Looks like you got the tools down, but when making a dinosaur/amphibian type creature you should definitely google a bunch of references from real animals to nail down the anatomical features.
Okay I am going to say something a bit stupid sounding maybe - but the that's partly because of the thread title itself.
From the title I was expecting real clay.
Since you are looking for practice, why don't you grab a block of good old clay? It helps a lot in build up a personnal approach to mass and surface. I'm far for being a great digi sculptor myself but I know that I started with clay when I was a kid, then completely dropped it in favor of CG, which evolved recently into zbrush/mud stuff. But now that I look back and pick up real media again I realize how stupid it was to let this aside. Basically 10 hours worth of mudbox is worth like 2hours of real clay stuff.
Anyways I know it sounds weird but why not experiment with the same creature, but in natural media fashion. It might give you some ideas and foundations to push your digi version further - especially since it seems like you are just starting with these fancy tools.
Thanks for the crits guys. I went back and looked at some more references. I think I overdid it a bit on the bumpyness with the first one. I was able to achieve a much closer look to what I had in mind. Tell me what you think
This looks nice so far! You would be surprized how fun sculpting can be in programs like this, Im asuming your using Mudbox, but from my experience I would suggest you try and get a hold of a copy of Zbrush, it can handle much higher itterations of polys and it doesnt hold you back and lag as much as Mudbox does, and it really alows you to be more free to create. Its definately prefered Id say among professional 3D sculptors.
I actually have a copy of zbrush. I use maya as my prefered 3d package so mudbox was a smoother transition into a sculpting program. Zbrush seemed a bit cumbersome to navigate at first but I'm trying to get used it it. Thanks for the tips.
Replies
From the title I was expecting real clay.
Since you are looking for practice, why don't you grab a block of good old clay? It helps a lot in build up a personnal approach to mass and surface. I'm far for being a great digi sculptor myself but I know that I started with clay when I was a kid, then completely dropped it in favor of CG, which evolved recently into zbrush/mud stuff. But now that I look back and pick up real media again I realize how stupid it was to let this aside. Basically 10 hours worth of mudbox is worth like 2hours of real clay stuff.
Anyways I know it sounds weird but why not experiment with the same creature, but in natural media fashion. It might give you some ideas and foundations to push your digi version further - especially since it seems like you are just starting with these fancy tools.
good luck!