These are things that get easier with time and experience, and the only way to get better is to sculpt and practice more! I usually get frustrated easily here when sculpting the face because it’s not easy nailing the look I want, but I have to remind myself that it’s a work-in-progress, and you need to keep working on it, double-checking anatomy, proportions, and the reference to make it shine. The face went through many iterations, but eventually, I was able to get it where I wanted.

I didn’t want to do an exact likeness but she had a lot of the facial features and direction I wanted to go in. Head and Hornsįor the face, I referenced Hamel Patel, a model. Since her legs are covered completely I leave them as spheres and just keep it for reference to double-check my proportions and clothes every now and then. For example, I keep the head separate from the torso and arms since she has a neckpiece covering the transition. I still try to keep them separated as much as possible so it’s easier to manage and I can pump up the subdivision levels without worrying too much about performance. I usually just do a quick ZRemesh to save time, rather than completely rebuilding the geometry so it’s perfect. I think the best stylization comes from a better understanding of anatomy knowing what and how to exaggerate to get the best possible outcome.Īfter I’m happy with the proportions, I begin merging the body parts and limbs together and dynamesh them into one mesh. That is, being sloppy and ignoring correct anatomy. I also make sure I’m not “cheating” with the excuse of stylization. If I’m not happy with the proportions now, then it could become a huge pain in the future if I decide to change the proportions and have to adjust all the subtools to accommodate the changes. I referenced a lot of anatomy books and resources to make sure everything looks right, and then I go in with the stylized changes and exaggerations. In this phase, the most important thing I pay attention to is the proportions. I thought it was a really interesting approach so decided to give it a try. In this phase, he’s just worried about the proportions and tries to do as little sculpting as possible.

Usually, for the head, I start sculpting from a sphere but Patrick’s approach separates all the facial features as well.

This applies to the body as well separating the limbs and major landmarks individually. Starting with the blockout in ZBrush, I keep as many parts of the sculpt separate as possible so I have greater control over them.

Skin brushes for zbrush by rafa souza