As always - truly inspiring and humbling work
Stunning! 
thanks for the info! again, amazing work. Keep it up. I’ll have to get myself a laptop to do this too! thanks for the inspiration!
Superior work.
hey jeremy engleman…this work is very cool…very nice Rendering…i`m waiting for setup lights and shaders tutorial 
…Thank U !!!..
//infact rendering in MAYA is a topic that i cant find a explained source…gnomon`s rendering (yours) is very basic…materials and shaders are very important…for 3d max, xsi , C4d you can find a lot…
materials like bone…flesh…tongue…heart…and some others…GOOD LUCK !
…in colors
Truly beautiful work. The skin tones are nothing short of perfection!!!
Wow, amazing job, very nice
Very real, congrats
SHEESH.
This seems just toooo amazing to be true… OK, on further reading, you say its not one of the 3 hr ones…
I can go along with the 3 hrs on the other examples… yes, ZB is fast, buuuuuut…
You rough out the model in 1.5 hrs, paint, light, and drape the model in another 0.5-1.0 hrs, model the environ at the break and…a.an.and render on the return home? I like to think I’m fast, but this is Parting the Red Sea sorta stuff.
WHATEVER the workflow, the results are what is the most important, of course, and this is truly masterful. Astounding!! Is the Secret in the beta? HA!
That halting “tug” you feel at your ankle? Its a long line of students making sure you reveal The Secret.
All the Best on your new Family addition! Go Get some sleep!
That’s about right. And the secret isn’t in the beta. I only got on the beta program a while ago, and I’ve been doing these for years. Plus you have to be connected to the internet to use the beta. Though there is a lot of functionality in the beta I can’t wait to use at the live model sessions.
There’s no trick, I just rough out with zspheres and model from there. Maybe the first 10 times you do it it will come out crappy. No, it’s just practice practice practice. Just like anything.
If there’s anyone in the LA area who wants to get together and hire a model, we can have us a little workshop.
So you did do this in 3 hours? I would go with you, but I’m not in LA yet. I love figure drawing. I will probably end up in California or Canada.
Heavens no! The three hour studies are quick sketches. This image is based off of them and probably took 15-18 hours from start to finish.
-J.
Very nice – hadn’t entered my mind to go with a raytracer and 8 lights to show painterly effects! hmm… methinks ZB could accomplish a gessoed or impasto look for such a rig. Inspiring method; thanks for posting the progs.
=dp
Nothing to say but inspiring. It doesnt look 3d at all. 
Jeremy,
As I mentioned, you do astounding work-- some of the best I’ve seen anywhere!!
And so Artistic-Me finds this painting to be very satisfying.
Medical-Me, on the other hand, has an issue.
May I offer a minor critique-- my intention is to understand more than to be understood… as I have limited understanding of contemporary 3D my experience is over a decade old) and its [new, broadened] uses and practise.
This one concern I have-- why are the eyes hazy?
This concern is probably generated only because I have spent many years illustrating eye pathology (diseases) and surgery. See http://Medical-illustration.com
Any hazing of the cornea [the clear covering over the iris] makes Medical-Me recoil, since it may denote either:
A. an irregular surface for limited reflection
B. a disease requiring transplant.
Sure, This could be explained by a decreased contrast at distance, or a large, diffuse reflection (perhaps of the background), or simply artistic license. As a matter of fact, similar effects are seen in many if not most 3D renderings of eyes— is there a perceived need for enhanced knowledge in this area? … or at least an awareness by the community [of animators as well as illustrators]?
Here’s a movie link to describe what I mean on top of your lovely painting:
http://medical-illustration.com/Clients/EyeREVISED4IRanim2.mov
I look forward to seeing more of your mind-bending works!
and I hope this minor-crit is of some use to the community.
All the Best to You,
I think sometimes, we tend to overrender things when dealing with realistic images and things become too clear and stark.
I think the crit Art4med gave is a valueable one, but maybe not for this image. I think if the change was made to the eyes, they wouldn’t be as subtle as they are now. The misty quality is what seems to unify it with the face and the rest of the color palate. This does, after all, have a painterly feel to it. If the eyes became clear as what someone may normally render, they could overpower the rest of the face. Just my 2 cents.
I’m in no way discrediting art4med’s opinion or expertise, but I don’t see the haze on the eyes. They look incredible to me. Maybe because of art4med’s experience, he/she can spot it right away. Kind of like recognizing jaundice in a person when others don’t notice it.
Anyway, I’m in love with this portrait. Best of luck in everything.
it’s beautiful! the skin is so lively…
amazing ! in three hours!
Thank you so much for posting all that information Jeremy. What an incredible resource for us beginners, to have some of the best in the biz taking the time to make jpgs and write posts for our benefit. I hafta admit that a goodly portion of the information is beyond me, but thats the best way to learn in my book. As I’ve said before, this is the way great art movements begin, with artists helping and talking with each other. If I was in LA instead of Australia I would jump on your offer of sharing a model. No better way to improve your work, and increase your speed, no matter what your medium, than working from life. It also greatly enhances your appreciation of line, the most important element of drafting, and something too often missing from digital art. The wife & I used to go every week, but then we never saw anyone with a laptop! Great idea! You’d have to be pretty handy with ZSpheres, but that wouldnt pose a problem (pardon the pun) for most here.
Thanks again Jeremy, I hope this work is the subject of a DVD. I’ll buy it in a heartbeat!