Ollie's Sculpting Journey Sketchbook from beginner


One day i’ll figure out the hair system.

genuinely foul mood today. the skin is pissing me off because i’m clearly missing a key ingredient or two and I can’t find out. It either looks like wax or plastic

Also, there is no mirror modifier for the hair stack…

Sculpt 80 oh god what have I DONE.

My goal for this one was to up the detail and make sure the eyes have really smooth curves with no bumps .very happy in that regard.

I like the face shape but even though it wasn’t supposed to be so childlike.

I still do not have a handle on skin texturing and the hair system gives me nightmares.

How are you combing the hair, do you try to comb it all at once like a big mass? I notice the more successful tutorials tend to comb one guide curve at a time.

I think part of the reason the skin looks weird is because the low color variation suggest heavy makeup, except there is none around the eyes, which is unusual. This clash would be much less apparent if there were proper eyelashes.

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yeah I started trying to do one at a time but couldn’t get the select tool to select a hair (it would do sections of the hair) and then gave up and tried to comb it all.

edit: figured out ica nselect roots with a button

i’m certain its the texture of the skin that is wrong. Maybe i’ll come back to this one

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that video was very helpful, thanks.

Doing one hair at a time seems to be the way to go. still haven’t really mastered it

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With actual curve eyelashes. still not happy with the main hair. gonna redo

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Well the shape is good but i’ve done ti too far down her face. how do I move them?

If you remove the curves and remake them, all the hair settings still exist and should apply to the new ones, shouldn’t they?

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Ok I am done with this! a lot better than before but could still be improved. it’ll be easier next time.

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Sculpt 81. I find it very difficult to freestyle from a base mesh. i couldn’t figure out how to make them significantly different, particularly with regards to race, without a reference image.

Not liking it with the ref. lips look pursed. I though I was past these kinds of mistakes…

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No idea why the lips look like she is duckfacing. spent hours trying to fix them. no clue. feels like all this time is wasted if i can’t figure out a basic issue

Maybe it’s not the lips themselves, but rather what’s surrounding them? There is an intense concave crease under the lips, which makes it look like the lip muscles are tensed and makes the lips look like they are moved forward by comparison.

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Gonna Try a super stylized one now with fat curves for hair. reference here.

Looking good so far but not quite the same. Using my custom made matcap. Not sure if its help or hindrance


…and the moment I paint the lips they look like they’re wearing makeup.

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F me, fat hair curves aren’t much easier.


Sculpt 82 Done.

looks ok. i think you can tell who i’m referencing. it’s only principled shader with some paint and curve hair. Not sure how much progress i’m gonna make without pro feedback.

I need work on the presentation but not sure where to study. lights and textures…

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Sculpt 83. Another very stylized reference



Feeling good today. retopology was relatively painless and I like the character.

Maybe the angular ears don’t fit with the soft face. I might try two different sculpts, one with soft ears and another with angular face.

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I think the rounded features are better. Now to the hair. fat curves or the hair system…


Sculpt 83 Done. reference here

It’s a pretty modest goal for this one but it feels like an acceptable style. perhaps the lips are a little too detailed.

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