1. Blocking Head Mesh

Step 1

Start Maya and open the file which was saved in the last part of the tutorial. 

Step 2

Jump in the side view. With the border edge loop of the neck selected apply Extrude command as shown in the following image.

Step 3

Keep extruding the edge loop in flow as per the reference image. You need to edit the vertices as well.

Step 4

Keep extruding the edge loop up to the upper jaw as shown in the following image.

Step 5

Following the same way, extrude the edges up to the lower jaw as shown in the following image.

Step 6

Jump in the perspective view port to edit the shape of the head.

Step 7

Keep editing the vertices of the head portion to match it with the head reference. 

Step 8

With the indicated upper edge selected, extrude it downwards as shown in the following image.

Step 9

Insert one edge loop in between the extruded face as shown in the following image.

Step 10

Go to Mesh Tools > Append to Polygon command to create a closed face.

Step 11

With Append to Polygon tool selected, click on the border edges and press Enter key to finish the command. It creates a closed face as shown in the following image.

Step 12

Following the same way, keep creating closed faces wherever it is needed.

Step 13

In this way, the upper jaw mesh is completed.

Step 14

Follow the same process for the lower jaw mesh also, which you did for the upper jaw mesh.

Step 15

Create closed faces with the help of Append to Polygon tool wherever it is needed.

Step 16

Jump in the vertex selection mode and edit the vertices as per the reference images. 

Step 17

Go to Mesh Tool > Multi-Cut tool.

Step 18

With the Multi-Cut tool selected, click on the edges around the mouth area and then press Enter key to finish the command as shown in the following image.

Step 19

With the same Multi-Cut tool, insert several more edges for creating polygon loop topology for the face deforming for various expressions.

Step 20

After creating the edge loops, edit the edges for the proper mesh flow. Keep creating and splitting edge loops wherever it is needed.

Step 21

Insert the indicated edges as shown in the following image.

Step 22

Select the border edge loop of the inner mouth and apply Extrude command. Drag the extruded edge loop inside the mouth a bit as shown in the following image.

Step 23

Meanwhile, jump in the vertex selection mode and edit the vertices of the body to maintain the proper mesh flow and topology.

Step 24

Go to Mesh Tool > Multi-Cut tool.

Step 25

With the Multi-Cut tool selected, click around the mouth area as shown in the following image.

Step 26

Split several more edges as shown in the following image.

Step 27

Select the indicated triangulated edges and press Delete key. 

Step 28

Insert the indicated edge loop for a proper mesh flow as shown in the following image.

Step 29

After modifying the topology, the mesh flow looks like the following image.

Step 30

Jump in the X-Ray mode and then adjust the vertices as per the reference image.

Step 31

With the indicated faces selected, apply Extrude command and drag the faces inwards a little bit as shown in the following image.

Step 32

Press 3 key on the keyboard to see the mesh in smooth display as shown in the following image.

2. Creating Eyes

Step 1

Create an edge loop as shown in the following image. This is required to create the eye socket.

Step 2

With the indicated vertex selected, go to Edit Mesh > Chamfer Vertex and split the vertex.

Step 3

After splitting the vertex, you need to maintain the quad topology around the eye of the dinosaur.

Step 4

With the help of Multi-Cut tool, create four indicated cuts around the eye as shown in the following image.

Step 5

Jump in the vertex selection mode and edit the vertices around the eye as shown in the following image.

Step 6

With the help of Insert Edge Loop tool, insert several edge loops around the eye as shown in the following image. 

Step 7

Delete the centre face of the eye to create the eye hole as shown in the following image.

Step 8

To add details to the head top, select the indicated edges and with the Shift key pressed, make a right mouse click on the selected edges and choose Connect Component command in the fly-out menu as shown in the following image.

Step 9

Delete the indicated edges to maintain the quad face topology.

Step 10

Insert two parallel edge loops as shown in the following image.

Step 11

To add details to the head and eye areas, select the indicated edges and with the Shift key pressed, make a right mouse click on the selected edges and choose Connect Component command in the fly-out menu as shown in the following image.

3. Creating Nostrils

Step 1

For creating nostrils, create two edge as shown in the following image.

Step 2

With the indicated vertex selected, go to Edit Mesh > Chamfer Vertex and split the vertex as shown in the following image.

Step 3

With the help of Multi-Cut tool, create five indicated cuts around the eye as shown in the following image.

Step 4

Edit the vertices to maintain the mesh topology as shown in the following image.

Step 5

To create the nostril hole, select the border edge loop and then use Extrude command. Drag the border edges inside a bit as shown in the following image.

Step 6

After editing head mesh according to given reference it should look like given image.

4. Detailing Tail

Step 1

Insert an indicated edge loop as shown in the following image.

Step 2

Zoom at tail tip and select the border edges.

Step 3

With the border edges selected, go to Mesh Tools > Append to polygon tool as shown in the following image.

Step 4

With Append to polygon tool selected, click on the parallel edges one by one to create the face as shown in the following image.

Step 5

Following the same way, create faces for all parallel edges as shown in the following image.

Step 6

With the rest border edges selected, go to Mesh > Fill Hole command.

Step 7

In this way the tail modeling is completed. 

Step 8

You can match the structure of the dinosaur with the reference images.

Step 9

In this way, the head modelling is done. 

Conclusion

In the next part of the tutorial, I'll show you how to create hand, foot and fingers of the dinosaur.