Making the Digital Portrait of Mr. Obamaby Anto Juričić Toni, Bosnia and Herzegovina


Sculpting - After building base mesh I imported this new base in ZBrush for further refining and sculpting.  Be sure to focus on overall shape and volume of model instead of fine detail. Both overall shape and details are equally important but at first stage I suggest you to stay at lower subdivision levels and make good use of every edge and polygon before stepping up to higher level.

Don't forget to use references images at all time. If you are not happy owner of  two monitors it is helpful to print those images on paper. Sculpting in ZBrush is really fun but be careful not to get carried too much and often check proportions of your model.

After completing the sculpture I exported the model in lower subdivison level and  once again check my UV's in UV layout. Then I re-import that mesh again in ZBrush. Now I have completed sculpture with distortion free UV layout and ready for texturing.



Texturing - For texturing part I use texture projecting techniques. Many people think that ZBrush can only paint on poly's but using projection master you can actually project your painting directly on texture. For my model I have used 4k size textures.

Here is quick explanation of workflow in this technique:

• Make new document in ZBrush and resize it to  your texture size or more.
• Load your model and drop it on canvas than press “T” to get in to edit mode.
• Once in editing mode you position your model to camera in direction you want your projection to be.
• Make new texture any size you want for example 4096 x 4096.
• Press “G” to enter projection master and choose color projection with no fade option and press drop down.
• Now go to Zapp link  which will transfer your canvas to Photoshop. Now u can overlay Photo of your reference over your ZBrush model and realign facial futures of your photo to match your model. I find liquify tool in PS most useful for that task.

For more tips about Zapplink check  www.zbrushcentral.com


After saving your Photoshop work go back to ZBrush  and your texture will be projected on the ZBrush canvas over your model exactly you made it in PS. Because you are now in projection master, press G again to pick up your projection. After couple of seconds your projection will be baked on to your texture. Repeat this process few more times but with different angles and save those textures as different files. Now you can stitch those projections together in Photoshop.

From basic color texture I made six different textures such as epidermal  and subdermal, specular, bump and so on.