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Anatomy Books, DVD Tutorials and CG Texture Reviews

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% [?]

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% [?]

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