Hi,
Thought i’d post my latest WIP here, to perhaps get some good tips and advice. I thinks this is the third time ever that i’m attempting to model a human head, so… err, feel free to be brutally honest. 
I have made the base mesh, around 500-600 polys, in Maya. What i’m finding the most difficult so far is to get the lips right and I don’t quite like the nose. The ears are just “roughed in” very quickly.
Well, any helpful comments and criticisms are welcome as I continue working on this.
hello! nice model BUT you have to use reference images in order to get a better result, the eyes are too wide, add eye rings, you need to fix that part of the cheeks linked to the nose, the distance between the ear and the back of the head is too big, the upper part of the lips touch the nose , the distance between the two lips is too big ,the upper lip must ride over the bottom lip.
the nostrils are too big, everything is there but you need to make your model more clean.
use google image and look at the shapes of the nose , mouth and stuff.
Thanks for the tips!
I made the base mesh in Maya using photo reference and now that you mentioned it I checked how the zbrush model related to the reference. I think the pictures show that the eyes and ears align very well, but there seems to be too much mass on the back of the head. The neck is also way too thick and wide(I think I have sort of a fetish for neck musculature… ehm…). I also notice the mouth should be pulled down a bit.
Anyway, very good tips and thanks for making me check the references again!
I’ll attach a pic of the latest version of the model, with some of the features more defined and (I hope) a slighty better nose. Not too happy with it yet though, but I think i’m beginning to see what needs to be done.
Did you try putting that image in the background in zbrush, so you make your model aligned to the photo?
I have only used those images when making the base mesh(and now they also proved usefull when reshaping the lips). I don’t like to follow that face too closely, I just like using it to make a very generic base. I know it would probably be easier to use the references i zbrush too, but I feel that I learn more this way.
Anyway… I have been struggling a bit with Maya and Zbrush a bit(got flipped normals and whatnot), but I managed to tweak the shape of the lips a bit. I hope it’s better… I think it’s much better but my head is too exhausted right now to make any judgement - hopefully I won’t have to feel embarassed tomorrow when I wake up…
Ah well, I guess it’s time to say good night and a Merry Christmas to you all! 
Yes,
Your doing a head study using this base mesh you made in maya and not really trying to capture the reference likeness then doing free sculpting to capture the look you want sounds good to me. Though sometimes might help to have a few references for a look you might be trying to somewhat smack of just for the basic shape/planes references. Appears its coming along and in early development stages. Just keep with it, as long as your learning and progressing I don’t think anyone ever has anything to be embarrased about when it comes to working toward better skill sets 
. Will stop by and see how its coming as you continue to work on it.
Thanks!
Ok, so… for this update I have spent some time attempting to sculpt hair. This is my first ever serious attempt at doing hair so… I guess it needs a lot more work, but it’s a start.
Yes,
Ahh the hair, fun fun and good learning process. Nice start keep working with it. Glad to see you moving forward with your piece!!
Yeah… hair - darn difficult, but fun!
Shortly after my last update I woke up and realized it looked like sh*t. So, I started looking for different tutorials to get a better idea of how to make hair. Making a bobcut seemed fairly straightforward and I believe it actually fits pretty well with the model…
Anyway, here’s a quick test that I made, took me about an hour or so. I think i’ll continue on this and give it a bit more detail.
Somtimes you have to be carefull on what refference image you choose. Best to choose a good average rather than a image with a much less than average proportions. You can get crits on bad proportions even if they match your refference. I have some full body female refferences and athough these are real people, these would translate into a bad proportional model for sculpting.
In general the eye width is the same width as the distance between the nose. Makeup can give the illusion of the eyes being bigger than they are. I would work on the form at a much lower Sub D level, this will generate a much softer high res model and you wont be sulpting in the higher levels but rather adding fine detail.
Save out your model first and try this. Delete all high sub D levels above level 2, and fully make the best of both levels you have untill you devide your mesh again. Use the move tool at the lowest level and realy work on the form and edge flow for areas like lips, nose and eyes. You will be shocked at how much better your model will look if you do this.
Its realy coming along well keep it up, and more important enjoy it.
Ahhh… the female head. Sometimes subtle details are harder to do than wrinkles and stuff. I’m also fresh from my first attempt at sculpting hair, and let me tell you that alpha 58 works wonders once you’ve blocked in the clumps of hair. Keep at it!
Good point there about references. I tried reshaping the eye a little bit and I think it looked more natural that way.
Going back to lower subD-levels is a good idea and it makes sense. Only problem is that i’m sort of stuck on how to reshape things. I think the main problem is I don’t exactly know what attributes to change to get a certain look. For example, every time I try to make her more feminine I almost get the opposite result, and I don’t really see where i’m getting it wrong.
Are there any good ways to better learn how a face is composed?
Anyway, i’ll keep on with it and see where I end up.
I have tried following tez advice and working more on the shape and form in lower subD-levels. I think i’m sort of getting somewhere, but please tell me what you think.
Now this is a bit rough and it’s just inteded to show the general shape…
With the female face, try to keep the contors smooth and round. The jaw line more soft with the nose generaly smaller than a male.
When doing the mouth try not to draw the mouth on the face but rather sculpt it into the excisting geometry. Go realy low Sub D level and use the move tool to get a basic upper and lower lip, your need wire frame view on for better visability.
It will look very rougth but will set the edge flow up for higher Sub D levels. ON your model I would bring the lips slightly back and the whole nose forward. Add more volume around the lower cheeks and face and try to keep the space between the eyes as wide as a eye width, do this by moving the inner eye only.
Each Sub D level work the whole head including the ears if yu do this, then by the time you get to level 4 your model will look complete in form and detail.
I use the move tool alot with a large brush and will help a great deal. Here is a video I did a little while back sculpting the whole female. Watch how I start with real low sub d level and how the face form starts from me using the move tool. If you like I can pose some picture exsamples to help with the female form for the face.
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v1309656TMG6y2GQ?c=CGDreams
And here is a link I found helpfull.
http://www.virtualffs.co.uk/male.female%20facial%20differences.htm
P.S, looking much better now.
Yes,
Nice update on the hair, and good attitude about going back in and looking at refining features to create the image your happy with while you apply crits to your work! Tez is giving you some solid advice, though, be careful regarding making the nose looking smaller. I see a lot of female models with under sized noses compared to oversized ones. Also it really will depend the age you want your model to appear and if your going for utter realism or a stylized look. Noses and ears grow with age and obviously individual characteristics as well as racial ones will dictate facial structures as well. Glad to see you making more progress and keeping up on this one.