www.artist-reference.com

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: 17% [?]

Drawing is a type of visual expression and one of the major forms within the visual arts. There are sub categories of drawing like figure drawing, sketching, doodle drawing, thumbnail drawing and many others. Being an artist, figure drawing has always been my hobby. As I pursued figure drawing online, I found many website on the internet giving guidance on the subject but the one I really liked was figuredrawings.com. In following lines I’ll share my experience of this artistic website to help artists and CG experts to better utilize this source.

Official name of the website, as it appears on the site, is “Figure Drawings and Portraits”. It is an online marketplace of literature on making human figures, portraits and sketches. This website is spread over two platforms which are a website and a blog (figure-drawings.blogspot.com). Being more active, the blog contains latest activities and offers, which normally include newly added ebooks. In my opinion, it’s one of the most detailed website on human figure drawing and contains knowledge which is hardly available elsewhere. Ebooks are mostly placed on Amazon but some are available on Google book store as well. A short intro of all online publications is available also on the website. This website covers drawing of each and every part of human body. Moreover, it is not a place offering just tips and tricks or a re-gathered data from the internet to draw a better human figure. On figuredrawings.com you get great ways to draw high quality drawings, however most of the instructions are completely understandable only to artists because often they are written in professional style and could be bit difficult for a layman. As the drawing of human figure is concerned exclusively with human body so this website contains lots of nudism which is present in shape of nude male/female model’s images. Hundreds of real life photos from the lives of artists are present on the site to give a real insight of figure drawing as a profession.

However, figuredrawing.com is not a website meant to give you an eye-soothing effect on first glance. It is a website with plenty of text and links with not good looking buttons, navigation menus, slideshows and flash animations. It does not even contain a sidebar! There is a cream colored background which is extensively cluttered with brown text and typical blue color links. If we compare this site with similar sites of the same niche, it may take a lead in terms of stuff it offers but when we talk about layout of the content, it is highly disappointing. There is no concept of arranging similar stuff under some category or tag. Finding something on figuredrawings.com is extremely difficult except that you find your desired stuff right on the start of homepage. By merely having a look on a link you do not get any hint about where the given link is going to direct you. It is also stuffed with Google and Amazon ads which make the layout even more messy and difficult to navigate. Even if one keeps browsing this site for hours, there’s no chance to get the idea of how to find something directly.

After heavy criticism on the site’s design and organization aspects, now let’s move towards some unbeatable areas of figuredrawings.com. Forms of visual arts which are covered in never ending details include figure drawing, portrait, life drawing, sketch making, paintings and academic drawings. The knowledge which is available on this website is sufficient to become a world-class professional artist. In addition, links to various art directories, galleries and drawing sites are provided to explore more stuff online. ‘How to’ guides collection is of very good quality and every concept is illustrated by supporting images, making it easy to comprehend. There is a sense of liveliness and freshness throughout the website’s content which has been brought by number of real life professionals who are connected to this site in one or other way. I have no hesitation in stating that figuredrawings.com is one of the most authenticated places for getting know-how on figure drawings. The major advantage is that you get almost everything in one place. These are some of the major reasons for this website being famous and also the reason I have decided to review this site.

When it comes to price, figuredrawings.com offers valuable and practical literature for a nominal price. No package or membership is offered, if you want to purchase something from this site you have the option to either buy from the site directly or purchase it from Amazon and Google ebook store. Price varies from 4 USD to 60 USD per item. Three payment methods (Paypal, Google checkout and credit card) are available in case of purchasing. However, no money back guarantee scheme is provided so one should be careful while selecting the appropriate product. Ebooks are in normal ´.pdf´ format. Majority of them are very well written, however, you may find some with old and clumsy looking scanned copies of old books. To grab something really useful, it is better to get a printed version.

People who just require some literature from this website for their daily work maybe wouldn’t much complain in general, but people like me who spend hours in writing reviews will not let figuredrawings.com escape so easily. Despite of the fact, that this website should be meant for 18+ visitors who are mature enough to realize the meaning and context in which the nudism is shown here, one can find dozens of nude photos right on the homepage, without any warning or restrictions. Also no ‘about us’ page is available, making history and other details undiscoverable. These weak areas together with poor website design, lack of navigation menus, plenty of advertisement and very roughly organized content, have significantly reduced quality of the website and its content.

To briefly conclude, I would like to say that figuredrawings.com can be a leading online platform to get actual knowledge of drawing human figure but only if they get their weak areas worked on. Right now one may find stuff of his choice but would be probably annoyed while reaching his target.

Summary:

+ Highly technical approach to teaching human figure drawings with easy-to-comprehend images and guidelines.

- Poorly designed and chaotically organized website with high percentage of nude stuff freely available and spread all over the website.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Today the main intentions of business communities are focused on minimizing the cost effects of whatsoever they are doing. Same is the case with media industry, which most commonly includes film making, gaming, TV commercials, presentations, simulations and interactive websites. To simulate real life scenarios there are two options – either hire real people on real places and capture it using cameras or make everything using computer graphics. Later one proved to be more useful because of less limitations and practical problems of real world, as well as currently being more economical. Flat Pyramid is a company addressing the above mentioned issue. In following lines we will analyze Flat Pyramid from every possible angle with the aim to provide complete details to artists and all others concerned with computer graphics industry.

This was all about the industry and the concept, now I will deliberate in detail on Flat Pyramid as a company. The official name of company is “FLAT PYRAMID” and was founded in 2005 in Los Angeles, CA. It is one of the biggest provider and online distributor of 3D content and interactive graphics which includes 3D models, photo renders, 3D tutorials, textures and 3D software along with various plugins. It is an online marketplace stuffed with non-exclusive and royalty-free digital graphics. Flat Pyramid is brought into existence with primary aim to reduce production costs in computer graphics industry. Hiring specialized graphic designers and experts for a single project is very expensive and can raise the financial costs. Even if specialized people are not hired still getting custom 3D models and graphics prepared from a provider is an expensive job. Flat Pyramid has provided a way out of these problems by making available lots of 3D models, textures, rendered photos and many other interactive graphics.

Flat Pyramid is mainly divided into 5 categories which are 3D models, photo renders, textures, 3D tutorials and 3D software and programs. 3D models, photo renders and textures, all are further divided into 15-25 different categories, which are very well tailored. Few examples of these sub categories are architecture, food, animals, computers and technology, business and communication, sports, weapon and many others. 3D tutorials section is divided with respect to the program to which it relates (e.g. cinema4D, maya, 3Dmax) or with respect to the technique/process used (3D modeling, 3D rendering and animations etc.). Though everything is listed in its respective category, filtering the list with different filters is also possible.

There is also section called “Custom 3D Graphics” which does not contain any stuff but is there to meet your requirements. At Flat Pyramid, it is possible to let customize 3D models or photo renders accordingly to your wishes. They even offer 3D animation service that includes whole set of works concerning with pre-production, production and post-production. These kinds of services are quite unique among this type of websites. Also, Flat Pyramid is not just a seller of interactive graphics and related products, it provides the opportunity for designers to place their stuff and sell it, too. In short, customers can do both buy and sell products. To sell products, one just needs to sign up for a free account with the option to become seller. Flat Pyramid pays 55% of the proceeds from sales to the artist. In this way, the company provides an excellent platform to expose your talent by making it public. Plus it is good opportunity to earn some money, too.

Let’s have a look on technical aspects, like file format and sizes. All types of models or textures are already searchable as per their format, however, if you buy anything from Flat Pyramid, you are likely to get many formats. For example in case of 3D models you get about 4 to 10 different formats depending upon the availability. The most famous formats are .3ds, .fbx, .max, .obj, .dxf, .psd etc. for 3D models, JPEG, PNG for photo renders and JPEG only for textures. File formats of 3D models give designers the independence of using these models in any program of their choice. Each purchased photo render or texture comes in various sizes (from low resolution to high resolution images), too.

Speaking about pricing, Flat Pyramid possesses a simple and straightforward payment system. You simply pay for what you buy. The price of 3D models varies from 40 to 650 USD per item (according to complexity and details), whereas photo renders are available for 10 to 70 USD per photo. No matter how many items you buy, the price would remain the same. The concept of membership is not introduced on Flat Pyramid. The price of custom 3D work also depends on the detail included in the model and the deadline before which it is required. It usually cost more than a regular item but for this price they adjust it according to your wishes and needs. The time which it takes to deliver the custom order is around 6 weeks, but it is possible to agree to shorter delivery time. Flat Pyramid even helps its clients in using the purchased stuff in their projects. You need not to pay any extra fees for obtaining pictures in different sizes or formats.

There is no doubt that Flat Pyramid is made with a very good concept and clear principles. Initially taken a slow and steady pace, the database is now growing quite rapidly. The most common advantages of being a customer of Flat Pyramid includes reduction in production costs, ease in buying items, ease in navigating through different categories, the availability of various file formats and sizes and opportunity to sell one´s works. Other than this, the custom modeling and design facility is really a unique feature. It helps designers in fulfilling those needs of their clients which they are not capable of. It is like a machine full of expertise and ready to output anything. In addition to above mentioned features, Flat Pyramid is made in a very decent and professional look.

Graphics designing is a field full of complexities, new challenges and changing technologies, hence being perfect in this industry is almost impossible. In accordance with this fact, Flat Pyramid also has some disadvantages or weak areas. The main problem is the lack of content. Though it’s increasing with a good pace but right now Flat Pyramid is not a place where you can find everything. In photo renders section, many categories do not contain any file at all. That can leave a very bad impression in visitor’s mind. The prices are also quite high if considering buying in bulk. Reasonable solution would be to offer some discounts or membership plans in these cases. Also, only one file format is available for textures and hardly two are available for photo renders section. Till now the 3D modeling has been the main focus which left textures and photo renders section in dark.

In my concluding remarks I would appreciate the efforts of designers and complete team of Flat Pyramid. They have managed to build a good platform which is likely to grow very fast in days to come. Even the stuff which is being offered by the company today – there is no doubt it is of very good quality and can be very handy to all professionals in the field of graphic designing. With efficiency and better skills, Flat Pyramid has started its journey towards earning a good repute.

Summary:

+ 3D models are of very good quality and designed with perfection. They are compatible with all leading software of the graphic designing industry. In addition, opportunities to let customize 3D models or photo renders for you or even earn money by selling your own, make this website unique.

-    The website lacks the volume of stuff. There´s no content in some categories so complete reliance on Flat Pyramid is somehow not possible. Also, it is needed to mention, that I haven´t got any reply on my e-mail I sent them in order to ask for some samples.

Popularity: 28% [?]

After focusing on textures, props and scenes in our first review on PoserWorld, now it is time to also depict the core section of the website formed by human models and clothing. PoserWorld is one website of its kinds, which offers such wide range of human designs and clothing.

At this point it is needless to repeat the fact that the site boasts of its collection of almost 2000 downloadable products and that the company has been operating since 1999. Although the basic information like membership details, downloading charges, licensing details and information about general image resolution have been discussed in detail in our previous review, in order to provide you better overview and for those of you, who haven´t read the first part of PoserWorld review yet, let´s summarize in short some of the most relevant information you should know about this site.

PoserWorld updates and keeps adding new designs on a regular weekly basis. The site offers 3 types of membership, namely 3 month membership for 20 USD, 12 month membership for 50 USD and lifetime membership for 500 USD. If you choose to become a lifetime member, you also get a set of 5 DVDs offered by PoserWorld free along with lifetime access to website’s whole collection of designs. If you choose to not becoming a member of the site, you can download the images of your choice at an average rate of 3 USD per image. The image sizes range from 512×3000 pixels to 3000×3000 pixels. All the images and textures offered by the website are royalty free for personal and commercial use (if derivated), but for more info be sure to check its Terms of Use or rather contact somebody from PoserWorld if you’re expecting specific usage.

One interesting thing that would grab a viewer’s attention is the fact that they have developed different categories of clothing and designs as per human models. Different models like Aiko, Laura, Luke, Michael, etc. display eye-catching themed clothing. Especially certain characters such as Koshini, Manchu Emperor and Milbaby are quite peculiar and unique. For example the set of Manchu Emperor showing his rich cultural heritage contains images of its traditional clothing (casual and formal), slippers and hair, while set of Giselle, an interesting Alien character, shows off interesting vector designs of hair and body texture. These types of figures are quite unique and can be used for different purposes. I personally downloaded some for my presentation – David and Royal Canadian Mountain Police outfit for him consisting of hat, red jacket and black pants. As remarkable I found also Digital Seamless Royal Period Fabric 1 & 2, each having up to 15 rough woven textures that could be used as robes, tapestry, garments, floor coverings etc. Though the seamless fabric textures are of 512×512 pixel sizes, they could be very useful. There are some real fabric textures with finished seams and edges as well. PoserWorld also offers several DVDs containing huge collection of designs and other items provided by the website with single page menu to navigate easily through the DVD content. The DVD’s prices range from 15 USD to 45 USD for the content of 160 – 1000 items in one DVD. There is also ´3D clothes texturing tutorial video DVD´ for 19.95 USD. It is a 31 minute tutorial video which helps you to create a detailed clothing texture using Photoshop or any other image editing program.

The thing I really liked about the site is that it maintains the high quality of the designs. They are quite versatile and one can use them in almost any work. Though, one thing which could be improved is the website’s search engine. Of course, a smart search engine in a website with this heavy load of designs and textures is a must! As the website contains huge collection of images, despite of using a good search query, you might end up with a long list of images to search through. The search engine also displays the list of DVDs which contains the searched images. One more thing that I did not like much about this site is that even if you wish to download the whole set of textures, you get to see only one sample texture and based on that you have to rely and pray that the whole lot of designs are as good as the sample.

Although I wouldn’t say that I found all the collection I needed, I would like to mention that the quality of images I found here was truly worth appreciating. The site provides a great variety of human attire from casual to business. I must admit that I have never come across such a huge collection of men’s and women’s clothing in any website before, except the times when I had been visiting a mall .

Summary:

+     Good range of unique collection full of models in various themed clothing. Good resolution and flexibility of using the images anywhere as they are developed in vector style to suit all resolutions and sizes.

-     Sometimes it seems clumsy to find the right image from such a heavy load of human designs and clothing textures. Pages are unnecessarily overloaded by lot of same information in headers and footers, which is a little bit distracting.

Popularity: 39% [?]

With more and more websites showing off their vibrant collection of textures and 3D images, it becomes increasingly important for artist to read over genuine reviews of these websites in order to find if a particular one is perfect for him. Here we shall talk about PoserWorld, a website which boosts of excellent quality, large variety and ready to use content.

The first thing you’ll notice after loading the homepage of PoserWorld is the website claiming to have a large variety of over 1900 items with excellent quality 3D content. Though the website shows off more content on human models and clothing, it also includes seamless textures of varied categories. Due to the diversity of website´s content, we thought it would be better to publish 2 separate reviews – one on textures and one on human models. Here we shall discuss all it has to offer in terms of textures.

The one thing about searching for good textures online is that you see the same kinds of textures as you move from one site to the other over the web. This does not happen here, though. Uniqueness is one of the main qualities you’ll find here. I would like to put light upon the fact that this site has a huge number of seamless and digital textures, props and scenes to offer. The texture collection ranges from

seamless Jet and Sky Photo Background added in July 2007 to the latest seamless metal photo texture set added on April 2011. They offer a huge variety of textures, having different sets of seamless fabric photo textures like gold embroidered fabric and variety of plaid and stripped fabric textures, which are quite unique. The Scenes section has a lot to offer to the user, too. For example beautiful textures like Pool Scene that shows off breathtaking pool view with the lawn by the side. Also there are textures like Cityblock which offers beautiful architectural views of the city blocks, generally not to find elsewhere. With ready to use exterior scenes like Bob’s Dinner, Park center and interior scenes like Kitchen, Sauna etc., one can easily and quickly incorporate it in his project. Moreover, different parts of scenes can be moved so the basic scene can be modified accordingly to your needs.  This section is worth taking a look and the site itself is surely a must-visit for an artist who is in search for some unique well finished scenes and textures with good resolution.

The sizes of these textures range from 512 to 3000 pixels but majority of them is 3000×3000 pixels. The site updates and keeps adding various new textures on a regular weekly basis. One thing that is not so satisfactory is that at times it displays only one picture of the textures collection. The viewer has to rely on one sample picture before downloading the whole section of images. For example ‘By the River’ set shows off one beautiful picture of bridge over river to sell off whole collection of 19 photographs of Newcastle Keyside section. Also, at times the viewer has to rely on lower pixel size samples of textures before he buys the textures in higher resolution. Speaking about website´s weaknesses, it seems a little clumsy with the heavy header, footer and right panel being repeated on each page.

Though PoserWorld has huge number of designs and textures, unlike sites like environment-texture.com, the viewers have to do a laborious searching through lots of data and lists to find the perfect texture to suit their needs. This is due to the fact that there is no division into categories on the site. Tough it has search engine which works fine, but again whereas there is a huge number of images loaded in it, even the search results might show up in huge number. One thing that could be improved is the way how the search engine works. By typing ´red brick´ the search engine lists all the textures and images with ´red´, ´brick´ as well as ´red brick´ so one will get more results than wanted, which means another tedious searching for the right image among the others. Very disappointing I find the fact that although there is a free sample section, there is just one free item, which changes “from time to time” (as they write). This is surprising because free samples are already the must-have of this kind of websites.

The downloading charges of the site are fair and reasonable. One can download a texture or any other design at a price of about 3 USD. This is the average price of the designs. Also the site offers memberships which when paid for, it grants full access to all the textures of the site. The memberships offered by the site are 20 USD for a three month membership, 50 USD for a 12 month membership and for a full lifetime membership one has to pay 500 USD. The lifetime membership grants the user full access to all of the features of the site for lifetime, plus 5 DVDs full of textures, 3D models and several tutorial videos. A good thing over here is that by providing option of single item purchase as well as subscriptions option, they have covered all the possible demands of individual as well as corporate users. All the images and textures offered are royalty free for personal and commercial use (if derivated), but for more information I would contact website´s owners. For all those who would like to learn how to create clothing textures on their own, there are also 3D clothes texturing tutorial video DVD for 19.95 USD and 3D photo texture DVD with over 1362 textures for 19.95 USD.

With all these information we can easily conclude the following summary for texture section of PoserWorld:

+     A commendable collection of 3D textures, with unique categories makes it stand apart from the rest.  Reasonable prices of membership – for example at 50 USD per year, one gets access to all of content for a full year, for the price of about 16 individual item purchases.

- At times it becomes clumsy to move through all the heavy panels of headers, footers and right hand panels. Search engine should be made more intelligent with added features to enhance the user’s experience over searching varied textures and designs. Disappointing Free Samples section with just one free item.

We couldn´t show you any sample textures, because as we already mentioned there aren´t free samples for download on the website. Although we sent PoserWorld a couple of e-mails asking for some samples, no reply received.

Popularity: 19% [?]

This review is for all CG artists dealing with everyday seeking for the right material, whether for their work or just for use in leisure time. If you belong to such kind of people, please feel free to read.

I ran into this site while browsing the internet in order to find some interesting textures and designs which I started to collect for my further works. The one thing about this site, that I need to mention right at the beginning, is diversity of its content in terms of products provided. Assist CG offers not only textures but also designs, backgrounds, video transitions and also software for video composition and texture modification. This site is a great place for getting ideas and good stuff.

It has to be admitted that in spite of its modest collection in terms of the number of textures in each category, Assist CG is pretty impressive and has lots to give. The website’s collection boasts of many interesting, quality photos, a few of them are hard to find anywhere else. Some of the eye catchy textures that caught my attention were for example Wood, Lawns and Paving sets. Most photos in Wood section may seem common, but some of them are very rare in its genre. Among the ordinary textures from Paving Sets, one can find intriguing photos of the Roman roadways, too. Above all, I would highlight remarkable designs offered in Tiles and Mosaic section, which are very rare and impressive. These great sets are one of the reasons, why artists definitely should visit this website. Since most of the textures represent different surfaces of the terrain and various kinds of walls and roofing, this site could be helpful for game developers in process of creating surroundings in games or for architects while presenting their architectural projects.

Textures are offered in the resolution ranging from 512×512 to 2048×2048 pixels, some even higher. Those in resolution of 512×512 pixels can be downloaded for free without having a membership. All you need to do is get registered and you can enjoy free downloads. Although free photos are in quite small resolution, still it’s a nice gesture from the website like this, which can also persuade artists to subscribe. Nevertheless, to get the original resolution of the images, you have to become a member.

Except textures, you can find a lot of more. The site provides Blender 2.49 which is software for creating video composition with different visual effects. Such video composition can be used in the presentation of your project. One can also find various transitions and animated video backgrounds ready for use in this video. Moreover, the site has a tutorial section in which a user gets information of how to use the provided software with some examples and tips. A new user, just like me, who is interested in making creative videos, can really get some help out of this. The basic version of the software is available for free download once you registered, but the full version which enables to use sources from the library is open only to members exclusively. There is also workstation section on the site, which provides software that helps you modify and make textures.

Assist CG offers a membership in length of three months for which one needs to pay only 10 USD. For such a small price one gets access to download all the textures and videos on the site in full resolution. The software is available in its full version, too. Although there is part of the website’s content which can be downloaded for free, for a price this low, I would better become a member and enjoy the full capacity of the site.

The license agreement of the site has very simple policies. The first being that one cannot put the textures and other material from the site directly on his/her own web for sale. If you want to do so, significant modification would be needed. Otherwise, all content is royalty free and can be used anywhere one wish to use.

The only defect of the site I noticed is its small collection. Assist CG holds very few categories with low number of textures in each category, when compared with sites like www.environment-textures.com, which has three times more categories and subcategories and which with the total number of more than 99,000 photos is one of the largest resources of high resolution textures.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

On the other hand, the site has a good search engine which helps to find any video, texture or software one needs quickly and easily. The site is also very well designed, too. I found it very intuitive and uncomplicated to use. Also, all the textures are very clearly divided into categories. That makes browsing simple compared to other bulky websites where it becomes difficult to get to a desired texture.

This review should provide the relevant information about Assist CG and I hope it has helped you get the idea of the site and its content. Please, note the summary below.

Summary

+ Intriguing and rare textures in good resolution and high-definition videos. Software is really helpful plus tutorials make it easier to use.

- Quite few categories of textures as compared to similar websites. It holds a small collection of textures in each category as well.

Popularity: 9% [?]

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.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

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-Men, Avengers 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 Lost, Heroes 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: 55% [?]

My Review:

I first encountered Fred Perry in the How To Draw Manga book series. I instantly liked his style, and while he is American his drawings have a certain Japanese Manga feel to them coupled with his own fresh contribution.

I have to say though that the videos are a completely different beast. When you read the book you can read the artists comments and see his drawings but there is something magical about seeing him draw in real time while listening to his comments. It’s almost as if you are taking part in a personal drawing mentoring session. It is definitely much more inspirational while providing much more insight about the actual drawing process. For example, I was really surprised how often he erases parts of his drawings. I had never had a problem with erasing in photoshop but for some reason it didn’t feel right to do it on paper. Watching Fred do it every 5 seconds really helped me to relax and change my mind about it and start erasing every time I feel something isn’t perfect. This exponentially increased quality of my drawings.

The video has 5 main chapters:
Female Villain, Male Villain, Alien Hero, Male Sidekick, Female Alien Sidekick. Each of them is filmed over Fred’s shoulder while he describes the drawing process as well as the personality he would like his characters to emanate. There are several “Review” parts in each chapter where he stops drawing and the video shows a scan of a drawing in process and Fred talks about the proportions of various body parts and the balance of the figure as well as his plans for the next step.

There are 2 more chapters, one of which is an unfinished Female sidekick. Apparently the camera guy fell asleep and  missed most of the drawing process This is followed by a 20 minute interview with Fred where he gives lot of information about his personal life as well as his experiences in the comic industry, his favorite manga artists as well as his experience in the army as a member of a mine clearing squad . One bit of information that was particularly interesting to me was that he is 36 years old and has been drawing for about 15 years.

Short summary:

+ real time drawing process

- over the shoulder camera distorts the drawing

My opinion:

I like it a lot

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

Price:

Last time I checked it cost $20 you can buy it at:

www.antarctic-press.com/html/version_01/viewitem.php?id=4719&bk=store.php?id=AP+DVD

Product Description:

The ULTIMATE instructional DVD! Peer over the shoulder (literally!) of Gold Digger’s celebrated creator, Fred Perry, as he puts pencil to paper and creates characters, weapons and backgrounds before your very eyes. Listen as Fred explains his creative process and drawing techniques, all while offering valuable insights as you watch the magic of his illustrations unfold! Loaded with special features and an in-depth interview with the man himself. A MUST for any fan of the creative process, and of course, for GD aficionados!

About The Artist:

Fred Perry (born September 16, 1969) is an American comic book artist, currently working at Antarctic Press.

He is well known as author and artist of Japanese-styled comics. The series he is best known for is Gold Digger, a long-running comic anthology. He has also collaborated on other titles produced by the graphic novel publishing company Antarctic Press and produced a number of portfolios. He has also experimented with producing animation, both traditional and flash-based.

Currently the Cheetaholics web site is the best source of information on the artist and the work he has published.

Popularity: 16% [?]