www.artist-reference.com

The CG Channel is an online magazine that pays homage to the industry that made watching animated movies cool – Visual Effects and Computer Graphics. A part of the Gnomon group of industries, the website itself is also updated everyday which means that it provides visitors with everything that is happening in the world of special effects as it comes.

Like the Gnomon Workshop, CG Channel’s purpose is to “inspire” artists and designers that will ultimately have a hand in taking the world of graphics design to the next level. Their claim to fame owes to the fact that they have access to some of Hollywood’s “best artists and studios for unique, insightful content.”

As far as the layout of the website is concerned, I was a bit disappointed to find that all the homepage included was stuff they had for sale. I kind of expected the homepage to have text that at the very least gave me an idea of what the website is all about without me having to click every single tab to find out. I mean I know that it isn’t exactly a B2C website, but that doesn’t mean that they do not mention anything about themselves from the start. In fact, their About page had all this and a bag of chips so I was surprised that it wasn’t the first thing I saw when I visited the website.

Other than that, cgchannel.com is a fairly well made website. It includes a standard search bar at the top of the page if you get lost. Besides that their tabs include topics such as Features, Galleries, Community, Training, Competitions and info about their online store. What the Training tab offers speaks for itself. It includes training videos that you can purchase and also has their prices on display. The videos are tutorials from professional graphics designers and artists so that explains the hefty price tags. I was glad to see that the website also offered free online tutorials. They might not be as extensive as the ones that are actually up for sale, however, watching them would still be useful if you want to get an idea about the quality of their tutorials and whether buying their other videos would actually be worth it. Chalk one up for authenticity!

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Summary

+    Free online video tutorials give good examples of their work and also help in determining whether the quality of their training sessions is really something worth spending your money over.  Plus a lot of interesting information from the field of CG graphics.

-     No information about the website on the home page.

Popularity: 14% [?]

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% [?]