Lets just say me and Z-brush share a special bond initially I hated the programme a struggled with the interface but like any good marriage after time and tantrums we sorted ourselves out and I can openly admit I am Addicted to the programme.
Before initially wanting to become a Games Artist I was adamant I wanted to become a stop motion animator, I loved sculpting and character design, but after researching the field and becoming interested in Games specific art and C.G. art I decided to pursue Games Art as degree instead, though I struggled with computers I found through perseverance I enjoyed the cg method of working. When I got to grips with Z-Brush it rekindled my love of sculpture but embraced it alongside my new found passion for cg.
The head sculpt project ran alongside a environment project and as I was producing a western scene we had to produce a sculpt of famous person to fit in with our intended environment. Many people opted for the obvious Clint East wood and John Wayne western stars but I thought how could I push myself and also not produce something the same as anyone else. So I decided to Produce Django, from the Film Django Unchained, I loved the film and I loved Jamie Fox's performance.
Badass Cowboy and Should have won an Oscar Villain
Jamie Foxx Reference
There was one stand out image from the film that I wanted to replicate and aimed to try and successfully capture it as accurately as possible.
Loved this image and this was what I was aiming to replicate during the project
This project was a massive learning curve for me but I learned so much and spent a lot of time getting used to Z-brush. My method of working was to produce a primary head sculpt in Autodesk Maya.
This primary base model was then exported into Z-brush and that is where the fun began. A you can see the model wasn't as accurate as it needed to be and in hindsight I should have nailed the base mesh to better degree than what I did but I and in future I will ensure my base meshes are more accurate as this will save a a lot of time cleaning up within Z-brush. I unwrapped the mesh before taking it into z-brush and after learning the software I could have produced the model solely within in Z-brush and re-topologised it within another packages such and Topogun.
A quick video of the stages of the project
After altering the Base mesh and working on the proportions and features I went back and produced sculpts of the clothes and accessories
Once I was satisfied with the basic proportions I tried to replicate the lighting off my reference image. The lighting was quite difficult to produce accurately and had to hand paint the rim light effect in Photoshop.
The image in scene without Lighting
The image with enhanced lighting and test smoke
I tried but couldn't quite successfully replicate the lighting but I feel it still manages to replicate the desired effect. Once I was happy enough I tried to get the same sort of shot as the reference image. The first shot wasn't as successful as the second image i had to go and download some smoke effect brushes to try and replicate the cigar smoke.
Before
After
I am overall pleased with the final piece but I must admit after having learned some new techniques and tricks in z-brush I can go back and revisit this project and really try and push the the realism of it. I am happy that I managed to grasp z-brush and look forward to future projects in the programme, though when I look at this piece I know there are areas to improve on, for my first project I am proud of the outcome, yet I know where I can improve on.
I would like to complete this project as a full body sculpt and revisit and refine the problem areas.
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