A 3D turntable render of my hand sculpt, created in Blender.
The Design Brief
I completed a project in IMS 215. The brief of this assignment was simple: I was to sculpt a piece of human anatomy, either a hand or foot, with as much rigorous detail as possible. This included sculpting out muscle groups, textures, and veins in order to maximize the verisimilitude of my sculpt.
The Research
I decided to sculpt a hand for my model, and so I utilized a range of reference to base my sculpt off of. I gathered a mix of anatomical charts as well as pictures of my own hand to draw reference from.
What I found interesting about my research is the ways in which my own hand had subtle differences in shape to the anatomy charts, but still had all of the core muscle attachments remained in the same place.
The Process
Our professor provided a basic model of a hand and foot for us to use for this project, and so I had a solid foundation to begin sculpting in Mudbox. The hand mesh that I was provided had all of the essential shapes, and so using my references, I had the task of sculpting out the finer details, such as the muscle groups, bones, skin textures, and veins.
The greatest challenge of sculpting this model definitely came from sculpting fine details into the mesh. Getting different aspects right such as where the nail meets the cuticle, where I the skin between fingers becomes thin, and the attachments of veins were all crucial in making the sculpt feel more true-to-life. However, it definitely helped to have my own hand for reference.
The Reflection
I found this project to be a good exercise in anatomy sculpting and fine detailing. This project was a great challenge in terms of sculpting, because it forced me to switch from a macro to a micro perspective, looking over tiny details that would otherwise be easy to overlook.
That being said, with more time there are certainly some improvements I would have made to the sculpt, such as finer detailing on the nails and more attention paid to the skin texture. However, I am still satisfied with the final result, and think that it is a solid endeavor into anatomical detailing.
