Creating Dragon Ball's Goku in Z Brush and Maya: Part 1

1. Sculpting Head in Z Brush

Step 1

Open Z Brush. Create a sphere from project as shown in the following image.

Step 2

Press X for mirror and turn off Perspective Distortion.

Step 3

Using Move brush (shortcut keys: B-M-V), roughly sculpt out the shape of face. 

Rotate the model to side view, press Shift to snap it to a full orthographic view as you rotate it towards the side view. 

Pull out the jaw and establish the main angle of the face. Make sure everything looks fine in every angle of view as it may accidentally be out of shape when you only focus on one side.

Step 4

Select ClayBuildUp brush (shortcut keys: B-C-B) from the brush palette, sculpt out the eyebrow, then hold down Alt button (to carve into), sculpt the eye socket. 

Hold Shift to smooth the surface.

Step 5

Continue with ClayBuildUp brush (B-C-B) for the nose. Use the Move brush (B-M-V) to shape the nose.

Step 6

Now, the poly count is not enough for us to sculpt more details. 

Subdivide the model by clicking the Divide under Tools > Geometry on the right (shortcut key: Ctrl-D). You can see your subdivide level is now 2.

Step 7

Using B-C-B brush, sculpt out the eyeball. Select DamStandard brush from brush palette (shortcut key: B-D-S), draw around the eye socket’s edges to sharpen the edge.

Step 8

Subdivide the model again (Ctrl-D) when you feel that the poly count is not enough to form the shape. 

Using DamStandard brush (B-D-S), draw a deep line for mouth as shown in the following image.

Step 9

Shape the lips with ClayBuildUp brush (B-C-B), Move brush (B-M-V), Standard brush (B-P-I).

Step 10

Insert a cylinder as the neck.

Step 11

Place it to the neck position by using Move tool (shortcut key: W).

Step 12

Expand Geometry on the right, expand DynaMesh tab, click on DynaMesh. This helps to fix the uneven topology.

Step 13

Use Move brush (B-M-V) to shape the neck.

Step 14

Insert a cube, place it to the ear position.

Step 15

Press Dynamesh for the ear before start sculpting the shape.

Step 16

Smooth the edges by holding Shift key, use Move brush (B-M-V) to shape the ear.

Step 17

Duplicate the ear by clicking the Subtool > Duplicate. Expand Deformation, press Mirror.

Step 18

Selecting the upper sub tool of the ear, Expand Merge, then click on MergeDown to merge both ear. Remember to press X for mirror before you move to the next step.

Step 19

Subdivide the ear by pressing Ctrl-D. Using DamStandard brush (B-D-S) draw out the line of the ear structure.

Step 20

Use ClayBuildUp brush (B-C-B) to sculpt the ear shapes.

Step 21

Create a cube as the eyebrow.

Step 22

Hold Shift to smooth the edges of the cube.

Step 23

Use Pinch brush (B-P-I) to make the eyebrow thinner.

Step 24

Subdivide the mesh by pressing (Ctrl-D). Using Move brush (B-M-V) to fit the eyebrow to the face shape. 

Use the Pinch brush again to make the edges sharper.

Step 25

Duplicate the eyebrow and mirror to the opposite side like what we did for the ears.

Step 26

Back to the head sub tool. By using ClayBuildUp brush (B-C-B), sculpt out the jaw line for a more solid structure.

Step 27

Create a Sphere as the hair base.

Step 28

Sculpt out the shape of the hair line by using the Move brush (B-M-V).

Step 29

Create a Cylinder as hair strand. Click Dynamesh before start shaping the cylinder.

Step 30

Smooth the edges by holding Shift, use Pinch brush (B-P-I ) to make the tip thinner, use SnakeHook brush (shortcut key: B-S-H) to pull out the shape of the hair. 

This brush is very suitable in creating hair.

Step 31

Subdivide the mesh. Use DamStandard brush (B-D-S) to sculpt the edges of hair by holding Alt.

Step 32

Duplicate the hair strand. Move, scale and rotate it as another hair strand.

Step 33

Duplicate again the hair strand and move it to another position.

Step 34

Duplicate again for other hair strands.

Step 35

Repeat the same steps for another side of Goku.

Step 36

Create a new cylinder and repeat previous steps for the top hair strand.

Step 37

Follow the same steps for the opposite side of the hair.

Step 38

Create hair at the back too.

Step 39

Take care of every angle of view to make sure it look nice.

Step 40

Back to the head sub tool. Sculpt the eyes to more firm eyes by pushing the lower eyelid upwards with Move (B-M-V) brush.

Step 41

Using DamStandard brush (B-D-S), sculpt the wrinkles between the eyebrows. You can also use ClayBuildUp brush (B-C-B) to make the shape.

Conclusion

In the next part of the tutorial series , I'll show you how to create the torso.