Anatomy and Character Sculpture / Exercise & Projects

21/4/2025 - 30/7/2025/ Week 1 - Week 14

GUAN YAXIN / 0370687

Anatomy and Character Sculpture / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media

LECTURES&PROCESS

Week 1

In the first week of class, Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN introduced this course to us and explained some requirements about modeling. In the second week, we will officially start learning how to model.

To tell the truth, this course is a little difficult for me, because I need to be exposed to a new software and use it skillfully, and there is a lot of knowledge explained by the teacher in class, so I may not be able to accept and master them quickly. Fortunately, Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN has prepared a screen recording in class so that we can watch it repeatedly.

Week 2

For this week's task, we need to draw some sketches of people to strengthen our understanding of the human body. Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN said that if we design female characters, we should choose female photos for reference, and vice versa. I haven't defined the characters I designed, so I chose different male and female photo references and sketched them.

When modeling, I found that there seemed to be some problems with the software version I downloaded, and some functions seemed to be unable to be used normally, so I had to uninstall the original version and download another one again. At this stage, I first learned some basic knowledge of software use, and tried to draw with different brushes in the software to understand their uses and effects. To be honest, modeling is difficult for me, and my adaptability is not very strong. It's my first time to contact modeling software, and I feel a little nervous and laborious when using it, but I know I must overcome these difficulties.

Week 3

In the course of the third week, Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN further explained the structure of the human body for us. If we model the human body, we must understand the anchor points of bones, the structure of muscles, etc. The starting point of drawing a character should be to determine the anchor points and the basic structure first, and the core of the anatomical foundation is the proportion and scale of the character, so we should first make them clear and maintain consistency. In general, the normal proportion of men is about eight heads high, while the normal proportion of women is about seven heads high. For beginners, they often make some mistakes, for example, they may practice muscles first, but this is not correct. If you can't determine the fulcrum and skeleton of the human body, you can't make good use of muscle exercises, so you should draw the skeleton first and then add muscles to the skeleton, which is more efficient. When practicing human body drawing, we can express the structure of human body by drawing simple geometric figures or blocks, and mark the connection points and rotation points to clarify the links and changes between different parts.

The skeleton structure of human body can be divided into three parts: skull, trunk bone and limb bone.

Skull: Cranium (frontal bone, parietal bone, occipital bone, etc.), maxilla, mandible, zygomatic bone, nasal bone, etc.

Trunk bones: sternum, ribs, spine (cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacrum, coccyx), etc.

Bone of limbs:

Upper limbs: clavicle, scapula, humerus, radius, ulna and so on.

Lower limbs: femur, tibia, fibula, pelvis, ankle and wrist, toe bone, etc.

 In this week's exercise, I drew some upper limbs in different States and explored the distribution of muscles.

Week 4

This week, I drew leg muscles as exercises. 

I adjusted the head and body parts I had modeled before, especially the head modeling. But the body part is still strange, so I can only continue to modify it. But I think I should confirm what kind of character image I want to build, so I'm going to draw a draft first. The teacher mentioned that we can use the character set in the course character design, but I want to make a 3D model of another character set before. She is a high school student who is attending school. The establishment of this character image refers to some of my classmates in high school. They are always lively, optimistic and full of youthful vitality, and have not become dull under heavy academic and pressure. I know this setting looks ordinary, but I think this image is close to life, which may make people feel familiar and resonate more easily. Anyway, I drew the characters first according to my own ideas.

To tell the truth, sometimes it is difficult for me to turn what is in my head into reality because my skills are not good enough. So I can't present my ideas perfectly, which often makes me feel very distressed and troubled. Moreover, for my painting, I rely very much on the so-called "feel". When I don't feel, what I draw is even quite different from what I draw when I feel. I think I should improve my efficiency so that I can spare more time to do some painting exercises and improve my painting skills.

Week 5

Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN, I explain the usage of zbrush to us very seriously, remind us of the problems that will occur in modeling, and emphasize some key points. Unfortunately, due to my own reasons, I still can't master some methods quickly, which makes my modeling process very difficult. I don't think I have made clear the structure of the head, so I should understand these principles before I can model it better. Because structure is very important for building a human body, I drew a human skull as an exercise this week. 

Because my painting style is more inclined to animation, the realism is relatively weak, and I have experienced many failures, so I decided to change the modeling style, which can better fit my original painting. So I modeled my head and body according to my style.

Week 6

Before this class, Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN asked us to draw hands and feet as an exercise. During this time, I made great adjustments and changes to my modeling. In the process, I also found some references and carved according to some modeling tutorials. 

To be honest, the whole looks much better (although it is very difficult to shape hands and feet). I divided the human body into more parts, which made it easier for me to make changes. I am deeply aware of the importance of human body structure. I still can't fully understand human body structure, and in the previous modeling process, I didn't look for the reference of human body structure, but chose to model myself. In the modeling process, I didn't open the perspective, which led to the parallel views, so the proportion was biased, which led to the deviation of human body structure. (It's worth mentioning that I forgot to turn on perspective when I modified it later, which led to a relatively small foot of my model, but I debugged it later) And I took a long time to modify it. I found it really important to improve efficiency, which is related to grasping the time. Moreover, I have also spent a long time on this task. Anyway, it is a challenge for me, and it also makes me realize my own problems, and I will continue to work hard.

Week 7

Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN affirmed my adjusted modeling. He said that I need to modify the back of the character, because there will be butterfly bones on the human back, but I didn't highlight this place, and the curve of the back is not particularly natural, so I need to modify it again. According to the teacher's suggestion, I made adjustments.

 In the process of adjustment, I found that there were some problems in the abdomen. The abdomen of female characters should have some radians, so I made corrections. 

Then I can start making hair and clothes.

Week 8

I don't think my progress is fast enough. I didn't give feedback to Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN this week. He said that I can give him feedback later. I have made the general shapes of clothes, hair and shoes, and I am going to add some details. For the characters I set, I drew some drafts to determine the image of the characters, but my painting style seems unstable.

Week 9

I noticed that the hair should be made one by one. The hair drawn by me in the past is too stiff, so I chose other ways to make the hair one by one. It looks more natural this way. For clothes, I made some folds to reflect the structure and texture.

Week 10

Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN checked my homework and affirmed it. He said that I need to add more details, such as skin texture, scars and so on. According to his suggestion, I perfected the details of clothes, such as clothes wrinkles, shoes details and so on.

Week 11

This week is another project submission time. 

The teacher checked my homework very carefully and told me that I still need to add and improve details, and the seams on the characters' bodies should be eliminated, otherwise it will affect the impression. And he suggested that there was something wrong with the lighting I set. The light was too dim, which caused the characters to look bad. At the same time, I could change a material to better reflect the characters. In short, I didn't do enough rendering for the characters.

Week 12

We need to prepare for the final project. First, we need to continue to improve on the basis of making characters, and choose an action and swing the made modeling characters. The final modeling will be displayed clearly on a stage.

For the teacher's previous suggestion, I used the dynamesh function in zbrush to eliminate the seams left by the previous modeling of human body blocks.

Week 13

During this time, I chose a posture and debugged the doll, enriching the details on the shoes (uppers and soles) as much as possible, and then re-coloring the characters, and changing the lighting direction and materials in the picture to make the effects of the characters more clear.

 Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN affirmed my modeling, prompted me to complete the poster display in the final project, and told me that I could refine it if I had the ability. I decided to use the last time to try rendering and make posters.

Week 14

The entire task has entered its final stage, and all I need now is patience and diligence to study how to improve the final rendering effect and make it clear and visible. I made different attempts so that I could choose the best part among them. I debugged different lighting and materials to render characters, and the effects of rendering characters with different lighting and materials are really different. 

I find this process very interesting because the characters I modeled look like they actually exist. After my selection, I have chosen one version as the final rendering and will use it to draw the poster.

Since the character I have set is a student, I have chosen the theme of the poster as a graffiti style. I want to showcase her lively personality through posters. Just like the previous rendering, I have also created different versions of the poster for the final selection. I have added some graffiti above the turntable.

 At the beginning, the style I created was relatively simple, and I thought I should use more vivid colors to show a better effect.So I added more colors to the background and sketched the characters and added graffiti style text behind the characters  .

For the words used behind the characters, I think they seem a bit too long. We should use some simple words and enlarge them to enhance the visual effect. So I replaced the words in the background and changed the brush used for the graffiti color, making the graffiti style more distinct. 

I think I should continue making some modifications, so I changed the brush used for the text, which is the same as the brush used for the background color, because this makes the graffiti marks more obvious and more in line with the theme I set. 

At the same time, I added some relief processing to the elements added to the picture, so that the overall effect can appear more three-dimensional on the basis of the original.

This is the final poster.

INTRODUCTION

Exercise

Character Detailing and Texturing

Polishing and Dynamic Posture with props

FEEDBACK

WEEK 1

General Feedback :Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN introduced the content of the course to us.

Specific Feedback :None

WEEK 2

General Feedback :Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN explained the structure of some human muscles and some knowledge about modeling, for example, how to use brushes, how to change the shape of objects, etc., and reminded us that we can watch the playback so as to master and use the newly learned knowledge.

Specific Feedback :None

WEEK 3

General Feedback :The teacher explained the knowledge about human bones and reminded us to continue improving the modeling

Specific Feedback :Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN affirmed the human muscle exercises I drew

WEEK 4

General Feedback :Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN gave a review of the exercises uploaded by his classmates

Specific Feedback :Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN affirmed the leg muscle exercises I drew and reminded me to speed up and continue with the modeling.

WEEK 5

General Feedback :Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN demonstrated the usage of some features in the brush software in class and reminded us of potential issues that may arise during modeling.

Specific Feedback :Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN said that the skull I drew is fine, but he would prefer to see the progress of my modeling

WEEK 6

General Feedback :The teacher reminded the students to speed up their progress in order to submit their assignments in a timely manner, and provided feedback on their hand and foot exercises.

Specific Feedback :Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN affirmed my hand and foot exercises and provided suggestions for modifications

WEEK 7

General Feedback :Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN gave a review of the exercises uploaded by his classmates

Specific Feedback :Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN mentioned that there are some issues with the human body I modeled and suggested some modifications, such as adding butterfly bones and adding some curvature to make the human body look more natural

WEEK 8

General Feedback :Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN gave a review of the students' progress

Specific Feedback :Not have

WEEK 9

General Feedback :Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN commented on the homework uploaded by the students to the weekly progress folder

Specific Feedback :The teacher reminded me to speed up

WEEK 10

General Feedback :Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN commented on the homework uploaded by the students to the weekly progress folder

Specific Feedback :Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN affirmed my assignment and reminded me to add more details

WEEK 11

General Feedback :Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN reminds students of the continuous progress of project submission and modeling

Specific Feedback :The teacher affirmed another project I submitted and gave me some suggestions. He said that I could add more details to reflect the texture of the clothes, and that the seams between the body parts should be removed. The lighting should also be better set

WEEK 12

General Feedback :Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN gave a review of the students' progress

Specific Feedback :None

WEEK 13

General Feedback :Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN gave a review of the students' progress

Specific Feedback :Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN affirmed the modeling I created and reminded me to complete the requirements in the project. He said that if I have enough time and ability, I can further refine it.

WEEK 14

General Feedback :Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN explained the structure of some human muscles and some knowledge about modeling, for example, how to use brushes, how to change the shape of objects, etc., and reminded us that we can watch the playback so as to master and use the newly learned knowledge.The teacher reminds students to submit their final project

Specific Feedback :Not have

REFLECTION

Experience

REFLECTION

This course is really difficult for me. When I first started learning about the ZBrush software, I felt a bit flustered because I was completely unfamiliar with its operation. However, as time passed and the teacher explained it, I gradually improved. At this stage, the most important thing for me is to continue to improve my subjective initiative as much as possible. Only by learning with a more positive attitude can I become better. Although the whole process was lengthy, I learned a lot of knowledge and gradually developed an interest in modeling. Perhaps when I have time, I will do the modeling and drawing myself. Thank you to Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN for his patience and responsible attitude, which enabled me to complete the project smoothly.

Observation 

I didn't have a deep understanding of modeling before, but it was only after learning that I truly realized its role. Due to the fact that modeling is in 3D, it is more three-dimensional than ordinary 2D painting, which requires learners to improve their spatial perception ability. Moreover, if the modeling technology is advanced, the stereoscopic perception will be relatively strong, which will also be helpful in the field of painting. So I think learning modeling is an important skill, and I should continue to learn and improve my abilities.

Findings

ZBrush is a powerful software, but its usage is relatively complex. For beginners, they need to explore it step by step in order to gradually understand all the features. For example, its storage mechanism is different from some software. If it is not correct, the modeling will become flat. And I think I should also be exposed to other modeling software, not just limited to ZBrush. Being able to use multiple software is more beneficial for me, but it definitely requires me to continue improving my abilities. Although I cannot improve quickly in the short term, I believe that as long as I am serious, persistent, and find the right methods, I can slowly make progress.