Really beautiful, i think this is one of your best renders!
Nice image!
argunda: Thank youvery much for the kind words. I tried to put a lot of feeling and energy into this one and make something memorable after some intermediary and experimental Blender projects.
STELLA: Thank you too! 
paroneayea: Thanks! There was no easy path to this, but then I wanted it to be difficult. This piece is about several concepts I consider important, so I wanted to take my time with this project. I started with a base mesh of a head and subdivided and smoothed along the way. I used the mirror modifier to develop the mesh. My goal in the first part of this project was to create the head which could later be disassembled and reassembled so it had something of a loose yet āput togetherā feel to it, as if it had been constructed out many parts. And thatās what happened As I went along I used edge and face selection mode often, ripping (V key) as well for certain sections. I selected various faces while spinning the model, removing or resizing some along the way. I cut edges where I wanted more details and performed individual face extrusions. At one point I applied the noise button to get the verts a little more disoriented, then I went back and used manual/random face selection with shrink/fattening. I kept this up for a loooong time, tweaking, restoring some faces that were deleted or ripped, patching things up, breaking up the geometry again using all these techniques and at one point merging the mirrored sections so as to offset the symmetry and make it as unique as possible. It was a true labor of love, and Iām very excited by the results.
Aidan: I appreciate that, Aidan
henrymop: Thanks! I wanted the interpretative potential of this piece to be huge. Your interpretation is very interesting and taps into one of the primary concepts of this piece.
The_Warder: Thank you Sometimes we connect we images for different reasons or see things in them we can identify with or appreciate on some level. Thatās one of the things that makes these creations so exciting and rewarding to me.
thoro: Thanks, thoro! I do have a wallpaper version coming up A Blender poster printing service would be so cool! With so much great art recently in Finished Projects, I think thatās an idea whose time has come.
indigomonkey: Thanks! I explain the steps in my response to paroneayea above 
Aligorith: Thank you, Aligorith. I posted details in my response above to paroneayea.
vliegtuig: Thanks!
N-Gon: Thanks, N-Gon
cara-rj: I really appreciate that, cara-rj.
iamthwee: If I am a program, then yes
Ven0mSevenX: I enjoy art like that too Thanks so much for the comments.
postlogic: Thanks! This took a lot of patience. Having a good video card (6800) on my laptop helped out in terms of the modeling phase of this high poly project. This turned out to be an epic undertaking, not in the same way as my recent underwater F1 project, but in terms of completing the model according to the image in my mind. I knew going into this the level of difficulty was going to be up there, so patience and persistence were essential to getting through this (and a couple of crash setbacks).
thoro: It got a little chaotic towards the end because of the sheer density of verts and edges, even with parts of the mesh hidden at times. I didnāt want to fall into a pattern, but I didnāt want to look like I did a quick fractal subdivision or something either. I wanted to do something ābig,ā artistically, so I convinced myself the extra time spent on it would be worth it, and I am so glad I really believed that
TiZeta: Thanks, TiZeta. This was one project where I intentionally set out to try to top some things Iāve done before, so hearing your comment made me smile
Endi: Thank you very much, Endi. You inspire us all with your awesome art. I look forward to seeing new work from you.
Stay tuned for the wallpaper version
RobertT
looks awsome bob, haha i called you bob, haha
would make an awsome album cover.
i really like that you went with larger eyes on this one,
also just for me i thought it would look cool with a closer cropping, just the head, the neck and shoulders for me looked a little too abstract and took away from the focus of the faceā¦
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~nellim/neck.jpg
you are a machine! i look forward to battleing on weekend challange #200!!!
Not bad Robertt, not bad. Just one tip though, CTRL-N will fix those inverted normals and smooth his face out
Robert,
Great work as alwaysā¦
I think that animating this one will create a compelling abstraction of the human face.
I am willing to donate CPU time for this one
shul
Wu: Thanks for the great feedback. I will post a wallpaper version with a different cropping and aspect ratio (landscape instead of portrait). It seemed to work very well.
AndyD: Thanks, AndyD. Must remember CTRL N next time
shul: Thanks! This would be difficult to animate since itās extremely high poly and takes a very long time to render. I might have to try that some day though
Iāll soon be posting a close-up/wallpaper version of this piece.
RobertT
SELF MADE MAN - Wallpaper Version
Here is a wallpaper sized version showing more details:
I truly appreciate the enthusiastic reactions to and ratings for this project. In the scheme of things, I have to consider this one of my most effective renders. Conceptually, it incorporates some of the most personally important ideas Iāve tried to express yet in 3D, so Iām elated it seems to be connecting with people.
When as much thought and energy went into something of this magnitude, as what happened here over a week, it is especially satisfying to finish it and show it to the world and have the honor of people looking at and responding to it. Itās an incredible cycle of output and input from one project to the next. Iām so grateful to have that opportunity in this forum.
RobertT
Yet another great art piece Robertt. You always manage to display a fantastic eye for art. Great image.
BgDM
Thank you very very much, BgDM.
Of all the images Iāve created recently, I feel this one, in several respects, is representative of my present Blender abilities. I try to create with the hope each project can be special and meaningful in some way, and maybe sometimes that can happen. So much life and energy can go into these things.
I have to thank you and this community again for all the feedback and encouragement in prior projects that helped make something like this possible.
RobertT
beautiful. very painterly. could have been done on a canvas. really good.
Looks awesome! I would be interested in knowing just how you made it, Iāve never seen a blender model quite as unique as this!