I've just started head sketches with Zbrush and I'm beginning to be able to appreciate how hard it is to do that in 30 and 15 minutes :) . I prefer the second model as well. There seems to be more personality -- I do read it as aloof surprise, the (seeming) ruffled collar and an upturned nose put in symbols of aristocracy…
This is the head I quickly put together for my demonstration at the Diverge Workshop this past weekend. I covered my process of sculpting and using zbrush to help develop textures. I've also been using Zbrush in my concept phase. I jump into a rough sculpt just to play around and experiment. Quick and dirty. All I’m…