Starting a new thread since my old one is pretty old now.
Need to start doing a lot more sketches and stop focusing on polish so much.
Here’s a study I started last weekend. This weekend I think I’ll work on getting a solid base mesh ready, and trying out some sketch ideas.
Rendered in Blender.
Quick Zbrush sketch ~ 1 hour
Started this study on Friday, and tried doing full fibermesh hair, but zbrush crased around 11PM and I just quit for the night.
Quickly redid the hair today.
I finished sculpting my basic male basemesh today, but didn’t get to any retopo. Will work on that over lunch break/evenings the next few days, and update accordingly.
Study of Donald Glover.
I used CG Elves alpha brushes for skin detailing: https://www.behance.net/gallery/34383451/Free-ZBrus
Polypainting was just projected from an image using spotlight. Image used, as well as primary reference: https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/gettyimages-478585786.jpg
Did a very quick fibermesh that leaves a lot to be desired, but I intend to study more afro-type hairstyles in the future.
Otherwise, still working on that base mesh. Decided the one I had finished is good for say, in game use, but not so much for sculpting, so I’m making another one.
Will hopefully finish it sometime this weekend! Or even better, this week!!!
Finally an update.
Spent a tiny bit more time on this one, and am about to make more progress on that base mesh right after dinner this evening. I sadly haven’t touched it yet this weekend 
I did see a Teracotta warrior exhibit though!
Finally created my base mesh last weekend and started this during the week. Still have a lot more to do, such as, detailing the legs/feet, the pants, adding hair, and figuring out what the rest of the outfit will be.
Will keep posting throughout the week!
Hello. Been working on this all week. Getting there slowly. I want to add a necklace, a watch maybe, and then need to do the hair, texture the straps and fabrics.
Hopefully I’ll finish this this weekend. Not sure if I’ll color it or not.
Did a quick glock 17 (don’t know much about guns) by first positioning stuff in maya then using live booleans to cut. I did this mainly since ZModeler’s bevels are weird, and it helps to be able to create n-gons when making hard-surface machine cuts.
I think you model Dwayne with a picture that has lens distortion. So your result is a bit wrong for the head shape. You should shae a unperspective front and side view so we can confirm
@Scote Thank you for the feedback! 
Yes I’ve been confused about how to approach the variety of lens distortion in references, and consolidating it with the perspective in ZBrush.
My general understanding is that most portraiture (including celebrity photo shoots) is done in 35 mm, so I set the angle of view in ZBrush to 35, instead of the default 50. Is it more common to sculpt without perspective at all? I would imagine this to be difficult unless you have reference images taken specifically for your sculpt.
Either way, here are the renders you requested, along some of my references. I appreciate people’s help in the matter!
Also, some more progress. I added some coloring to make it more interesting. The fibermesh on the beard is a bit pathetic, so I’ll rework that a bit tomorrow. I need to add some stitches to the tank top and pants, and then pose it. I did a quick pose earlier today but the model’s leg got really badly messed up, so I’ll have to refresh my memory of ZSphere rigging.
Actually 50 angle of view doesnt equal the Maya angle of view. I found that article years ago about the good way to set my stuff based on ref pictures. Have a look
That’s help me a lot to understand it
As for the rest of the body… You missing a bit of neck length and your head is still not big enough
