Learning sculping

craylix · February 5, 2021, 2:08pm

I have never done character sculpting before but after seeing so many beautiful character models, I have finally decided to start practicing character sculpting everyday from now onwards whenever I get the time.

This is my first attempt today and I will keep sharing my progress with you guys .

Time taken:1hr
Ok , the result is quite laughable i know , but I will get there .

Day2:
time taken :1 hr

Day3:
time taken: 1hr
So I saw this picture of someone sculpting each facial part on a different sides of the cube, and I think its a very efficient way of practicing without having to make an entire head. So here’s the result. I tried to sculpt this stylized lips today.

Day4:
time taken: 2hr
This one took quite long to make , I am now starting to understand how to make jawlines and stuff (still needs work though). I am really struggling to make that subtle lines near the eye region. Phew, character modelling is definitely not easy!

Day 5: time taken: 2hr Gotta keep practicing ......Also I apologize to anyone who will have nightmares after seeing this face but this is the best I could make so far ,lol!

Day 6:
time taken(3 hr)
Lol! Got so busy with college and stuff that it took me 2 months to get back at my sculpting practice. So resuming from today

(finally!)

Made this from scratch today .
I intended to make a human character at first but guess I got out of practice .
So went for stylized-“ish” grey alien .

Day 7:

time taken: 2hr

I finally managed to learn how to sculpt the eyelids . Also thanks for many of your advices and feedbacks , I got some excellent resources to learn from because of you guys.
Today’s attempts:

I made the eyes and did the shading by following a tutorial by Danny mac !

I still have lots to learn , Gosh ! I really thought I would be able to learn character modelling in like a week and its probably goin to take months ! Sculpting is hard.

Day 8:

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Tried to make a sculpt of Disney character Aunt Cass of Big Hero 6 , Failed miserably of course.

Specnet · February 7, 2021, 2:56am

Yowser! Those are some fine eldritch abominations you’ve created. Character sculpting can be a toilsome road and I hope you won’t grow discouraged with your initial progress. You’ll get there in time if you keep at it.

If you haven’t already, a little anatomy knowledge and lots of references are a big help.

craylix · February 7, 2021, 9:52am

I had to google ‘eldritch abomination’ . And Haha ,yes they are .
And yes ,character sculpting is quite difficult and has been giving me a hard time as you can see, but I am planning to practice everyday until I get better.
Thanks for the comment specnet . These feedbacks really helps and motivates me a lot !
Have a nice day

Magnavis · February 7, 2021, 10:08am

Good start! I don’t know what your end goal is? Are you aiming for realism, or are you going for something more stylised?

References are important, and you should use as many as you can. Don’t be afraid to have a front and side reference loaded into blender as background planes. either directly behind the mesh, or side by side, whichever helps best.

I’d also say, watch other people sculpt aswell. Watching what others do, and how they get there, can be massively helpful in developing your own workflow. There’s no right or wrong way to do it, but there are definitely optimal ways of doing it.

Good luck!

craylix · February 7, 2021, 10:57am

My end goal is to make stylized characters , specifically I want to create characters like this amazing artist does @Chebylshev .
And yes, I guess I do need to start watching other people’s sculpting workflow because most of the time I have no idea what to start with, but I guess following a particular workflow will make me efficient .
Thank you so much Magnavis for the tips !!

anon54986897 · February 7, 2021, 11:14am

I think you are making a lot of progress I don’t think I could make the first picture you showed, but to know that somebody else is trying is pretty motivating.

Also you said you wanted to make stylised characters right?

I would recommend watching Daniel Kreuter if you are going for an anime look.

Also watch yan sculpts and Danny mac 3d.

The character that Raymond Cripps made for his project feline, he followed Daniel kreuters tutorials.

craylix · February 7, 2021, 12:39pm

Yes I love stylised characters .I do watch yansculpts(amazing guy ) from time to time.
So Daniel Kreuter you say? hmmm , I will check him out . Thank you so much for the advice
unreal showcaser , have a very nice day ahead!

Ratchet · February 7, 2021, 1:20pm

For stylized you can watch Shane Olson easy to follow tutorials (he worked at Disney).

Workflow tutorials is fully usable in Blender as it is sculpting with common brushes.

craylix · February 7, 2021, 3:02pm

Omg , just half and hour into the Shane Olson video and I already learned so much!! Thank you so much Ratchet, those video recommendations were awesome, very helpful.
Have a very nice day.

craylix · February 9, 2021, 7:45am

Day 5:
time taken: 2hr
Gotta keep practicing …Also I apologize to anyone who will have nightmares after seeing this face but this is the best I could make so far ,lol!

Magnavis · February 9, 2021, 8:37am

That’s a huge improvement!

Only thing I’d say about this one is, build a little more around the eyes, so that they don’t look like they’re popping, and also, try and blend the nose into the forehead a little more. Currently, it looks a little stuck on.

But seriously - nice work!!

craylix · February 9, 2021, 9:28am

Thank you for the feedback magnavis!! Yea you are right, I will try to make the nose feel more natural by blending , hmm …guess will have to use the smooth brush. But the biggest struggle I am having is with the eyes, its looked easy to me at first , but all I end up is with eyelids looking like hotdogs strapped onto the eyes😅, I will do some more research about the eye area for the next sculpt…thanks again , feedbacks are helping me a lot , Everyone is so helpful , I love this community here

Magnavis · February 9, 2021, 10:08am

I know you’re going for stylised, but this video - though in Zbrush - is also super helpful, I think:

Even if you just watch it rather than attempt to follow, I still think it’s got a bunch of useful information. Might offer a little more insight with the nose and eyes. It helped me a bunch, anyway

Specnet · February 10, 2021, 9:06pm

Well, well. Look at the improvement. I think that is a major step up from those eldritch horrors of yore.

A couple of tips for the eyes from personal experience: I like to use the claystrips brush in combination with the crease and inflate. With ‘claystrips’ you can scrap away the geometry to form a plane around the eyes, then carefully ‘inflate’ the lid so it doesn’t look quite as flat. Then lastly use the ‘crease’ brush to softly add an indention.

There are a few other brushes that act similar to ‘claystrips’ so try those out and see if you prefer them. It might also help to flatten the underside of the eyelids so you don’t get that hotdog shape as you put it. I hope it helps.

craylix · April 21, 2021, 12:45pm

Day 6:
time taken(3 hr)
Lol! Got so busy with college and stuff that it took me 2 months to get back at my sculpting practice. So resuming from today (finally!)