Muhammed Ismayil is a brilliant 3D artist. His free VDMs are highly valuable to creators, and his character models are vividly passionate. In this interview, he shares his struggles and professional insights as a Blendkit creator.
Hi Ismayil, can you please tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m a 3D artist, mainly focused on creating realistic characters. I was born and still live in Kerala, India. Growing up, I was pretty much locked up inside my house. Now, I’m 23 years old and looking for ways to escape a 9-to-5 job while still being financially stable.
How did you get into Blender?
As a kid, I was very interested in video games. For years, I begged my parents to buy me a PC. When I finally got access to the internet, I wanted to create my own games and stumbled upon Blender. Even though my original plan was to become a VFX artist, I realized over time that I just love 3D.
In the beginning, it was difficult because my parents didn't like my career choice, but I kept going anyway. YouTube tutorials were very helpful because I prefer to study on my own. Working with fewer rules allows me to enjoy the process and explore new things.
Generic Male Lips Realistic
You have uploaded great anatomy brushes to Blendkit. What interests you about creating VDMs?
Actually, I don’t have a special interest in creating VDMs. I enjoy sculpting and would rather work on making full characters. However, after uploading some brushes and seeing thousands of downloads, I decided to do it more consistently. Every day, with the little time I had after work, I created one VDM.
All your brushes are available for free. Why?
There are several reasons. When it's free, everyone can use them, and it makes me happy to create something that many people find useful. I love giving back to the Blender community. Without Blender, I wouldn’t have much.
Also, you can earn money with Blendkit even when you share your assets for free. So, I can do what I like and earn enough to get by. Honestly, it pays better per hour than my actual job. In the future, I hope to transition to Blendkit completely and upload characters, node groups, and other things more frequently.
Do you have any recommendations for artists sculpting with your brushes?
If you want to practice, sculpt from a sphere. If you want fast results, use a base mesh. Blender provides a high-quality base mesh for free, but if you modify it, you may have to sculpt and refine for a few hours to achieve decent results. Personally, I rarely do that.
Your human figures are very expressive. What is the story behind Arunthayan?
I was a huge fan of the Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed games, and there was a rumor that Ubisoft was making a new Assassin’s Creed game set in India. Since they never made it, I wanted to create my own. Having no idea where to start, I decided to do the characters first and created an early version of Arunthayan. After making multiple versions and finally uploading him to Blendkit, I gave him his name.
Arunthayan
Another fascinating character of yours is Selunae. How would you describe her?
I saw a really pretty character on Instagram named Evelyn from a game called Baldur’s Gate. It wasn’t even an official character in the game, but she became popular because of all the memes. A friend asked me to show him how to model characters, so I decided to try making one resembling this Evelyn. I believe she would be kind, nice, and always trying to help others, even if it gets her nothing.
Do you have any tips for emerging 3D artists?
The most important thing I have learned is to give myself enough freedom to have fun and learn a lot of new things. Sometimes, it can be better to separate your passion from your job. Find a way to make money somehow, and do what you love with 3D. Needless to say—especially if you are from a developing country—be sure to get a good internet connection and a stable power supply.
Although Muhammed chooses to share his assets for free, he still needs your support. By subscribing to Full Plan, you enable your favorite creators to continue uploading the assets you need. Let’s be the community we dream of!
