Reply To: BC1-1808 Homework, Aaron Rudderham

@thecabbagedetective Hey man don’t be too disheartened, I don’t think it’s an easy thing and it can be difficult to get your head around using brushes on mesh rather than moving verts. The other aspect is that anatomy has a  huge role to play with this sort of thing. The course teaches sculpting but not anatomy and anatomy is a huuuuuuuuuge part of getting something to look correct and to top it off anatomy is a really complex subject, imo particularly for an animal. We see human anatomy all the time, we can feel our own bodies (oh dear) and figure it out. Human anatomy is hard enough but animals are next level.  I used to think that anatomy didn’t matter for fantasy creatures and imaginary things but that was dead wrong too.

That being said a lot of what you know of human anatomy can be transferred to animals. For example, those shoulders that you are not happy with seem to be coming directly out of the side. In reality they are more like caps. Think of putting  a cap on the corner of the torso and then wrapping it around the back and up the neck (the traps).

 First thing I think  you should try is to just scrape some volume off the shoulders. Don’t use the grab tool or snake tool too much anymore. It appears like you have been using them a lot and while they have their uses they also have their limitations.  Instead use the clay stripes brush inverted an scrape off some shoulder volume, then add some clay strips flowing from the back of the shoulders onto the back and up the neck. As you do this you should also be smoothing as you go to get rid of jagged edges. I know bears don’t have a whole lot of definition in their muscles due to loose skin, fur etc. but it may be worth also grabbing the crease brush and lighting putting in creases where some of the muscles are more defined. You can always smooth them later but it will give you a better idea of the form you are going for. 

Anyway good luck. 

P.S. Are you using a mouse or tablet? I know a lot of people say it’s ‘OK’ if you only have a mouse… I understand why people say this, yes its possible to sculpt with a mouse and most people are too scared to say “go spend some money on a tablet”. However,  I honestly believe that if you want to have a fair go at sculpting without being frustrated out of your mind you need a tablet. I know it’s taboo to say that sort of thing but honestly getting a tablet was one of the best things I ever did. It’s enabling and allows you to skip much frustration. If you already have a tablet then feel free to ignore this entire paragraph! 🙂

P.S.S. Did you start with a sphere? 

P.S.S.S. I think the form is actually good and mostly there if you change the shoulders a bit. He looks like he’s standing properly and his weight seems to be centred. Might be time to leave the overall form as it is and go down to the next level of detail blocking in the smaller shapes.