Cartoon character modeling

Here is the face of Mongi that I will be modeling. I had to re-do him again from scratch. Completed version got wiped off when my PC crashed a few days ago. As you can see knowing what to do to recover from disaster is very important. I hope you won't have to go through that, but if you do, start things from scratch again. It can be a great learning experience. 

 

Mongo, the Hunter.

The most difficult part of modeling the human face is done when you see these result 

 

Select plane from Add menu. Use G and S keyboard shortcuts to move it ...

...closer to the axis of symmetry as shown below. (The blue arrow pointing upwards is sitting on the Axis of Symmetry)

Apply the Mirror Modifier

For a problem-free modeling, make sure that the settings of the Mirror modifier are as indicated below

 

Basically modeling involves extruding, and then using G, R, and S keyboard shortcuts to Move, Rotate and Scale your extrusions. When and how to use these tools depends on he result you want

A list of keyboard shortcuts you gonna need

I have highlighted all those shortcuts that you are most likely to use more often than others to model your 3D character(s) or just anything else for that matter.



Select: Right Click

Pan: Middle Click

Zoom: Mouse Wheel

Make Face: F

Extrude: E (Key function for 3D modeling!)

Move: G (Grab selection and move it)

Rotate: R

Scale: S

Toolbar: T

Properties: N (You’ll need this to load your background images, then hide it to make some extra space)

Save File: Ctrl + S (Blender doesn’t remind or prompt you to save when you quit it)

Render: F12

Undo: Ctrl + Z (Yes. As in normal Windows Applications)

Top View: Numpad 7

Front View: Numpad 1

Side View: Numpad 3

Ortho View: Numpad 5 (important for tracing your reference / background imges)

Pictorial summary of the Ref Image Setup for easy Recall

Opening Background Images. Things work a little differently in this version of Blender.

Blender's File browser is completely different from Window's. 

After you have located your files, it is a good thing to ensure that the views are exactly as indicated in the picture. This is very important.

3D character modeling from ref. images

Now that we have setup the reference images, you may start tracing them.

•  The main reason I’m using these hand-drawn images is that I want to show you that it takes a very simple start to achieve great results, the challenge is knowing which options to follow from start to finish.
•  The other reason is that since this is about making your own movie (without spending a cent, of course), why not pick up a pencil and paper and start outlining your own envisaged cartoon character if you have some drawing skills. 
• Alternatively, you may already have a character that you may wish to model into a 3D cartoon character and animate. Why not use that character right away, right now?

When I started with 3D modeling I found the nose to be the most difficult part of the face to model. Things may be quite different for you. So I will start at the nose because it is lying on the axis of symmetry. You may start anywhere as long as it is along the axis of symmetry.

(The Blue Z-axis arrow in this image is sitting at the Axis of Symmetry)

Press Shift+A to bring up the Add Menu: click Plane to add a plane to your view. Resize it as shown. (Resizing = Select the plane, press S and drag).

My PC crashed a few days ago...

....and as a result some of the material that i had prepared for this resource has been wiped off. I'm currently trying to re-do and rearrange things. I have managed to recover some few items while I will have to do the rest from the scratch. I should be back in a few days to start where left off.