I see a lot of amazing work come from these forums. And what really just strikes me is that how in god’s name is how they end up with such amazing ideas.
Such fantastic fantasy monsters and orcs and trolls and whatnot. It’s just amazing. I just can’t seem to develop these cool ideas in my head.
So…what is the secret?
Hi dpvtank
I dont have the secret but i suggest just let your inspiration and the study of the program to grow¡¡¡
Is your own secret that you have to reveal for you¡
Finally you will need to studie some art topics depending on your background.
Andreseloy
“let your inspiration…grow”
Well…how basically? For example, maybe I’m developing this character. She or he needs to be in a fantasy setting and in an action pose fighting a monster.
Now, how to develop the monster…atleast in your head…and how to develop the character…atleast in the head.
one way is to analyze monsters into their separate features, e.g.
overall body type (snake, shark, blob, humanoid, reptilian, bovine, spider, politician, etc.)
torso if any (chest, hips, and spine can be varied)
feet, hooves, toes ?
tail(s)
eyes
ears
horns
claws
mouth or whatever 
method of breathing
tentacles
suckers
antennae
fronds
teeth
mandibles
barbs
scales
fur
tools
clothing
fashion accessories
tattoos or brand-marks
guitar
gears and pistons
baked goods
etc.
and then for each of those, think of different variations
then mix-and-match 
try changing the proportions of different features in relation to the rest (e.g., huge eyes, tiny ears) – or even omit a feature for a creepy appearance (e.g., no mouth or no eyes)
also look at pictures of different critters for ideas, e.g. photo books, magazines, the Google image search or nature shows on tv – don’t forget bugs, insects, sea creatures and microscopic lifeforms
be willing to doodle out dozens of potential monsters to choose from
the scene might influence the development of the monster, or the monster might suggest the environment
might as well put some variety into how the scene is staged, e.g., do they both have to be standing on the ground? couldn’t one be hanging upside down, or oozing out of a window?
take away all the protagonist’s usual weapons and then see what happens
use paper – even just for rough sketches – lots of artists past and present work out at least the outlines of the composition and cropping before working in the final medium
have fun! 
Interesting topic, I’m often not very inspired myself but here are a few thoughts.
Try to think about who the character is. What is his job. What are his strong/weakpoints and personality? You should have a pretty good idea of who this character is before you start designing then try to show all that in your design.
Also find your inspiration in books, magazines, movies, pretty much anything. Inspiration has to come from somewhere.
I think most of us take a more “godly” approach to creating stuff: it is simply built as a mirror image of ourselves.
You may not apply this method to trees or grassy plants for the results will be unpredictable!!
Serious: all to often there’s no exact plan for doing a specific model - it just grows as you work. Almost like your brain and your hand are disconnectet, with the hand having a brain of it’s own. So you sit and watch your hand doing things - until the connection is established again (whenever this hand comes up with something useful).
Other then this: books, the world around you, everything is an inspiration.
Drugs And varying stages of detox.
drugs? I’m sorry. But I don’t flow that way. But all this advice is really awesome. Keep it coming. It’s really cool.
I think (as some guys have already pointed out) that context is of the utmost importance. What is the context surrounding your character, or monster? For example- I created a creature once who had a hard, black exterior- not because it looked cool, but because I imagine him to have existed on a planet like Mars, which has a very harsh climate. And, because of this climate, he’d need to have been built that way to survive.
There’s no secret. To begin with, it’s mainly a matter of imagining something you would like to see. If you’re reading a magazine, and you see a big, brutish looking guy, and you think to yourself, “Man, he’d look cool with a huge piece of armour slung around his neck… and… and… a HUGE hard steel helmet, dented and worn because of the battle he’s just been in… and, a cool looking shoulder cannon as well, still smoking because of that same battle.” you’re onto something. Next you might decide it’d look even better, if you imagined up a monster, lying dead at his feet. What monster? Well, that meal you ate last night looked pretty evil, and you take a visual cue from there. Lastly, you imagine the context of the whole thing. Who is he? What battle was he just in, and why was he fighting a monster?
Whatever you do though, try not to get caught up in another person’s vision of something. Work on your own ideas, and for the time being simply take note of other cool ideas. One thing I see too often is people who try and rework other people’s final thoughts, and the resulting idea of their own just doesn’t ‘sparkle’ with originality, because the idea isn’t based on their own imagination.
Anyway, I hope the above makes sence
Idea base -> What you think would look good -> Context -> Rework the weak parts to stronger ideas (can’t stress this point enough) -> Repeat until happy.
Following something like these few steps will allow you to not only create a picture that has good, solid ideas behind it, but also to make something you actually like! After all, it’s one thing to make a good set of ideas, and another to make ideas you can really get behind. Finally, it takes time and practice to formulate your own methodology, to formulate and rework ideas quickly. I’ve been doing it for so long now, it almost happens without thinking. But, I have my times when it can literally take me a month to formulate a truly exceptional idea that I’ll settle on.
Have fun.
Maybe it’s more easy to make a beautiful monster than a beautiful beauty
Pilou
Pilou, if it would be the other way around, we would see nothing but beauty queens!!
Ahh, if only beauty queens had nine arms and a whole plethora of dangerous spikes- then everyone could make them with Zspheres
What drugs?
these are all awesome ideas. I still very strongly believe that what tools you use has nothing to do with the artwork you produce. It’s the skill that the artist has. We have already seen amazing work come out of Zbrush [Such as LOTR:ROTK], but we will also see mediocore work and also very horrible work.
I guess its all the skill. However, no matter what application you use, you are only limited by your imagination. Some of these suggestions are really awesome on character development.
Reactor: your post makes perfect sense.
I will ask a few more such questions if I also get stuck like this again. Especially when it comes to more specific things about the character detail.