The Character Portrait: Sculpting the Alien Mystic - ZBrush Creature Design: Creating Dynamic Concept Imagery for Film and Games - page 63

Throughout this topic we will be creating a variety of different kinds of characters and creatures. As men-
tioned in Chapter 1, it is of paramount importance to always have a reference. A professor of mine in col-
lege, Paul Hudson, explained the need for reference well. He said, “Never lie. A viewer can tell when you
are lying and making up details with no reference, and they will judge the work harshly for it.”
Keep a reference folder of images from the Internet: people, faces, animals, textures—any interesting
thing that you can file away for future use. When you are working on a face or body part, having a reference
can be the difference between a plain and uninspiring sculpture and a really interesting shape that has details
in flesh and weight that you just wouldn't have considered without that photo reference.
I recommende 3d.sk as a fantastic reference source. The 3d.sk site and its sister sites are the largest col-
lection of photo references for artists on the Internet. I highly recommend a membership for any artist pro-
fessional or student. The easy access to high-resolution reference imagery will improve your work immedi-
ately. Less time seeking out good references means more time you can spend using them. Figures 2-2 and
2-3 show prime examples of available imagery.
Figure 2-2: These human figures were downloaded from the exceptional reference site 3d.sk and its sister
site photo-reference-for-comic-artists.com.
© Peter Levius www.3D.sk