3D World

HOW DO I MAKE MY FIGURE SCULPTS LOOK BETTER?

- Fabio Paiva replies

It would be easy to say that it's just time and experience; the more you do it, the better your work will get. I believe that's true to an extent, but not always the case.

I clearly remember getting to a point where I just couldn't see what was wrong with my work. And to make matters worse, I had the skills to make really good copies of old masters. So there was clearly a gap between seeing and creating. Trying to get to the core of this became my focus.

The answer came with the understand­ing that the tendency to want to try and copy nature is the start of doing art, but it can't be the end. Art is about interpreta­tion, not replicatio­n. It took me a long time to realise that I was chasing reality, instead of interpreti­ng it.

In simple terms, my key focus now for good anatomy is maximum appeal with the simplest geometry. By simplifyin­g reality, there's now room for other aspects such as shape and flow.

A good rule of thumb to keep in mind is that a tapered shape is always more aesthetica­lly pleasing than a box. The tapered nature of a form naturally creates direction, thus flow. And flow can be understood by every section of an object, transferri­ng its directiona­l tendencies into the relating section.

In order to effectivel­y apply this new understand­ing, I suggest you zoom in and out of the model when working digitally. Do it as often as possible. Small scale lets you use your inner nature to fill in the gaps. Working small also promotes a speed and casualness that tends to let intuition drive your shapes.

In conclusion, keep trying to find better ways to simplify and represent every aspect of anatomy instead of trying to be precise with every muscle fibre, insertion point and surface detail that you can see.

 ??  ?? “My key focus now for good anatomy is maximum appeal with the simplest geometry”
“My key focus now for good anatomy is maximum appeal with the simplest geometry”
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