Sculpting The Base Mesh
When detailing and sculpting upon the base mesh, I used a variety of tools that have used previously. Largely, when adding mass to the model and manipulating the model's form, I used the Clay Buildup and Clay brushes, with Damn Standard and Pinch being used to add creases and folds into the forms. Additionally, I heavily used the smoothing brush and mask tool to alter different aspects of the model whilst protecting others.
When creating the fabric of the tunic, I created a new subtool - a plane - that I could then extrude and sculpt upon. Similarly, I used IMMs to create the spheres atop the lip of the tunic, and on the sides at the edge of the waist pieces. The entire sculpting process was largely a continuation of the skills that I used in the prior character creation module, but with the context of its material changed, being something of a skin-tight metallic substance as opposed to gaunt musculature. As such, when sculpting the forms on the body, the depth of the creases is not as stark as that on the previously sculpted alien character. I also used the Smoothing tool to mellow out the shapes between protruding edges, such as in the breast and shoulder, giving the armour a more organic look that nonetheless seems different from standard musculature or smooth skin.
When sculpting the model I used the symmetry functionality at all times. Not only is this because the design is symmetrical, but also because the symmetry function could then be used during the retopology phase of the process, which is generally the standard and also makes it so that accuracy can be maintained in the flow of geometry across the shape.
When creating the face, I used the Zremesher to add geometry, creating more faces and vertices that could be manipulated throughout the sculpting process I built up the mass of the nose and created sockets for the eyes, then created IMM subtools for the eyes themselves. In keeping with human antomy, these spheres were slightly larger than the socket themselves with roughly one eye of space between them, though this was overshot and required reworking. I found the sculpting of the face and eyes to then be quite difficult, as I was not happy with the resolution of the sculpt. I also found that the eyes seemed too small, with the eyelids too puffy around them. This required continued modification throughout the modelling process.
When sculpting the hair, I brought it out as an extract mesh on the scalp and nape. From there I used the Clay buildup tool to add creases and flow to the hair. Though this does give the impression of the hair being ne mass, I do not necessarily think this is a bad thing, as it is consistent with the artwork I completed in the initial design.
During this process, the only major issue I encountered concerned the hands. During the initial sculpting process, when I imported the base blender mesh into ZBrush, I dynameshed the tool in order to add geometry and seal holes that had been imported from the blender model. This had inadvertently sealed the gaps between the fingers, which I was unaware of until I came to sculpt the hands. As such, I could not undo the sealing process, and instead worked to graft small divots and creases into the hand, granting the impression of fingers. I also worked to add mass to the palm and knuckles.
Feedback indicated that some areas of the sculpt were difficult to ascertain the material of: though it was understood that the clothing the character wears is skintight, the flow of this material to the skin is not telegraphed. As such, I added cuffs at the wrists and neck to show where the seams in the clothing sat and where the material transitioned to skin. I also went back and reworked the face and eyes, as I was not happy with their proportioning.
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