Hey everyone, welcome back to BraineyBites! If you’re new here, I’m on a mission to improve my character creation skills—especially anatomy and sculpting. I’m sharing my entire journey, from rough first attempts to (hopefully!) some amazing results in the future.
If you haven’t already, hit that subscribe button so you can follow along. I’ve got plenty of projects planned, and I’d love for you to be part of this creative ride.
Today’s Topic – My Struggles With Character Creation
This post is a little different. Instead of walking you step-by-step through my latest sculpt, I want to talk about the challenges I’ve faced—both with this project and in past ones.
If you’re new to sculpting and feeling frustrated, you’re not alone. I’ve been there, and honestly, I still mess up! So today, I’m sharing the specific roadblocks I’ve hit while working on my latest character in hopes it motivates you to keep going.
Starting & Stopping – How It Affects Your Skills
I began learning anatomy about 1–2 years ago, starting with the basics in ZBrush. But life got busy, and I stopped practicing for a while. When I came back, it felt like all my skills had evaporated. I couldn’t sculpt a face, let alone a full body.
During my break, I kept watching my favorite artists—YanSculpt, FlyCat, SpeedChar Live—over and over. They kept my inspiration alive, even when I wasn’t creating.
Back to the Basics
Since my skills had faded, I returned to anatomy fundamentals. It was rough—arms looked like sausages, legs were either too chunky or too flat, and I couldn’t even remember muscle names!
I used anatomy references constantly, even if I didn’t know the terminology. Slowly, with hours of blocking shapes and adjusting proportions, I started to see progress.
The Importance of Practice (And Failing Forward)
Before filming this video/blog, I sculpted my character 3–4 times and deleted each attempt. It reminded me of something YanSculpt often says: “Trust the process.”
Although honestly, my version was: “Trust the process all you want, but without practice, that process looks like a dumpster fire!” 😂
The truth is—consistent practice is the only way to improve.
Technical Struggles – Lag, Polycounts & Fixes
When my polycount got too high, my old PC started lagging badly. My solution? Quad Remesher—a plugin that simplifies the mesh and reduces polycount without losing too much detail.
This also helped with texturing, since Blender slows down in texture paint mode with high-poly models. I exported my mesh to Substance Painter, which handled it much better.
Looking Ahead
For now, my goal is simple: nail the basic anatomy forms before diving into fine details. In the future, I plan to make focused projects—sculpting just hands, just faces, or even clothing.
If you have suggestions, drop them in the comments!
If you’ve been struggling with sculpting, remember: trust the process, but keep practicing—or your skills will turn into potatoes.
As promised, here’s your bonus: you can download the character from this project for free via the link in the description. I’ve also linked a video about this character’s comic origins—worth checking out if you want more backstory!
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more BraineyBites updates!
