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A friendly request from a traditional sculptor...

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#1

Greetings folks!

First let me say “thanks” to everybody here for all the tremendous inspiration. I’ve lurked around here for quite some time and have always been amazed by the level of talent in the Zbrush community. It’s truly inspiring to see your creations!

I have a unique request (and possibly a valuable opportunity) that I’m hoping will find an audience here.

I am a professional sculptor currently employed with a collectible company called DC Direct. I’ve been sculpting professionally for about 8 years and have done work with many of the top toy/collectible manufacturers including McFarlane Toys, Diamond Select, Hot Toys and Sideshow Collectibles. A few examples of my work can be seen here- http://www.absculpture.com/

I’ve wanted to learn to sculpt digitally for a very long time, and the fact that digital sculpting is becoming more common in my particular industry niche every day has convinced me that it’s time for me to learn the program once and for all. The only problem is, I’m clueless and I don’t know where to begin.

I’ve seen the dozens of wonderful tutorials here at Zbrush Central and elsewhere, and while I do plan to utilize those resources as much as possible, what I’m really looking for is a 1-on-1 “Zbrush bootcamp”… I’ve learned from experience that there is no substitute for hands-on training, and with that in mind I’d like to pursue an internship of sorts.

My request is this: I’m looking for an established Zbrush artisan who would be willing to host a 2 or 3 day “workshop”, an intense weekend of training on the basics of sculpting with Zbrush. Here’s the kicker… I’ve come to know a good handful of digital artists over the years, many of which have a great desire to learn traditional sculpting skills but are lacking the necessary resources, similar (but opposite) to my predicament. What I would like to offer in return for my digital sculpting tutelage is a similar workshop of my own— to give you a crash course in traditional sculpting. My years of experience with various methods and materials are at your disposal.

I know at least one other top industry sculptor that is very interested in taking part in this, so this could turn out to be a doubly valuable experience for all involved. Hands-on tutorials and/or workshops are an extremely rare occurance among the traditional sculpting community, especially anything involving the use of wax and other details of working in the collectible industry. For any of you Zbrush Rembrandts who have been looking for such an opportunity, this could be very rewarding!

If any of you happen to be interested in pursuing more details on this venture, please feel free to email me at [email protected]

Unfortunately I must limit this request to folks living in the United States, but within those boundaries I’d be willing to travel to accomplish this, so don’t let location discourage you too much (I live in St. Louis).

Thanks again for the great inspiration! I hope I can post some Zbrush works of my own around here soon. :slight_smile:

-Andy

#2

I wonder who? :smiley:

After seeing the possibilities on this site and others, I’m sold! This is something I absolutely want and need to become aquainted with. Traditional sculpting has been great to me but the possibility of adding digital sculpting to my portfolio is something that excites me!

#3

Hi Andy, I’m a big fan of your work. I wish I had the skills to trade with you. Someone is going to get a bargain. Can’t wait to see your first ventures on ZBrush.

#4

yeah that’d be a way awesome bargain :slight_smile: - damn I live sooooo far away and probably lack the skill anyhow… :confused: have had you among my favs for some time now [looking forward to your rocking cg creations :+1: ]

#5

Ray Villafane too? It’s so unfair. :cry:

#6

Thanks for the responses guys! I’ve gotten a couple inquiries and I think we can make it work one way or another. Ray Villafane insisted on crashing this party, which I guess isn’t such a bad thing. :slight_smile:

#7

Andy have you toyed around with Zbrush yet? Thats a good way to get started. Seeing you in here makes me believe the Digital Figure Sculptor change is coming faster than ever.

The toy biz is going to be mainly Digital soon. With tradition skills used for cleanup, fine detailing, and last minute changes made from wax and clay casts created off of the original digitally created RP models.

Knowing how to do both will make you more viable.

I honestly believe that the traditional stuff in this arena will be moved over to that “Doctor It Up/Make It Pop” area, and I wouldn’t mind playing that role, but I wouldn’t like it if that’s all I got to do in my job position. I want to make these things, not just clean them up.

I also am a huge fan of your work. I can’t wait to see what you do with Zbrush. You need to get something like XSI or Maya as well.

#8

Andy! Good to see you here, buddy. I’m also lurking around here from time to time, admiring the stuff all the talented peeps are doing here.

I am somewhat in the same situation as you, with the only difference that I do work digitally. But I’m not in the modeling department, so my encounters with Zbrush are occational (i.e when I get time off, and that is very rare!).
The way I figure is that having a good creative job (not involving Zbrush), where you always get new stuff to work on, and also having a family, which reduces your “spare time” a lot, you have little chances of getting into the program as well as you would like. This idea of yours sounds like a fantastic way of getting started and to pick up a lot of great tips. Heck, I want to go too (but am in the wrong part of the world). But the bottom line is you always have to put aside time to become good at it. And the best way of doing that is to go for a job that requires the use of Zbrush. No better way of getting into it than to be forced into it! :wink:

The only time I’ve done a serious effort (.i.e other than doodling) was earlier this spring when I needed a T-rex design for an animation project and did some basic sketches in Zbrush. Even though I have talented Zbrushers in my vicinity (thanks Magnus) I still felt I only scratched the surface. I never finished the sculpt due to change of direction from the customer, so the feeling of Zbrush-frustration still lingers :slight_smile:

Anyway, Good luck with your endeavour. I am sure you’ll make wonders, so just get on with it!
…But on the other hand this will take time and effort from your Nosferatu-project, and we can’t let that happen. I WANT IT SO BADLY!! :wink:

/Staffan Linder

#9

Staffan! How are you my friend?

Thanks for the friendly advice, you are so right about the sacrifices required to learn Zbrush. As with any new skill, the learning curve is something that just needs to be embraced instead of feared (I’m still trying to convince myself! :slight_smile: ). I’ve had some great responses to my workshop request from some very talented and generous members of this forum, now I need to take the first step and get the ball rolling.

And I might have some good news for ya in the next couple months regarding Nosferatu, so don’t worry! :smiley:

Also, It’s Alive, thanks for your reply as well! I have toyed around with Zbrush but only VERY basically, fooling around with one of the pre-set models (generic face, etc). I agree that learning to sculpt digitally is 100% necessary for anyone who wishes to maintain a successful career in commercial sculpting. I don’t think the changeover will happen tomorrow, but I think we’ll see a major shift to digital sculpting within the next 5+ years.

#10

Check your mailbox :slight_smile:

#11

Hey I remember you two from my Amazing Figure Modeler reading days!
Its been a while since i checked out the “garage kit” world. Is Gremlins still around? lol

I went from traditional to digital in 2002 because my main interest was film, it was a frustrating transition because you really only had nurbs and box modelling, and the latter was akin to sculpting with boxes on your hands, or poking chicken wire.

It was a humbling experience since one had to learn technology before you could bring your skills over. Programs like zbrush make it a lot easier. No doubt you’ll adapt fast since you dont need to relearn art skills. In digital you can sculpt either machined or organic with ease. No need to worry about sanding surfaces-in fact you may want to make the surface irregular to get rid of the perfection. :slight_smile:

I think its more an illustrator’s medium than a sculptor’s one, or something inbetween, but I have seen great sculpting from people with illustration backgrounds so it levels the playing field skillwise.

I notice ads for Macfarlane toys started to add digital sculpting experience in their job descriptions, so no doubt its going to change everything. Even metal casting can be done with 3d printing-and it seems to eliminate worries about undercuts too.

Since I started doing CG I was curious to know how 3d trained sculptors adapt to traditional sculpting. How does it feel for them? How tedious is it–what’s it like not having a mirror option or an undo? How does the frustrations compare? What do you like about it compared to digital? I would be very curious to hear what answers you get during your workshops.

I havent done much traditional figure sculpting since 2002, but started going back into it for 1/6th scale one of a kind pieces this summer as a change of pace.

Digital sculpting and animation modelling has changed my traditional sculpting habits a bit, a greater attention to anatomy(I tend to be a face person and let the bodies be decadent), a greater interest in pushing facial expressions and trying to be as anti-digital as possible(mixed media accessories, and sword and sorcery themes…Conan didnt use a computer :slight_smile:

#12

A bit off topic but you should think of spending $1000 on one of these Andy…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwfc_xPYBPI