Sculpting, from Traditional to Digital
One of the most exciting aspects of ZBrush is the
way it allows the artist to interface directly with the model and create in
a spontaneous and organic fashion, just as if working with balls of digital
clay. Thousands of years of artistic tradition have given us a wealth of
techniques when it comes to the discipline of sculpting. While traditional
painters have had applications like Painter and Photoshop to open the
doors to the digital realm, sculptors were out in the cold—until ZBrush.
Gesture, Form, and Proportion
When learning to become a better digital sculptor, you will benefit from the same traditions
and tenets that guided traditional sculptors for centuries. Just as in drawing and painting,
all the fundamental artistic lessons applicable to sculpting are true on the computer as well.
Whether we are sculpting an alien, a princess, a warrior, a horse, or an abstract form explo-
ration, our primary concerns will always be the same (Figure 1.1).
Gesture
Gesture represents the dynamic curve of the figure. In life drawing, these lines are quickly laid
down on paper and do not necessarily seek to describe the contour or form of the figure at all
(Figure 1.2). The function of the gesture drawing is to capture the rhythm and motion of the
pose, the thrust of the figure, and the action inherent in its posture (Figure 1.3). Keeping a
sketchbook of quick, loose sketches you don’t intend to show is a great way to train yourself to
find the gesture and rhythms in a figure. These kinds of exercises help sharpen your eye, and
this translates into better figures when sculpting from the imagination.