Marlon my friend, hold up. Start with the construction and proportions before you add any detail. It will be so much easier to get it look right later on in the game.
Start with the block-in of a head and think in head divisions of 8.
Study as much Loomis as you possibly can (google a bit and see if you can find any of his books online in pdf format).
Not the look, but the construction and insights of what he knows. Solid foundation. Now it's of course more than ok to step outside the realms of the ideal female, but the construction must be solid regardless.
As for the topology on a general note. It's never randomly placed. It's either following underlying bones and muscle groups (this is where anatomy studies are extremely helpful)
or there for better deformation / loops.
The three close splits at the knee and elbow for instance are only there for the sake of better deformations. Knees, shoulders, elbows, hips/crotch are always troublesome to get to look ok.
Now I'm not saying you need to make a hyperreal character with bizarre levels of anatomically correct details, but make a believable character. That's what animation is about. Make belief
I'll cheer you on while you're having fun with this project.
Last edited by AlphaFlyte; 03-06-2007 at 06:30 PM.