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Sketchbook: lampekap

Hi, Im fairly new to 3d, so Im opening this sketchbook for other people to criticize my works, to help me improve .

here is my first sketch, please crit it apart. the harshest critisism will be apreciated, but it would be helpful If you would sandvich it in some good advice

As you can see, its a quick concept sketch in sculptris of a fantasy feline like creature. I used it to get fammiliar with sculptris because i was kinda used to blenders sculpt mode. I didn't want to do demon heads because I see them around too much, and I thought that a creature in this cartoonish style might be fun to learn the program with lol.

zumbi1.png
zumbi3.png
zumbi2.png

the following two were rendred in octane, its much fun and incredibly fast
though im not sure if this is the wway to present a sculpture (after all, this is just a sketch lol)

zumbi4.png
zumbi5.png

Replies

  • lampekap
    ok heres a sketch of the first human head sketch I did with sculptris
    I lol when I see the dumb look I put on his face, it isn't really upload worthy but anyways:

    lawyer1.png
  • wake
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    wake polycounter lvl 17
    hey lampekap, glad you've decided to start a sketchbook. As you said you're starting to learn 3d so this thread will be a good way to benchmark your progress and get some feedback. The good news is that so far you've avoided the beginner pitfall of going into too much detail too early. Keep that brush nice and big and stay zoomed out until you just can't use it anymore-- that's when you start zooming in and carving things out.

    Both your busts have good mass to them, you just need to start refining your understanding of anatomy. For example, part of the reason why the guy has a silly expression is because he's bug-eyed; there are no visible eyelids enveloping the circular orbits of the eyes, so it just looks like you have cylinder-shaped eyeballs shooting out of the sockets. Start spending some time looking photographs of faces. Start learning the vocabulary of the face-- this bust lacks both epicanthic folds and a philtrum, among other things. As you increase your understanding of the face, like when you know what the Zygomaticus Major is and how it's shaped, the resolution of your artwork will increase. If you know what it's called, you're more likely to put it in and render it correctly.

    Keep it up man, good work.
  • lampekap
    hi wake, thanks for your advice, and yes, my anatomical knowledge only reaches as far as knowing what the gluteus maximus is lol.

    the eyes I did on the guy were only fillers because I hadnt figured out how to add sphere eyeball s inthe sockets, but I admit that I still can't make it look right, ill just k,eep practasing

    heres some trollish head i made but it wasn't my intend to make him an orge lol.

    as u can see, i fail with the area around the eyes

    eng3.png
    eng2.png
    eng1.png
  • wake
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    wake polycounter lvl 17
    Nice. While your work is on the simpler, more geometric side, you're doing a good job at catching the planes of the face on a surprisingly expressive bust.

    And don't worry about the end product differing what you intended-- it happens to me all the time, so unless you have some very specific guidelines it's good to roll with the punches.

    What will help is to start looking at sculptures of faces and artists' studies of faces. Seeing how they simplify information can help you to read the face more easily and readily.

    Try looking a some of these sculptures, and actually pixologic has a nice little introduction to the digitally modeling a face
  • lampekap
    Ive never used any reference for sculpting before so I decided to give it a go:

    harkinian1.png
    harkinian2.png

    here is some of the reference material:
    reference1.png
    reference2.png

    I had much fun with figuring out which facial features made the king recognizeable, and i was amazed how much information some simple black pixels can give about the overall look of the face.

    but reference like this obviously isnt great for mouth and mustache as they are a bit too simple to work with
    I hope I improved a bit with the area around the eyes sorry for the sloppy look lol

    thx for the cool links & advice
  • lampekap
    This is my first face that I made to look realistic and I used a photo reference this time.
    During the making of this I realised few things: Im absolutly horrible with mouths and I still can't make the eyes look good.
    and the problem with this all is that I KNOW whats wrong, yet when I try to fix it I only mess it up even more and I ALWAYS end up smoothing out the entire area on which I wanted to improve upon. for example his "mouth" atm.
    I find that I always want something to be better and I always think that what I do isn't "perfect" enough.
    I have the feeling that this perfectionism is going to distract me from practasing and slowing me down A LOT.

    I also feel I went in some areas into too much detail while at the same time completely ignoring for example the ear and the back of his head.

    Id love to hear some advice how to deal with issues like the above.

    rlprac1.png

    rlprac2.png

    rlprac3.png
  • Liz Edwards
    This is a really nice start : ) you have the right idea with the eyes and that nose is great. Watch the size of his face though, it looks a little small compared to the ear and the top of his head. You're on the right path by using photo reference. Take your time, study the reference, study your own face and don't worry about creating something that isn't perfect because pretty much everyone's first sculpts are rubbish! As long as you learn from it, you'll improve with every sculpt - have fun!
  • lampekap
    Hi Liz, Thanks for the good advice, ill certainly will keep it in my head.
    Recently ive been busy with some other things (a lame excuse for being lazy)
    But here goes my last sculpt:

    dante.png

    dante2.png

    Critisicm is welcome, as always
    I almost put horns on him lol
  • lampekap
    another one, I should stop making generic heads, and try something more original. Hope ive improved abit with the area around the mouth.
    the back of the head and the ears could use some love
    Anyone got some simple tips on how to make ears in a few simple steps?
    I saw a thread earlier with the same for lips, it helped alot.

    practise1.png

    practise2.png

    Feedback is always welcome and MUCH apreciated
  • lampekap
    Hi all, Ive managed to get my hands on zbrush, and im now learning the ropes.
    Im still sculpting in sculptirs though, and i found out about the letter q.
    Not continiously adding detail to the mesh will make the sculpting 10x faster and more enjoyable.

    meanwhile, : my first zbrush creation, using zspheres.
    zbrushfirst.png

    Ill keep on learning the program and hopefully ill get some good out of it :)
  • lampekap
    Heres a recent sculptris sculpt. Im having trouble with the eyelids, is there some kind of technique most people use? also, how doyou add eyeballs in zbrush?
    appelflap.png
  • lampekap
    I took one of my earlier head sculpt, (the one without mouth) and tried to improve it , and learn the planes of the head. I think it was Swizzle who provided the references, in some other thread . I did it in sculptris, although i used the zbrush material , as it is much nicer to work with.
    The sculptris flatten tool doesnt really work for me, it feels quirky.
    I hope Ill soon be able to do the same practise but then in zbrush, and c how it turns out.
    meanwhile im also learning topogun.

    naamloos.png

    one of the reference:
    referenceplanes.png

    I can imagine that my sculpts look sometimes very simple and basic and therefore its hard to give any proper critisim
    I hope to improve and be able to put more time in scullpting , and i think zbrush will help me to improve
  • wake
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    wake polycounter lvl 17
    this last piece is a big improvement over your previous sculpts lampekap, nice work. You're starting to get the general forms of the face, so now it's just a matter of putting in more time and honing in on specific elements. For example, the neck area completely lacks the sternocleidomastoid muscles, aka the big V shape that converges below the pit of the neck.

    Also, some of your facial features are still a little petite-- don't be afraid to widen the mouth a little or thicken the nose.
  • lampekap
    Hi wake , thanks for your comment, ur advice is very valubale for a beginner like me.
    I have to admit Ive never really paid attention to the neck, and some other parts.
    So heres a new basic shape sculpt, this time from scratch, and refining on the neck strucutre.
    I hope to do another sculpt from scratch, but then refining on another certain part. 'm just hoping i didnt over do the neck, but it wass good practise.
    also, I tried to sculpt a female head, but it didn't turn out well, even if I was looking all the time at the reference. Is there any basic guidelines for makin a face/head have feminie features?

    anyway heres it:
    neckrefine2.png
  • wake
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    wake polycounter lvl 17
    Another good step on this one lampekap. You're still missing a lot of the subtler information, but that'll come with time. The important thing is that you get the general forms correct.

    You're overdoing it a bit with the sternocleidomastoid muscles, and you're recessing the volumes between them and the laryngeal prominence (adam's apple) too much. Remember that you basically have these raised areas around the body over which skin is then stretched. Throw some skin on that neck.

    As for the differences between men's and women's faces, here's a few general rules:

    1) men are more angular and squarish while women have softer, subtler lines. This goes for pretty much the entire figure.

    2) women's eyes tend to be proportionally larger, their chins smaller, and their cheekbones more accentuated.

    3) hairline is usually higher than in men

    4) neck is thinner and not as defined as the male neck, though in thin women you can still get some strong lines.

    5) mouth is bigger and lips are fuller, while the nose tends to be smaller and more curved

    6) women rarely have a very accentuated brow ridge-- the side profile of the face has a very gentle curvature while the brows are more noticeable with men.

    I'm sure I'll think of some other stuff but that should get you off to a good start. Keep it up with these, you've already improved a great deal.
  • lampekap
    thanks wake, these guidlines were exactly what i needed :)
    Ive now got myself a very very basic female headshape, and ive been practasing alot on it.

    firstfemm.png

    then I thought it would be interesting to make from the female headshape a male looking head, and here is the result

    meerpractise.png

    I feel that Im exeggarating some proportions, and lacking completely with others. especially when im doing something new like those neck muscles i tend to overdo it.

    as u can see the back head and neck look still very feminie , and the nose could be wider again i suppose. the area above the eyes look very disproportionate, and adding the creases around the mouth wasn't much of a good idea.

    his cheecks look wrong too somehow althoug im not sure what it is.
    ears are completely lacking, iam ashamed
  • lampekap
    no updates long while, but still practasing.
    iCHiO
    on this head i focused on the mouth area, because i always suck with that area. (NO PUN INTEDED FOR GODS SAKE)
  • wake
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    wake polycounter lvl 17
    You've been improving a lot lampekap, nice work. A couple quick notes-- post bigger (a height of ~800 pixels is usually nice) that we we can better crit your work, and now that you're getting more advanced with the busts it'd help if you posted front, side and 3/3s, again to help display your work and make it available for critique. Big improvement on the mouth; you're starting to touch on the subtleties around that area, but don't short yourself on the ears. Even if you're not going to fully render them, at least block in the forms.

    The skin is pulled a little too tightly across the lower jaw line, especially further in where it's closest to the sternocleidomastoids.

    Other than that, post some more and bigger views so I can get a better look.

    Keep it up man.
  • achillesian
    i see some improvement also!
  • lampekap
    thanks, wake and achillesian :)
    I hope thesse pics display it better, but im not sure if the material is good for it, atleast it makes it look 5x better then it actually is ;)

    iCEoX

    iCCMs

    iCDaQ


    as for the ears, ill give them hopefully soon the same practise as with the lips, hope ittl turn out good. tried it right now but it turned out horrible.

    Ill hope to use this same head sculpt to practise the eyelids , nose and ears on, once the basic proportions are alright. igrnore the eyes for now :rolleyes:
  • fearian
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    fearian greentooth
    Wow! Your proportions and anatomy have got alot better with that sculpt! Looks great from the front, but the face is a bit to small compared to the back of the head in the side view. Keep it up!
  • wake
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    wake polycounter lvl 17
    You're improving at a sprint lampekap-- it's hard to keep up :D

    Anyway, your head model is suffering from lateral shifting. Your portrait appears accurate from the front, but there's a lot of distortion when it comes to the depth of the features, as revealed from the side view. The lower features like the mouth and chin have been pushed forward while the forehead is too sloping and has its own giant playground back there. This is why your bust appears to be looking up even though it's rendered head on.

    Having accurate and matching front/side references are important. If you look up Bertillon cards, they'll help you to establish good ratios. I did a paintover to help illustrate some of this

    Also, take a look at Bertillon's facial cataloging system. This is the best image I could get, but it helps convey all the different types of facial structures that you'll see:

    iii_c_138.jpg
  • lampekap
    thx u soo much wake and fearian, thats some incredible good critisizm :D
    the amazing paintover helped me tonnes, and i started fixing the head.
    I also made my first ears, damn, theyr soo complicated
    heres the update:

    iCTtZ
    iCUr3
    iCcQT

    areas that need more fixing: the eyes ( obviously,, right now its just bulging out no detail) , the neck and jaw line ( not statisfied with it), and mayby the overall shape of the face, because of it lost some of its form when i used the grab tool to shift it to the correcter position.

    i spend much time trying to get the neck look right but i messed up, so now it looks even worse than before.
    also defined the nose bit more.

    please tell me what u think! i aprreciate all comments enormously!!!!
  • lampekap
    not giving up on the female head... yet
    i have the feeling i strayed of off the right proportions , but b4 i get on with fixing that id like to post what ive been up to till now:

    iCjWX
    iCZ1N
    iCaUQ

    the major things botherying me now are: face needs 2 be in proportion with head, the forehead is waay two big. ill widen up the shoulders a little bit too.

    ears are a bit big too.

    then there is the area where the jaw connects to the neck, and about where it conncects to the ear and the lenghty side muscles. as in sculpts uve seen before this is where i always go wrong.

    this is my first female head sculpt, so please i welcome all critisism :)
  • lampekap
    nothing serious :P,no references, just fun. exegarating proportions, and practasing with the brushes on the male head from before. doing stuf like this is raely fun to do and i get alot quicker with it. i also think i now know the reason of the face shifting problem: i bassicly add clay to make the facial forms come out, instead of i carve them out of the basehead. it happend with this sculpt too a bit.

    got few questions though: is this a good way to practise?
    and: do u guis like the viewing material? it hink it looks awesome and reads good too, but if its better for uall to view them in zbrush redwax material then ill change.

    exagfront.png
    exagkwart.png
    exagside.png

    thanks again everybody with their usefull feedback :)
  • lampekap
    tweaking the female face. atleast i can recognize its a female now from the front, to me thats a great acclompishment :), also just imagene the eyes to be closed. and the ears melted.

    alsjefront.png
    alsjekwart.png
    alsjezij.png
  • lampekap
    trying to get the hang of zbrush. result: iCpdd
  • wi_2
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    wi_2 polycounter lvl 10
    pretty good stuff.. keep up the work!
  • lampekap
    hi wi_2 :), thx for the comment

    i made this head from scratch in sculptris, then i imported itnto zbrush and fiddled with the planar flatten tool, and adding in assymetrical features. zbrush is really powerfull but i still prefer to block in the proportions and basic features in sculptris.

    iCr6B

    the planar flatten tool makes him look like a kind of rock gollem, and i can see that zbrush many tools are excelllent for making something awesome and stylistic :)
  • lampekap
    not dead... yet lol. its been a while, ive still been doing sculpts, just not as often as I would like to. i did start to attempt a full body sculpt but that is soo hard... wel anyway ive had a seizure recently and i need to be treated for a brain AVM. i suppose ill manage, meanwhile this is how a very quick sculptris sculpt of mine looks, without any cleaning up.quite unpresentable isn't it? to me it looks like a step backwards, but i have to remember that all sculpts i did , before cleaning up didn't look pretty either :p i could use some advice btw on full body sculpts, especially the hands are hard. is it reccomended to use a T-pose while sculpting? or some else pose?

    iF7Zo
  • lampekap
    have been posting on p&p, but heres a small update (im still here !)
    alies.png
    this is using the same reference as the one head without mouth on the previeous page. thanks for looking, take care :)
  • lampekap
    iWubm

    i was just recovered from a minor brain bleeding and today i tried out the updated sculptris... after not sculpting half a year it was very fun , reccomend to try it out too.
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