Trip Down Memory Lane

So this is going to be a reasonably long post with as many various print screens as I could possibly take. I will talk about the tools and methods I used, so let us begin!

This is the base mesh I used. Just the standard 'Athletic Male' model found in the 4R4 Zbrush packages and above.

I sculpted out the base muscle tone using the 'Clay Build-Up' brush with a default Square Alpha. Using a graphics tablet to lay down square strands of clay gives a really nice muscular texture which can then be smoothed out using the smooth tool to replicate the skin. I used reference for muscle placement but avoided replicating the exact muscle, in attempt to keep it closer to my design.

The exact same thing was done for the back using Clay Build-Up with a square alpha, using reference for muscle the muscle. I tried to keep the muscle size to a minimal but keep the definition.

I sculpted out the face using a combination of Move, Standard, and Smooth tools. I put the most emphasis on the nose and jaw to try create a realistic native look.

I later made the chin / jaw area a little wider as I felt the face was a little too triangular in the lower half (This was done with a lot of pushing and pulling with Move and enabled Symmetry)

I masked off the legs and extracted a thin layer for the pants.

I then used the Standard brush to create folds and wrinkles as well as some minor detail around the waste band and the legs.

I made a small mask around the neck which I extracted to make the string for my necklace. I used the Inflat and Smooth tools to get a rounded finish.

The basic shapes of my charm were made in Maya using simple poly shapes, before exporting as '.obj's into Zbrush, then I used the radial symmetry option to decorate the clasp of the charm, and using a random scattered Alpha to shape the stone to look unusual.

The sash was done with the exact same technique as the bottoms with a simple extraction and standard brush to create the creases.

The band was done with an extraction and the leathery texture was applied with Clay Tubes and the use of a Leather Alpha. I then trimmed the tops with a custom alpha using the radial symmetry to look like stitching.

I used the technique I discovered when making the clasp to create a patterned coin to replace the gold coins I had in the original design.

However the coin turned out to be too big to fit in the way I had originally planned so I used multiple coins at different sizes with a few minor details to make 2 sets of strands I could place between the bands that would allow a more flexible realistic accessory shown below.

(Easily my most favoured part of the model)

The hair also differs from my original design purely based on the difficulty I was having with it. I've identified hair as my weakest section when modelling a human character and will make that my priority in future practise. As for the method, I masked of a strip for the mohawk and pulled up sections with the snakehook tool, then I used a combination of add and subtract with a fine brush size using the standard brush to create strands in the direction of the hairs growth.