ok another update
here is an image showing the two basic ways I've started to model the head. they both are the same guy and are in a bit of rough shape.
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg54/br...headDiagram.jpg
model A was done using the block and split method to basically rough in the shape and then refine and add edge loops and clean up topology as you go. model B was done "plane by plane" extruding out starting with the eye. I wanted to try both to see which method i prefer. personally I feel that A captures the shape better and B has nicer edgeflow. but both need a bit of the other for sure.
both have their benefits and drawbacks. I have been following some tutorials and the edge flow technique is similar although i notice some differences. for example just wondering about the eye region connecting to the nose region. In model A I have pretty much isolated loops around the eye, and then the loops around the nose go up and down the center of the face. In model B there is an interesting twist in the model (at the polygon marked in red) so the loops around the eye start to spiral out and flow into the nose more. I kind of like this method as it seems pretty slick, however it breaks up the loops around the eye which im not sure if thats a good thing or a bad thing.
can someone advise me if the looping method around the eyes in model B is better er worse than model A? ultimately i could change the topology in A so that it was more simmilar to B id just like to know at this stage before i add any more detail and its easy to fix.
(so dont worry im planning on cleaning up all the tri's and 5's still). I'm just trying to figure out if there is a standard way to make edgeloops that will use on all faces or if its more of a face by face comparison? and then how will I know which one to use when?