Mermaid Diorama — ZBrush for iPad Sculpt | Anna Schmelzer

The Mermaid Diorama is a piece I created during my formal engagement as a beta tester for Maxon's ZBrush for iPad. I sculpted it entirely on an iPad Pro to see how far the then-unreleased mobile version of the software could go.

I wanted a scene that tested high-density subtools, intricate hard-surface arrays, and organic forms at once — all without a desktop workstation. The diorama features a stylised chibi mermaid suspended above a lotus-filled base, clutching a luminescent firefly jar. Every element, from the overlapping scales on the tail to the braid structures and the geometric housing of the lantern, was fully modelled, posed, and detailed within the mobile app.

Balancing the dense geometry of the environmental flourishes with the clean, smooth stylised forms of the character's face required working within the app's memory limits and customised mobile UI workflows. After the testing period, Maxon acquired the rights to the artwork and featured it in the Apple App Store as a primary showcase for the new software.

I rendered the final image with atmospheric depth of field and enhanced it with AI post-processing for the ethereal, underwater lighting.