Anatomy and Character Sculpture

 

27 April 2024- 3 July 2024

NABIL JULIUS DORN (037978)

(SUBJECT) | Bachelor of Design in Creative Media | Taylor's University

Task 1: TITLE

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List

• INSTRUCTIONS
• EXERCISE
• TASK 1
• TASK 2
• TASK 3
• REFLECTION
• FURTHER READING

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INSTRUCTIONS

This is the Module Information Booklet for this module: 

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EXERCISE

Fundamentals of Anatomy and Digital Sculpting

Instructions:

In these exercises series you are to produce outputs (digital drawings and sculpting test) that demonstrates the understanding of anatomy. You will have to produce out as listed below:

Character deconstruction:

Bear with me I dont normally draw at all so this is very new to me :c

Fig 1 Model Deconstructed_1

Fig 2 Model Deconstructed_2

Fig 3 Model Deconstructed_3

Fig 4 Model Deconstructed_4

Skeletal Studies (Human)

Head Studies (Sketch and Sculpt)

Muscle Studies (Sketch and Sculpt)

Hands (Sketch and Sculpt)

Feet (Sketch and Sculpt)

Facial Expression (Sketch and Sculpt)

FINAL SUBMISSION EXERCISES:

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TASK 1

Instructions:

You are to utilize your character design to create a stylized character block-out where you have to demonstrate anatomy studies applied in your digital sculpting. Characters can be human, any form of biped creatures or hybrid, or quadrupeds. Sculpture should capture as the listed components below:

- Proportion

- Character identity and believability (key features)

- Theme

- Readable silhouette

- Identical Landmarks

- Initiated Style

- Muscle Flow

This is the initial sculpt made from weeks 2 to around week 4

W2:

Feedback: Dont start your character sculpt with a pose already as itll be hard to create the muscle forms later on during the detailing.

W3:

Feedback: Muscle connections to bone dont really line up. Muscle proportions arent correct either.

W4:

Feedback: Muscle connections are better but try bending your creatures legs a little to make it more creature like and less humanoid. Refer to quadrupedal animals.

W5: 

Feedback: The legs are too near to each other. Give it a wider stance

Feedback: Where are the hands? Form is better. Add more detail.

I decided to make my creature thinner and less bulky as my concept was for this creature to be able to glide like a flying fox.

Through Mr Kannans feedback, I managed to fix and refine the muscle sculptures and posture of the creature sculpt. I had a lot of issues figuring out the muscle connections and making it look correct but was happy for the final outcome of this task.

Final A-pose creature turnaround:

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TASK 2

Instructions:

You are to continue with the previous sculpt from Project 1 to further enhancement. You may add sufficient details and textures to the character sculpt by utiliziing thorough studies of anatomy principles in your sculpt. Details should uplift the character persona which will add visual narrative to the output produced. Below are the list of components to be achieved in this project:

Mr. Kannan mentioned I could start posing my character and adding skin details.

Here are the initial details before proceeding with posing the character

W6:

Feedback: Detail looks good. Can proceed with posing and adding other details.

Initial pose:

Feedback: Character pose could be more dynamic. Looks too stiff and doesnt look interesting enough from different angles. Try exaggerating the pose and look for references of other similar sculptures and characters made.

Found a pose reference I liked

I went ahead and did a similar pose to this (LINK)

- Character Persona

Realised that the detailing from the initial task was redundant as id need to fix a lot after posing the character. However, I didnt mind it as I found learning anatomy and sculpting to be a lot of fun.

After finalising the pose and refining the muscles again, I retopologised the model using polygrounds to guide and ensure the retopology followed the flow as best as possible

- Skin Details

- Scars and bumps

- Creases

After texturing and detailing, I exported all the necessary maps. I then brought it into Blender for texturing.

- Color implementation

- Light setup

As for the character design, I was inspired by Black Myth: WuKong. I added some hair to give it more detail as well as some accessories.

- FINAL RENDER

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TASK 3

Instructions:

You are to finally polish your character, Cleanup and retouch your sculpt accordingly with an appealing posture that represents character personality clearly. Character to have props that will further support characters persona and adds visual narrative of its nature. Sculpture should stand on a platform and retopoed. Lighting to be further enhanced and final renders to then be retouched in photoshop or ad digital painting tool. Below are the required breakdowns list:

Collective shots rendered to show components in details

- Final render to be polished and presented on a potrait sized image. Printable high res.

- Final poster with appealing layout.

- Baked texture sheet

- Projection to low-poly model

- Character turntable

I turned to ChatGPT for a nice name to give my creature and I really liked Rai'Vahn as it seems very mythical and ancient. 

According to ChatGPT this is the description of the name provided:

"Rai" suggests lightning or energy (in Japanese, 雷 = “rai” = thunder)

"Vahn" adds a regal or ancient tone, evoking names like “Khan” or “Vaanar”

Final PDF submission:

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REFLECTIONS

I thoroughly enjoyed this module as it was new to me. Ive always wanted to learn character sculpture and found many many character sculpture artists inspiring prior to this such as JHill.

I also really appreciated Mr. Kannans feedback as well as his determination to push me to do the best during this module. His method of pushing my creative problem solving and thinking has made me a better and more knowledgable 3D artist as a whole.

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FURTHER READING

I studied the E-books provided religiously, especially Anatomy for Sculptors.