Sculpting a Female Head

Portraits and busts are among the favorite subjects of artists because they allow you to connect to the artwork in a unique way. However, portraits are as challenging as they are popular because they allow for fewer imperfections, with even subtle flaws making a head look “off.” This makes it essential to get a thorough understanding of the shapes and proportions, as well as the anatomical features, of a face.

This chapter will begin with a brief comparison of three potential starting points for blocking out a head: using a sphere, using a base mesh, and using ZBrush’s Head planes model. You will learn about the pros and cons of each method, after which we will focus on the workflow with the Head planes model.

After that, our focus will turn to facial anatomy and individual facial features, including how to sculpt them properly. This way, you get to refine the head until it is missing only skin detail and hair, which will be added...