental library of shapes, poses, and styles. A mental library is an artist's greatest asset and how your grow that library varies from person to person.3. Develop a personal technique for Croquis (the act of sketching quickly using established methods and visual language to speed up the drawing process) and avoid the frustration of feeling like every drawing is you learning everything all over again.

This Mentorship is NOT for beginners, I recommend taking a structured course that will teach you the very basic fundamentals of drawing in addition to drawing software as opposed to this mentorship.

Common Topics of interest

  • 1. Chooseing Brushes

  • 2. Canvas Size

  • 3. Coloring Techniques

  • 4. How to Blockout

  • 5. Improving Speed

  • 6. Dynamic Poses

  • 7. Phases of Drawing

  • 8. Exercises for Improvement

  • 9. Stylization

  • 10. Figure Anatomy

  • 11. Weight and Mass

  • 12. When to Stop

  • 13. Light and Shadow

  • 14. How to Find "Style"

Sign up Information

Sesson Types

  • $150 Individual session / review
    Drawing review, question and answer examples session, topic of your choice covered in detail, etc.
    paid via paypal before session

Each Session Includes:

  • 1x Live video lecture on agreed upon topic for the session.

  • Local recording of Live Session

  • Customized homework tasks

  • 1x offline video critique on project / homework of your choice.

  • Stay in contact via discord for questions and feedback

How It Works

  • Meetings take place over Discord

  • In the unlikely event of power or internet outages I will offer rescheduling possibilities.

  • My Time Zone is CET(or CEST)

  • You must have a digital software for drawing. I use Procreate. It's not required that you use procreate.

Unsure about a Mentorship? Schedule a free In-Take Meeting!

Ready to start? Schedule a Mentorship!

Your Responsibilities

By signing up for this mentorship you are making a commitment. I expect you to take this seriously, be responsive on Discord, show up to the meeting on time, do the work asked of you. Mentees who disrespect my time, show a lack of commitment, or try to abuse rescheduling because they are feeling lazy will be withdrawn from the mentorship at my discretion.

  • Please respect my time and your own by being ready to begin and end sessions at the agreed-upon times.

  • I don't offer last minute rescheduling unless there are extreme circumstances.

  • If you are more than 15 minutes late to a session it's forefit.

FAQ

  • Q: Will there be nudity?
    A: Yes, we are artists. If you are uncomfortable with nudity I am not the mentor for you.

  • Q: Is there a maximum number of sessions?
    A: No, you can sign up as many times as you like.

  • Q: Can I work on a personal illustration with your guidance?
    A: Yes, I'm more than happy to follow your project and offer critical and direct feedback on your project.

  • Q: I'm going to be late to a session what should I do?
    A: Notify me ASAP, If you arrive late, the session will still end at the agreed upon time.

  • Q: My schedule has changed I would like to pick a new date and time for sessions
    A: Reschedule the event using the link in your calendar invite / e-mail. Don't abuse this.

Contact Me

Address
Mercurial Forge B.V.
John M. Keynesplein 4
1066 EP Amsterdam
KVK: 94447918
VAT: NL866781079B01

contact@mercurialforge.com
tel: +31 6 482 65567

Mercurial Forge B.V. is registered at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce under number 94447918 (“Mercurial Forge BV”).

Mercurial Forge

Sculpting Sexy
Female Characters

Student Workshop

Class Details

Course Description

What makes the female figure so sexy and appealing? Dive into an 8 week course focusing on everything I know about it! Each week we go in-depth into a new topic, and focused lecture, all about female anatomy and it's many subtleties. Learn how to approach difficult key areas such as the face, breasts, butt, back, crotch and more. When you're done you'll have a portfolio ready female anatomy showpiece!
 

Price: $750Seats: 14 StudentsEmail: workshops@MercurialForge.com

Length: 8 WeeksStart Date: TBAQ&A Time: 7:00pm - 8:00pm PST, Thursday

What you'll learn

  • How to start everything from a sphere

  • Construct a full figure, part by part, head to toe

  • Structure and sculpt beautiful faces

  • Sculpt breasts, butts, hips, backs, necks, pelvic and more

  • Understand the rules of beauty

  • Overcome common anatomy mistakes

  • Find and improve sexual appeal in forms

  • Pose and render attractive female characters

  • Project based assignments to develop your anatomy

Qualifications

  • 15+ years industry experience

  • 2+ years experience mentoring

  • Instructor at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco
    - Member of Game Art Master Thesis Review Committee
    - Master Class: Created/Taught Anatomy for Character Artists
    - Master Class: Hero Characters and Props
    - Graduate Classes: ZBrush / Maya / Intro to Character 1&2

Who should take this class?

  • Intermediate to Advanced ZBrush users. Not for beginners

  • Artists who are not ashamed or intolerant of nudity

  • 3D artists who want to create beautiful female characters

  • Sculptors who want to sculpt attractive breasts and butts

  • Want intimate anatomy lectures everyone else shies away from

  • Looking to improve your female anatomy overall

  • Desire honest critical critique from a professional

  • Artists looking to add anatomy sculpts to their portfolio

What You Get

  • 8 weeks of in-depth lectures over 15+ hours of 1080HD

  • 8 project assignments

  • Download access to lecture videos, and resources

  • Weekly beauty based anatomy assignments

  • Live weekly 1hr Q&A sessions: Ask questions and get demos

  • Weekly personal video critiques on progress

  • My personal master pureref anatomy reference collection

  • Discord group access during and after (Workshop Alumni)

Lesson Plan

  • Lesson #1: Proportions - Introduction to Beauty

  • Lesson #2: Faces - Beautiful Measurements

  • Lesson #3: Upper Body - Feminine Anatomy

  • Lesson #4: Lower Body - Understanding Sexy

  • Lesson #5: Hands and Feet

  • Lesson #6: Hair + Accessories

  • Lesson #7: Paint & Polish

  • Lesson #8: Pose & Presentation

Topics Covered

Beauty

  • 1. Face

  • 2. Nose

  • 3. Mouth

  • 4. Chin to Forhead

  • 5. Eyes

  • 6. Neck

  • 7. Hair

  • 8. Eyebrows

  • 9. Symmetry

  • 10. Smooth Skin

  • 11. Eyelashes

  • 12. Hands & Feet

  • 13. Figure

  • 14. Muscles

  • 15. Grace

  • 16. Smiles

  • 17. Skin Tones

Sexy

  • 1. Breasts

  • 2. Butt

  • 3. Hips

  • 4. Belly

  • 5. Nipples

  • 6. Areola

  • 7. Lips

  • 8. Back

  • 9. Pubis Mons

  • 10. Curves

  • 11. Gravity

  • 12. Fat Pads

  • 13. Bulge

  • 14. Waist

  • 15. Legs

  • 16. Weight

  • 17. Silhouette

Enrollment

What you need

Prerequisites: Previous sculpting experience is mandatory. Not a beginner's classSoftware: Lessons / demos will be in ZBrushYou must be 18+: Reference in lectures and model sculpting will feature nudityPortfolio Required: Must submit link to social media or portfolio showcasing workRequirements: ZBrush/Blender, PureRef, High Speed Internet, Discord Account