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Okay i have really wanted to do a tutorial since i started doing some sculpting recently. The goal of this tutorial is to inspire you guys to create from scratch, no Modding of existing models just pure creativity. Pretty ambitious huh?

I can't currently upload any pics of my WIPs for a couple days but that doesnt mean we can't first tackle some basics. This is probably a good thing as there are many brilliant sculpting tutorials out there and there isnt much i can add when it comes to the craft. Where my skills lie (and where i can hopefully help!) is far more in the creative/conceptual side of things.

The first thing to master when drafting for a mini sculpt is drawing a human form. Something you have to embrace with this is 'instinct', a human being innately knows when something is out of proportion or unusual, the good thing about this is you can train it to become second nature.

So lets start with a stickman:



The obvious thing that is wrong is his neck, far too long. Also his torso is too long which is a mistake even PRO sculpters make. So lets dev this.



A quick tip that is displayed here is to draw your developments side by side when possible. Think of it as the evolution of man. Another quick tip is to draw small, these pics are only about 4 cm tall, if nothing else it saves paper but i find it is easier to control.

I haven't done any measurement when correcting the stickman, i have used my trained 'instinct' to end up with a figure that looks 'right'. It is a bit of a cliche but if in doubt return to Da vinci's 'Vitruvian man', although it is exaggerated for conveniances sake it is a very useful diagram. The ONLY way to train your 'eye for proportion' is to doodle constantly, i sincerely advise against using diagrams or measurement to arrive at the correct proportions, always try and refine by eye.

Muscles:
Okay, now for the next stage; giving our stickman some bulk. My technique is just Ovals (elipses). They are the shape closest to muscles (refining the shapes will be talked about more in the sculpting part). So lets try turning our stickman in to an athletic male.



An important thing to note is where the hand ends in relation to the body, this is very important as we will see later.
EDIT: I apologise, he forearm is ever so slighly off. I is a tiny bit too long,



Another quick note is don't go overboard on pecs and Abs, your average Hardened warrior ain't gonna have time to sculpt his muscles or show off in a posing pouch. Regardless, the two ovals on his tummy are where his abs would be, two wider abs under his pectorals and 4 narrower ones below in the lower oval.

MUTANTS!

Okay now to further develop our man into a freak. Apart from enlarging the muscles/shortening/lengthening there is one other important difference, the torso.



Clockwise from left: A normal Human. A 'post human warrior' and a brute/ork/ogre.

So lets apply these (forgive the slightly more 'sketch' quality of the pics)



Remember how i said where the hands end is very important? Here we see why, every one of these guy's arm ends around midway up their thigh, even though they are mutants it is important they show some consistancy and 'grounding'.

A quick note; a difficult aspect of mutants i find is in the calf/foot. I will not try and explain and merely post this pic to explain.



Clockwise from left Normal, 'Post human warrior' and 'Abhuman brute'.

QUADRAPEDS and SATYRS/GOAT/DEVILMEN

Quadrapeds in some ways are far easier, we do not have (as bipeds) such an instinct for fugly proportion. You can get away with 'Rule of cool' here. Just thought i'd give a quick demo though. Again eaiser if you just look at the pics lol.





Okay as you can see i am no artist but i just whipped these up from scratch and these are perfectly servicable as concepts.

Stay tuned for part 2 when i try and demonstrate posing and motion.

Wow. This is really interesting. Definitely subscribed for further goodness.

Nice one! Like where your going with this. It's a real nice breakdown. I totally agree with it and lol'd a bit at your X over the groin

Your drawings are clear &to the point, Give yourself some credit, You are an artist

Cant wait to see the results and hope people get creative

Very nice guide, subscribed.

Good treatment of the subject, very nice! Lookin forward to more. The quadrupedal legs are certainly something a lot of people don't quite seem to get.

i will keep a close watch on this subject...i regretted ever since my lack for real sketching abilities...this will come in handy...

good work perkustin and don´t humble yourself for stating that you are no artist!^^


vik

Very interesting so far, I will be glued to this Tutorial. Keep it up!

Very nice so far. Will definately be watching this thread

Very nice! I tried my hand at sculpting from scratch and made a fair attempt of maintaing proportions, although the length of the left foot made it look absolutely mutant-ish.
I'm definitely following this!

Oo this has the makings of a very interesing read. i cant wait for it to continue

This is a very interesting tutorial!
Looking forward to the next part

This is a really neat thread.

For someone like myself who doesnt have an artistic bone in his body the tutorial helps to understand basic concepts of form/drawing/shaping of human bodies. Something that has always elluded my understanding.