I found some cool tutorials for anyone interested in learning zBrush or who might want a better tool (method) for doing your sculpting.
This is a fundamental help - http://www.pixologic.com/docs/index.php/Tutorial:_Sculpting_A_Skull
This instructor is very good (name is Jason Welsh) - http://www.3dtotal.com/tutorials/zbrush_training_lesson2/ (go to the bottom of the page to download the movie)
To create a better tool to use in zBrush, you can either follow Jason's tutorial - http://www.vtc.com/products/PixologicZBrush31/3DTools/71808 and / or download the attached file to create the macro.
He also has a site, where you can find more free and inexpensive tutorials - http://www.jasonwelsh.com
That skull tutorial looks good. I'm studying anatomy and that will be useful as I start to bring into 3D.
Those Jason Welsh tutorials are really good. I've been through dozens of them. They are good because you feel like you are just looking over someones shoulders watching them use the app including all their mistakes. Too many tutorials are clinical and boring.
However, I wont be using ZBrush. I plan on using 3D Coat.
Will look at that tutorial but I'll probably be working backwards i.e. voxel sculpting the skull first then worrying about topology.
I think I still have all his tutorials. Masses of them but this was when he was posting them on the ZBrush forum for free. Seems he is now charging.
There is one thing that I can't stress enough here. I just checked out Jason's skull and it's not proportionally accurate for an adult skull. The tutorial will no doubt be very good as his other are but I have found that learning the shapes of bones, all the muscles etc is the easy bit. The difficult it is proportion. You have to work on this more to get things looking right. I'm slowly developing some Inkscape vector drawings with systems of proportion. When I'm finished I'll show you them.
Please post what you finish or are working to finish. Sounds interesting.
I'm pretty sure Jason says something about form and then style, whereas form is accuracy in shape and style is some apparent artistic license. I like his way of doing tutorials because it doesn't put me to sleep and I have actually learned from him. He's a good teacher.
He is a really good teacher.
As for all this proportions thing. It's tricky because nobody has the same proportions. Something that looks right may not be a common proportion. For example a figure that is 8 heads high looks good but only very tall people would have this proportion.
This is a WIP of a full figure. Look at how this all fits into the grid and you'll see how difficult it is to work this all out and remember it. Things may be wrong and may get changed. This is still a WIP. I have further detailed adjustments to make like around the rib cage and head area. These lines and shapes will provide an initial line drawing that I can draw from any angle then I start on the detail. I'm working on a system where I can imagine the whole thing in 3D. I'll build on this further - bones muscles etc go in but that is easier because those just join in to these proportion points then it all looks correct even if just an ideal. I've got the full basics of the skull worked out now and I can move this around in 3D as I draw because I have the basic scales and shapes in my head.
(http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/5831/proportionwip.jpg)
Good idea. Thanks for letting me see your graphs...these are yours, right? I think this is one way to go - drawing, then molding around that using a plane and then sculpting the details next. Are you going to do the work in 3DCoat?
Yes I did these. Once I get into muscles and bones I will not create diagrams like this. They are just reference structure that the rest will hinge on. I will draw by hand but from different perspectives then hopefully into 3D coat. It's important to think 3D and not just flat drawings or at least drawings from just side front etc. It's based on a system from these videos:
http://the-structure-of-man.blogspot.com/
Don't let this amateur looking site and that talking woman put you off though. These videos are great but the guy confuses you a bit. He says 2/3 up when he means 2/3 down etc etc and he seems to repeat stuff. I'm developing the proportions and everything else from these videos and other sources. However, like Jason Welsh, this Riven Phoenix guy is a good teacher. The videos are not boring. This is really crucial. So many tutorials are simply to dull to endure. It's important to understand that this guy is not showing you how to draw but showing you proportions and anatomy. He emphasizes the point that you must invent from your mind. This is because the human mind remembers what it invents. The fact that the end result looks like a human form is almost a byproduct of the process he teaches you.
I also have this book:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Artistic-Anatomy-Practical-Art-Books/dp/0823002977
Which is also great but obviously the net is full of stuff.
I think one problem with some tutorials is that the people are too tied into the company producing the app. For example, once you watch Jason Welsh you will also find out the ZBrush problems.
Thanks for the resources. I found something on the human anatomy the other day on zBrushCentral. I'll try to find it and post it here.
Another reason for liking Jason - he tells it like it is. zBrush isn't perfect. It's pretty handy, though. :D
I found this in zBrushCentral - http://www.reybustos.com/, which is cool (beware - some nudity) and I'm searching to find the other link. It looked pretty useful, so I want to find it again.
Well if you really want to learn to draw the human form may I suggest that you got to anatomy school and learn the science of human dissection; then when you draw you life models you be able form you studies of cadavers to see you model form the inside out, and no the other way around. I would further suggest that anatomy texts only show so much and do in no way seeing and touching the real thing (I never have) this then is the only true way for the student artist to say without been untruthful to his pear's that he fully has a mastery and full understanding technical knowledge of the human form and its structures. ;D
Regards to you.
Cyber-Angel
http://www.freedomofteach.com/products/dvds/dvd_human_head_skull
This is the site I was talking about and this is the front of the site - http://www.freedomofteach.com/choose_site.php
When I was at college some people actually did this - went and drew real body parts dissected.
Some people argue that knowing anatomy does not help drawing when you draw from life because you draw what you know rather than what you see but I say both ways are helpful and if you need to draw from your mind you need a system.
How could someone draw something from real life they don't know?
efflux (or anyone), have you heard or used or even seen this? - http://the-structure-of-man.blogspot.com/ Looks interesting.