So you see all of these art lessons below, and are probably asking yourself where to start? Well the first section, "Life As An Artist", contains some articles on "big picture" art issues that you may find interesting. Then the second section, "The Art Making Process", is text and video lessons all about my personal art process, which I've broken into 22 stages. No matter whether you're a concept artist, matte painter, modeler, shading and texturing artist, whether you're doing vfx, animated films or videogames, there's probably something here you'll find useful in your own work, so feel free to explore just the stages that interest you, or follow my full 22 stage process by first clicking on Art Process Overview. Enjoy!

My video lessons are hosted on the following sites, feel free to subscribe.

Youtube

Otherwise, check all the topics below.

Life As An Artist
Lessons in both text and video form about art direction, art philosophy and a career in art. = Video

Art Direction
Art As A Career
Making Books
Art Related Software
Art Philosophy
Art School



The Art Making Process
Lessons in both text and video form about the process of making artwork. = Video

READ FIRST:
1) Ideas & Pillars
2) Research & Reference
3) Text & Keywords
4) Type & Symbols
5) Shaders
6) Color Design
7) Shapes & Patterns
8) Details & Test Scenes
9) Composition
10) Silhouette Sketch (aka Shape Sketch)
11) Line Sketch (aka Quick Sketch, Line Drawing, Initial Sketch, Diagram)
12) 3D Sketch & Cameras
13) Photo Sketch (aka Photobashing Sketch, Photo Collage)
14) Color Sketch (aka Color Brief, Color Rough, Value Sketch, Color Preliminary, Color Thumbnail, Flat Color Sketch)
15) Compositing (aka Initial Digital Collage, Image Assembly)
16) Rough (aka Rough Digital Collage, Rough Painting)
17) Photobashing
18) Lighting & Rendering
19a) Modeling
19b) Sculpting

19c) Model Assembly
20) Shading & Texturing Overview 20a) Shading & Texturing General 20b) Shader Theory 20c) Pattern Theory 20d) Pattern Placement (UV Mapping, Projections, etc) 20e) Pattern Storage & Texture Baking 20f) Pattern Creation 20g) Layering
20h) Material Light Rig
21) Final Painting (aka Final Digital Collage)
22) Tweaks



As you can probably tell, I am fascinated with Traditional and Digital Art and their application in the Entertainment field. I am hoping that by providing this material, in some small way, I am adding to the collective knowledge base of the field, so please take these ideas and do your own exploration, and feel free to contact me if you come across something cool, I'm always interested in expanding and correcting the materials on this page. A huge thanks for visiting!

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