Head sculpting | Start with a sphere or base mesh?

Melubnio

Hi there,

I'm quite new in the 3D industry (more specifically to sculpting in Zbrush) and my main point of interest has always been character creation. 
I would like to hear your opinion in regards to this situation as it looks like I'm not making any progress at all. 

The problem is: I usually start with a sphere when I need to sculpt a head but I'll always end up having awkward proportions and spend hours and hours defining the muscles. Looking at other professionals in the industry though, they always start with a base head so I was wondering if a junior 3D sculptor should do that as well. 

I'm focusing on the head because looks like that's the part I always have struggled with, especially when it needs to be realistic. 

In the following picture, you can see my best attempts at making stylized female and demon head, with the body of the female I was trying to sculpt with dynamesh, everything starting with a sphere. I'm sharing these so that you could suggest me the right path based on my current skill. ( I honestly don't enjoy to spend days only to sculpt a head )

Thank you,
Adam



 

Alex_J

Use base meshes, 3d scans, and 2d reference to help you understand what you are missing, but not as a "shortcut." You won't always be able to rely on pre-made stuff, so you've got to know what to do. 

Looks like the main thing wrong with that female head is lack of skull structure. Why not start with sculpting some human skulls, then build an ecorche by adding the muscles on one at a time? It will take a lot of time and be tedious as fuck (but not so bad if you are concerned wih thorough learning, rather than completing work), but by the time you are finished, you'll know exactly how a human skull is composed.

As a beginner, I think it's a mistake to focus on making awesome art. It's better to focus on thorough learning. You can safely expect that the models you will be making aren't going to be great, and that's ok. When you get finished and look at the model, it's unwise to feel frustrated because the model isn't making people drool. The model is indicative of your progress. What you have learned. So look at the thing, identify where you have improved, and where you need improvement. If you are looking at the thing and cannot identify what is making it look wrong, that means you are lackign some fundamental knowledge. So, back to the books (not literally books, just means study more. Look broader and deeper. All the answers are out there; even if you got to ask on a forum.)

Learning takes time. You'll get ahead of others by investing the time into yourself, rather than trying to hurry up and output art above all else.

oglu

you need todo both. In production you start with a base most of the time.

Melubnio

@BIGTIMEMASTER
Thank you for the feedback. I actually didn't even think about studying and practicing the skull so that's something I will surely do.
@oglu
That's interesting and quite reassuring! 

Melubnio

Update:
@BIGTIMEMASTER
I did what you recommended. I started studying the skull and the facial muscles/fat and that literally boosted my freedom while sculpting. Thank you for that precious advice that I haven't considered!