Daily Sculpt Grind
So recently my life has been a little crazy and my free time has opened up greatly due to some recent events. I decided to start doing daily sculpts similar to what z Bro z does on his blog to improve my skills. I haven't been able to use much of zBrush or do character modeling because of my schedule but since I want to be a Character Artist I am far behind from where I want to be. A recent project I'm working on definitely made me realize that. With all that said here is my first sculpt and thank you to all the artists out there that provide resources for people like me who are new to this process. Especially with Hazardous starting up a stream recently it helped me with my work flow immensely. Critiques are MORE than welcome. Whatever can help me improve I am all ears.
Also I started up a blog a month or so ago where I will also be posting my sculpts, speed paints and any other updates.
chbrook.blogspot.com
Daily Sculpt 01:
Also I started up a blog a month or so ago where I will also be posting my sculpts, speed paints and any other updates.
chbrook.blogspot.com
Daily Sculpt 01:
Replies
Had some difficulties with this one so at the end of it all I had to hide my mistakes and move on. Practice makes perfect I suppose and I wont be painting everything black in white I promise ;D.
lol yes requests are fine but at the moment I'm just working on getting the human structure down. Who knows maybe Ill do a monster here or there to break things up a bit.
Sculpt 2: I would play around with the thickness of the white bands. Maybe the white bands are thicker and are overlapping the black (right now the black and white looks like one piece of fabric). Also, right now, it sort of look likes she's wearing a bicycle helmet under her hood.
Good points all around. Yea after you mentioned I noticed the lips on sculpt 1 in comparison to sculpt 2. I 100% agree with the bands and the overall look of the hood. I was having a tough time on that sculpt and I ended rushing everything to finish. In the future I will put more thought and care into the rest of the sculpt other than just the face (especially the neck and clavicle areas since they look too generalized.)
Still getting eyes down so unfortunately they ended up like my first sculpt. Experimented with a more stylized approach. I also probably should of spent more time on the poly paint and I didn't add any anatomy to the ears because of time
Wasn't able to poly paint this one. My attempt at getting the likeness from a reference. Her eyes definitely are off along with her jaw bone but Ill keep at it until I can get things like this down. Might take a day to do some research and learn a few new tricks for tomorrow.
Reference
The eyes are off as you noted, as is the jaw. The ears aren't correct either. For a petite asian woman she sure is heading into D cup territory. The entire neck is far too long and your traps are quite a bit steep as well.
The nose has far too much definition for an asian woman. Too much definition in the upper lip as well. Your reference image shows a very soft transition face skin to lip skin.
Use a clipping brush on her hair to help really sell the bob.
Your collar bone is too defined as well.
You should also show more angles when asking for CnC as well.
And, after all of that, negative...how long did you work on this? It looks good, it just isn't the woman your reference is coming from. Make sure you're looking at your reference more than you're looking at your sculpt.
And make an avatar, damn it.
Eh, my 2 cents.
Based off of this image from ArtGerm.
I learned that I need to take some serious time to get hair down. I see a lot of problems with it and overall wasn't satisfied with the results. I tried to simplify it in a more manageable way and I just wasn't feeling it.
The cloth definitely feels like it needs some changes as well. I probably should've ignored the reference for cloth and did what felt more natural.
I will be posting multiple views after this daily since I didn't quite finish all the sculpting. Though I will post more views if anyone requests it for this sculpt.
For reference I'm trying to tune my observation skills so its on my 2nd monitor. Clearly I have a ways to go on that while I work.
All those points I will be triple checking the next time I do an asian woman. I had to relearn a lot of things when approaching that sculpt since the forms were so drastically different from what I'm used to. Though it was kind of intentional I wanted to take myself out of my comfort zone. At the end of it all it still ended up with a lot of the features I got in the habit of making.
I noticed a lot of the stuff I needed to change but unfortunately I'm trying to stay on a schedule so I called it done.
Plan on seeing multiple angles after my 5th daily.
It took about 5-6 hours I wanna say. I'm definitely noticing an increase in speed and quality each day but I still have a long wayysss to go.
lol Ill make an avatar sooner or later.
Appreciate the in-depth critique!
Thanks! Sad thing is I knew that composition rule too :'/. I'll be sure to never do it again :poly127:.
Still don't know where I want to go with my hair sculpting style. This one went relatively smooth besides a few Dynamesh issues with the thin clothing. Any fan of Bleach will know who this is but for those who aren't here's a reference. I didnt really go with a style to fit the anime look but I felt it still captured the character (at least I think.) Also I gave her a more worried/concerned to help sell the character a bit. In the future hopefully Ill have time to finish up the clothing instead of leaving it half assed. Once my speed is where It needs to be things should start to look more finalized or Ill run out of excuses ;[.
Maybe it's just me, but your girl's faces are really starting to blend together.
Looking at all the straight on shots back-to-back, your girl's faces are starting to role together. Like it feels very clear to me that you're using the same base mesh. I'd recommend making the changes a little more notable than move tooling it and maybe give more definition in areas like the chin, under their eyes, and cheek bones. I'd look at some non-model, non-drawn references of more "average" girls to work on giving them more pronounced features.
Yea Its more or less the habits that I created when I first started sculpting the first daily. While getting that work flow down I have the tendency to repeat it a little too much to the point where I'm almost creating the same character. I'm actually using a base mesh that has no forms in the face and is a completely flat canvas more or less. With that said I would have said the same thing lol. Since I feel like I got most of the basics down I'll try and focus a little more on diversity in the future. Also like you said I may stock up on some reference of the things you talked about. Thanks for the input!
I had my fair share of problems with this one. Experimented with hair again.
Reference
Sleep.
Thanks, much appreciated! For my hair its just the use of the Move Brush (initial shapes and adjustments), Dam_Standard (for sharpening edges and minor texture work) , Clay Buildup and Snake Hooks (for strands/chunks of hair) on a Dynameshed sphere. Nothing fancy but I'm still trying to get a good process down and need to work on my "line" work to give things a more consistent and finished look. I also use the Move brush a lot to help with the "blob" effect that Clay Buildup can create over time. I hope that helped answer your question. I can explain in more detail or record a video if you need me to.
No reference this time around. Didn't have much time for this sculpt but it went smooth since it was so simple. Thinking I should've given her a hair pin or something to the like now that I look at it. Male busts will be next week. Sorry for not having much variety I really want to nail down the workflow before I move on.
Clay Buildup and a mix of Dam_standard add and sub.
Another smooth sculpt. Nothing new or interesting with this one besides my sculpting speed improving a lot over the week ;D. Thinking about doing Lara Croft tomorrow, research for Sunday and then onto male busts for next week.
My attempt at Lara Croft. Ill probably pose her, fine tune (especially the ear) everything then give it a proper render with Vray sometime next week.
Appreciate it, comments like that keep me going ;].
However, You're still falling into a rut when it comes to the facial proportion of each of these last 4 or 5 busts. They are almost identical, bro. Don't be afraid to challenge yourself. If I were you, I'd pick something completely out of my range of experience. You are obviously free to do whatever you choose, but for knowledge's sake, I would take a step in a foreign direction. Developing a "style" isn't always a good thing, especially when you are trying to learn! Break the mold! I challenge you!
Just going by what you've posted here, how about, say a woman of African descent?
Like this, maybe? (the name of this beautiful Botswanan model is Kaoni Kario, btw): http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d93/black_rose641/blog%20post%20resizing/000000081582-kaone_kario-fullsize.jpg
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m240/SimplyLovely_the1st_2006/vi01.jpg
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbl27y9BMV1rey1nao1_500.jpg
Also, to avoid that "pouty" look, try to be cognizant of the whole mouth region, and not just the superficial tissue of the lips themselves. The great forms and angles of the musculature underneath, compounded by the position of the jaw, really inform the overall look of the lips, and how light impacts them.
Keep up the good fight, sir!
I'd say this is probably from using your own imagination too much, you should try and very accurately follow some reference, and you'll begin to get a better sense of the differences in faces and then you'll be able to apply this to your own sculpts
Thanks! Challenge accepted, Ill give it a shot and even use the model you provided. I'm starting male busts this week but ill try my best to get out of my comfort zone and do another female bust possibly during the weekend. On the last sculpt I definitely noticed that I was missing some forms around the mouth, I'll be sure to be more attentive to it in the future and at least fix Lara before I render her out.
Alifarsangi:
Thanks! I'll try not to let you down ;].
Mr_Ace:
I plan on using more "real" reference this time around with the male busts so hopefully like you said I will get a better sense of the differences in faces. Part of it was that when I first started sculpting I wasn't able to make a solid looking female and the moment I got something that worked It has been hard to break from it. All bad habits can be broken so expect change in the very near future.
Thanks everyone for the feedback!
So this was my "attempt" at an anatomy study. I didn't really bother with the neck area since it has so many structures to it I didn't want to spend to much time on it. Some things were generalized as well since I wasn't worried about spot on accuracy.
I will be working on male busts this week so I felt it was important to get an anatomy study down before I begin this time around. I'm sure there is a million things wrong with this but it was a good challenge and knowledge builder ;D.
Sorry for not posting a sculpt yesterday I had a busy day, though I did manage to post a speed paint on my blog.
Reference (wasn't going for likeness)
I think his back muscles need much more definition. The multitudes of layers of muscles there makes the back have very subtle bumps across them.
For example the Infraspinatus and Teres Major under the Deltoid and Trapizius.
The shoulder blade area could use more definition too. It feels like this guy has no blades at all.
Your abs feel too separated as well; if you look at them they are most of one big muscle with small pouches that help control that portion of the body (see Zygote Body).
Also, your Serratus to go under your Doris; giving your Dorsi more definition could help with that.
Everything else is looking pretty sick though!
Thanks for the critique!
Yea, most of the back is missing a lot of the important layering and flow that I'll need to spend more time on the next time I do something like this.
The Doris definitely needs more definition to make the overlap apparent with the Serratus, good point. I plan on doing a full body anatomy study once I get to that stage in my schedule and Ill be spending a lot more time on nailing down the forms and accuracy so I should make improvements by then.
Also this was my reference that I should have posted (wasn't going for likeness.)
So this is what happens when I can't think of any clothes to put on a character. Basically ended up being the most ridiculous outfit I've ever done but lets just say hes a comedic antihero for my sake ;D. Thinking about doing Kenpachi or a DBZ character next. On the other hand I might just save those for the weekend who knows.
As for the model itself the 3/4 view is feeling a little off for me on this one but other than that it went smooth for the most part.
Ah I see. Definitely take a look a few other sources like Zygote Body when doing your study.
I feel as though his outfit needs more work. The overall design feels kind of like a cop-out. If you look at the DBZ art style especially rarely are the cloths super tight to their body like that; if they do have super tight clothing there's usually some flow-y piece like a cape or some elaborate piece over it like Vegeta's armor or gloves. I think this base would suit a character like Android 18; though I'd really like to see a much more modified face for it. I'd give yourself a little more time on it and get into wrinkles and stuff.
Also I'd add a little more meat to his face; by his nose area, his cheek feels very much like the muscle base is still there and un-worked.
His hair feels very plastered on as well; get in there and do some minor detail cuts and Zsphere some small strands of hair in.
Yea I had no idea what I was doing on that one lmao. The outfit itself isn't supposed to be anything from DBZ. I was thinking more along the lines of this type of suit. I probably should have posed him to show more of his character because I intended for him not to take himself seriously on any level haha (Deadpool, Duke Nukem, etc.).
I agree completely with the hair, I could've added some strands or small spikes to make it have a sense of layers or make it more pleasing to look at in general. Nonetheless the design is ridiculous so i'm not trying to justify any of it lol, thanks for the critique.
So today was an extremely busy day for me. This ended up being more of a speed sculpt than anything and I kept it at a lower subdivision to save on time. This may or may not be inspired from Samael from Darksiders ;].
I plan on doing an actual study/likeness sculpt on Saturday. Doing things like this isn't beneficial enough since I can hide the forms in the details.
Bolt:
Thanks, that means a lot.
I seriously question the anatomical integrity of the spikes around the base of his rib cage. If this guy tried to lean forward it would most-likely be very uncomfortable. The large space there also implies to me that the base of his rib cage is exposed! Not good for a guy who looks made of stone.
The spikes could use more variance in them; they very samey texture-wise and shape-wise. I understand that this was a quicky but even making some spikes more hard-edge would help. Some rock or scale like texturing on the body would be nice too (to give it some more variety).
So I had no Idea what I wanted to do for a sculpt today then this [ame="
Amtyk:
Thanks again for a critique. Ah hes a tough guy he'll get over the ribs poking him a bit ;]. The spikes definitely need some edges to help sell the material and look but there's always next time!
SimonT:
Thanks!
Looking pretty nice with this one. Like the wrinkles and skin pores.
Only things I change is the where his neck meets hit coat, the skin would probably be a biiiit more bulbous there.
The cloth for his collar blends into his body to well. Add some more creases to this around where his neck meets the cloth. Also more indication of what this piece of clothe is. Not sure if this like some kind of collar or a scarf.
I guess the idea behind it is to make her a highly stylized paper girl that would be seen in a game like Jet Set Radio or anything to the like. This is the style I'm most comfortable with and enjoy the most so it was a relief to get away from realism for a little bit. Keep in mind the majority of this is for blocking out and conception so some of this may change. Most of the clothes will be retopoed (which I've never done before :'[ ) then I'll get into the fun stuff like folds and details.
I still have to model a paper bag/backpack, roller blades and several accessories. I really want her appearance to sell the character at first glance and for the viewer to know her personality in the first few seconds. Once I pose her I'll be adding some emotion to her face to hopefully have a solid piece by the time I render her out.
Now will I finish the modeling and posing by Sunday? Who knows but I really hope I have a solid render by the time I leave for GDC.
Note:
No way for you guys to know without coloring or having the same brain as me but those are going to be striped long socks on her legs ;].