www.artist-reference.com

Anatomy Books, DVD Tutorials and CG Texture Reviews

Archive for the ‘Comics’ Category

Sketchtheatre.com Review

Posted by ewa On July - 6 - 2011

As we have been focused on Gnomon group’s websites, here we come with another one equally interesting and inspiring as the other discussed – sketchtheatre.com. As their profile says, the aim of Sketch Theatre is to expose “young” minds to opportunities that might be a great stepping stone for them when it comes to a career in digital art design. In other words, it is a place for young talents that aspire to make a career in the special effects industry in the future. Basically Sketch Theatre is a place for amateur artists to display their own works whether their art is based on comic book design, animation, films, entertainment design (like creatures, sets and props) and even music.

Let´s move to the description of what sketchtheatre.com include. The home page of Sketchbook Theatre has a standard search bar at the top as well as videos in which different artists display their own works. The best part about these videos of this website is the fact that artists actually give a sort of play by play of how they created their sketches. These “demonstrations” are also followed up by background music of the artist’s own choose. Also, the website includes instructional videos that feature sketching demonstrations from professionals in the field of character design, illustration, comics and more. Come to think of it, I did find one similarity between the gnomonworkshop.com and this one. Both sites have a forums page where artists can discuss topics related to their interests as well as competitions. However, that’s where the similarity ends.

The “Interviews” section includes, well, interviews with some of Sketch Theatre’s most talented artists, and not just any artists. The website interviews the artists who have had the pleasure of working in big budget box office hits. For example, one of the featured interviews includes that of Aaron Sims, a special effects artist that has worked on “some of the most popular, defining movies of the 1990’s” like Gremlins 2, Mighty Joe Young, Men in Black, Batman Forever and Nutty Professor too.

Besides that, sketchtheatre.com offers the latest news about industry and artists who made their mark in their respected fields. As a digital art enthusiast, I would like to keep myself updated on what is new in the world of visual effects so such information was a definite plus for me. The “Store” section also caught my attention – with sketch pieces and T-shirts on offer. Some of them went for about 29 USD. However, there were also specialized ones, like the Cameron Davis limited edition sketch T-shirts, that go for a whopping 45 USD per a piece. One thing is for sure – the quality of the sketch designs on these items means that you are getting your money’s worth.

Another thing I found interesting was a competition in which amateur sketch artists could pit their skills against each other. Winners could get their hands on exclusive Gnomon DVDs (tutorials) as well as other products offered by the gnomonworkshop.com.  Items such as these would definitely come in handy for an aspiring 3D artist so the competition is also a definite plus.

However, to tell you the truth, the News and Interviews section did not seem very different from each other, as both are featuring works of different artists via videos. I was also annoyed that I had to go to the actual website of the artist whose video demonstration I wanted to watch in the News section. As for the navigation aspect, there is nothing much to maneuver through since the site doesn’t have that much to offer, but this might have more to do with the site’s elementary theme than anything else. Overall, this site is a great place for budding artists to see what other aspirants that are gunning for a place in the 3D industry are doing.

Summary

+ This website provides a great place for budding artists to showcase their sketching talents via video demonstrations.

- One has to go to other links if  wanted to view the profiles of famous artists in the News section which is annoying.

 

Popularity: 22% [?]

Dynamic Figure Drawing: The Body with David Finch

Posted by levius On May - 18 - 2010

My Review:

I Got about 15 tutorial DVDs from Gnomon, I believe they are the top producer of such a content at the moment. This review will be about the most recent and favorite video tutorial I bought. I already had 2 penciling video from Gnomon, one from Alvin Lee (I plan to write a review about his online course) and one from J.P. Targette. While both will teach you lot of interesting things about creating a comic page this one is the first that actually deals with drawing anatomy. And as you know I am real Anatomy freak so I got to say  I love it. I don’t think there is a better anatomy drawing video on the market at the moment. David Finch is an fantastic artist, not only his drawings looks great (the opposite is a common problem with many anatomy books) but he has a natural talent to explain things.

It is possible to buy this movie either as an real DVD or download. Lately I prefer downloads as you can get it before the DVD is released and you don’t have to wait and pay for t he delivery (price of both products is  same). Download consists of 11 quicklime movies with overall playing time over 170 minutes. There are 2 additional DVDs in the Gnomon store  focusing separately on head and hands & feet from the same author. So here you got 170 minutes of drawing lectures focused primary on body. If you are familiar with the Andrew Loomis’s book “Anatomy for all its worth” you got pretty good idea what is this video tutorial about.

David provides tons of good advice  for drawing figures from head without reference. In the first 4 videos  he is constantly drawing and not going into any details, just the overall poses and shapes. Which is actually really good as I believe it is easy to fill these with individual muscles later. I agree with him that once you can draw the correct pose and outline of the figure you are 90% done. Next here is one 25 min. video where he goes into individual muscles and another 15 minutes on differences between female and male anatomy focused on drawing good looking females.

Another hour about rendering the muscle shadows on several figures with additional 15 min video about rendering female figures and the final one about modifying anatomy to draw monsters and “non standard figures”. Overall its very interesting to watch and you can definitely see this guy knows what is he talking about. He is also really fast so you get a several figures drawn every few minutes.  I think for 39 bucks this is a great value.

PS: I already mentioned in my review of Dynamic Anatomy by Burne Hogarth that I am part of Anatomy Dojo where we practice our anatomy drawing every day. Finch’s video is going to be my next source after I finish Hogart’s book.  If you are serious about improving your drawing skills be sure to join us on cgtalk ;) .

Short summary:

+ great looking characters

- I am having hard time finding one

My opinion:

Best comic anatomy drawing DVD out there. ★★★★★

Price:

Last time I checked it cost $39 you can buy it at:

www.thegnomonworkshop.com/store/product/823/Dynamic-Figure-Drawing:-The-Body

Product Description:

In this DVD, David Finch reveals his step-by-step process for drawing the human body. He starts with simple tube form shapes, and then covers the placement of muscle throughout both the male and female bodies. David demonstrates how to pose a simple tube form effectively, allowing you to block-in and draw a figure in perspective and in a variety of poses. He discusses balance, posture and presentation, emphasizing line weight and lighting. Finally, David puts everything together and draws fully realized bodies with a variety of intricate poses, and a variety of proportions and details. This constructive drawing process teaches you to draw convincing human bodies without the need for tracing or using reference.

About The Artist:

David Finch began his comic book career at the age of 22 at Top Cow Productions, part of Image Comics. There he created Ascension and Aphrodite IX, both of which were top sellers in the business, with Aphrodite IX debuting as the number one comic book in the industry. In 2001 he made the move to Marvel comics where his catalog of work included Call of Duty,Ultimate X-MenAvengers Disassembled and The New Avengers. His run on Moon Knight skyrocketed this title into the main Marvel universe and landed him a top-five book which sold more than five times the title’s previous release. David then turned his attention to working with LostHeroes and Smallville executive producer, Jeph Loeb, on Marvel’s smash hitUltimatum. 2010 saw another major change in David’s career as his made the transition from Marvel Comics to DC Comics and the Warner Brothers banner. His artwork will be featured on the covers for the upcoming follow up to Darkest Night, entitled Brightest Day. In addition to his comic career, David has also worked in video games, music and film.

Popularity: 54% [?]

Photo-Reference-for-Comic-Artists.com Review

Posted by levius On May - 4 - 2010

I should probably be up front with you about my involvement with this site before you continue reading, just so you don’t think I’m purposefully giving a glowing review to make some cash. But since I own a part of the site under review I thought you should know. However, because I know what I want from this site and because I’ve had a hand in choosing the content for this site I can say with confidence that it’s exactly the kind of site that when I started my artistic career I found wanting. I’ll try to be as objective as possible and you’ll have to be the judge.

My Review:

While female-anatomy-for-artist.com and human-anatomy-for-artist.com are sister sites this one is more like their younger and hipper cousin :) The main difference is that there is no nudity on this site or nude photo references so not only is it safe for kids it is also a great source of clothing, facial feature and wrinkle references. There are generally fewer angles for each pose but on the other hand every single picture counts and can be used for a frame in a comic. These photos are not intended for anatomy study (while some of them can certainly be used that way) but as a reference for comic drawing. There are a lot of crazy angles and perspectives and the photos are more dynamic in general. You can find photos of daily activities ranging from using a phone, drinking whisky or shooting people in the head from behind :) The clothing varies from casual t-shirts and jeans through gangsta leather jackets and business suits to military suits and uniforms.

There are also additional subjects like dogs attacking people, motorcycle driving, smoking,  you know, everything that might be useful in a good comic :) . You can of course suggest your own poses and subjects as long as it matches a comic theme.

There are currently about  10,000 (ten thousand) photos on the Website.

Quality:

Most of the photos are 3328×5047 pixels, which is about 16Mpx.  This is roughly twice the full HD resolution so more than enough for creating professional artworks or comic.  Be sure to save the photos in our gallery so you can see the full resolution. Click on the thumbnail and then right click on the full screen picture and choose “save as”.

Price:

There are several pricing options to choose from, starting from 7 EUR per month for a hobby membership. There is a download limit of 250 photos per day so you will get 250×30 = 7500 photos for this price. Thats more than 1000 photos per 1 EUR. A good deal if you ask meJ

License:

A hobby license allows you to download and use the photos for your personal use, for example for study, and any non commercial art creation etc. You are allowed to showcase your works but not to sell them. A commercial membership allows you to use photos according to a royalty free stock license. So basically for anything else than reselling the original photo. You can use it for commercial illustration, art etc and sell your artworks. A commercial membership starts from 14 EUR per month.

Short summary:

+ Best value for comic photo references

- Only 10,000 photos at the moment

My opinion:

My favorite photo reference site at the moment ★★★★½

You can buy membership here:

www.photo-reference-for-comic-artists.com

Popularity: 80% [?]

Recommended Reviews

Recommended sites

VIDEO

 

TAG CLOUD