Meet the 'Girl Student' by Bora Kim —a stunning blend of creativity and technology crafted using Marvelous Designer.

Interview with Bora Kim | Girl Student | 3D Artist

Following our previous interview about your Selfie Girl artwork, you've returned with another incredible piece. Could you share a bit about your latest work, 'Girl Student'?

Hello, this is Bora Kim, and I'm delighted to be back. This time, the theme of my artwork is a girl sitting in a classroom after school. The idea began with a simple desire to create a character in a school uniform. I initially considered settings like a playground or park, but ultimately, I chose a classroom for its deeper sense of nostalgia and memories.

I understand that you're currently working as a character modeler, and with each piece, the background and prop details seem to be becoming more intricate. As the backgrounds become more detailed, they also encourage viewers to imagine the story behind the character. I'm curious if this is an intentional approach—do you work with the idea of how you'd like the audience to imagine the character's story?

I believe many people have experienced the quietness of school after classes, the sense of relief after a day's work, and the anticipation for tomorrow. I hope that when people view this artwork, they don't just focus on the character but also find themselves reminiscing about their own childhood or feeling a sense of connection through the background and small props.

From the character to the background, which aspects did you focus on while working on each element?

Since the character is a student, I wanted to convey a sense of unadorned innocence, so I focused on features like light makeup, a comfortable oversized hoodie, and a neat school uniform. For the background, I emphasized recreating elements based on relatable memories, such as the wooden floor, curtains, fluorescent lights, wall colors, and the marble beneath the windows.

I'm curious to know which parts of your work were created using Marvelous Designer？

I used Marvelous Designer for all aspects involving fabric, such as the character’s school uniform, ribbon, hoodie, hair tie, and even the clothes on the rabbit attached to the bag, as well as the curtains in the classroom. For the school uniform shirt, I started with a shirt from the Marvelous Designer library as the base, fitted it to the character's body, and then created and matched the vest and skirt. To form the pleats in the skirt, I drew lines for folds both inside and outside and adjusted the Fold Angle value to create the desired shape.

The hoodie required creating a 2D pattern for the shoulders, arms, and underarms that was wider than expected to achieve the oversized fit. After completing the creation, I imported the rigged animation to set various poses. Finally, I fixed one side of the hoodie to drape off the shoulder, easing the restrictive feeling of the uniform.

For the curtains in the background, I first created a rod that would act as the avatar, then hung the fabric on it. Adjusting the width of the curtains made it easier to form the pleats. After that, I used the Wind Controller to simulate the effect of the thin fabric fluttering in the breeze from the window. I set up the wind in the direction it would blow, adjusted the Strength to an appropriate value, and experimented with turbulence and frequency settings until I achieved the desired look.

I also created and used various other simple props.

Did you find any unique advantages of using Marvelous Designer during this project?

One of the major advantages of Marvelous Designer is its ability to quickly run simulations and adjust folds when the character takes different poses or when the clothing design changes. This flexibility in correcting and exporting the folds is a significant strength. Additionally, I found it convenient to obtain a cleaned-up low-poly mesh through the ZBrush plugin.

If there was an impressive story during the project, could you share it?

During this project, due to personal circumstances, the working period was extended. As the seasons changed, I adjusted the school uniform design from summer to autumn attire, eventually adding a hoodie. I also changed the hairstyle from a ponytail to a half-up style, and finally to a bob cut. Although the work seemed never-ending at times, step by step, it eventually came together. Even though I felt anxious as time passed, I gained valuable insights from the trial and error, making it a worthwhile experience.

Thank you for your interest in my work and for taking the time to read this.

by Bora Kim
Artstation