When I started learning to model in 3D, one of the first goals that I pursued was to be able to model a human head. So, as many of you did, I spent a lot of time searching the web, reading countless tutorials that covered a wide variety of workflows.
Unfortunately for me, even though most of them were technically brilliant, they lacked proper explanations and usually skipped crucial steps, taking for granted that you knew exactly what to do next; so, after struggling for a long time, I finally developed a method of my own and decided to write this tutorial as detailed as possible, hoping that if the explanations are not clear enough the images will be and vice versa.
To follow this tutorial you should have at least a basic knowledge of working in 3D environment, I used Blender’s modeling tools...
* The reference images for the head were used with kind permission of GOT 3D (www.got3d.com)
In front view, start by creating a single plane. Place its centre in the middle of the nose.
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Activate the “mirror modifier” and enable “do clipping”.
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Move the plane towards the centre of the nose so that it attaches to its mirrored image. After that, place the top row of vertices at the root of the nose (nasofrontal angle) just in front of the corner of the eyes.
In front view, make sure that the width of the plane does not surpass the width of the bridge of the nose.
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In side view, grab the lower row of vertices and place them at the supratip
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Keep extruding the edges following the pattern shown in the image. In total, you should have 12 vertex pairs. From top to bottom these are:
1. Root of the nose.
2.- Supratip.
3.- Just above the tip of the nose.
4.- Septum (just below the tip of the nose).
5.- Nasolabial angle.
6.- Edge of the upper lip.
7.- Middle of the mouth.
8.- Edge of the lower lip.
9.- Depression above chin.
10.- Top of chin.
11.- Bottom of chin.
12.- Beginning of the neck
- Tip of the nose
- Tip of the chin
In front view, select the 4 edges shown in the image and extrude them outwards, until they reach the labial commissure.
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Reposition the vertices to match the image. Now, create 2 new faces (one triangle and one 4 sided face).
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Cut 2 new edge loops.
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Now, move those new faces a little bit to the front and to the right to make the lips rounder.
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In side view, from top to bottom, grab the first 3 lateral edges and move them back at the same time until you touch the nostril.
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In side view, select the edge shown inside the circle and extrude it backwards until it reaches the back of the wing of the nose.
In front view, move the edge to the right until it touches the limit of the nostril
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As shown in the image, cut 3 new edges.
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DELETED
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Cut a new loop in the middle of the nose. With it, we can now shape the tip and the wing of the nose.
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In side view, grab the highlighted edge and move it forward to shape the tip of the nose.
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In front view, select the highlighted edge and move it a little bit to the right to widen the tip of the nose.
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Now, to shape the wing of the nose, go to the side view. Reposition the vertices as they appear in the image.
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Select the highlighted edge and, in front view, move it outwards until you reach the border of the wing of the nose.
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Select the highlighted vertex and, in front view, move it to the right until it reaches the border of the wing of the nose.
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This is the shape that you should be having by now.
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If you need it, in front view, reshape a bit the nostrils to make them rounder.
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… merge it to vertex (2).
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Realign the highlighted vertex as shown in the image.
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Create a new row of vertices. Be sure to follow the contour of the nasolabial sulcus, as the yellow line shows.
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Cut a new loop on the septum, as shown in the image, and move it a bit towards the centre. Keep these vertices selected and…
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…move them down a bit, so that the septum looks rounder.
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Select the ring of vertices that conform the nostril and extrude those inwards.
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Move the ring up a bit and extrude it again to create a canal (we’re not going to model the whole nasal cavity).
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Select the edges where the lips meet and press “V” in your keyboard to rip the mesh; then, move them apart to leave a small gap.
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Select that nasty triangle and delete it. Create a new face with the remaining edges.
To give volume to the lips create 2 new edge loops (depending on your personal preference, you could use only one edge loop).
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Select those 3 faces…
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… and move them to the front.
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Do the same with the lower lip.
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Starting from the tip of the chin, create a new row of vertices (as we did here), but this time we will finish it by cutting a new edge loop over the bridge of the nose. Take a look at the edge inside the green ellipse: try to place it, in both views, as close to those imaginary lines as possible without cramming the geometry too much.
Also, remember to follow the contour of the cheek.
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Fill in the respective faces.
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A. Select the 2 highlighted edges.
B. Extrude them as shown.
C. Select the 2 highlighted vertices.
D. Merge them at the centre
Follow the sequence to create 2 new faces
A. Cut a new loop.
B. Create a new edge between those 2 vertices.
C. Subdivide, once, both edges.
D. Connect those 3 vertices.
E. Fill in 4 new faces.
Looking good, so far!
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In top view, select VP 4 and move it to the back and just a tiny bit to the right, to make a rounder shape. Move VP 1 to the back, the same distance as VP 4. Move VP 2 to the back to round the shape. VP 3 stays in place.
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Front and side view of the resulting eye shape.
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A. Select the top row of vertices.
B. Extrude it upwards.
C. Reshape it as shown, following the contour of the eyelid.
D. This is how it should look from the side.
E. Select the 2 highlighted vertices and move them to the back until they touch the crease of the eyelid.
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We will do something similar with the bottom row (in this case I hid the faces so you could see the innermost vertices):
A. Extrude as shown.
B. Side view.
C. As shown in the image, select vertices (4) and (5) and move them to the back, then select vertices (1) and (2) and move them a bit to the front. Vertex (3) stays in place.
A. This is what we should have so far.
B. Cut a new edge loop around the mouth.
C. Select the 2 highlighted edges.
D. In side view, move them slightly to the back.
E. Select the vertex inside the circle and move it slightly to the back to shape the philtrum
Select the 6 highlighted edges.
Fill in the respective faces.
A. Cut 2 new edge loops.
B. Fill in the face shown in the image.
C. Fill in a second new face.
Select the 2 highlighted edges and move them slightly to the front to give the cheek a proper roundness.
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Extrude upwards the edge inside the rectangle until it’s in front of the crease of the eyelid.
Fill in a new face.
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A. Fill in a new face, as shown. Then, extrude and place vertices “X”, “Y” and “Z” where the image shows.
B. This is how the vertices look without rearrangements.
C. - Move vertex “X” to the front.- Move vertex “Z” to the back (in both views vertex “Z” is touching the “tail” of the eyebrow)
- Vertex “Y” stays in place
Fill in 3 new faces.
From vertex “Z”, extrude a new vertex and create a new edge.
Fill in 2 new faces.
Extrude the topmost row of vertices. Place vertices “X”, “Y” and “Z” as shown in the image. If you need, select the vertex inside the circle and…
… move it slightly to the front to make the forehead smoother.
Create a new row of vertices as shown in the image.
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Fill in the respective faces.
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Select the edge inside the rectangle and extrude it to the back of the head until it reaches the ear (this will mark the middle of the skull).
Create a new row of vertices:
- In front view: follow the outline of the head.
- In side view: follow the outline of the mandible (jaw).
Fill in the respective new faces.
Select the edge inside the rectangle. Extrude it to the back of the skull. In top view, move the edge to the left until it snaps to its mirrored image.
A. Cut 3 new edges
B. In top view, reposition the new edges to make the skull rounder.
A. Select the highlighted edges.
B. Connect both edges at the centre of the skull.
We will now begin to close the cranium:
A. Cut 2 new edge loops.
B. Create 2 new faces.
C. In side view, reposition the vertices to make the cranium rounder, just like we did in previous picture.
A. Cut 2 new edges in the front.
B. Cut 2 new edge loops on the side of the face.
C. Fill in the respective new faces.
D. In side view, reposition the vertices, as we did with the back of the skull.
A. Cut 2 new edge loops.
B. This is how it looks in front view.
C/D. Reposition the edge loops to make the skull rounder.
Fill in 3 new faces to complete the forehead.
A. This is how the back of the skull looks by now.
B. Cut a new edge loop.
C. Fill in 2 new faces.
D. Reposition the new vertices to round the shape
A. In back view, extrude, to the bottom, the 3 edges shown inside the rectangle…
B. … then move them a bit towards the centre (this step will set the diameter of the neck).
A. In side view, place the edge that was extruded in previous image A at the level of the earlobe.
B. Cut 2 new edge loops.
C. Move them to the back to round the shape.
A. Fill in 3 new faces.
B. Select the 3 edges shown in the image.
C. Extrude them down a bit.
D. Extrude again.
A. Fill in the new face.
B. Fill in the new face.
A. Extrude down the edge inside the circle.
B This is how it should look in front view.
C. Create a new edge between the highlighted vertices
Only 2 more faces to create, as shown in A and B.
A/B. Select all the faces shown in the image.
C. With the “knife tool” cut through the middle of all the selected faces.
D. This is how it looks after the cut.
A. Select the highlighted edges.
B. Move them towards the centre (and slightly down). This way we can simulate the anatomy of the larynx.
C. If you need, select the highlighted edge and move it towards the centre to make more visible the angle of the mandible.
A. You can add a new edge loop around the eye.
B. Select the 2 highlighted edges.
C. Move the back a bit to simulate the shape of the eyeball.
A. Select the 2 highlighted edges.
B. Move them a bit to the right to make the nostril rounder and to soften the shape of the wing of the nose.
Separate the edges of the chin if they’re still to close to each other.
The finished head.
Wireframe and Different heads made with this technique. The third one from left to right is… me :) In this next tutorial I will explain the making of the ear for the head.
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