A while back I created a new model using ZBrush as part of an advertisement for Pixologic at Cinefex Magazine. My idea was to create a digital Picasso, having some fun while he was painting with ZBrush. As Picasso's likeness for a commercial piece is not allowed (because of the copyrights) I changed the final model but kept the main idea. Picasso's Portrait is now part of a personal project. I'll try to explain my creation process for this model in this tutorial. I don't think my techniques are something new, but can be useful and insightful for you.

I hope you enjoy.

Click over the link to download all the shaders and light setup :skin_light.zip

Modeling:

You will find that I started this model as a caricature but then decided to change and make it realistic. In some parts of the video you will see some drastic changes in the head shape that I did after finding some better references of Picasso ;)

For the modeling process I used some of the most common ways to sculpt using ZBrush. I started this model with few ZSpheres, converted it to mesh and started to move points to get the initial form. After this I created some more loops to help with the definition and flow of the form, then I started to subdivide the mesh to add more and more details. If I needed to correct something I just went back to the lower levels and used the smooth brush to "erase" any problems then I went to the next level up and kept working in the same way until I achieved the desired result. Doing things this way will allow you fix problems in your mesh much faster and with greater precision than trying to correct it at the highest levels. To avoid issues like that is always best to add details slowly, trying to get the most you can from each level of subdivision.

For the wrinkles I used the most common technique: Projection Master with DecoBrush. In this quick example you can see some random lines I created using DecoBrush:



Back to the 3D Edit mode I use Transform > Inflate to fill the areas between these lines with some volume, using a small-medium brush size. To make the edges softer I use Transform > Smooth. I keep using both Inflat and Smooth until I get a result I am satisfied with. Remember that the quality of the details depends of the number of polygons of your mesh since we are working with sculpture, not bump maps: