My Road to Becoming a Better Character Artist
polycounter lvl 7
I've floated in and out of 3D art over almost a decade, and never really committed fully to getting truly great at character art. I plan to change this, and hope to land a character artist job by the time I'm 30 (I'm 28 now), it's going to be a long and interesting journey, but I believe I can get there! I love creating characters more than anything, and was always told it would be too difficult, or that I should focus on other roles like prop artists, or environment art, but I simply don't enjoy it like I enjoy creating character art.
I plan to sculpt for 2 hours a day, every morning before work. I will be targeting key subject matter such as busts/head sculpts, male and female anatomy, form, silhouette, colour theory, I will be using ZBrush. I'm going to post to this thread every day, and I'd love feedback on every piece of work I post.
These are the most recent sculpts I've done in ZBrush, around 2016.
I plan to sculpt for 2 hours a day, every morning before work. I will be targeting key subject matter such as busts/head sculpts, male and female anatomy, form, silhouette, colour theory, I will be using ZBrush. I'm going to post to this thread every day, and I'd love feedback on every piece of work I post.
These are the most recent sculpts I've done in ZBrush, around 2016.
Replies
A very quick study of the arm, from shoulder to wrist. I followed alongside Rafael Grassetti's Human Anatomy videos from Gumroad. I highly recommend this to anyone wanting to polish up on their human anatomy sculpting.
I admit that I rushed the proportions with this sculpt, I used ZShperes to get the form quickly, moved it a little to get a basic arm shape, and then subdivided three times to instantly get into the sculpting of the bones and muscles that make up the arm. I'm happy with the results, years ago I (stupidly) didn't understand why one would put so much effort into musculature, when it was just going to be smoothed out for the skin layer anyway. I've since realised that you can really see the shapes and volumes of the arm, even when smoothing it down.
For that arm, I would reduce the polycount. It might not be as pretty, but its easier to work with
Spent two hours working on a bust of the Uruk-Hai 'Lurtz' from The Lord of The Rings. I (like most beginners) feel the need to rush in and start detailing wrinkles and skin pores before I've even got the proportions right. I still feel that I really lack the skills to nail proportions before moving on. With this sculpt so far for example, I've battled with getting proportions right for the majority of the two hours I spent on this sculpt, constantly moving and readjusting the same features, such as the jaw line, the mouth, the brow line, and nose.
Is this the 'normal' amount of time experienced artists spend on getting the proportions right, or can it be done much quicker? I'd love some advice on how to really conquer proportions, especially when using reference. It felt a lot like observation drawing, switching my view constantly between my reference material, and my sculpt.
Here is my reference material I'm using:
And here is my sculpt after two hours:
I would recommend jusut sticking to one character at a time and making it look as good as possible over the course of time. It's clear there's foundational stuff you're not comfortable with yet, including facial proportions, observational sculpting, gesture, etc.
Portfolio's operate best on quality of work, not volume.
You're running into the same unnecessary conceerns I've seen others think about, which is speed of turnaround, whereas the real production challenge is "Is this asset even good looking enough?" before one considers "fast enough."
Fast enough creates unnecessary crunch in production.
Good enough helps scopes games properly.
Took this advice on board, so thank you for some clarity Brian. With regards to my speed, I suppose I was worrying too much about it taking me a long time, but not so much because I want to be a speedy worker, but because it sometimes felt like I was going round in circles trying to get proportions right. I just tend to play with the facial proportions over and over, and never really settle on a 'finished' state. I feel that constant observational sculpting everyday will fix this.
I thought that quick studies every day might be good practice, I've seen great improvements from other artists that sculpt a bust everyday over a month for example. I've taken your advice on trying to put time into finishing characters to the best of my ability, spending sufficient time on each character I attempt, before moving on to another one, so thanks again for your input.
Today I fixed more proportions as I went, added eyeballs and began shaping the eyelids around them. I also blocked out an ear, added Lurtz's top row of teeth, and I'm much happier with the shape of his head, and the sizes of his facial features.
Thanks again to you both for your input!
I blocked out the rest of the ears, continued to observe my reference material to continue shaping the face proportions. I've been having trouble managing some warped polygons around the eyelids, likely because of extreme clay build up. I barely had time to get the hair mesh started, but I've started trying to find the form, I've never sculpted hair before, so that will be interesting. In a rush today so only got about an hour and half of sculpting done.
In my experience, this kind of indecision usually stems from not having a clear goal. In the case of sculpting, this probably means you aren't working from reference, or you haven't looked close enough at the reference to know precisely what you are trying to replicate. Whenever I find myself feeling very uncertain, it's usually because I don't have a concrete vision of what the end-state it supposed to be. Hard to know what looks wrong if you haven't first defined what looks right.
This isn't advice solely catered to sculpting, but can be applied many places. It seems like a catch-22, but I think you can't really stop to smell the roses and just enjoy the process of doing until you have that clearly defined goal. It's like going for a hike in the woods. People say they want to just "get lost" and enjoy just "being," but they always make sure they have a plan to get back home. If you don't have a plan, and you literally do get lost, you might find it very hard to continue "just being." In the context of studying art, or any discipline, this equates to tinkering around forever and eventually losing interest because you never set goals and accomplished them. In other woods, you got lost in the words, and a bear ate you alive. Game over.
Yeah, I need to do more anatomical studies of the face, I will definitely study up on that (as well as the rest of the body). I did start with rather low geometry when blocking out the forms, but then started to subdivide when details like eyelids and nostrils need higher resolution, but of course the forms weren't finished and so I kept pushing and pulling at higher resolution, and that explains the vague, blobby forms I've ended up with. Everyone's input has been invaluable, I can't thank you enough for your time and words.
I came back from my day job and got into a really great flow, I think another 2 hours were put into this sculpt. I wrestled with the hair a lot more, and made strides to finishing this sculpt (despite the errors in the forms of the face). I'm struggling to detail the hair without it being a loud mess, I'll need to look up tutorials on how other artists go about something as detailed as hair, whilst making it readable.
It would be nice to know how you did previous anatomy studies?
The problem I have is that even in Rafael Grassetti tutorial he can sculpt the ribcage without any reference. I'm guessing from his traditional sculpting background and years doing zbrush he can do it automatically. However, for a normal mortal the only way you can get it perfect is if you use Paul Richer as a reference from the ribcage. The same with the other bones.
So Rafael is skipping a lot of steps just because he naturally knows where every bones is, every bony landmark. He must have done tons of ecorché.
I would maybe not worry about the hair. Eevee in blender or XGEN in maya is the best bet if you want realistic hair. Dylan Ekren curve brush if you want stylised hair.
@pangaea You're absolutely right, I work full time 5 days a week, so I'm at least able to commit two full days to sculpting! The only previous anatomy studies are the Rafa Grassetti videos, which really have helped, but I thank you for linking the Paul Richer material, that would be invaluable.
I didn't want to cheat on the hair, and wanted to treat it like another sculpting exercise, so I've gone very geometry heavy with it. I've made a decent start, got rid of mirroring, so that the hair really breaks symmetry, but it'll also mean way more time detailing. I almost got my two hours in today, but it's getting late, so I best be off to bed!
Here's the best shot of the hair I'm attempting:
Use the Asaro planar head to get your seecondary forms, which you're missing several. The jowl/masseter area stands out as one.
Also, in taking your advice, I've started blocking out a 'base mesh' of the rest of the body to work from, following Rafael Grassetti's gumroad videos, I'm making sure I have the basic shapes down, and gestures of the body, before diving in and refining the anatomy of all the muscles of the body.
It's pretty daunting and exciting knowing that after the foundation of the forms are laid down, I have a lot of intense anatomy study ahead of me!
Finished blocking out the base mesh this morning, and tried to keep the proportions as accurate as possible, I'll need to put more time in before getting to musculature to make sure it's right. Whilst it's not perfect, it's a great start to begin sculpting the muscles and bony landmarks further.
I've also tried to emulate the gestures of the body as best as possible, which I'll need to practice more. They say great character artists can make their characters feel weighty, and relaxed, as if gravity is acting upon them. My character doesn't portray that thus far, I'm hoping to achieve that before this sculpt is done.
The Ryan Kingslien anatomy model. You can line it up with your own model, use transparency and ghost, and then as you observe your reference images, you can start to see how the very subtle forms are being created by the underlying structure.
Also, check out some ecorche's from websites like ten24 or 3dsk. They cost a bit (hopefully not too much for you), but for me, having that solid 3d reference makes studying anatomy 1000% easier than studying 2d reference and trying to extrapolate to 3d.
Also also, try using the "outline" matcap to get a better visualization of your forms.
As a result, you've got these weird shapes going on in just about all the pieces of work you've shown.
This isn't a sprint, it's a marathon, don't rush it, take your time and get those fundamentals in place.
I honestly think my habit is a part of the problem, I always model the head first, and so get sucked in to modelling all the details along with it. With my next character, I'm going to start at the ribcage, and flesh out the entire body before going anywhere near the head, I think that will help.
Really focused on the torso for a couple of hours today. I really struggled with a few areas, I always want to make 'cartoon' abdominal muscles, and I found the serratus tricky as it connects to the ribcage. I learned a lot today, and as always it's going to be a case of doing it over and over until I get it right.
@BIGTIMEMASTER Thank you for the tips! I actually want to see this character through using only observation of 2D, as ideally, I would like to be able to sculpt largely from 2D so I'm able to take concepts, and flesh them out in 3D. At some point down the road, I will try sculpting using 3D ecorche as reference. For some odd reason I've always detested referencing, copying, or tracing existing work, which has proven detrimental for my development as an artist. Something about cutting corners, and not being able to do it all myself via imagination/stored knowledge caused me to stray from such great practices as using reference material (I know how bad that sounds) and things like proportion guidelines, etc.
Here is today's progress, it's the first time I've actively observed torso musculature whilst sculpting:
Using the ecorche as a reference is only "tracing" if you treat it that way. If you instead use it as, well a reference, and relate what you are seeing in your 2d reference to the ecorche and then to your own model, it is multiplying your understanding in a powerful way. Instead of guessing, "eh, I suppose thats the zygomatic thingy-do" ; try first observing the form in the 2d, and then observing the ecorche, and now, instead of haphazardly guessing and then relying on others to tell you what you screwed up, you might find yourself thinking things more like, "ah, ok, that subtle curve on his cheek comes from this spot on the skull where there is no muscle mass, so the bone must be pushing against teh skin." Translating from one 2d image and then another 2d anatomy image doubles your chance for error. If you have a 3d model that you can observe from every angle, you are minimizing the guessing, and seeing things in this visually superior medium is going to aid your retention a lot more.
When it comes to production, the old adage is : better, faster, or cheaper, you can choose only two. But this is bypassed when technology improves. You can actually learn more thoroughly, and faster, by using all the tools available to you, rather than taking a purely classical approach or placing arbitrary restrictions. It's a competition to get the job you want. Give yourself every advantage you possibly can. I don't think anybody will be impressed that you can do things from memory. You'll always be working at a computer, and reference will always be available.
Anyway, that's my thoughts. To each their own. Whatever you do, just keep doing it. You doing great already so keep it up.
I do want to be able to sculpt straight from concept art, but I'm very aware that I'm no where near that level yet, and so practicing (better, and faster, if I had the choice) will be necessary until I attain those skills. I truly appreciate your advice, and I will definitely use 3D references in my future work, as I still have plenty of characters to sculpt!
Good luck with your current approach will be interesting to see how much progress you make.
Maybe, JacqueChoi advice will be better
"I am 100% convinced this is the way you rapidly get better:
https://polycount.com/discussion/98654/super-summer-character-art-boot-camp
Just stick to making 500 polygon 256x256 Diffuse Only texture models. Make one a week."
For example, you spent most of this week on Zbrush, which sort of means your not doing texturing, retopology, UVing, baking and putting it in engine. So you could end up stuck in the zbrush phase for months. Even anatomy you could spends months just doing zbrush sculpts to get better, but then would you know all the other skills. Especially when people say zbrush is only 1/3rd of the work.
Another two hours of anatomical study! I managed to refine the forms of the back and arms, although I'm not finished with them just yet. It's cool seeing the character come together to resemble a humanoid silhouette.
@Brian "Panda" Choi Yes! I'm going with your advice, mainly because I actually I haven't finished a single game ready character properly. I want to make sure I finish something to completion, I'm very bad at starting sculpts and not finishing them, so if anything, this will end that.
@pangaea You're right, there's already plenty of great information on this thread, this community is so awesome. On the JacqueChoi thread you posted, I feel that I would benefit immensely from that type of practice. As already mentioned in this thread I jump in to too much resolution, and too much detail, too soon. I find that my proportions and primary forms are one of my biggest weaknesses right now, and so I should really give the repetition of blocking out forms of human anatomy a go. I need to consider it after finishing up this Lurtz model. What I'm doing right now is helping in other areas though, such as finishing, detailing, anatomy study, observational sculpting, and by the time I'm done, working through the game asset pipeline from 'concept' to game ready asset. Both have their merits, and I'd be silly not to utilise both.
Anyway, enough rambling, this is how far I've come with Lurtz so far, with around 18-20 hours of sculpting. (Need to fix that lumpy bicep tomorrow).
If worse comes to worse, you've always got your undo history as well. I'd recommend going to the edit palette and increasing the count to something pretty large, like 200 or more.
Didn't get time this morning, so I sculpted tonight instead. Still following along with Rafa's gumroad tutorial. The leg proved tricky, there really is a lot going on in the leg, particularly the upper leg. I really like the gestures of the body I've managed to capture, with the divots of the back of the knee, and the bottom of the calf gesturing inwards and downwards, as the ankle gestures downwards and outwards.
I'd just like to add that this all feels very slow to me personally, which I know is the wrong way to feel, but this is literally the longest I've ever spent on one sculpt. It feels like a lifetime, but it also feels amazing. I always sculpt a very rough bust, or never finish a character, so to have something resembling human anatomy for the most part is already HUGE for me. Posting here in Polycount helps me so much not only in terms of advice and insight from everyone in the community, but also helps immeasurably with my motivation to work, and my eagerness to see what people think. So cool!
Anyway, like I said, I put major work into refining the legs, now all's that's left of the anatomy is the feet and hands, which both seem like mountains of their own.
The abdominals should C curve out more. the overall shape is too flat going into the mon pubis.
Had a crack at the feet this evening, definitely need to put more time into them to get them right. I have the next two days off, so I'm hoping to make significant progress. I separated the feet from the rest of the mesh, but the divide is quite strong, and merging them back doesn't seem to meld them back together again, so I need to figure that one out.
The first of my two days off I managed to get a good amount done blocking the forms of the armour. Tomorrow I will finish the hands, add gloves, and then start whittling away at the armour details one by one. I'm really happy in my progress towards my first fully finished ZBrush character! I plan to make him a game ready asset, including UV's, clean topology, and textures. I won't rig or animate him, but I might stick him in a pose for some renders.
Hit with severe procrastination today. Left sculpting until the very end of my day, but managed to pull through and get into some hand sculpting. Very tricky, but so full of character! Like most other parts of the body, I've somewhat surprised myself with how good they've turned out, a testimony to Rafa Grassetti's knowledge, and the power of reference material and obeservation. There is of course much more improvement ahead, but I'm happy with my progress so far. It's a shame the hands will be gloved up, but there'll be plenty more characters without gloves to sculpt in the future.
@Brian "Panda" Choi - No I haven't used Sculptris, my work emulates the techniques used in Rafa's videos, which is essentially dynamesh.
Hands!
Sculptris is dynamesh in real time. I recommend at least looking at the documentation on it, or pressing the " \ " button wiht one of your brushes on.
Forgot to post my work yesterday! Didn't have loads of time but managed to block out gloves, make a shield and sword in Maya, and started to detail some of his armour pieces.
My detailing consist mostly of dragging alphas across the surface of my meshes, and I've struggled with the harder surfaces of the armour as it remains organic looking, with wavy lines and lumpy forms, as I try to slightly move and nudge areas in an attempt to keep them smooth and straight.
There's lots of leatherwork to be done on his armour, and I've wondered about other software I'm yet to learn, such as Marvelous Designer, and Substance.
Any tips or advice for making smoother and cleaner hard surface areas in ZBrush would be much appreciated.
The daily streak is broken! This thread became a little more focused on this individual character progression as opposed to a daily sculpt study, but it's still a shame it lasted only two weeks. I'm determined to see this character through to completion though, and I'm close to getting each individual piece of the outfit fleshed out from the blobs they began as.
A big struggle of mine is making hard edges and keeping thin pieces the same width throughout. I usually do stuff like that in Maya no problem, as per the polygonal modelling, but I wanted to practice sculpting these elements in ZBrush, I especially feel as though it adds a nice organic feel to the leather.
Front View:
Rear View:
However... I've seen some good gumroad tutorials from senior character artist who do most or all of it in Zbrush. I think the key is using the trim dynamic brush, polish brushes, low zIntensity, and spinning around a lot to view the model from all angles. Just a good eye, and careful touch.
Whittled away at this chap over the days where possible. I think the sculpting is close to done, I need to finish his feet, add a few more armour details, and then just polish anything I don't like the look of. I've posed him in these screenshots, as I want to print him out. This has been an amazing experience, and although there's still plenty of work left to do to get him game ready, I'm excited to call him done.
Texturing is a serious weak-point of mine, and I'm not 100% sure where to go next, I might try substance.
@BIGTIMEMASTER @Brian "Panda" Choi - I ended up going with Maya for the sword, quiver, and shield, it is just easier for geometric shapes. I did still stick to ZBrush for his clothing though, thanks for the tips.
I initially died off due to acquiring and trying to learn Substance Painter, so I could texture the Lurtz model. I got sidetracked, as usual, and ended up modelling a Half-Orc for use as a Dungeons & Dragons mini for a friend. 3D printed it, and it was really cool.
I've then moved on and started work on a favourite from my childhood, Ripster from the Street Sharks! Looking for critique as usual!
Here is the Half-Orc I modelled to be printed (I shied away from trying super details like skin wrinkles, as my 3D printer is not that good):
Here is the beginnings of Ripster. I've tried to keep the polycount as reasonably low as possible to work the forms of the geometry, via Dynamesh, I'm at around 65k.
2) Decent start. Can you show us your reference board?
I didn't really make a reference board to work from, as I just have google images on my second monitor, constantly searching my reference as I sculpt, things like bodybuilders in jeans, references to the cartoon Ripster, and of course ecorche models. I'll throw some images together of stuff I've I've referenced so you can see the types of images I've been working from.
Little added extra, I recently got a hold of Marmoset Toolbag 3 and have thrown some renders of my Lurtz model and my Half-Orc model.