The first Likeness Study (WIP)

Hi I'm Emma, currently a student in BigRock, CG Master.
This below is my second character project made during the Christmas holidays. Made "only" in 26 days. It tooked me so much! but it's still not finish, I had bigger plans in my mind.
I had many doubts about the general workflow for creating something complex and realistic, I explored new functions every day, deepening my basic knowledge through various tutorials available online.
I tried to make the model as costumized as possible. The result makes me proud but not completely satisfied (anyone who knows me knows this is nothing new).

Softwares Workflow

-PureRef for references
- Zbrush, for the basic starting shape
- ZWrap, to apply the xyz MultiChannel Maps
- Maya, eye shapes, final render and general lighting
- Substance Painter, for textures
- XGen, to groom
- Photoshop, to correct maps and final comp

References

The model represents Elodie, a well-known Italian singer.
I decided her because I think she has got very recognizable and marked facial features and a skin that was not too defined (which would have made it more difficult the texture in my opinion!).
I realized shortly this wasn't too smart as there were no HD photos references available to sculpt the details.

Sculpting

I think finding the closest shape was the longest and hardest part.
The basic shape sculpt has practically never stopped.
Often, even when I reached the last steps, I had to reconsider everything and start from here.

Details

I worked with the XYZ Multichannel Maps.
With ZWrap I wrapped the Albedo Map which on xNormals I used to bake the displacement.
I extracted the RGB Channels from the displacement map and modified them in photoshop according to the definition points I wanted. I also worked a lot on Zbrush with various special brushes to create details where they were missing.

Texturing

This will be the part that I will definitely modify in the future. I have worked with colors to reproduce realistic skin but I find it still too uniform for how much it has been divided into the various epidermal substrates. Then I add a color correction for the specula and roughness. 

Groom

I groomed the lashes and the eyebrows. I loved the process, it tooks me three days (to better understand xgen also) but there is still so much to do.

Lighting

I love to do lighting, but every time it finds me so indecisive!

I have tried more and more versions to make the skin as truthful as possible. I didn't think so but lighting changes everything: the texture has gone from looking like plastic to looking like something more real. In this step I have changed the rendering of the normal map several times.

Final

It's not over ... see you soon Rookies!

I wanna thanks @BigRock to give me the first key to make this possible.