Anatomy & Character Sculpture: Fundamentals of Anatomy and Digital Sculpting

29/08/2022 - 11/12/2022 (Week 1 - Week 15)
Evaleez Voo Lian Yun / 0350275 
Anatomy & Character Sculpture/ Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Fundamentals of Anatomy and Digital Sculpting

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Instructions

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Task 

Skeletal Studies

For this exercise, we were told to study how the human skeleton looked, this way, we would be able to create blockouts with their shape in mind. Besides that, we also learned how bones are structured to protect our organs thus creating landmarks on our body. I found the skull sketching exrecises to be quite intriguing as I never thought our head had so many holes and dents in them. 

Fig 1.0 Skeletal Studies (Sketch)

Fig 1.1 Skeletal Studies (Sketch)

Fig 1.2 Skeletal Studies (Sketch)

Fig 1.3 Skeletal Studies (Sketch)

Fig 1.4 Skeletal Studies (Sketch)

Head Studies

For head studies, I tried to sketch out the human head in different angles. The purpose of this was ot see how the porpotions of the face would change according to the angle it is drawn. For example, when a person looks up, the corners of their mouth is higher than the bottom of their ear, vice versa. Moreover, I also attempted the model the faces with Zbrush. Whilst doing that, I noticed I was pretty bad at making facial features so I did more exercises on the eyes and mouth. 

Fig 1.5 Head Studies (Sketch)

Fig 1.6 Head Studies (Sketch)

Fig 1.7 Head Studies (Sculpt)

Fig 1.8 Head Studies (Sculpt)

Fig 1.9 Head Studies (Sculpt)

Fig 2.00 Head Studies (Sculpt)

Fig 2.1 Head Studies (Sculpt)

Fig 2.2 Head Studies (Sculpt)

Muscle Studies

After learning the fundatmentals of sketching and sculpting a face, we moved on with muscle studies. Here, I learned the placement of muscles on our body, accompanied by how our movement affects its contraction and relaxation. This was rather hard for me to understand because I don't have a lot of muscle and it was harder for me to physically feel what I was trying to make.

Fig 2.3 Muscle Studies (Sketch)

Fig 2.4 Muscle Studies (Sketch)

Fig 2.5 Muscle Studies (Sketch)

Hand Studies

Hands ahhh hands, what a wonderful thing. I've always loved drawing hands and this was indeed fun  to sketch and scultp. Not only that, I can also see and feel it in real life! 

Fig 2.6 Hand Studies (Sketch)

Fig 2.7 Hand Studies (Sketch)

Fig 2.8 Hand Studies (Sculpt)

Fig 2.9 Hand Studies (Sculpt)

Fig 3.0 Hand Studies (Sculpt)

Feet Studies

If you've been reading this entie blog, you may have encountered the statement where I said I like drawing hands. Well, the feet is the exact opposite. "What is feet? How do feet work? Why do feet look like that?" These were the thoughts running through my head the entire time. Even till now, I am still bad at sculpting feet. 

Fig 3.1 Feet Studies (Sketch)

Expression Studies

Expressions are fun! It brings your character to life whether they be crying, laughing, etc. One critical finding I learned from this study was how minor details may affect the perceived emotion of a character. For example, adding a line to make them look like they are scrunching their eyebrows.

Fig 3.2 Expression Studies (Sketch)

Fig 3.3 Expression Studies (Sketch)

Posture Studies

This exercise was rather fun. We ewere first thought to block out shapes from existing pictures. Afterwards, we had to understand hoe the shapes curve/ bend acoording to the angle and action.

Fig 3.4 Posture Studies (Sketch)

Fig 3.5 Posture Studies (Sketch)

Fig 3.6 Posture Studies (Sketch)

Fig 3.7 Posture Studies (Sketch)

Fig 3.8 Posture Studies (Sketch)

Fig 3.9 Posture Studies (Sketch)

Fig 4.0 Posture Studies (Sketch)

Fig 4.1 Posture Studies (Sketch)

Fig 4.2 Posture Studies (Sketch)

Fig 4.3 Posture Studies (Sculpt)

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Final Compilation

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Feedback

• Make sure to understand which part of the head dents in and which part protrudes out
• The legs are not fully straight, they neeed to be able to balance the body
• Understand how the shapes are moved according to the intersection points between them
• Hands look okay but try to sketch it in blocks instead of just plane
• The fingers connecting to the palm are not in a straight line
• The mouth does not have so much volume on the top
• Eyes, are not that big in humans, reduce the size of your eyes in the sculpt

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Reflection

Most of my thoughts are already written in each section above :> Overall these exercises were useful and I am grateful to have done that. Furthermore, the book, "Anatomy for Sculptors" is amazing. You would think something so practical could only be learned via trial and error but the book give you lots of tips and important notes