Using LightWave and a fast PC, the following is a general overview of how I created a CG human head in 3 days.

When painting Image maps, its important to add dense, fine detail. Separate high resolution images for Color, Specular, and Bump are essential for the realism of the skin.

I avoided adding exsessive wrinkles and freckles, which made the task of producing photorealistic results more demanding.

The Specular map can also be applied as a Reflection map. An Incidence Angle Gradient should be used to reduce the map's influence on geometry that faces the camera.

Note that the Specular map is also quite dark. Dry skin is not very shiny. The Bump map is based on 50% gray; with raised surfaces, such as hair, being light, and wrinkles being dark.

The best way to apply an image map to a human head is by using a UV map. This way, the user has full control over eliminating any texture stretching.

When adjusting geometry in the UV view, its results can be interactively seen in the perspective view.

In a future article, I'll detail how to create a custom UV map that expands on the projection types that are currently available.

For rendering, LightWave's built in Global Illumination tools were used. A High Dynamic Range Image (HDRI) of a beach worked in conjunction with Radiosity to make up the lighting environment.

A low Rays Per Evaluation (4x12) coupled with Zero Tolerance and Shading Noise Reduction yielded high quality Radiosity shading at low render times.

For enhancement, 2 spot lights were used to cast additional specular hits. Traced Reflections of the HDRI image completed the highlights.