Anatomy & Character Sculpture: Final Project
Ameera Rihana binti Remy Ansara
Bachelor of (hons) in creative media
Final Project: Polishing and Dynamic Posture with props
INSTRUCTIONS
Final Project: Polishing and Dynamic Posture with props
Recap
Students will synthesise the knowledge gained in task 1, 2 and 3 for application in task 4. Students will create a full-blown character sculpture with addition of props, texture, complex details, material addition, hair etc in their final rendered turntable (continuation of task 3). Final output should be 3D printed and character bible to be created as A4.pdf format.
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Digitization Process
Adding accessories & Garment
After making further refinements for the dress, I added a wide belt wrapped around her waist. I used the same technique by masking and extracting thus adding subtools to make it more dynamic. I added some sharp lines using the dam standard brush for extra details.
Fig 1.0 Adding belt
After making the belt, I added another garment hanging in front of the dress by adding a subtool. With the same technique, I tried to get the proportion correctly and add further details to it after zremeshing. I added some folds to it as well to make it more realistic.
After that, I put some spiritual symbols onto the garment based on the sketches
Fig 1.1Symbols and garment
Fig 1.2 Sandals
I made a big necklace to accessorize her neck. I added spheres to act as pearls and sculpted a miniature bone tooth I used mirror and weld as well to duplicate them.
Fig 1.4 Deformation (twist & inflate)
Fig 1.5 Bend Curve tool
I made multiple copies of the rope before using the bend curve and used it on the waist as well like an extra layer of belt.
Fig 1.5 Rope belt
This is because the rope act as a hanging tool for the character to hang her water satchel. I sculpted it with another subtool and adding details.
Fig 1.7 Rope tutorial
Color & Painting
I adjusted the color of the skin by making it slightly darker. After that, I started to add more details to the face by adding eyelashes and eyebrows, painting the lips red and a tint of redness into the skin to make it less flat. Since the character is spiritual, I wanted to make it looked mysterious so I made the pupils a slightly darker shade of whites and greys,
I adjusted the color of the skin by making it slightly darker. After that, I started to add more details to the face by adding eyelashes and eyebrows, painting the lips red and a tint of redness into the skin to make it less flat. Since the character is spiritual, I wanted to make it looked mysterious so I made the pupils a slightly darker shade of whites and greys,
Fig 1.8 Face Color
As for the hair, I added some highlights to make it look shiny.
Fig 1.9 Hair highlights
I also added some shades of yellow to the dress so that the dress does not look pristine.
Fig 1.9 Dress color
Overall, I did the same as well to other parts of the accessories and the skin of the character.
Fig 1.9 Color overall
Adding material
For certain parts of the outfit, I used the leather material for shoes, belts and etc. For the rest I mostly used mat cap white. I tried to make sure the M mode is turned on instead of RGB.
Fig 2.0 adding material
Fig 2.1.5 colors and materials
Exporting
During the exporting phase, I opened the render tab and used BPR RenderPass for lights and shadows. Then, I picked the template with a dark background of my own choice.
Fig 2.1 exporting
Turntable Movie
To make a short video to turn a character, I opened the movie tab and played with the properties. I clicked the turntable so that it spins twice, reducing the overlay image and the title image to 0.
Fig 2.2 Turntable
Poster Making
As for the poster making, I exported the character to full white and made simple edits to the background in Photoshop. I added a floor underneath the character and some shadows for blending. After that, I added gradient and changed the blending mode to color burn. For the final touch, I added her name at the bottom.
Fig 2.3 Poster in Photoshop
Final Outcome
Final Compilation : Final Project, PDF
Final Turntable, MP4
Final Poster (Anita), JPEG
REFLECTION
Experience: Overall, I think this class has been a splendid experience. Working on my final project in ZBrush was both exciting and challenging. From the start, I had to push myself to think not only about the technical side of sculpting but also about how to give my model life and personality. The process involved a lot of trial and error from blocking out the basic shapes, refining the anatomy, to detailing the surface so it felt believable. At times, I found myself going back several steps to fix proportions or adjust design choices, but each revision taught me something new about patience and problem‑solving in 3D sculpting.
Observation: I noticed how important it is to get the base proportions right early on. Small mistakes at the beginning tend to become much harder to fix later, especially when detailing. I also observed that working in stages starting from low‑resolution sculpting and gradually increasing the mesh density helped keep the process cleaner and more manageable.
Findings: Through this project, I discovered that sculpting is as much about observation as it is about technique. Understanding how forms flow, how muscles connect, and how details follow the natural structure makes a huge difference in realism. This final project reinforced my understanding of anatomy, improved my efficiency in sculpting, and built my confidence to take on more complex models in the future.
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