The model is around 4k. I'm less concerned with model crits and more interesting in getting feedback on the texture. I only have the face roughed out and that's where I need the most advice right now. I'll post some shots of the body when I get it roughed.

Right now though I'm not sure if the highlights and shadows are all in the right places. If I'm missing any please let me know. Also I think there isn't enough contrast in the skin. Just wondering what you all thought. Thanks for the crits.

The highlights are looking pretty good, what's missing is just shadow. Consider if you put a light slightly above him, and forward a bit, where the shadow would cast; below his neck and around the jaw line especially; it will allow a lot more form to pop out. You could probly carve some more detail into the ear. Some more shading around the ring of his eyeball. Overall looking good though.

Thanks James. I'll work on those crits. I completely see what you mean about under the chin.

I think it'll help you out a lot if the UVs weren't pinched together. You'll have a much easier time seeing what the face is doing in your texture if things weren't so pinched together.

You mean in the nose area or under the chin?

The face itself.
I'll try and post some examples when I get home later tonight.

Thanks Soul, I downloaded the trial of Deep UV and relaxed it with that. The UV map in the nose area is much better now. I just need to redo the texture to fit the relaxing now.

Nice improvement man. This is your best texture yet. I am anxious to see it after the relax. I think the beard is still looking a bit cartoony, as is the really narrow range of hues

Thanks poopster, I'm not really liking the goatee thing. I tried a Fu Man Chu, Handle Bars, and a few other goofy ones for fun. I think once I get some shadows going under the chin I'll like no beard better.

Here is the relaxed UVs. I moved the face around a bit. I have to fix the bridge of the nose a bit more though. Started adding shadows under the chin also.

http://www.polycount.com/cottages/so...gns/jeffro.jpg

Here I planar mapped the entire front view of the face. No relaxing whatsoever. The reason for this is so that what I'm painting on the texture is exactly what I'm going to get on the model. It makes it a little easier to paint faces this way because you take out having to deal stretching/pinching in the UVs. The model/texture have an almost 1:1 ratio with each other.

Ok, I usually do a cylindrical map on the face. I'll try a planar on it instead. Deep UV relaxed the really nice. I completely understand what you mean though. Thanks a lot for the advice.

I personally use a variation of that. I planar map from the front, but make a few slight adjustments to allow for more room on the sides of the nose, and the bottom. It ends up with all the benefits of the 1:1 painting, but eliminates a bit of stretching, which can be really evident on people with more prominent noses or features.

I remapped the face. Did a planar and tweaked the nose area a bit. I completely see what you guys mean. I adjusted the map for the most part. The nose still needs some tweaking though. Hopefully I'll be able to get a lot of this done over the weekend.

Honestly it is starting to feel a bit overworked, and it still doesnt read well from far away. Squint alot while working on textures, and zoom way out in max and Photoshop to see how it is reading. Don't always work on layers above in different blending modes, sometimes just go into the main layer in normal mode and paint over the parts you want to change. Be confident about changes.

Actually I work all on 1 layer. But I see what you mean, that means I need to move on and get the body going more. Thanks for the crit.