Tutorial: Creating a Realistic Unshaded Low Poly Portrait

Learn how Panimala created this gorgeous portrait in Blender.

My technique is pretty primitive as I have (yet) very little interest in some of the meatier aspects of 3D modeling (normals, diffuse- and specular maps, highly detailed models, etc). This is quickly apparent after a look on my profile. I do however still have great interest in 3D creation, particularly humans and female portraits, so I decided to document my process for a portrait here. Hopefully it will be of help or of interest for someone.

My favorite aspect of low poly portraits (or characters in general) is that every vertex carry a lot more information than on a high poly model. For example, to create a more prominent chin on a character, you only have to move a handful of vertices. Making every vertex count on a model is something that appeals to me.