i SUCK at ZBrush - Protoss Templar WIP (yet another)

[system]

It’s the first time that i’m doing a full character using ZB. Nothing original. The protoss templar has been done to death here. Maybe not the best case for anatomy study, though i’m enjoying(for the most part) working on it. The model is in the mid-detail stage. The hands still look like inflated latex gloves, the feet are barely shaped and the legs… well lets just say that i’m considering going back to square one and smoothing them down completely(same for the arms). There is so many places that need to be fixed (like the crotch) that i’m not gonna list them all here(they’re pretty obvious anyway).

By now i’ve noticed that i have a huge problem with muscle lines and their ‘flow’ (as seen on bicep and many other places throughout the model). I’m using lazymouse for them, but that not always works best. I cannot seem to get a firm grip on muscles surface shape as well.

CRITICS and ADVICES MOST WELCOME!

I’m using a Wacom Bamboo tablet.

[VictorCS]

First of all, you cant suck at zbrushing, you can only get more skilled.

I think the chest area looks ok, and the legs aint that bad. You would’ve suffered less “muscle-flow” problems if you “flowed” properly at the start. Your hands need alot of work, and gentle pushing. I see they’ve gotten slimywetwavish as I named it after experiencing this on my first hands and feet.

This is how I work:
In my opinion one should only sculpt as good as possible with the skill level one has at that moment. And transfer what’s learned from the sculpt onto the next sculpt while learning new skills. This way you wont be stuck with a model for too long ( losing interrest, get bored or frustrated ), and you’ll probably get more experience, because each model has its own problems and solutions.

[0bz]

Nothing suck going on here. This is a great start.
Mid detailing… I would hold off on ANY detailing, until you get those hands under control.
I don´t know the character you are after but there is some good design and anatomy going on here. If you go too far with the body,and neglect the hands and feet, it will be harder to make everything mesh together and look fluid later on.
Get those hands and feet wrangled to the proportions you need, and you´ll have a great model under way

[system]

Thanks for the advice. Victor, what You’ve said could sum up my bad workflow. I’m increasing the subd above certain level, when it gets really easy to stuck on ‘slimywetwavish’(very accurate! ) form. I guess that is a very common mistake among beginners.

Anyways, i’ve corrected the hands and feet, added some details to the head.I still hate the way the stomach ends above the crotch, leaving an empty space there. I’m gonna finish the mid-form phase and try to get some details into place.

Thanks for the advice about not working on it for too long (though its been a couple of days by now).

I’ve noticed that it is a good practice to screenshot the model and analyse it outside of zbrush (preferably with a pen and paper), where You cannot jump right away to fix the problems. Because when I do jump right to fixing i usually get so much tied up into it, that i leave tons of other tiny bugs unattended.

Attachments

[image123]

looks sweet as. his legs look short but thats probably because of the anatomy. I like the face.

[KrakenCMT]

Your latest pic is a bit better than the previous one. But rather than offer crits about specific parts, I’d like to offer a bit of advice. One thing that really helped me to geta grasp on anatomy was really learning about the insertion points of the muscles - almost more so than the form.

There’s several areas of your model where you can’t tell where the muscles are attaching and overlapping. One example is where you have the bicep stopping right before the armpit. The front section of the deltoid is supposed to overlap the bicep just a bit. There are other areas that are ambiguous as well to where they connect. But by studying these insertion points of all the muscles, you can develop much more correct looking figures.

You obviously have good skill with sculpting. The anatomical knowledge, once you learn more, will take your models to the next level.