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Learnin' How To ZBrush, Ya'll: Part 3

  • Feb 7
  • 3 min read

In this episode I polypainted my second ever head sculpt. With my first polypaint job I just added a red under-painting. This time, however, I upped my game a bit and used color zones! Pretty sure I am going to use this technique forever now.

3D modeling software interface displaying a multicolored digital bust with detailed curly hair, surrounded by toolbars and settings.
Color Zones are dope.

After applying the color zones, my polypainting process was pretty much the same as the head sculpt in part 2.

One difference is I used an eye texture instead of polypainting it straight onto the sphere. I downloaded an image of an eye from Wikimedia Commons, edited it and used ZBrush's projection tools to apply the texture. Projecting textures onto the object was very interesting. I hope I get the chance to explore more creative ways to use those features in the future.

3D-rendered close-up of a person's face with curly hair, neutral expression, and a dark background. Brown and beige tones dominate.
Here is our hero with the textured eye projections. Apparently its a bit dark wherever he is at.

When a friend and colleague of mine saw my first polypainted sculpt he noted that it was a bit flat and suggested I should have more "high frequency" detail. I though that was good advice. This model is similar to my first head sculpt in that there are minimal sculpted surface details so I figured it would be interesting to see what adding the detail to just the paint would look like. I probably could have taken it further but I learned what I need to know.

The hair was done in the same way as the first sculpt, which does not really match the visual direction of the face but I left it. I will get more experience modeling hair when I figure out what broke with the fibermesh stuff on my third head sculpt.

3D-rendered male bust with curly hair on a dark background; serious expression, realistic skin tones, detailed facial features.
The AI generated ALT Text for this image said " realistic skin tones". I count that as a win.

I only budgeted myself for a few months of ZBrush so I want to limit the time I spend outside the program. However, I think it was worth going through the process of saving out maps and compositing the renders.

I saved out the base render, an AO map and a Shadow Map. I tried to save a SSS map but ZBrush would not let me. I will need to figure out what is going on with that later.

3D white marble-like bust of a person with curly hair, set against a white background. The face appears expressionless.
The Shadow Map.

3D white bust of a man with detailed curly hair, set against a plain white background. The expression is neutral and timeless.
The AO Map.
Text "Sss" in white on a dark gray background.
The SSS Map.

I re-rendered the sculpt out with some fill light and back light variations. I made blue versions so that I could alter the color to whatever I wanted during the compositing process.

A dark, stylized 3D bust of a man with curly hair against a black background, highlighting facial features in a mysterious, shadowy mood.
Back Light
Sculpted head in dark setting with intricate hair detail, partially lit, casting dramatic shadows; conveys a solemn, reflective mood.
Fill Light
Dark, moody bust sculpture with curly hair against a black background. The smooth surface and shadows create a dramatic effect.
Blue Fill Light

Finally, I made a few renders using different materials so I could play around with blending layers in Photoshop.

3D-rendered male bust with curly hair, neutral expression, and detailed facial features. Set against a plain black background.
This uses the Shadow and AO maps as well as a grayscale version of the base render set to Overlay.

Here is the render with the light maps applied. I kept the blue for the back light but changed the hue of the fill light to a warmer yellow.

3D-rendered bust of a man with curly hair and focused expression on a black background. The realistic sculpture shows detailed features.
Did you notice that I had to go in an enlarge the nostril in Photoshop? Take a look at the first two images of this post. How did I miss that?

I rendered out a grayscale version of ZBrush's Basic Material 02 and used a Screen blend to get a little shiny highlights on the skin. I also lightened up the eyes and added a skin texture layer set to Soft Light over the whole thing. The skin texture added a bit more of that high fidelity noise as well as bring out some of the warm color. There is also a Curve and Vibrance layer for some polishing.

A 3D-rendered bust of a man with curly hair against a black background. The expression is serious, with detailed facial features.
My wife walked by while I was posting this image and said he looked like a frustrated tech bro.

Its important to note that the compositing process ( and most of the rest of these exercises ) are based on a Schoolism course by Justin Goby Fields. The recording is slightly out of date but has been a great resource.


There is a lot I don't like about this render. The hair is visually inconsistent. The shadows are too dark, especially under the nose. I need to bring some of that warm light down to the neck. There is aliasing issues. I need to soften the edges and blend them into the background. That nostril still bothers me. Where the eyelashes? Etc... Not going to worry about that for this piece.

Like I said, I want to get back inside ZBrush as soon as possible. However, I threw in a quick background before I left...

A 3D digital sculpture of a man's head with curly hair. The expression is neutral. The background is a gradient of dark, muted colors.
"Final" Tech Bro.

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