Zodiac Totem

The story of the 12 zodiac animals varies from culture to culture. In the Chinese story, it is a race across a river. The order of the zodiac animals is based on the order they came in. I created a totem inspired by the story, including small details from the Chinese version. For example, the chicken, monkey, and goat came in on a raft. And if you look close enough you can see the cat who did not make it to the end. The high poly for this was created in ZBrush, the low in Maya, and then baked in Subtance Painter. The wood texture is based on Chinese redwood, which is used in a lot of Chinese wood carvings. I then push it a bit to give it a more stylized appeal.