Anatomy Study: In Parts (Please Critique)

Azure_Dragon

Hello people i have just finished university and is on the bases to create my portfolio. I am currently not happy with the standered of my work at this very point so i want to improve as much as possible. One thing i loved doing was character design but i wasn't any good with anatomy, body proportions looked off and unrealistic. in areas such as the feet and hands arms was just horrible.

So now i have the time on my hands, i will like to start back on actually properly studying anatomy for the human body.

1. The Female Anatomy
2. The Male Anatomy

I use this study as a means to drastically improve my knowledge and understanding of Anatomy. The goal is to Start of by choosing areas of the body and Concentrate on that area for the day. Once happy with the results i will be moving onto other areas. Critique is vital, i will try and take everything in and learn as much as i can. Please don't hold back Just hit me with everything. I take this as a learning process to improve

In the Picture Below i have used reference to create a base mesh. I will be using Z Brush for sculpting and 3D S Max for modelling. Currently i will start with the female body as the Base mesh is complete.





The area i have chosen today is the hands, one of my weakest points.

I have kept everything simple with the topology and below is an image of the hands taken from the base mesh above.





Reference to the hand i will be using.



My next Images will be from Z brush of the sculpting process.

Azure_Dragon

30 mins: Sorted out a few areas trying to get abit of shape and form. Mainly concentrated on getting the fingers right but still they look off. I'm gonna Take a little break then hit back at it in 15 Min.

FourtyNights

My advice would be that start from the lowest subdivision level and sculpt as much as you can to adjust proportions and stance of your character. At every sub-d level consider the limits of the polygon count and sculpt all over the character as much you can, to keep everything at the same level of detail.

I would say that sub-d levels 2-3 are most likely for finding the bony landmarks and major shapes and forms of the body. After sub-d 4 then you can worry more about bones, muscles and tendons.

So after you've done all you can for the anatomy itself in sub-d levels 1-5, you can start thinking about small details.

WesleyArthur

The fingers look a little thin in my opinion, but that could just be me. I find when ZBrushing hands it's easy to accidentally make the fingers quite flat or thin.

I'd recommend using the BackFaceMask on whatever brushes you're using for parts like that. I'm no ZBrush pro (not by a long shot!) but I did find that a fairly useful function.

Sometimes you can follow a reference completely and it'll still look off (it happens all the time in observational drawing). Make sure you use a range of reference material and trust your artistic eye to spot when something needs tweaking.

Nice job though, it's a great start to a tricky topic!

Azure_Dragon

Yup i agree i have started to look at allot more references. From different angles the fingers did look flat so i started adjusting them again and added a few more shapes as-well and tried to determine were the bony landmarks are.

I've went back a few Sub-D Levels as FourtyNights has suggested. I have to say it is allot easier to adjust the shapes now. This piece of advice is great.

Sorry i've been very slow with this thread i will hopefully be picking up more speed and posting up more work frequently. I have had some emergency issues i had to sort out. Now that's out the way i could get back to this study.

So far progress, Any more feedback would be great:

Azure_Dragon

Just a little added detail and pulled on the bony landmarks abit more. I think the foundation is quite decent but not to sure on accuracy. The fingers still look a little stiff to me. But that could be me. Please critique. I am moving the sub levels to 5-6 now and will be adding much more detail such as fat nails and hopefully the creases. If i need to fix any other issues i cant see. Please do tell. Also Does the hand need to be more thicker. I dont want to make it into a male hand.

So far progress.

Azure_Dragon

Reference i am using:

Azure_Dragon

Current State of project.



The nails will be put in on a higher sub d. But right now i'm trying to get as much little detail in as possible. Alongside making slight adjustments. Right now i am adding in the skin fat with muscle structure. The hands seem to be moving in a possessive direction.

garriola83

Look at how female fingers trend to taper from the knuckle towards the fingertips. Your hand right now has a boxy shape at the fingertips and the fatty pads are too thick on your model. Just take your time and really observe. Look at some drawing references too so see how they draw hands and you would apply that into your modeling.

Croftyness

I agree with all the feedback here. I would suggest that all creases you make should have supporting mass (the palm for example). Clay buildup can be really beneficial when it comes to fatty areas and creating mass. I don't know about others but I like to outline nails pretty early, something will be bugging you about your sculpt and subconsciously it may be the lack of nail. For efficiency you may want to put each finger into polygroups. Apart from that references will be the holy grail.
Good work and best of luck.