Beginner need critique and help with sculpt

ClusterOne

Hello, Polycount community; this is my first thread, go easy on me

I just got into sculpting less than a month ago so I'm really new, and bad, at it. I don't consider myself an artist because up until now I've never really done anything in the realm of art besides doodling on paper. Consequently, my anatomical knowledge is very poor.

I was inspired after watching a play-through of The Last of Us to make my first serious project a character similar to Ellie. After working on this project for about a week several things still feel very off and I can't seem to get the look I'm going for. Any critique and or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

(I sprayed on a coat of paint just to test how it looks, its not final in anyway)

Hellfang132

Not, bad.. Not, bad! Only a few problems it looks a bit disproportionate.
Any chance you check some of my work out? (I am a beginner as well)
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=131342

Brian "Panda" Choi

Do you have a reference head you are using?

ClusterOne

@Hellfang132 Thanks buddy! I checked out your work and it looks pretty awesome!

@JadeEyePanda I mainly used other peoples ingame screencaps of Ellie as references (I don't actually own the game myself). However none of these were direct front or side shots so I had to extrapolate the facial structure which would explain the disproportionate look that Hellfang132 pointed out.

PyrZern

Unless you have superb anatomy skill/knowledge, you want reference, not just inspiration stuff.

How is she supposed to be ? Gather loads of images like that. Pick one for reference.

And, is this realistic or stylized ?

ClusterOne

Thanks for the feedback PyrZern. I was going for a realistic look with this one, but that being said, it doesn't have to be 100% anatomically correct; just enough to look so. I'm currently gathering references for anatomy, but I'm yet to find a good reference that will work for this particular facial structure.

AgelosAp

It reminded me of Ellie without reading your post so there's that :P.
Her skull is a bit gigantic, and her ears are too far back.
As everyone is saying, use references, you can always use other girl photos for the basic placement and then Ellie for the likeness.

ClusterOne

Okay, finally changed some things around. I studied a lot of reference images for better anatomic accuracy this time.

I slightly reduced the side profile of her head because it was a bit too large. I moved some volume from the lower to the upper cheek and accentuated the jawline and chin a bit. And finally I brought the ears in; as Firith pointed out, they were too far back. In addition to being more anatomically accurate these changes definitely brought out that Ellie/Ellen Page look that I was going for.

I spent the bulk of my time making mesh hair in 3ds max (most of the time was consumed by me learning how to use 3ds max and getting angry because the normals would disappear on the mesh that I mirrored). I'm currently working on the body and unwrapping and texture the hair; its worth noting that I'm learning as I go so its gonna be really slow and bad :poly136:

any and all critique and suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

ChaosWWW

This is pretty good for someone starting out. Some things to work on though:

Your head looks good from the front but suffers a fair deal when being viewed from other angles. When sculpting be sure to look at your model from all angles and learn the facial planes (just google loomis facial planes). The features should really go further back into the face in the side view then what you have currently.

Some other things to keep in mind: The eyes are always in the center of the head. Your forehead/skull area is too large (although points for not putting the eyes too high, which is usually what happens). Also I would push the silloutte and volume in the eye socket / brow area, as that volume really helps define the eyes and is lacking in your sculpt.



I did a quick paintover to show off what I'm talking about. Although it's fairly rough, I hope it shows off a bit of what I'm talking about and helps you moving forward. Good luck.

ClusterOne

Thanks so much for the help ChaosWWW! This was exactly the type of stuff I needed. The picture helped a lot more than you would think (I'm one of those morons who needs pictures to learn haha)

When I first created this Mesh I focused too much on imitating a few screen caps of Ellie without regard for my measly anatomical knowledge so everything ended up with odd proportions.

Following your advice I pushed all the major features higher on the face and brought the eyes further back into the socket. I added a bit more volume to the upper cheek, eyebrows and chin as well. I also reduced the forehead and brought the bridge of the nose in ever so slightly

As far as the ridiculously oversized cranium goes, I'm just keeping it there to add volume for the hair mesh; I'm aware of how grossly anatomically incorrect it is though.

Thanks again for taking the time to help--I can't tell you how much it means!

billymcguffin

I think the cranium still looks too big and the face looks a teeny bit too wide.

(Also being a visual learner doesn't make you a moron )

JohnnyRaptor

i overlayed a human skull on your side view. given she is still at a developing age and her skull is still growing, its not accurate proportionally, but it will be close enough to give you an idea on where your off, and how to construct your skull a bit better.

ClusterOne

Thanks for all the feedback guys, It helps a lot!

I reduced the skull and moved the facial features around again. I've spent the bulk of my free time between now and my last post working on the body. As I mentioned before this is my first time doing this so I'm learning as I go.

Simulating fabric is probably the most difficult thing I've tried yet (just behind trying to use 3ds max with a broken mouse). I was originally going to try to fix some of these poorly done areas but the thought of going in circles made me change my mind--so excuse the current state, a lot of the areas aren't even finished. If anyone has any tips, critique, suggestions or maybe a list of good clothing references/websites where I can find references for clothing I would be super grateful. Thank you!

mandisawesome

DANG I am super impressed that this is your first character model. Not bad at all!

I recently watched a tutorial about clothing sculpting on Zbrush Central: http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?182967-Naughty-Dog-UGM-Extended-UPDATE-3-Frank-Tzeng. It actually helped me out a TON with my techniques for cloth sculpting, so hopefully it'll help you out too. C: