Sculpting the male Face (Assistance)

JodyLS27

Hi there Everyone,  I am an aspiring character artist and have always struggled with the face. This is one I'm working on (Its an African Male from a Witch Tribe).
I can never seem to get the face to look realistic Enough, its always in the Uncanny valley. I have watched the Tutorial on Gnomon about the Realistic Character creation (He sculpts Steve Austin) and the course on Pluralsight but i know there is something I'm missing and just cannot Figure it out.

I know about the Like across the side of the Face, its just from a move I did.
Please Any advice you have would be Greatly Appreciated.

carvuliero

Hey there ,
Most things on him looks good , relations are a bit strange  + you could give face much more depth and for a strong man could use bigger/massive  jaw with jaw angle close to 90 degree maybe less protruding 
Front to side view contrast thin to wide , I think you should pick one of it and fix the other , its like you have 2 different character 
If you work on a likeness will be a good idea to share your references 
You could read some of following topics I have put quite some reference in there that could be beneficial , still if you have any problems feel free to ask 
http://polycount.com/discussion/comment/2609621#Comment_2609621
http://polycount.com/discussion/comment/2613654#Comment_2613654
http://polycount.com/discussion/comment/2606429#Comment_2606429
http://polycount.com/discussion/comment/2606351#Comment_2606351
http://polycount.com/discussion/comment/2603143#Comment_2603143
http://polycount.com/discussion/comment/2596995#Comment_2596995

dGreenberg

Hey @JodyLS27! It looks like you're off to a great start with the face but you might want to try repositioning a few things things. His mouth should probably be moved lower down (half way between the nose and chin) and the upper eye lids and brow might need a little more attention. I think it helps if you get comfortable with a default type of face and make it look anatomically sound before trying to match a likeness.

@carvuliero is a beast when it comes to nailing anatomy so you can't go wrong checking out his comments and links. If you haven't seen it yet, I'd also recommend getting Rafael Grassetti's Anatomy Tutorial Package on Gumroad as an additional resource. I go back and watch that stuff as a refresher whenever I start in on a new character.

Post some reference for the guy you're working on if you can. Sometimes funky pictures or weird angles and lighting make it more difficult to capture that look, so seeing your references will give people a better idea what you're working with.

JodyLS27

Hi there @carvuliero and thank you so much for the advice and Links, I'll be reading them shortly.
This is kind of my first Attempt at a face without a Base mesh. Just had the Mani quin in ZB and went for it.
This model has a Time limit so I have decided to Rather Duplicate the Model, Remove the head and give it a Base head using the I'm body Parts brush.
The only reason for this is so I can have better Topology to work with, I feel like I'm Fighting the Topology though this could be a Rookie Mistake.

Thank you @dGreenberg Ill check out the Gumroad course now.
I learnt anatomy at Pluralsight.
Wow just checked out the Rafael Grassetties Gumroad and this is what I have been looking for !
This is amazing thank you

The Reference images for the face below I was only Giving after Posting on this Forum.

So here is the Face Imm trying to Recreate and the Body I am trying to Create.



Here is the Body I am trying to Recreate.


And this is what I have so far with the Body.
I am really struggling with the Smaller body types.

carvuliero

You shouldn't care too much of topology at this stage , also my suggestion is to learn how to build everything yourself from scratch (using primitive - sphere or cube ) using progressively increasing  levels of dynamesh (example: for basic shape of head , neck and shoulder using default zbrush sphere dynamesh with resolution of 32 is more then enough then move to 64 for nose and ears and 128 for things that need more polygons like eyes and mouth )
This head references both are good with nice lighting just align then and remove color + find a side view very important !
I recently stumble upon gold mine of asien sculpting videos .Its a series of 3 but first is what I am talking about just sculpt this base block out 10-15 times and you will get it for life :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wIeBtzlI5c&list=PLRAfyQKv9zXP4kxpGLMt8lcABsx2A0ByA

JodyLS27

Hi there,
Could you give me some feedback on this redone face.
I read a lot of your Posts that you linked, And really studied the Reference images well before starting to sculpt.

This was a low res sculpt. I added one SubD just for the Render and review.
Let me know what you think.

carvuliero

My first suggestion is to block out basic hair , its simple box form so wont be too hard to do and will help you evaluate whole silhouette + if  you add shoulder you will have easier time with neck muscle and wont have floating head (check female ref above , this is what you want , shoulder around clavicle level  so you have bones front and back and wont guess where muscle go)
Did you got good side view of him ?
I was about to start doing some paint overs when an idea struck me .Lets try something new . more active approach to learning  . Could  you take a few moments and tell me whats wrong with your model ?

Kiyamlol

Would bring the distance between nose and eyes down. He has a long face currently, in the photos he looks more youthful so it should be shorter. Also his nose is not tipped down, its sublty straight and flattter. The lips are definitly improved

JodyLS27

So just a quick update.
I did this work through the day while Waiting for Feed back from you guys.

@carvuliero You must be making an impact on me as During the Day I blocked out a Simple Hair shape, Added the shoulders and Focused more on the Profiles and understanding why is Mouth would Protrude, the Curves in the face and bone structure.
Ill take a look at whats wrong now and i have the same Side view you have there, the one in colour.

@Kiyamlol
I actual saw the eyes and Pulled them Forward though Im not sure it was Enough ?
This is what I got and decided I should post before replying to your Messages.






 

JodyLS27

By the Way, I just wanted to Mention, the feed back is so Appreciated, I really thank you all for your time and effort in helping me to learn