Khan's Mask: WIP (Patreon)

This is a deceptively large undertaking to get just the way I want it, so I've added a big technical breakdown below. as always these posts will be tidied up and merged nearer the end :)



Technical:
How I got the painterly effect - there's a method by Cody Gindy that blew up recently where he paints object normal maps to create facets on a model. When light hits these facets, this gives the illusion of brushstrokes. This was perfect for my project - I had a look around and messed with a bunch of methods, including geometry nodes, camera mapping, compositing, etc. but none worked as nicely as this one.

On top of this, I also used a technique by Nenghuo to create 3D brushstrokes.  They are a bit difficult to see here but I have not applied them fully. You can see them on the steel teeth and hair. You can also create brushstrokes using image planes but they will have no thickness (even when using solidify modifier). Of course you can model actual brushstrokes which is fine too, but this method is much more time efficient, adjustable, and (in my opinion) looks better anyway. 

This was done using bezier curves and geometry nodes (Curve to mesh). So, once set up, you could 'draw' these on your model however you wanted. This is great because it's highly adjustable with colour, noise, material, thickness, curves, etc. 

Disclaimer - this only works in Blender 3.1 and above.

So these are painterly methods with a ray tracing engine (Cycles), which is a realistic rendering engine.  once I have everything set up I think I can make some really cool animation with it. Just waiting for Uni to end for the year!! Since these are just test renders, they are a bit noisy but final renders will be much cleaner. I recommend if you are newish to blender and want to go for a painterly effect, stick to Cody Gindy's method for a bit - it is much simpler to execute. Though bezier curves and geometry nodes can be complex topics, I think Nenghuo is also a good teacher and he breaks them down well.

Optional (I did not use this, but it can look very nice)
Blender has an option to add greasepencil lineart. This is more for cartoonish renders, but can look very cool in a sketchy/grungy way and I experimented a lot with my work. The only issue is that it slows down your PC for some reason and can be kind of annoying to work with - but it is non destructive otherwise and more of a last effect to add. It is up to you whether it fits your artistic vision

Tutorial links:
Cody Gindy's Painterly effect:
https://youtu.be/s8N00rjil_4?si=WESag5B1kl9RDlSF

Nenghuo's Bezier curve brushstrokes:
https://youtu.be/9vLpkrMWzgo?si=ZnkaudDRcUZRTKIV