Sculpting this girl and I need your help

artofhari

I want to get better at sculpting people. I might have gone a little too fast and posted this to my artstation a bit too early along my journey of learning. Big mistake. I feel that there are quite a few mistakes but I'm not able to pinpoint what aspects are wrong exactly. I might have been looking at this a bit too long and gotten tunnel vision, so I want you guys to go hard and roast this sculpt into oblivion.

jose.fuentes

a couple of questions....

whats your reference like? or did you sculpt this w/o ref?

whats her age?

to me it feels like you really need to gather a lot of anatomical ref so you have something to compare to.  Don trip tho... we all start somewhere 

artofhari

I did work with reference although I didn't necessarily try to create a 1 to 1 likeness of her, cos I intended it to be a base mesh for future stuff and I kinda got carried away but this was my board. She's meant to be in her early to mid 20s.

Lou_

Hey man I see quite a bit to improve here, which is fine over time these types of things become easier to spot with time, so don't threat! 

Using the reference 

Firstly I think your array of reference is a bit weak. What you want ideally is more anatomy orientated photos which will help you see the bone structure and larger forms. I recommend anatomy for sculptors. 
Of course you want the model for the characterization of the piece but it might be less helpful than more basic guide lines. 

I think having your model next to your reference really says a lot. (This is good much easier to work out what to improve/correct)
If you look at the negative space on the ref compared to your model. Where some of curves are much too exaggerated for example. 


Proportions 

So I think the proportions are a tad off right now using anatomy guides will help but a few pointers.
If you look at the shoulder width.
She is a bit broader also the navel is too low and the hips are too high. 
The arms are too short.
Also the middle point of the cake 

Forms

Arms and legs are really skinny in comparison to the reference. 

You also should probably soften areas. (For example abs are not that defined on the ref)

Bone structure 

Knowing the boney landmarks really helps you place the forms You have place them but if you really nail the placement it will improve this in a big way. 

In terms of the jaw she has a much squarer jaw outline

Collar bone is more like bike handle shape than a straight line

Acromion on the shoulder is really pointy on the reference yours is too subtle. 

The wrist bones are not defined enough, partially due to the skinny arm.

Tips

Try not to place detail before the form is really there other wise you are at risk of putting too much time into something you might have to redo. 

Pronating the hands will really help for that more relaxed feel when sculpting. Much like the reference in the photo. This is something that can make a big difference. 

Hope this helps, not everything but just some of the stuff that came to mind that will help the piece.  

Sunseaker

Hi ArtofHari, I'm also currently trying to get better at anatomy. The other posters are right about reference, you might be better off with neutral full body poses to start with, rather than just the top half of models posing. Your girls legs are pretty little, remember that legs are basically half the total height of a human. More or less.

I got Raphael Grassetti's anatomy tutorial and it helped me realise what forms and proportions I should be paying attention to initially. It's a male figure but I believe he is working on a female one, so maybe keep an eye out for it.

I hope that helps a bit! I'm no expert myself.

artofhari

@Lou_ : Thank you for taking your time to reply and give pointers man. I really appreciate it.
Would you say this is an improvement?

@Sunseaker
I understand I need better reference. I'm gonna be watching the Grasetti tutorials and will be working on anatomy much more.

Better reference is key I've come to realize. Probably would make the sculpting much easier.

kanga

Looks like you are sculpting depressions, especially in the face. That gives a hungry look that isnt too attractive. You can shave forms off but check you are not getting that sunken look. The hands and feet are looking a little off in size, structure and position  and the masses like the arms and legs (already mentioned) look a bit weird. You can chuck a skeleton model under your figure to check. Also having an free app like Daz open on a screen next to you while you work is a great help.

Cheers