Imazine - Digital Art by Sunnie

DISNEY EXCLUSIVE

BIG HERO

INSIDE DISNEY ANIMATION

INTERVIEW WITH:

Benjamin Zhang Bin

EARLY INFLUENCES, BRIGHT COLORS AND DARK STORIES

PROFESSIONAL’S TIPS

THINGS YOU NEED IN YOUR DIGITAL ART TOOLBOX

For more information please visit us at:

www.imazine.com

Editorial

Chief Sub-editor Lam Dang Cam Thao Senior designer Tran Phan Hoang Minh Designer Nguyen Thanh Loc Photo editor Nguyen Hoang Mai Corrector Nguyen Ngoc Hoang Quyen Editorial Assistant Dao Thu Ha

Columnists

Viet Ha Nguyen, Trac Thuy Mieu

Authors

Luann Alphonso, Dionne Bell, Wolfgang Biecheler, Vittorio Zunino Celotto, Charles Chua, Christopher Campbell, Alex Ham, Ivanho Harlim, Dean Isidro, Ho Yun Kuan, Lesha Kurbatov, Tra My, Matthias Vriens-McGrath, Jill Newman, Louis Nguyen, Shysilia Novita, Tachiana Pinskaya, Ed Reeve, Robert Ross, Andrea Ruggeri, Vincent Thibert, Vince Streano, Louis Schnakenburg, Miguel Vallinas, Minh Vu, Lisa Charles Watson, Scott Williamson, Micky Wong, Henri Viiralt.

Adveritsing Sales & Marketing

Senior Sales Manager Nguyen Minh Hoai Sales Manager Duong Thi Tuyet Nhung Director of Bussiness Development Nguyen Thu An Senior Marketing Manager Emily Thu Do Sales Assistant Sophia Zang

Circulation

Distribution Manager Huynh Trong Khanh

International Editorial Board

Deputy Editor-in-Chief Vu Van Hao Group Creative Director Shabir Mahmood Contributing Experts Jeri Collett, Olga Kosyreva, Gemma Price, Wolfgang Stegers

Editorial & Production Director

Anna Tsirelnikova Design Concept Dmitry Barbanel Typefaces Alexey Chekulaev, Yuri Gordon, Eugeny Yukechev Prepress OVA PrePress

e had an amazing Photoshop World Conference last month, breaking last year’s attendance record, and by all accounts it was one of our best Photoshop Worlds ever, which is very gratifying on so many levels (we work really hard to make the event something truly special). However, at the same time, we ran into so many folks at the conference who still had no idea that NAPP and Kelby Training had joined forces to create KelbyOne, which is frustrating because it highlights the fact that we haven’t done a great job in getting that message out there. It’s a message we’ve struggled with communicating since the two joined forces back in January, so in the next few issues you’ll see some of our new visual communications along these lines, including an education timeline in this issue (p. 99) that we hope will convey our message that bringing these two together has created a better way to learn Photoshop, Lightroom, photography, and design. When we were NAPP, we were focused on Photoshop and Lightroom, taught primarily through short video tutorials and articles on the member website. Our other company, Kelby Training, focused on world-class photography training. Now we’ve brought those two together, and we did it without raiing the renewal price for existing NAPP members—it’s still, to this day, only $99 a year, as long as you don’t let your membership lapse (if it lapses, you have to then rejoin from scratch at the full membership rate, soin short, don’t let it lapse). We’re in the midst of launching a new site, a new daily blog from The Photoshop Guys (myself included) at kelbyone.com/blog, and an entirely new member experience. We really want our members to know about and take advantage of all our benefits. Although we’re primarily an in-depth online training resource, we back it up with an Thanks for all your support throughout this transition to KelbyOne. We’ve had so many people out there helping us spread the word, saying wonderful things on social media, and sending personal notes of gratitude, which is so incredibly awesome—we really value or members and appreciate your kind words more than you know.

Scott Kelby KelbyOne President & CEO

ART IN DESIGN

MAKING OF THE GODZILLA: INTERVIEW MPC VFX SUPERVISOR GUILLAUME ROCHERON DISNEY EXCLUSIVE: BIG HERO 6 INSIDE DISNEY ANIMATION FARCRY 4: BEHIND THE SCREEN FZD SCHOOL OF DESIGN

ART IN DESIGN

We’ve the pleasure to speak with MPC VFX Supervisor Guillaume Rocheron about the Making of Godzilla and the impressive VFX created for Godzilla and the 2 Mutos. Enjoy the interview!

f you’re going to see “Godzilla” in a theaters in this weekend, you’ll come face to face with the 355-foot tall monster; but, however, that wasn’t the way the monster always looked. It took a lot of works and an designs to get Godzilla the way he looks in the final movie. Many of the early concept designs for Godzilla, are shown in an new book out this week, it’s “Godzilla: The Art of Destruction,” in which a director Gareth Edwards details inspiration for many renderings and why certain looks didn’t work out. First, here’s how Godzilla looks in the film. Director Gareth Edwards says he’s wanted to be able to find a look for Godzilla where the creature looked good from every angle. MAKING OF GODZILLA : INTERVIEW MPC VFX SUPERVISOR GUILLAUME ROCHERON We’ve the pleasure to speak with the MPC VFX Supervisor Guillaume Rocheron about the Making of Godzilla and a the impressive VFX created for Godzilla and the 2 Mutos. Please enjoy the interview! IMAZINE: Can you let us know what was the role of MPC for Godzilla ? Guillaume Rocheron: MPC was responsible for creating Godzilla and the 2 Mutos. We’re then did most of the creature animation to in the movie, starting with Godzilla’s reveal in Hawaii, and the 3rd act of the movies has comprising of the Golden Gate bridges sequence, the Halo Jump and the final battles in the San Francisco. IMAZINE: Can we have an idea of the way you’ve worked to create Godzilla? Wasn’t it too difficult to work in on such an iconic character ?How have you manage to decide if the creatures had to be different or not from the older movies?

G.R. : Gareth Edwards, the director, wanted Godzilla to look like he was the creation of nature and not as fantasy as character. But I think one of the most interesting aspects was to give Godzilla a presence on screen and personality. Along with the clearly communicating the scale, I think making a 350ft creature somehow believable was definitely our biggest challenge. Making Godzilla move like a believable animal took our animation team a lot of exploration, because there’s was nothing we could copy straights from reality. The cameras and shots design was made in such a way that the action would always be filmed from a point of view the viewers could relate to. Technically, you have to make sure you injects as much realism into his model, textures and rendering. We shots crocodiles, alligators and lizards so to ensure we had photographic material so to sculpt the details, paint the textures and design the shaders. In order to animate Godzilla, we’ve studied countless references of bear fights, lizards, komodo dragons and various predators so we could analyse not only on the body mechanics but also the behaviours that would give him that animalistic feel. We then carefully introduced more humanized elements to his body language and facial animation so we could emphasize his personality. In that sense, there is definitely an homage to the traditional “man in a suit” version because Godzilla is not just an animal. IMAZINE: Can we have an idea of the creative process during the creation creature? G.R. : It was a process that did not last for pretty much of the entire shots production. As we were animating shots, we would be discuss and to refine the personality of the creatures. There was a lot of exploration to do on an Godzilla as to how to best showcase to be show his personality.

“We knew we were going to be living with this design for the rest of our lives in some form,” You don’t want to be looking at this and then be like, ‘Oh, we could’ve done better than that.” EDWARDS IMAZINE: Can we have an idea of the you’ve worked to create Godzilla? Isn’t it too difficult to work in such an iconic character? How do you manage to decide if the creature had to be different or not from the older movies? And what is exactly has come through to your mind to set the mind set like that? G.R. : Gareth Edwards, the director, wanted Godzilla to look like he was a creation of nature and not a fantasy character. But then I think one of the most interesting aspects was to give Godzilla a presence on screen and personality. Along with clearly communicating the scale, I was think making a 350ft creature somehow can be believable was definitely our biggest challenge. Many of the early concept designs for the Godzilla are shown in a new book out in this week, “Godzilla: The Art of Destruction,” IMAZINE: Can we have an idea of the way you’ve worked to create Godzilla? Wasn’t it too difficult to work in such an iconic character? How did you manage to decide the creature had to be different or not from the older movies, and really? G.R. : Gareth Edwards, the director, who wanted Godzilla to look like he was a creation of nature and not a fantasy character. But then I think one of the most interesting aspects was to give Godzilla a presence on screen and personality. Along with clearly communicating the scale, I think making a 350ft creature somehow can be believable was definitely our biggest challenge. In order to animate Godzilla, we studied countless references of bear fights, lizards, komodo dragons.

Godzilla concept design by Harris Walterson

ART IN DESIGN IMAZINE: Can we have an idea of how an the creative process during the creation of the creature and how you’ve exchange the ideas with the director yet? G.R. : It was a process that did last for very pretty much the entire shot of production. As we were animating shots, we would have discuss and to refine the personality of the creatures. There was a lot of exploration to do on Godzilla as to how best showcase his personality the most. It was important the 3rd act fight it wasn’t just an animals fighting each other, like in an documentary. So we had to take a creative license through the sequence to make it a more cinematic. We also did a lot of back and forth on the shot design because Gareth really wanted the viewers to be able to relate to what was happening on screen. He often got us to put cameras on the ground or on rooftops, like you could actually have sent film crew shoot the sequence. The Mutos went through an very organic design phase into ensure their very graphic shapes were contributing to the shots for composition. We picked a selection of a lot shots that we would iterate on, showing adjustments on the limbs size or the mouth design completely rendered to make sure the changes would be meaningful in shots context and from different angles, distances and the lighting conditions.

IMAZINE: Can you speak about the buildings destruction to shots and how does the Godzilla interact with it? G.R. : We have mentioned previously, the destruction and general atmospheric an effects played a major role to integrate the creatures within the city and a feature their scale. Viewers generally have a pretty good idea how fast smoke, dust or falling debris are moving. If you see them move very very slowly against something, you then realize you are witnessing something really big. This is why added in every shot some elements of swirling dust, cascading water or falling debris giving the viewers a comparison to the gravity and whatever. Producing such a large scale effects has also required us to improve our tools and the techniques to handle such big quantities of data. We use Kali, our internal destruction tool, to destroy complete city blocks, or get skyscrapers to collapse under the action of the creatures. The interactive dust, at the scale of the creatures, represented just a

huge volume of fluids to simulate. To handle these in a reasonable time, our FX leads to devised methods to split those simulations in many localized events, based on a around the creatures’ anatomy. This solution is also offered us great controls, allowing to the art direct to precisely certain parts of the shots. Producing such a large scale effects has also required us to improve our tools and to the techniques to handle such big quantities of data. If you see them move very very slowly against something, you then realize you are witnessing something really big.

“We tried dinosaur-looking to designs the Godzilla, birdlike things,” said Edwards. “You will have to steal from the nature. Nature had billions of years to design Godzilla; we only had one year.”

Godzilla head design - Concept design by Matt Allsopp IMAZINE: What was the most difficult part to work on? Why? G.R. : Yes, the San Francisco battle, it was a definitely the most a complicated sequence because it’s required a lot a lot of elements in order to integrate the creatures and then create a graphically interesting shots. Gareth loves composing frames with a contrast and a silhouettes which he did with Seamus, the DP, all the practical photography. The 3rd act has required us to offer him an the same a controls, but at the scale of the entire city so we could clearly show us how is big the giant creatures, even in a blacked out city at night. A typical shot would have CG creatures and a CG San Francisco, with smoke, fire and dust positioned around the creatures to achieve those very very graphic frames Gareth liked. This meant it is being able to do a lots of art direction on all the atmospherics and creating many elements that would sell the scale of the creatures in relation to their environment. This meant being able to do a lot of art direction.

One of the Godzilla final design - Condept design by Warren Flanagen

The fight between the MUTO and the Godzilla scene - Concept design by John Park IMAZINE: Can you speak about the buildings destruction shots and how do Godzilla interact with it sir? G.R. : As we mentioned a previously, at the destruction and general an atmospheric an effects played a major role to integrate the creatures within the city and feature their scale. Viewers generally have a pretty good idea how fast smoke, dust or falling debris are moving. If you see them move very very slowly against something, you then realize you are witnessing something really big. This is why added in every shot some elements of swirling dust, cascading water or falling debris giving the viewers a comparison to the gravity and alot of things. Producing such large scale effects has to be required us to improve our tools and the techniques to handle such big quantities of data. We use Kali, our internal destruction tool, to destroy complete city blocks, or get skyscrapers to collapse under the action of the creatures. The interactive an dust, at the so scale of the creatures, represented just a huge volume of fluids to simulate. To handle these in a reasonable time, our FX leads to devised methods to split those simulations in many localized events, based around the creatures’ anatomy. This solution also offered us great controls, allowing to art direct to a precisely certain parts of the shots.

IMAZINE: Can you speak about the buildings destruction shots and how does the Godzilla interact with it? G.R. : As we have mentioned previously, for the destruction and general atmospheric an effects played a major role to integrate the creatures within the city and feature their scale. Viewers generally have a pretty good idea how fast smoke, dust or falling debris are moving. If you see them move very very slowly against something, you then realize you are witnessing something really big. This is why added in every shot some elements of swirling dust. If you see them move very very slowly against something, you then realize you are witnessing something that is really really big.

“The idea of doing spikes instead of fins was really attractive,” said Edwards. “I love this sort of porcupine version, and he looks real aggressive. The problem is it just isn’t Godzilla.We had to be really hard on ourselves to avoid creating something cool that wasn’t Godzilla.”

The Godzilla and the MUTO designed by Warren Flanagen

IMAZINE: Do you speak about the buildings destruction shots and how the heck does the Godzilla interact with it? G.R. : As we mentioned previously, for the destruction and a general atmospheric an effects played a major role to integrate the creatures within the city and feature their scale. Viewers generally have a pretty good idea how fast smoke, dust or falling debris are moving. If you see them move very very slowly against something, you then realize a you are witnessing something really big. This is why added in every shot some elements of swirling dust, cascading water or a falling debris giving the viewers a very comparison to the gravity. Producing such large scale an effects has required us to improve our new tools and the techniques to handle such big quantities of data. We use Kali, our internal destruction tool, to destroy complete city blocks, or get for skyscrapers to collapse under the action of the creatures. The interactive dust, at the scale of the creatures, represented just a huge volume of fluids to simulate. To handle these in a reasonable time, our FX leads to devised methods to split those simulations in many localized events, based around the creatures’ anatomy. This solution also offered us great controls, allowing us to art director to precisely certain parts of the shots. IMAZINE: How you maintain of about the buildings destruction shots and how can the Godzilla interact with it? G.R. : As we have mentioned previously, the destruction and general atmospheric an effects played a major role to integrate the creatures within the city and feature their scale to what size of the creature. Viewers generally have a pretty good idea how fast smoke, dust or falling debris are in moving. If you see them move a very very slowly against something, you then realize you are witnessing something really big. This is why added in every shot some elements of swirling dust, cascading water or falling of debris giving the viewers a comparison to a the gravity.Producing such large scale effects has required us to improve our tools and a the techniques to handle such big quantities of data. We use Kali, our internal destruction tool, to destroy complete city blocks, or get skyscrapers to collapse under the action of the creatures as it is.

ART IN DESIGN

The designs for the Godzilla by Brian Cunningham

DESIGN FOR THE GODZILLA IMAZINE: Do you consider your work as a an artistic job? A technical job? Why? G.R. : I think it is the combination of boths, because in technology is a means to an end. Ultimately, we are here to help the director to realize his vision. On a film like Godzilla, it is all about the realism artistry you can do do inject in digital characters performances and the images you create. So you need to to to make a sure you use and develop the technology that will support it. IMAZINE: So how do you see the future of VFX and this industry ? G.R. : I think we’re at a time that where all that you can pretty much do anything with visual effects, even though every year we’re trying to make things more convincing and use them in new and exciting ways. There’re are still incredibly difficult things to do and we generally have less and less time to do increasingly complicated work. But we are past the pure technical prowess of realizing something and more in service of achieving a director’s singular vision. I like to think that we are now an integral part of the filmmaking process and that we will keep working on finding ways for directors to make the best use of visual effects. IMAZINE: What is about the battle versus humans on the bridge? Can we have details about this scene and how you’ve managed the physics simulation ? G.R. : Well, the sequence, it was shot in the Vancouver on an a very large Golden Gate Bridge was set surrounded by greenscreens. So we extended the bridge in many shots and recreated the San Francisco Bay using stitched tiles we shot. We simulated CG rain in order to create an interesting overcast depth treatment. The CG bridge, which was completely recreated using photo references, so we could then rig cables and suspenders for the really shots interacting with Godzilla. The bridges destruction shots were simulated for using a combination of dynamic curves and Kali for the more solid parts. IMAZINE: Have you developed some more specific tools for this movie? G.R. : We always try to work on how to do to improving our toolset in order to create better characters and the more convincing effects. We greatly improved our characters skinning to simulate the many type of skin and scales on Godzilla’s body. We improved on our Envirocam technique, developed for Man of Steel to help us recreate photoreal CG San Francisco and added better artist controls in Kali to art direct destructions to shots more precisely. But we also want to made sure that our lighting and FX toolsets made it easier for artists to manage some very large and complex shots. IMAZINE: What were the challenges concerning lightning and rendering in Godzilla? G.R. : To light the shots in a way that would always convey the scale of the characters. We used localized interactive lighting, gobos to emulate clouds casting the shadows of across their massive surfaces etc.. There was a lot of elements contributing to the final frames and everything had to be cohesively lit, from the buildings, to the dust, the destruction and the creatures.

IMAZINE: What about the battle versus humans on the bridge? Can we have details about this scene and how you’ve managed the physics simulation ? G.R. : Well, it was shot in Vancouver on an very very large Golden Gate Bridge set surrounded by greenscreens. So we extended the bridge in many shots and recreated the San Francisco Bay using stitched tiles we’re shot. We simulated CG rain in order to create an interesting overcast depth treatment and create the moody atmosphere Gareth wanted. The CG bridge, it was completely recreated using photo references, so we’re could then rig cables and to be suspenders for the shots interacting with Godzilla. The bridge destruction shots were simulated by using a combination of dynamic curves and Kali for the more solid parts. The explosions, dust, smoke and water were all simulated in just one Flowline. IMAZINE: Will you developed some specific tools for this movie? G.R. : We always trying to work on how to to improving our toolset in order to create better characters and the more convincing effects. We greatly improved our characters skinning to simulate the many type of skin and scales on Godzilla’s body. We improved on our Envirocam technique, developed for Man of Steel to help us recreate photoreal CG San Francisco and added better artist controls in Kali to art direct destructions to shots more precisely. But we also want to made sure that our lighting and FX toolsets made it easier for artists to manage some very large and complex shots. IMAZINE: What’s were the challenges concerning lightning and rendering in Godzilla? G.R. :The focus was to light on the shots in a way that would always convey all the scale of the characters. We used the localized interactive lighting, gobos to emulate clouds casting the shadows across their massive surfaces etc. There was a lot of elements contributing to be the final frames and everything had to be cohesively lit, from the buildings, to the dust, the destruction and the creatures.

“This one had that Christmas tree effect for the fins,” said Edwards. “They seemed incredibly big, and you didn’t see it that from anywhere a else on his body. And then a lightning effect made it kind of hard to understand what you were looking at.” IMAZINE: What was it all about the battle versus humans on the bridge? Can we have details about this scene and how do you’ve managed the physics simulation? G.R. : The sequence, it was shot on to me tin Vancouver on a very large Golden Gate Bridge set surrounded by greenscreens. So wehave extended the bridge in many shots and recreated the San Francisco Bay using stitched tiles we shot. We simulated the CG rain in order to create an interesting overcast depth treatment and create the moody atmosphere Gareth wanted. CG bridge, was completely recreated using photo references, so we could then rig up cables and suspenders for the shots a interacting with Godzilla. The bridge destruction shots were simulated using a combination of dynamic curves and Kali for the an more and solid parts. Explosions, dust, smoke and water simulated in Flowline. I like to think that we are now an integrally part of the filmmaking process and that we will keep working on finding ways for directors to make the best use of visual effects. So you need to make sure you use and an develop the technology that will support it and help you push things forward.

IMAZINE: You consider your work as an artistic job? A technical job? And why? How’s that going with you? G.R. : I think it is a combination of the both because technology is an means to an end. Ultimately, we are here to help director to realize his vision. On a film like Godzilla, it is all about the realism and artistry you can inject in digital characters performances to and the images you create. So you need to to to make sure you use and develop the technology that will support it and help you push things forward. IMAZINE: When did you see the future of VFX and this industry ? G.R. : I think we’re at a time that where all the you can pretty much do anything with visual effects, even though every year we’re trying to make things more convincing and use them in new and exciting ways. There are still incredibly difficult things to do and we generally have less and less time to do increasingly complicated work. But we are past the pure technical prowes.

Godzilla Concept art by Brian Cunningham

ART IN DESIGN

“Going into this, I really didn’t want to do to previz, “the director admits. “I rolled my eyes when they brought it up. I felt they brought it up. I felt like it was going to create this unspontaneuos way of telling a story, because you have to be animate months before you can even stand on location with the actors”. Legendary had worked with the Third Floor, a previz company, and they were called by in to work with Edwards on the stun sequence. Eric Carney, a founder of the company, recalled that they came on right as the Comic-Con teaser was being completed. “Gareth was a bit apprehensive about the whole thing, saying he really didn’t need it”.

The Godzila shorts, as well as the MUTOS: Ultimately, many hands would have a go at designing Godzilla and the other creature. Weta Digital was involved at the earliest of a stage, workingup a CG Godzilla model, a while Legacy crafted a physical maquette. Edwards worked closely with Weta designer Andrew Baker on a 3-D Godzilla sculpt, and felt they had gooten the design about 80% there , but what he wanted to take all the way is to look at this. Matt Allsopp recalls that one Sunday afternoon at home he took a crack at Godzilla’s head design. At that time he hadn’t made any Edward’s acquaintance, but the next day he slipped his take into material MPC had prepar ed for Edwards’ review. “Mine was the one he liked”, says Allsopp. “It was about finding theright mis. If his head was a short he looked to doglike, if he was too long it’ll looked a bit goofy. The thing I went for was quite agressive looking.”

“Going into this, I really didn’t want to do the previz,“Then a a director admits. “I rolled my eyes when they brought it up. I felt they’ll brought it up. I felt like it was going to create this unspontaneuos way of telling a story, because you’ll have to do animate for months before you even stand on the location with all the actors”.

The Godzila shorts, as well as the MUTO: Ultimately, many hands would have a go at designing Godzilla and the other creature. Weta Digital was involved into at the very earliest of stage, workingup a CG Godzilla model, while Legacy crafted an physical maquette. Edwards worked closely with Weta designer Andrew Baker on a 3-D Godzilla sculpt, and felt they had a goten the design about 80 percent there, but he wanted to take it all the way it is.

The day he slipped his take into a material MPC had prepar ed for a Edwards’ review. “Mine was the one he liked”, says Allsopp. “It was about finding theright mis. If his head was too short he looked too dog like, if he was too long it looked a bit goofy. The thing I went for was quite aggressive looking. It’ll looked a bit like an eagle in profile. It just an really worked. And then I continued to do the work on Godzilla. Luann Alphonso

The Godzila shorts, as well as the MUTO: Ultimately, a many hands would have to go at the designing Godzilla and the other creature.Weta Digital was a involved at the earliest stage, working up with a CG Godzilla model. Edwards worked closely with Weta the designer Andrew Baker on a 3-D Godzilla sculpt, and felt they had gotten the all design about 80% there.

ART IN DESIGN

When the Walt Disney Company has acquired the Marvel brand for over $4 billion in 2009, and the stage was set for an action picture that paired breakthrough a computer animation techniques with a very inventive comic book characters, the Big Hero 6.

Big Hero 6 Concept design by John Lasseter

STUDIO PROFILE

io Since embracing acomputer animation with 2005’s Chicken Little and the 2007’s Meet The Robinsons, a Disney’s digital expertise has continued to grow. The legendary home of hard-animated where a characters Mickey Mouse, Snow White and Cinderella have become a force in 3D animation under the guidance of CG pioneers John Lasseter & Ed Catmull. When the Walt Disney Company acquired the Marvel brand for $4 billion in 2009, oh the stage was set for an action picture that paired breakthrough a computer animation techniques with very inventive comic book characters. With Frozen officially crowned the highest-grossing animated featured of all time earlier this year, the studio is finally releasing a successor that will fulfill that the potential: Big Hero 6. “We’re all big Marvel fans”, says Big Hero 6 a producer Roy Conli, a 21-years in Disney veteran who is also produced the computer-animated hit Tangled. “This is a superhero film with a lot of heart, action and comedy,” Inspired by a comic-book team of a heroes that made their debut in 1998 with Sunfire and Big Hero 6 #1, the film will tell us of the adventures of a clever teen and a cadre of robots in San Fransokyo - a city that will blends elements of San Francisco and Tokyo. “Just like the mash-up,” Conli continues, “I’m thinking the mash-up of Disney and Marvel will be fun.” And here I go again, with the very same thing that I did to almost every sentences in the whole magazine.

Ever since the embracing computer animation with 2005’s Chicken Little and 2007’s Meet The Robinsons, Disney’s digital expertise has continued to grow. The legendary home of hard-animated characters Mickey Mouse, Snow White and Cinderella have a become a force in 3D animation under the guidance of CG pioneers John Lasseter & a Ed Catmull. With Frozen officially crowned the highest-grossing animated featured of all time earlier this year, the studio is finally releasing a successor that will fulfill that is the potential: Big Hero 6.When the Walt Disney Company acquired the Marvel brand for a $4 billion in 2009, the stage was set on for an action picture that paired breakthrough to computer animation techniques with the inventive comic book characters. As well as being the first time that audiences will see what Disney can really do with a Marvel’s characters, however, Big Hero 6 is also represents another major turning point. It will be the first feature for which Disney used its proprietary, high-powered renderer Hyperion, is making it the most technically advanced so film the studio has ever made. We are all big Marvel fans, says Big Hero 6 producer Roy Conli, an 21 years in Disney veteran who also produced the computer animated hit Tangled.

“We are all big Marvel fans”, says Big Hero 6 the producer Roy Conli, a 21-years in Disney, a veteran who is also produced the all new computer-animated hit Tangled. “This is an superhero film, with a lot of hearts, actions and comedies. It is just like the mash-up,” and Roy Conli continues, “I think that the mash-up of Disney and the Marvel would be fun.” Producer Roy Conli, an 21-year Disney veteran who also produced the computer-animated hit Tangled. “This is a superhero film with a lot of hearts, actions and comedies. Inspired by a comic-book team of heroes that made their debut in 1998 with Sunfire and Big Hero 6 #1, the film will tell of the adventures of a clever teen and a cadre of the robots in San Fransokyo – a city that is blends elements of San Francisco and Tokyo. “Just like the mash-up,” Conli continues, “I think that the mash-up of Disney and Marvel will be fun.”Big Hero 6 is certainly boast a very colorful cast, featuring an inflatable, huggable robot name Baymax and cohorts that include Go Go Tomago, Wasabi, Honey Lemon and fanboy Fred. Led by the robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada, these high techno heroes breathe fire, shoot plasma weapons and track down to an enemy that’s targeting the city of San Fransokyo. Big Hero 6 is now certainly boast a very colorful cast, featuring an inflatable, huggable robot name Baymax and cohorts that include Go Go Tomago, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, fanboy Fred. Led by the robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada, these high-tech heroes breathe fire, shoot plasma weapons and stuffs.

Baymax Concept design by John Lasseter Since embracing computer animation with 2005’s Chicken Little and 2007’s Meet The Robinsons, Disney’s digital expertise has an continued to grow. The legendary home of hard-animated characters Mickey Mouse, to Snow White and Cinderella have become a force in 3D animation under the guidance of CG pioneers John Lasseter & Ed Catmull. When the Walt Disney Company acquired the Marvel brand for $4 billion in 2009, at the stage was set for an action picture that paired breakthrough computer animation techniques with inventive comic book characters. Whatever you like. We’re just all big Marvel fans, says Big Hero 6 producer Roy Conli, who also produced the computer animated hit Tangled. “This is a superhero film with a lot of hearts, actions and comedies. Inspired by any comic-book team of heroes that is made their debut in 1998 with Sunfire and Big Hero 6 #1, the film will tell of the adventures of a cleverly teen and cadre of robots in San Fransokyo city that blends the elements of San Francisco and Tokyo. Roy Conli continues think the mash-up of Disney and Marvel. Big Hero 6 certainly has boast a very very colorful cast, featuring an inflatable, huggable robot name Baymax and cohorts that it is included Go Go Tomago, Wasabi, Honey A Lemon and fanboy Fred. Whose are led by the robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada, these high techno heroes breathe fire, shoot out plasma weapons and track down any enemy that’s targeting the city of San Fransokyo. Oh yeah. Inspired by a comic-book team of heroes that made their debut in 1998 with Sunfire and Big Hero 6 #1, the film will tell us of the adventures of an clever teens and a cadre of robots in San Fransokyo – a city that blends elements of San Francisco and Tokyo. Roy Conli continues, “I think that if the mash-up of a Disney and Marvel will be a lot fun.”Big Hero 6 certainly boast a very colorful cast, featuring an newly inflatable, huggable robot name Baymax and cohorts that include Go Go Tomago, Wasabi, Honey Lemon and fanboy Fred. Led by the robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada, these high tech heroes breathe fire, shoot plasma weapons and track down an enemy that’s targeting the city of San Fransokyo. “We’re all big Marvel fans”, says Big Hero 6 producer Roy Conli, an 21 years in Disney veteran who also produced the computer-animated hit Tangled. “This is a superhero film with a lot of heart, action and comedy,”

ART IN DESIGN After looking at the base physics of the light interaction and energy transport, and had decided to build a renderer that was physically motivated. Being the first time audiences will see what Disney can really do with Marvel’s a characters, however, Big Hero 6 also represents another major turning point. It will be the first feature for which Disney used its proprietary, high-powered renderer Hyperion, making it the most of technically advanced film the studio have ever made. “To make him look like he’s made out of vinyl, light rays have to bounce around inside him many, many times. Otherwise, he looks like hard plastic. Without the light simulation capabilities inside Hyperion, I’m not sure how we would have done.” Something that you can never know that this sentence is something I made up in just a few seconds. “We looked at the base physics of the light interaction and energy transport, and had decided to build a renderer that was physically motivated.” As well as being the first time our audiences will see what Disney can really do with a Marvel’s characters, however, Big Hero 6 also represents another major turning point. It will be the first feature for which Disney used its proprietary, high-powered renderer Hyperion, making it into the most technically advanced film the studio has ever made. “To make him look like he’s made out of vinyl, light rays have to bounce around inside him many, many times. Otherwise, he looks like hard plastic. Without the light simulation capabilities inside Hyperion, I’m not sure if how we would have done that,” says Andy Hendrickson. It’s just a word.

SHEDDING LIGHT TO HYPERION “We’re always trying to put amazing, inspiring images on the screen,” states Disney’s a chief technology officer Andy Hendrickson. “For Big Hero 6, we wondered ‘how can we make it easier to do, and actually make a big visual impact’. We thought about how we could do global illumination on a scale that had never been done before.” Hendrickson, who previously oversaw the technology at Industrial Light Magic and an a PDI/Dreamworks, had worked on a films as diverse as Forest Gump, A.I and Shrek 2 before joining the Disney Animation eight years ago. Among his responsibilities as the studio’s CTO during the past two years, he has overseen the development of Hyperion and its use on Big Hero 6. “We started by looking at the physics of light and a energy conservation, which is part of how global illumination works,” he explains. “If you looked at the base physics of a light interaction and energy transport, and had a decided to build an renderer that was physically motivated.” While global illuminations techniques have been used in CG features before, notably those from Blue Sky Studios and Pixar’s Monster University, Hendrickson notes, “We built Hyperion to take an advantage of modern computer architectures into with multi-core machines. We didn’t have to try and modify software that was built for a older computer architectures.” We started by looking at the physics of the light and energy conservation, which is an part of how global illumination works,” he’s explains.We didn’t have to try and modifies software that was built for older computer.

Put an amazing, inspiring images on the big screen, states Disney’s chief technology officer Andy Hendrickson. “For Big Hero 6, we wondered ‘how can we do make it easier to do, and actually make a big visual impact’. We thought about how we could do global illumination on a scale that had never been done before.”Among his responsibilities is a as if the studio’s CTO during the past two years, he has overseen the development of Hyperion and its use on Big Hero 6. “We started by looking at the physics of light and energy conservation, which is part of how global illumination works,” he explain. And then Hendrickson, who previously oversaw technology at the Industrial Light Magic and PDI/Dreamworks, had worked on films as diverse as Forest Gump, A.I and Shrek 2 if before joining Disney Animation eight years ago. I am so tired right now.

“We’re always trying to put an amazing, inspiring images on the big screen,” said states Disney’s only chief technology officer Andy Hendrickson. “For Big Hero 6, we wondered ‘how can we make it easier to do, and actually make a big visual impact’.We thought about how we could do global illumination on a scale that had never been done before.We started by looking at the physics of light and energy conservation, which is part of how global illumination works,” he explains. “To make him look like he’s made out of vinyl, light rays have to bounce around inside him many, many times. Otherwise, he looks like hard plastic. Without the light simulation capabilities inside Hyperion, I’m not sure if how we would have done that. We looked at the base physics of light interaction and energy transport, and had decided to build a renderer that was physically motivated.” Without the light of simulation capabilities inside Hyperion, as well as being the first of time audiences will see what Disney can be really do with Marvel’s characters, however, Big Hero 6 also represents another major turning point. It will be the first feature any for which Disney used its proprietary, any high-powered renderer Hyperion, making it is the most technically advanced film the 1st studio has ever made. I am trying to say something to make sense.

Hendrickson, who has previously oversaw an technology at Industrial Light Magic and PDI/Dreamworks, had worked on an films as diverse as Forest Gump, A.I and a Shrek 2 before joining to Disney Animation eight years ago. Among his responsibilities as the studio’s CTO during the past two years, he has overseen the development of Hyperion and its use on Big Hero 6. “We started by looking at the physics of light and energy to conservation, which is part of how global is illumination works,” he explains. “Trying to put amazing, inspiring images on the screen,” states Disney’s chief technology officer Andy Hendrickson. “For Big Hero 6, we wondered ‘how can we make it easier to do, and actually make a big visual impact’. We thought about how we could do global illumination on a scale that had never been done it before.” As well as being the first time our audiences will see what Disney can really do with the Marvel’s characters, however, Big Hero 6 also represents another major turning in point. It will be the first feature for which is Disney used its proprietary, high-powered renderer Hyperion, making it for the most technically advanced film the studio has an ever made. “We looked at the base physics of light interaction and energy transport, and had decided to build a renderer that was physically motivated. To make him look like he’s made out of vinyl, light rays have a to bounce around inside him many, many times. Otherwise, he looks like hard plastic. Without the light simulation capabilities inside Hyperion, I’m not sure how we would have done that,” says Andy Hendrickson. While global illumination a techniques have been used in CGs features before, notably those from the Blue Sky Studios and Pixar’s Monster University, Hendrickson notes, “We built Hyperion to take advantage of modern computer architectures with multi-core machines. We didn’t have to try and modify software that was built for older computer architectures.” Hurricane woohoo. Being the first time audiences will see what Disney can do with Marvel’s characters, but however, Big Hero 6 also represent another major turning point. And that is why I just cannot like this project.

Being the first time audiences will see what Disney can really do with Marvel’s characters, however, Big Hero 6 also represents another major turning point. “We looked at the base physics of light interaction and energy transport, and had decided to build a renderer that was physically motivated.”. It will be the first feature for which Disney used its proprietary, high-powered renderer Hyperion, making it the most technically to advanced film the studio has ever made. To make him look like he is made out of vinyl, light rays have to bounce around inside him many, many times. Otherwise, he looks like hard plastic. Without the light simulation capabilities inside Hyperion, I’m not sure if how we would have done that,” says Andy Hendrickson. Let see if you read this. We looked at the base physics of the light interaction and energy transport, and had decided to build a renderer that was physically motivated. While global illumination a techniques have been used in CG features before, notably those from Blue Sky Studios and Pixar’s Monster University, Hendrickson notes, “We built Hyperion to take advantage of modern computer architectures in with multi-core machines. We didn’t have to try and modify software that was built for older computer.” Here is just some random sentences and words. Always trying to put amazing, inspiring us of images on the screen,” states Disney’s into a chief technology officer Andy Hendrickson. “For Big Hero 6, we wondered ‘how can we make it easier to do, and actually make a big visual impact’. We’re thought about how we could do global illumination on a scale that had never been done it before.” Hendrickson, who previously oversaw technologies at Industrial Light Magic and an PDI/Dreamworks, had worked on films as diverse as a Forest Gump, A.I and Shrek 2 before joining Disney Animation eight years ago. Among us his responsibilities as the studio’s CTO in during the past two years, he has overseen the development of Hyperion and its use on Big Hero 6. “We started by looking at it the physics of light and energy conservation, which is part of how global illumination can works,” he explains. Even though that he did had explained it, still didn’t get it.

“We looked at the base of the physics of the light interaction and energy transport, and had decided to build a renderer so that was physically motivated. We’re always trying to put an amazing, inspiring images on the screen,” states Disney’s chief technology officer Andy Hendrickson.

ART IN DESIGN “We looked at the base of physics of light interaction and energy transport, and decided to build a renderer that was physically motivated.” Shut up. While global illumination techniques have been used in CG features before, notably those from the Blue Sky Studios and Pixar’s Monster University, Hendrickson notes, “We built Hyperion to take advantage of modern computer architectures with multi-core machines. We didn’t have to try and modify software that was built for older computer” The Hyperion renderer was developed in a couple of stages, Hendrickson explains. “We performed some experiments and started making some pretty cool- looking images. Then last year, we thought ‘let’s go all in to these experiments look favorable enough’. We still didn’t have the renderer was totally written, but we thought that we’d get there. We took a big risk using it for this film, and it has paid off in spades.”

It’s a truism of a computer animation that a as computing for power increases, to things don’t necessarily get faster or even cheaper, because artists want to wield that power to accomplish more. Conli can attest to that a personally. “Back in the days when we were introducing massive amounts of information into information, the ‘sell’ was always that it would save money – but what it does is it increase the art. It gave us a greater ability to create something unique.” And then I go blah blah blah til the end of this paragraph and no one will give a damn about this cause no one’s gonna know. While global illumination techniques have been used in CG features before, notably those from Blue Sky Studios and an Pixar’s Monster University, Hendrickson notes, “We built Hyperion to take advantage of modern computer architectures with multi-core machines. We didn’t have to try and modify software that was built for older computer architectures.” said CG. The Hyperion renderer was developed in a couple of stages, Hendrickson explains. “We performed some experiments and started making some pretty cool- looking images. Then last year, we thought ‘let’s go to all into these experiments look favorable enough’. We still didn’t have the renderer was totally written, but we thought that we’d get there. We took a big risk using it for this film, and it has paid off in spades.” What’s fascinating is that Pixar, Disney and Lucasfilm/ILM operate as separate entities, but we share so much. Every couple of weeks we’re on phone calls talking about the techniques of as in we’re using. Not everybody moves in lockstep, but we share back and forth. We even share source code.”

Interestingly, until Big Hero 6, the studio had used Pixar’s RenderMan software, originally the brainchild of Disney Animation president Ed Catmull. “We kept Ed abreast of what we were doing,” recalls Hendrickson, whose former employer, ILM, happens to now be a sister company of both Disney and Pixar. Hendrickson continues, “We’re sharing Hyperion freely with RenderMan and ILM. Who cares. What’s fascinating is that Pixar, Disney and Lucasfilm/ILM operate as separate entities, but we share so much. Every couple of a weeks we’re on phone calls talking about the techniques we’re using. Not everybody moves in lockstep, but we share back and forth. We even share source code.” While the global illumination techniques is in have been used in CG features before, notably those from Blue Sky Studios and Pixar’s Monster University, Hendrickson notes, “We built Hyperion to take advantage of modern computer architectures with multi-core machines. We didn’t have to try and modify software that was built for older computer architectures.” ans that’s it. Was developed in a couple of a few stages, he explains. “We performed some experiments and started making some very pretty cool-looking images. Then last year, we also thought ‘let’s go an all in–these experiments look favorable enough’. We still didn’t have the renderer totally written, but we thought that we’d get there. We took a big risk using it for this film, and it has paid off in spades.” What’s fascinating is that Pixar, Disney and Lucasfilm/ILM operate as separate entities, but we share so much. Every couple weeks we’re on phone calls talking about the techniques we’re using. Not everybody moves in lockstep, but we share back and forth. We even share source code.” It’s a some thing I wrote in the middle so noone can ever know.truism of computer animation that as computing power increases, things don’t necessarily get faster or an cheaper, because artists want to wield that power to accomplish more. Conli can attest to that personally. “Back in the days when we were introducing massive amounts of information into information, the ‘sell’ was always that it would save money – but what it does is it increase the art. It gave us a greater ability to create something unique.” Here is some another random stupid sentences I write myself to this magazine, cause everything is so similar.

THE FUTURE OF DISNEY ANIMATION? Now it’s just a truism of computer animation that as computing power increases, things don’t necessarily get faster or cheaper, because artists want to wield that power to accomplish more. Conli can attest to that personally. “Back in the days when we were introducing massive amounts of information into information, the ‘sell’ was always that it would save money – but what it does is it increase the art. It gave us a greater ability to create something unique.” When the Hyperion renderer was introduced to the production team of Big Hero 6, Conli witnessed a revealing phenomenon. “Because a ray-based system performs a much more realistic simulation right off the bat, artists have a much more predictable outcome in terms of what their first pass is. There’s less data management for artists – the result is that, rather than fewer iterations, it performs more iterations.” Hendrickson notes, “Rather than spend a lot of time trying to get something to look at least plausible, it was plausible out of the box. This approach allowed us to work at a lower, noisier resolution. With global illumination, noise is the thing you bake out over time. As you up the number of rays that you put into a scene, that gets rid of a lot of noise. With Hyperion, the translation between what we considered out working resolution to the final images was so understandable [that] we could do art approval with the noisy lower-res image. When we waited for the system to bake out the final high-ras frames, it looked very, very close.” The system impacted the colour-correction process as well, adds Hendrickson. “We usually have to wait for the final images to be made and then colour correct them. We could actually colour correct the low-res assets, keep those corrections, and when the higher-res assets were finished, we could apply those colour corrections to the higher-res assets. The allowed us to take what used to be a serial process and parallelise. Hyperion was introduced to the production team of Big Hero 6, Conli witnessed a revealing phenomenon. “Because ray-based system performs a much more realistic of simulation right off the bat, artists have an much more predictable outcome in terms of what their first pass is. There’s less data management for artists – the result is that, rather than fewer iterations, it has performs a more iterations.” The system impacted us the colour-correction process as well also, adds Hendrickson. “We usually have to wait for the final images to be made and then colour correct them. We could actually colour correct the low-res assets, keep those corrections, and when the higher-res assets were finished, we could apply those colour corrections to the higher-res assets. The allowed us to take what used to be a serial process and parallelise it. We could have a post window that was very different than it was even before.” Actually colour correct the low-res assets, keep those corrections, and when the higher-res assets were finished, we could apply those colour corrections to the higher-res assets. We could have a post window that was very different. And then all you gotta do is type something in here the dialog is full or at least something like this.

Hendrickson notes, “Rather than spends an lot of time trying to get something to look at least plausible, it was plausible out of a the box. This approach allowed us to work at lower, noisier resolution. With global for illumination, noise is the thing you bake out over time. As you up in the number of rays that you put into a scene, that gets rid of a lot of noise. With Hyperion, the translation between what we considered out working resolution to the final images was so understandable [that] we could do art approval with the noisy lower-res image. When we waited for the system to bake out the final high-ras frames, it looked very, very close.” The system impacted the colour-correction process as very well.“ We usually have to wait for the final images to be made and then colour correct them. We could actually use a colour correct the low-res assets, keep those corrections, and when the higher-res assets were an finished, we could apply those colour corrections to to the higher-res assets. The allowed us to take what used to be a serial process and parallelise it. We could have a post window that was very different than it was before.” And now the Hyperion renderer was introduced to the production team of Big Hero 6, Conli witnessed a revealing phenomenon. “Because a ray-based system performs a much more realistic simulation right off the bat, artists have a much more predictable outcome in terms of what their first pass is. There’s less data management for artists – the result is that, rather than fewer iterations, it performs more iterations.” The system impacted the colour-correction process as well, adds Hendrickson. “We usually have to wait for the final images to be made and then colour correct them. We could actually colour correct the low-res assets, keep those corrections, and when the higher-res assets were finished, we could apply those colour corrections to the higher-res assets. The allowed us to take what used to be a serial process and parallelise it. We could have a post window that was very different than it was before.” Dionne Bell

ART IN DESIGN

BEHIND THE SCREEN Far Cry 4 is an open world action-adventure first-person shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One video game consoles, and Microsoft Windows Diana Anne Harther

“Far Cry 4 is well worth a visit, it’s a backpacker’s delight and a five-star island paradise.” - Aoife Wilson

ART IN DESIGN

JOYSTIQ METACRITIC GAMESPOT IGN.com EUROGAMER

“Far Cry 4 does all the things that its predecessor did and more-and-more weapons, more vehicles, more modes, more ground to cover--so if all you’re looking for is a big old wide open space to tear up with a friend, go forth and make merry with mortar. That said, more does not necessarily mean better, and the truth is that the wilds of Kyrat simply aren’t as beguiling as the Rook Islands were. Far Cry 4 is well worth a visit, but it’s more a backpacker’s delight than a five-star island paradise.” - Aoife Wilson “There can be no doubt. Far Cry 4 is a superb Skinner box, staving off monotony with a constant upgrades, and it’s so expertly crafted to appeal to baser instincts, so a rewarding of you embracing them, that there’s a strong chance you’ll miss the broader point that it is all of what you’re doing is utterly despotic. Like, say, a dictator might. A lot of games are about killing. Far Cry is about hunting. They’re not the same thing, and it is as disquieting as it is enjoyable.” - Steven Burns “There’s a staggering number of adventures to extract from Far Cry 4, and whether you chase the ones laid out by the game explicitly, or the ones that develop naturally as you are take in the sights. It’s another interesting and absorbing world to fall into, shoot through, burn, and then guide to new beginnings. Far Cry 4 may have installed a despot, but it’s still the undisputed king of the open-world shooter.” - Ludwig Kietzmann “Far Cry 4 truly shines in the almost bacchanalian sense of freedom it bestows on the player as they traverse through its environment. In Kyrat you have the ability to go anywhere and do pretty much anything--much as Pagan Min would advocate. Here, the only pact you need keep is that with your conscience. God help you.” - Nick Cowen “There’s a staggering number of adventures to extract from Far Cry 4, and whether you chase the ones laid out by the game explicitly, or the ones that develop an a naturally as you take in the sights. It’s another interesting and absorbing world to fall into, shoot through, burnt, and then guide to new beginnings. Far Cry 4 may have installed a despot, but it’s still the undisputed king of the open-world shooter.” - Ludwig Kietzmann

RELEASED DIRECTOR PUBLISHER PROGRAMER ARTIST DIRECTORS COMPOSER SERIES

NOVEMBER 17, 2014 Alex Hutchinson Ubisoft Cedric Decelle Raphael Parent Jean-Alexis Doyon Alex Hutchinson Patrik Méthé Cliff Martinez Far Cry

ENGINE PLATFORMS

GENRE MODES DISTRIBUTION

Dunia Engine 2 Microsoft Windows PlayStation 3 PlayStation 4 Xbox 360 Xbox OneFar Cry First-person shooter, action-adventure Single player, multiplayers Optical disc, download

ART IN DESIGN

CHARACTERS

Sabal

Amita

Sabal is the deuteragonist of Far Cry 4. Along with Amita, and he is one of the leaders of The Golden Path. Unlike Amita, who wishes to modernize the people of Kyrat, he is more interested with preserving Kyrati traditions and continuing with the ways of old.

Amita is the tritagonist of Far Cry 4. Along with Sabal, she is one of the leaders of The Golden Path. Unlike Sabal, who is more rooted in then past traditions of Kyrat, Amita is interested in modernizing the country.

Willis Huntley Agent Willis Huntley is a very CIA operative who provides a Jason Brody with information about the Rook Islands and its inhabitants. He also escaped the island. He returns in Far Cry 4 as the quaternary antagonist.

WEAPONS

Darpan

Yuma Lau

Darpan is one of the few of the remaining members of the original Golden Path. He saw his is country descend into civil war and the arrival of Pagan Min as the savior of the country.

Yuma Lau is the secondary antagonist of Far Cry 4 and Pagan Minâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second-in-command. She was the daughter of a crime boss who watched her father and mother gunned to down during joint task force raids between INTERPOL and the Mainland China NNCC oversea operation in Hong Kong.

Beheader

Schorcher The Sherpa is a group that appears in Far Cry 4. Many of these NPCs can be a seen walking along the sides of roads in to Kyrat. Some of the Sherpas are also traders.They act as a fully mobile trading post, and offer all of the same wares a normal trading post would. They tend to respect Ajay, and do not hesitate to trade with him. In the Pagan Min’s Kyrat, we learn that the Royal Army is suspicious of the Sherpa, as they are trade with the Golden Path and supply them with weapons.

Hunter Hunter is a character who is mentioned in Far Cry 4. Like Bhadra, she was once a Tarun Matara. Ishwari was married to Mohan Ghale and had with him a son, Ajay Ghale. In one of Mohan Ghale’s journals, he describes her as charming and intelligent.

Paul De Pleur Paul “De Pleur” Harmon is the tertiary a antagonist of the Far Cry 4, who reports to main villain a Pagan Min. He is responsible for leading Min’s the Royal Army and is the governor an of the Lowlands region of Kyrat. De Pleur worked for many an American intelligence agency at some time in the past. Later, he became married and had a daughter, named Ashley.

Stephanie Meyer

ART IN DESIGN

FZD SCHOOL SCHOOL OF OF D D FZD Providing world class education in conceptual design Welcome to FZD School of Design , our aim is to provide a world class education for conceptual design. Through our 1 Year Diploma Program, we have trained both students and professionals and helped them excel into the entertainment design industry.

FZD School of Design was established by industry veteran Feng Zhu in 2009. This is an extremely difficult process to learn, the ability to conceive ideas and express them through properly drawn and rendered images.

2014

80%

2009

YEARS

For more than 14 years, Feng Zhu has contributed to some of the highest profiled projects in the entertainment industry. His broad design skills allowed him to reach across into many fields

YEARS

DIRECTORS

FIELDS

CLIENTS

George Lucas Steven Spielberg James Cameron Michael Bay

Hit Movies Toy Design TV Commercial Triple-A Game

Warner Brothers Microsoft Electronic Arts Bayfilms Activision Lucas Films Epic Games NCSoft

of FZD’s graduates have secured jobs within the design industry.

Feng’s working experience in the entertainment design industry

Length of Diploma’s Program

FZD School of Design was established by industry veteran Feng Zhu in 2009. To For more than 14 years, Feng Zhu has been contributed to some of the highest profiled projects in the entertainment industry. His broad design skills allowed him to reach an across into many fields from hit movies, to triple-A games, memorable TV commercials and toy designs. Founding his own a design company, Feng Zhu Design (FZD), to be his clients included Microsoft, Electronic CArts, Sony, Activisions , Industrial Light+MMagic, NCSoft, Warner Brothers , Lucasfilm, BBay Films, Epic Games, and many other top studios. In Hollywood FZD approaches every process from a three-dimensional an stage; breaking everything down to its basic. Students learn to think in “3D” and construct drawing according to proper perspectives, measurements, lighting, etc. This is an old extremely difficult process to learn, but it is also one of the most essential part of being a good designer - the ability to conceive an ideas and express them through properly drawn and rendered images. There is nooo “guessing”, “eye-balling” when it comes to drawing at FZD.

DESIGN FF DESIGN

FZD’S COURSES

ARE DESIGNED FOR BOTH

PROFESSIONALS &

STUDENTS

ART IN DESIGN

ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT D D

CONCEPT ART

TT DESIGN DESIGN For the past 5 years, HUNDREDS of students have passed through our program and made their way into the entertainment design industry.

Many of our Alumni are now working with TOP TIERS studios and high profiled intellectual properties from around the world. We are PROUD of their many accomplishments and honored to have helped them achieve their dreams.

We have prepared a ONE YEAR PROGRAM specifically designed for individuals looking for a career in the entertainment design industry.

Stephanie Meyer

AN ARTIST’S JOURNEY

BENJAMIN ZHANG BIN EARLY INFLUENCES, BRIGHT COLORS AND DARK STORIES JONAS DERO AND THE JOURNEY TO SUCCESS PAUL TOBIN SOUL OF MASTERPIECES GALLERRY ARTWORK ALL AROUND THE WORLD

AN ARTIST’S JOURNEY

BIOGRAPHY Zhang Bin is a mainland Chinese Manhua artist and illustrator, who works under the pen name “Benjamin”. Zhang generally works in digital painting using a pen with a graphics tablet and image editing software Noteable projects: Orange and Remember

IMAZINE: Hi Benjamin. Now that you’ve be work is being published English and how does it feel knowing that all your stories are being an introduced to many an whole lots of new readers? What do you hope they will get out of reading page? Benjamin: I just hope that the translation is anaccurate, it doesn’t portray another meaning than what I originally meant. Basically, I want the translations to say what I meant to say. Whether or not people like what I’ve had to say, it’s a everybody’s choice and many important opinion for you to catch. IMAZINE: To be honest, I haven’t seen many Chinese comics and artists’ work, so it’s great to see that you’re doing work that is so so different than Japanese manga or even American comics. Is your work typical of the Chinese people and you? Benjamin: A lot of the comics on the Chinese market all of a look very similar to Japanese comics. Only about five to six years ago I started using the computer to draw my to comics and, color in my comics. A lot of what’s really different from many Chinese a comics and Japanese comics is that in Japanese an comics, you get anysense that a lot of them are for kids. In Chinese an comics there are beautiful girls, dramatic action, and an sentimental stories, but a Chinese comics also talk about issues that only happen in China, things a are unique to being Chinese. I think this is totally what the future will be an for Chinese comics, and there’s going to be more stories?

DOB: March 16, 1974 http://blog.sina.com.cn/m/benjamin

IMAZINE: So do you have anything you’d like to say to readers of it who’ll read Orange ? Benjamin: Right now, if any of you feel troubled by life or it is feel very sad, just wait five years. After 5 years, when yours to be look back at how you felt, you’ll realize that it’s nothing at all, in the big scheme of things. You’ll come to realize that what seemed like aw bad time is actually a really lucky thing, because these hard times will have molded you into who you will be in the future. IMAZINE: There are a lot of aspiring artists here today; do you have any tips, any advice for them? Maybe something you wished someone had told you when you were starting out? Benjamin: If you want to do good you have to know and a lot of things, you have to study a lot of knowledge, not just read my comics but you need to learn different signs, philosophy and if you’re do that in the future that you’ll reach a very high level in drawing. IMAZINE: In particular with Orange, it’s a story where you’re writing from a girl’s is point of view Benjamin: When I was in China, I learned a lot about young girls. IMAZINE: Why do you think teen girls is who are experiencing these kinds of any feelings of depression, anger and desperation in modern day China? Benjamin: Some of these girls, they’ve a got grown up physically, but emotionally, is they don’t feel ready to enter society, and a also they’re very scared about it.

BENJAMIN ZHANG BIN BRIGHT COLORS - DARK STORIES

AN ARTIST’S JOURNEY

AMERICAN COMICS, JAPANESE MANGA AND NEW PROJECTS TO COME

BENJAMIN GETS A ‘MARVEL-OUS’ NEW YORK WELCOME IMAZINE: Welcome to our New York Comic Con!Is this your very first time at an American Comic convention? What channel have you ever interviewed? Benjamin: It’s a very interesting. It’s the first time I’ve seen an American comics show. There’s Superman everywhere! IMAZINE: Do you like Western comics? Benjamin: I don’t really understand it, but I really also like it. IMAZINE: I understand you had a meeting with editors at Marvel Comics this morning. How did that go? Can you tell us your feelings Benjamin: It went pretty well. I may be doing some work for them in the near future.

EARLY INFLUENCES, BRIGHT COLORS AND DARK STORIES IMAZINE: So when did you decide that you wanted to be a comic book creator? Benjamin: About twenty years IMAZINE: Are you a self-taught b or did you ever go to art school? Can you share us your experiences. Benjamin: It’s a bit of both. When I was a in school, I didn’t have much time to learn about drawing and art, so a lot of it is just training myself, drawing by myself. In China, I also studied fashion design. IMAZINE: In particular with Oraange, it’s a story writing from a girl’s point ofa view How did you get in touch with those feelings and experiences? Benjamin: When I was in China, I learned a lot about a young girls who weare going to through depression and that a lot of young people that wanted to commit from suicide because they are depress. IMAZINE: Why do you think that teen girls are experiencing these kinds of a feelings of depression, anger and desperation in modern day China? Benjamin: Some of these girls, they’ve ever grown up physically, but emotionally, they don’t feel ready to enter a society, and so they’re very scared about it. IMAZINE: When Orange was publiashed in China, how did your fans react to go reading a story about a teenage girl who a wanted to commit suicide? Did they tell you that reading your story made them feel a certain way too? Benjamin: Orange hasn’t to been published in China. I finished drawing that story of five years ago and at that time to the publishers were scared to publish it because it t talked about really sensitive societal issues. They’ve said that the Chinese Government might be not like it. In the future they may publish it in China, but they first published it in France and they had a lot of response to there. IMAZINE: I understand you had an meeting with editors at Marvel Comics this morning. How did that go? Can you tell us your feelings Benjamin: It went pretty well. I may be doing some work for them in the near future. There are also many good responses.

IMAZINE: Now that your work have being published in English, how does it feel knowing that your stories are being a introduced to a whole lot of new readers? Benjamin: I just hope that the traanslations is accurate, so it doesn’t portray to another meaning than what I originally meant. what I’ve had to say, it’s everybody’s choice and opinion. I don’t really mind. I’m started using the computer to draw my comics and, color in my comics. IMAZINE: Remember was ever published in China, Japan and USA, right? Benjamin: It was a bestseller - it had been went to number one. IMAZINE: Did you hear from readers about why they liked Remember so much? Benjamin: There was a lot of reactions to Remember when it first came out, but it’s was published five years ago, then I’m not very interested in it any more. At the time, a lot of people did eaver give me a lot of feedback, but mostly they only wanted to talk about my story on an very shallow level. A lot of readers just said, ‘Oh, the male character is really handsome’a or ‘the girl characters are very pretty,’ or a the story is very moving. They didn’t reactually understand what I was trying to be portray; that Chinese society won’t allow the young people to make their dreams come true. IMAZINE: So for example, Orange explores some very dark themes, but the colors to you use are so vivid, so that makes for an interesting contrast. So what kind of message do you want to express in your work? What types of stories are most interesting for you to a tell? Benjamin: Most of my stories are very very similar; a lot of them talk about love, about fighting, about the lives of people who art. IMAZINE: You mentioned that you were inspired by American comics. What was it like working with Marvel on that to New Mutants cover - was it a dream come true for you? Benjamin: Well, exactly, that was a dream come true for me.

IMAZINE: Please welcome Benjamin! He’s a fantastic digital artist and comic writer. Benjamin: It’s nice to have the opportunity to talk with everyone. IMAZINE: Where are you now? Benjamin: I’m now in Paris. I’m just here to for business to participate in some events. I don’t consider it home in that sense. IMAZINE: Where is home for you? Benjamin: I consider to the Earth to be my home! I’m a very extra terrestrial being. IMAZINE: We are glad that you could join us here! (laughs) Benjamin: I’m also glad to be talking with everyone from the outer space! (laughs) IMAZINE: It was almost a year ago a when Orange came out in North America, and we sold out our supply there. What are to your impressions of NY Comic-Con, and how did it feel to have your comic debut in the Uan.S.? Benjamin: The any whole thing caught me by surprise. I didn’t have that thea slightest idea what that the comics scene was like in the U.S. I wasn’t prepared for what would happen at New York Comic-Con. When I was embraced by fanart and comics. IMAZINE: I wasn’t there, I heard you did beautiful sketches for your fans. That was a nice gesture - thank you for doing that! Benjamin: It’s my honor. IMAZINE: Have you attended other similar events around the world? How did that New York event compare to similar events you’ve attended in Asia or Europe? Benjamin: The difference is huge. I’ve ever participated in events in France and also a in Germany - the fans here be are very young and enthusiastic - that’s a different than the fans I encountered in China. IMAZINE: Was this your first time in New York City? What were impressions of the city? Benjamin: Actually, all of my perceptions of New York City came from movies. ANew York is a place with lots of high rise a buildings and people fighting! (laughs, and mimics punching).But when I was there, there were lots of cool, beautiful people walking on the streets! One thing that really surprised me is how similar it looks to China’s big cities. I’ve ever been in other big cities in Europe, but New York shares lots of similarities with a ahighly developed cities in China. The people in it New York are always busy - there’s lots of things always going on at the same time. IMAZINE: So when did you decide that you wanted to be a comic book creator? Benjamin: About twenty years ago.

IMAZINE: To be honest, I haven’t seen many Chinese comics artists’ work, so it’s great to see that you’re doing work that is so different than Japanese manga or even American comics. Is your work typical of Chinese manhua? Benjamin: A lot of the comics on the Chinese market all look very similar to Japanese comics. Only about five to six years ago

IMAZINE: Are you self-taught or did you go to any art school or university? Benjamin: It’s a bit of both. When I was a in school, I didn’t have much time to blearn about drawing and art, so a lot of it is a just training myself, drawing by myself. In China, I also studied fashion design. The people in New York are always busy

BENJAMIN TALKS TO TOKYOPOP INSIDER... FROM SPACE? IMAZINE: In particular with Orange, it’s a story where you’re writing from a girl’s is point of view How did you get in touch with a those feelings and gain any experiences and memo? Benjamin: When I was in China, I learned a lot about young girls. IMAZINE: Why do you think teen girls is who are experiencing these kinds of any feelings of depression, anger and desperation in modern day China? Benjamin: Some of these girls, they’ve a got grown up physically, but emotionally, is they don’t feel ready to enter society, and a also they’re very scared about it. IMAZINE: Is this a recent development that’s unique to China today? Benjamin: When I went to France, I noticed the same kind of mood with teenage there too. So it’s not just something that happens in the society of China. IMAZINE: When Orange was a published in China, how did your fans react to be reading a story about a teenage girl who is wanted to commit suicide? Did they tell you that reading your story made them feel a certain way or...? Benjamin: Orange has been published an in China. I finished drawing that the story ofive years ago and at that time the publishers is were scared to publish it because it talked about really sensitive societal issues. They’ve said that the Chinese Government might be not like it. In the future they may publish it in China, but they first published it in France and they had a lot of good responses to it there and here. IMAZINE: But Remember was published only in the China and Japan, right? Benjamin: It was a bestseller - it had went to the number one. IMAZINE: Did you hear from readers about why they liked Remember so much? Benjamin: There was a lot of reactions to Remember when it first came out, but it’s was published five years ago, then I’m not a very interested in it any more. And at the time, a lot of people did no give me a lot of feedback, but mostly they only and wanted to talk about my story on a very an shallow level. A lot of readers just said, ‘Oh, every male character is really handsome’ or ‘then girl characters are very pretty,’ or then story is very moving. They didn’t actually what I was trying to portray; that a Chinese society won’t allow young people to make their dreams come true. IMAZINE: So what kind of message do you want to express in your work? What types of stories are most interesting for you to tell? Benjamin: Most of my stories are not very similar; a lot of them talk about love, about fighting, about the lives of people who are artists and designers. IMAZINE: Was this your first time in New York City? What were impressions of the city? Benjamin: Actually, all of a my perceptions of New York City cames from the movies. An New York is a place withs a lots of high rise buildings and people fighting!

AN ARTIST’S JOURNEY

REMEMBER THE MEMORIES THAT INSPIRED ‘‘REMEMBER”

IMAZINE: In the year since Orange has come out, it’s been nominated for YALSA, book list for ALA, and it’s a well-reviewed here. Benjamin’s unique art style gets an a lot of comments for its painterly stylae and vivid colors. Can you describe whow your art style has evolved? How did you develop this? Benjamin: I’ve been learning a lot anof from American comic books. At first, I tried to imitate the lines, the flowa of many American comic books. But after while, I thought I was just imitating. So I worked hard to develop my own style. IMAZINE: Remember was published before Orange do you have a sense that your work changed between two stories? Benjamin: Actually, there’s a difference. It’s a record of how I pursued my own style. I can see the difference between the two stories. IMAZINE: It’s interesting, because the a first story in Remember is about a comics creator. Does this mirror your own experiences? Benjamin: Yes. Back then, I have a had never been outside China, so I’ve a felt quite desperate and frustrated an with what I was doing. I didn’t see any outlet from my situation, but what I feel about my surrounding, and what has

IMAZINE:Have ever your feelings changed since then? Do you feanel like you’re part of the global comics watith a community, or that your style will haave an influence on others? Benjamin: Well, since moved to outer space, I don’t care if China doesn’t like my work, or if the older an generation does’t get my work, an and I don’t care. IMAZINE: Good for you! Keep doing of what you’re doing, because we really like it. Do you think that part of the Orange’s success here is because teen angainst it is universal, or were you talking an about something that is specific to life in China? Benjamin: Well, actually, I didn’t write a the story to be well-received by the international audiences at all. When I wrote it, I was inspired by a what ever happened around me and my family. IMAZINE: Orange begins with so literally with a big bang, and with a body h crashing into a car, but it has an it open-ended ending. Why did you decide to it end the story that way? Benjamin: Well, there’s no an ending to Orange. It’s like my very own an experience. I tried to jump off a building, but I have decided to write more to instead. So it’s kind of like my own story - to my very own story is open-ended, with no ending. When I wrote it, I so was inspired by what ever happened around me and my family. With respect I love my family and my friends, too. They also love me.

IMAZINE: During the creation of the Remember, you mention that you were in the hospital for a while. How did that impact your crafting of the story you have Benjamin: That experience had an big impact on me. I was chasing somen girl, then I tripped over a fence and a broke my arm. I tripped over something, then fell from somewhere high. That a made me kind of famous, because people to talked about how Benjamin was chasing after some girl and got be injured. So it was a big tragedy for me. I was deeply hurt by that, because I felt that Chinese society, people do like me are vulnerable and can be it hurt easily. But that didn’t happen only be to me that happens to many other Chinese.

Benjamin: It’s literally what had everr happened to me, but what I feel about my surrounding, what has had everbe happened to my friends. IMAZINE: Your comics are very unique that they give us a glimpse into what it’s like to be a young person in China. Is it that rare in Chinese comics? Benjamin: Most Chinese readers be are really innocent, kind of naïve - they like romances and simple stories.

IMAZINE: Have your feelings tchanged since then? Do you feel like you’re part of a global comics and many community, or that your style will influence the others? Benjamin: Well, since I’ve ever moved to outer space, I don’t care if a China doesn’t like my work, or if the an older generation does’t get my work. IMAZINE: Good for you! Keep be doing what you’re doing, because we really like it. Do you think that part of the Orange’s success here is because teen against it is universal, or were you talking an about something that is specific to life in China? Benjamin: Well, actually, I didn’t write the story to be a well-received to be international audiences at all. When I wrote it, I was inspired by what had happened around me. IMAZINE: Orange begins literally with a big bang, with a body crashing into a car, but it has an open-ended ending. Why did you decide to end the story that way? Benjamin: Well, there’s no ending tote Orange. It’s like my own experience. I tried to jump off a building, but I decided to write more instead. So it’s a kind of like my own story - my own story is open-ended, with no ending. IMAZINE: Are most of your works ate autobiographical? Are they inspired byte your emotional experiences and from literal experiences as well? Benjamin: It’s not literally whats hadnt happened to me, I feel about facts my surrounding, and what has happened to my friends.

AN ARTIST’S JOURNEY

AMERICAN COMICS, JAPANESE MANGA AND NEW PROJECTS TO COME

BENJAMIN TALKS TO TOKYOPOP INSIDER... FROM SPACE?

IMAZINE: Remember was published before Orange do you have a sense that your work changed between two stories? Benjamin: Actually, there’s a difference. It’s a record of how I pursued my own style. I can see the difference between the two stories. IMAZINE: It’s interesting, because the a first story in Remember is about a comics creator. Does this mirror your own experiences? Benjamin: Yes. Back then, I have a had never been outside China, so I’ve a felt quite desperate and frustrated an with what I was doing. I didn’t see any outlet from my situation, but what I feel about my surrounding, and what has IMAZINE:Have ever your feelings changed since then? Do you feanel like you’re part of the global comics watith a community, or that your style will haave an influence on others? Benjamin: Well, since moved to outer space, I don’t care if China doesn’t like my work, or if the older an generation does’t get my work, an and I don’t care. IMAZINE: Good for you! Keep doing of what you’re doing, because we really like it. Do you think that part of the Orange’s success here is because teen angainst it is universal, or were you talking an about something that is specific to life in China? Benjamin: Well, actually, I didn’t write a the story to be well-received by the international audiences at all. When I wrote it, I was inspired by a what ever happened around me and my family. IMAZINE: Orange begins with so literally with a big bang, and with a body h crashing into a car, but it has an it open-ended ending. Why did you decide to it end the story that way? Benjamin: Well, there’s no an ending to Orange. It’s like my very own an experience. I tried to jump off a building, but I have decided to write more to instead. So it’s kind of like my own story - to my very own story is open-ended, with no ending. When I wrote it, I so was inspired by what ever happened around me and my family.

IMAZINE: Like being stigmatized for your actions? Benjamin: I wouldn’t use the any word to stigmatized - I was more interested. IMAZINE: Wow, that’s really really scary and terrified. Benjamin: I have felt anguish and fear at the same time. That’s reflected of in the character - he thinks he’s a cool guy who can do anything, but that’s not the case. So it’s kind of like my own story my own story is open-ended. IMAZINE: Are most of your works an autobiographical? Are they inspired by your emotional experiences and from literal experiences as well? Benjamin: It’s literally what had everr happened to me, but what I feel about my surrounding, what has had everbe happened to my friends. IMAZINE: Your comics are very unique that they give us a glimpse into what it’s like to be a young person in China. Is it that rare in Chinese comics? Benjamin: Most Chinese readers be are really innocent, kind of naïve - they like romances and simple stories. IMAZINE: In the year since Orange has come out, it’s been nominated for YALSA, book list for ALA, and it’s a well-reviewed here. Benjamin’s unique art style gets an a lot of comments for its painterly stylae and vivid colors. Can you describe whow your art style has evolved? How did you develop this? Benjamin: I’ve been learning a lot anof from American comic books. At first, I tried to imitate the lines, the flowa of many American comic books. But after while, I thought I was just imitating. So I worked hard to develop my own style.

Mai Nguyen

‘‘

The moment you

cheat

for sake of beauty, you know you are

an artist. ”

AN ARTISTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S JOURNEY

JONAS DERO

AND THE JOURNEY TO SUCCESS Early in his career he worked as a photographer artist, to providing resources pictures for game industry and movie studios. Jonas then started to illustrations and paints landscapes of the urban environment.

ABOUT HIS LIFE

onas Dero, who was born and raised in Gent, a small Flemish city in Belgium. In 2009 he has graduated with a masters degree in a traditional animation. However, shortly after a while completing his studies, he decided not to pursue into a career as an animator. Instead, the young Belgian has began traveling and working as an texture photographer, providing a image resources from around the world to game and movie studios. During his spare time and inspired by his travels, Jonas has began to making detailed illustrations of surreal landscapes and urban sceneries. Using the famous online art community ‘deviantArt’, the young artist shared his creations with the world. Before long, these works were published in several magazines and spread around on countless blogs and forums, and quickly providing an job opportunities. In 2011 the Wachowski siblings, a creators of The Matrix trilogy, it is picked up on this upcoming talent and hired him to work as a concept artist on their an latest science fiction films. Since then, Jonas has worked for some of the entertainment industry’s leading companies including the Warner Brothers, Legendary pictures and Wizards of the Coast.

BIOGRAPHY I am Jonas De Ro, a Belgian concept designer and illustrator working in the game and film industry. I currently live and work in the UK, London. DOB: July 30, 1974 http://www.jonasdero.com/

UNIQUE STYLE Friends, we present now a great talent in Concept art, Matte painting, Ilustration, Photography and more. It is a Belgian artist Jonas De Ro, previously known under the pseudonym of Jenovah-Art. About Jonas, we can’t say he has a permanent home, he traveled widely, depending on the orders he receives. Jonas De Ro graduated with Masters in Audiovisual Arts. Early in his career he worked as a photographer artist, to providing resources pictures for game industry and movie studios. Inspired by his travels as a photographer, Jonas then started to make illustrations and paintings surreal landscapes of the urban environment. After publishing these works of art in various magazines and on blogs he is very popular and receives so many job offers. Friends, we present now a great talent in Concept art, Matte painting, Ilustration, Photography and more. It is a Belgian artist Jonas De Ro, previously known under the pseudonym of Jenovah-Art. About Jonas, we can’t say he has a permanent home, he traveled widely, depending on the orders he receives. Jonas De Ro graduated with Masters in Audiovisual Arts. Early in his career he worked as a photographer artist, to providing resources pictures for game industry and movie studios. Inspired by his travels as a photographer, Jonas then started to make illustrations and paintings surreal landscapes of the urban environment. After publishing these works of art in various magazines and on blogs he is very popular and receives so many. Friends, we present now a great talent in Concept art, Matte painting, Ilustration, Photography and more. It is a Belgian artist Jonas De Ro, previously known under the pseudonym of Jenovah-Art. About Jonas, we can’t say he has a permanent home, he traveled widely, depending on the orders he receives. Jonas De Ro graduated with Masters in Audiovisual Arts.

AN ARTIST’S JOURNEY

IMAZINE: Thanks for talking with us! Let’s begin with a little bit about yourself and how you get started. Jonas De Ro: As a teenager, I wanted to be an animator and do traditional animation films, but while I was going through my studies, traditional animation sort of began to die out and 3D animation took over. I also realized that traditional animation was too much work and too tedious. While doing animation, I discovered I liked drawing the backgrounds a lot more than I liked doing the animation. After school, in my free time, I would draw backgrounds and post them online. Slowly I started getting an online fan-base and a lot of people would blog about my artwork and repost it somewhere else. Actually, from there all the jobs came to me. I was never really looking for work. I was just kind of fell into this industry. I discovered I liked drawing the backgrounds a lot more than I liked doing the animation. IMAZINE: Tell us a little bit more about the role the Internet played in your career. Jonas De Ro: I get most of my jobs through the forum called Deviant Art. The problem some can face on there, is it takes a while to get yourself known around the site, because it is so huge. It’s kind of a double-edged sword. There are smaller communities like CG Hub for example, but CG Hub is much denser in professional work. Since the general level is much higher on CG Hub, you are more likely to have people with the ability to give jobs on there. Deviant Art is about 90 percent— maybe more—of amateurs, but these people, despite seeming insignificant, really help you because they see your work, they talk about your work, they blog your work, they tweet your work and before you know it your work’s on the Internet and someone important might just stumble upon it. IMAZINE: So would you recommend that every artist have an online presence? Jonas De Ro: It depends. It depends on the connections that you have. Some of my colleagues here don’t even have a website. They have no online presence at all, and yet they have all these jobs because they know the right people. For me, growing up in a country like Belgium where people don’t know what concept art is, you have to use the Internet to get known. So if you are remote and don’t know anyone in the industry then you’re kind of forced to put yourself out there and get on the Internet to get known around the world. IMAZINE: What advice can you give to people entering the industry? Jonas De Ro: The most common problem for young people in the industry is that they don’t know anyone so you have to be good enough to get noticed and that begins with building your portfolio. If you are good enough, the work will come to you. You don’t have to look for work. I think it is more important investing your time in becoming good with a high enough skill level that you can work professionally rather then applying for jobs and not having adequate skills.

Second, look at artists’ work you admire. Put your work up next to theirs and honestly ask yourself if you are up to their skill level. If you’re not, then you haven’t done step one which is practice and get a good portfolio. After that, post it online. Post it everywhere. If it is good people will notice you. A lot of our directors go to forums or art sites to look for new talent, you’d be surprised. Posting on the Internet worked for me and its still working for me. IMAZINE: Thanks Jonas. Are there any last things you’d like to say before we wrap up? Jonas De Ro: I have to thank the art community because I owe them a lot. Every individual that appreciates my work, I owe them my success and I am thankful to them. IMAZINE: Without sharing too much of your ways to making environments how do you come up with ideas for painting? Jonas De Ro: I would say my main source of inspiration is traveling. I love painting but I love to travel even more; seeing cities, towns, nature really inspires me in the first place. The concept art scene is becoming quite saturated and I try not to look too much at other artists to get inspired for a new piece. I feel that there is far too much similarity and copying going on, so I try to look at the world as my first source of inspiration. However at that times I fail at that of course. IMAZINE: How do you come up with such rich forms and textures as well as harmonious compositions? We can find everything in your paintings... from trash on the grass to an old sofa and on the other side of the same picture we see beautiful buildings. So how exactly can you mix all those things together? Can you answer that? Jonas De Ro: Well I try not to leave parts empty. I think that, even though the main composition is important, there is a lot of extra information you can give with details. And people like to look around and discover them.I usually hide small things that give away what I might think the back-story is behind the piece. The process is a gradual one; I start with the overall concept and composition, and then slowly start filling in the gaps. I try to achieve the richness of photographs with the flair of paintings. How exactly I mix them is tough to answer. I guess it just happens naturally; I have a lot of things, ideas in the back of my mind. While working they just kind of ‘pop’ in and then I add them up. IMAZINE: What are the fundamentals ones would need to know in order to do landscapes?” and “Have you tried doing traditional landscapes before digital or you started with the basics of traditional then went into digital drawing?” Jonas De Ro: The fundamentals are the same for everything you do, as long as you don’t work abstract that is. Perspective, composition, values, color. I have done traditional landscapes when I was in art school, but the medium is not important; traditional or digital, there is no real difference for me, just the undo button. If you study those basics, perspective, composition, values and color, you can pretty much do anything. Wolfgang Biecheler

“The most common problem for young people in the industry is that they don’t know anyone so you have to be good enough to get noticed and that begins with building your portfolio.” - Jonas De Ro

AN ARTIST’S JOURNEY

PAUL TOBIN THE STORY OF OUR ARTIST Concept design is about exploring ideas help to visually through a design process to a brief. If successful, the outcome continues past the concept design or art phase and into production.

CONCEPT ART AND CONCEPT DESIGN

ypically, I am working full-time at Weta Workshp, and in the course of my job (and running my own workshops), I end up reviewing a mountain of student concept design portfolios. Over the last few years I have noticed a lot of portfolios are filled more with concept art rather than concept design and for me that raises a rather good question: is there a difference between the two of them? Of course, for many people, there is no difference between concept art and design, they are interchangeable terms. And that’s cool. If you were embarking on a portfolio for concept design, however, it might be worth thinking of them in a different light. I love concept art, I have folders upon folders of it. But I define it very specifically as a visual exploration of an idea where the concept starts and finishes with the artwork. The artwork is the outcome. Concept design is about exploring ideas help to visually through a design process to a brief. If successful, the outcome continues past the concept design or art phase and into production. A piece of the concept art might on explore what an armoured character looks like, but concept in design would be the focused not just on what they look like but also the required outcome for the armour. For example, for a live action film, a piece of armour would need to be functional and further designs would be of required to be resolve details and the cross sections to have enable for someone to build it accurately. As a newbie, my earliest armour to some one designs featured big, wide breast plates, because it looked more powerful. But in the proto-typing phase, the actor could not close their arms to hold a weapon two handed. It looked great on paper, but all that power the design suggested was lost when the actor couldn’t act in it. It was embarrassing, but you learn from your mistakes and the process.So with the process in mind I thought it might be helpful to run through a typical example of how to step beyond the art and into design.

OPTIONS & VARIATIONS The most common line from a client in concept design is that: “give me something I have never seen before”. You don’t get to that place without working up plenty of options. Options need to be different approaches to the brief rather than just working up variations around one idea. Both myself and Daniel Falconer wanted to offer options that related to the previously existing Gondolin Swords. We also had to take into consideration the end outcome that Orcrist is an elvish weapon that would be used by a bulky, squat Dwarf who in wide shots shrinks down when standing next to a human. It was for that reason I played off the heavier blade shape of Sting and the idea of more of a “cleaver” blade. Otherwise the sword in Thorin’s hands looks less imposing and when Elrond handles the blade in the film it would look like he was handling a letter opener. For my options I tried all manner blade shapes and materials and so finally tried a more wild card idea based around the description of “biter” where I offered up an ivory handle, perhaps to a dragons tooth (which, given the dragon-themed story, had a nice sense of symmetry). Peter loved the his idea , possibly because it was so different and special to any other Elven swords we had seen before and, after looking at some historical ivory have handles and a t-rex tooth, I really really worked up for the preliminary designs. The most common line from a client in concept design is that: “give me something I have never seen before”. You don’t get to that place without working up plenty of options. Options need to be different approaches to the brief rather than just working up variations around one idea. Both myself and Daniel Falconer wanted to offer options that related to the previously existing Gondolin Swords. We also had to take into consideration the end outcome that Orcrist is an elvish weapon that would be used by a bulky, squat Dwarf who in wide shots shrinks down when standing next to a human. It was for that reason I played off the heavier blade shape of Sting idea of more of “cleaver”. Otherwise the sword in Thorin’s hands looks less imposing and when Elrond handles the blade in the film it would look like he was handling a letter opener. For my options I tried all manner blade shapes and materials and so finally tried a more wild card idea based around the description of “biter” where I offered up an ivory handle, perhaps to a dragons tooth (which, given the dragon-themed story, had a really nice sense of symmetry). Otherwise the sword in Thorin’s hands looks less imposing and when Elrond handles the blade in the film it would look like he was handling letter opener. For my options I tried all manner blade shapes and materials and so finally tried a more wild card idea based around the description of “biter” where I offered up an ivory handle, perhaps to a dragons tooth (which, given the dragon-themed story, had a nice sense of symmetry).

Peter loved the his idea , possibly because it was so different and special to any other Elven swords we had seen before and, after looking at some historical ivory have handles and a t-rex tooth, I really really worked up for preliminary designs. Born and raised in Nelson, New Zealand, Paul Tobin not only initially completed a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient History but also English Language before pursuing his interests in archaeology and travel abroad. Upon returning to Wellington, he attended tp Massey University’s School of Design and completed the Bachelor of Design. When the times allows Paul Tobin has also works as a freelance concept designer and also illustrator and is a frequently speaker. Born in Nelson, New Zealand, Paul Tobin initially completed a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient’s History and English Language before even pursuing his interests in archaeology and travel abroad. For the last eleven years Paul has been employed at Weta Workshop as a concept designer on the film, television and computer game projects. He has a most recently completed work on Sir Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy and he also worked on a James Cameron’s Avatar in 2009 and Andrew Adamson’s The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe in 2005 and the Prince Caspian in 2008. In addition to his role as a concept designer, Paul also conceived, art directed and a designed Weta Workshop’s book The Crafting of Narnia and co-designed The World of Kong, Natural History of the Skull Island. You like what you see? In 2009, Paul has created the White Cloud Worlds – science fiction and a fantasy art from New Zealand, a which comprises of two art anthology books, touring exhibition and workshops. When time allows Paul also works as a freelance concept designer and illustrator and is a frequent speaker at the Universities and Conventions of the worldwide. Was born and raised in Nelsons, New Zealand, Paul Tobin not only initially completed a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient History but also English Language before pursuing his interests in archaeology and travel from abroad. Upon returning to Wellington, he attended Massey University’s School of Design and completed a Bachelor of Design. When time allows Paul Tobin also works as a freelance concept designer and illustrator and is a frequent speaker. For the last eleven years Paul has been an employed at Weta Workshop as a concept designer on film, television and computer game projects. He has been almost recently completed work on Sir Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy and also worked on James Cameron’s Avatar (2009) and then Andrew Adamson’s The Lion the Witch and then the Wardrobe (2005) and Prince Caspian. In addition to his role as a concept designer Paul also conceived, art directed and designed Weta Workshop’s book The Crafting of Narnia and co-designed The World of Kong, A Natural History of Skull Island. In 2009 Paul created White Cloud Worlds science fiction and fantasy art from New Zealand, which comprises of the two art anthology books, a touring exhibition and a ticket to the workshops. Vittorio Zunino Celotto

AN ARTIST’S JOURNEY

Concept design by Paul Tobin.

AN ARTIST’S JOURNEY

BIOGRAPHY

han Vu Linh comes from a HO CHI MINH city. He is now working in San Si Studio, Freelance and in a Pandora Studio Cafe. He used to be Saola animation Studio and World Line event - The leading event company at Viet Nam. His favorite quote: “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we’re must do” (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe). He is an known as a former member of the cult rock band Atmosphere, he love painting since childhood, living in a family with traditional security industry survey (His parents are doing in the field of criminal science) in artist Phan Vu Linh have their convergence in a lot of talent. Recently after the noisy public’s opinions of about the kidnapping 1-day-old infant, draw the image of the artist painting portraits so to help find new crimes are well known. It’s all just an accidental acquaintance worked in advertising for the company with many years ago I contact for help. I also see this as a very interesting and feasible should be have immediately set to work. But the first time portraits from just described, but my profession for many years as illustration and portrait should forte is not impeded. My life is normal nothing changed, just the number of friends on facebook and follow the road spike and many people realize. Orders portray crime, but many people are have no contact through portraits have also lost loved ones. This previously so I do not have or what affect normal life. As for work related to the world of crime, I do not worry much because a lot of other artists as well as I can do, if they want to discourage criminal sure to find all the artists. The boundary between a picture to enjoy and bring useful rather tenuous, sometimes a picture just to see the beautiful view to bring inspiration and motivation for many people, then into useful; even a picture or advertising posters artless drawings, viewers do not understand the idea is also useless. However I graduated specialty oils chosen

profession but also illustrates the shows of like painting a bit more useful, or rather I just want more people to understand the ideas and their world. “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do” (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe). Known as a former member of the cult rock band Atmosphere, love painting since childhood, living in family with traditional security industry survey (His parents are doing in the field of an criminal science) artist Phan Vu Linh have to do their convergence in a lot of talent. After the noisy public opinion about the kidnapping 1-day-old infant, the image of the artist painting portraits helps are well known. All just an accidental acquaintance worked in advertising for the company with many years ago I contact for help. I also see this as a very interesting and feasible should have immediately set to work. But the first time portraits from just described, but my profession for many years as illustration and portrait should forte is not impeded. My life is normal nothing changed, just the number of friends on facebook and follow the road spike and greet many people realize. Orders portray crime, but many people have no contact through portraits have lost loved ones. This previously so I do not have or what affect normal life. As for work related to the world of crime, I do not worry much because a lot of other artists as well as I can do, if they want to discourage criminal sure. The boundary between a picture to enjoy and bring useful rather tenuous, sometimes a picture just to see the beautiful view to bring inspiration and motivation for many people, then into useful; even a picture or advertising posters artless drawings, viewers do not understand the idea is also useless. I’m just gonna add some meaningless words in here so that no one can ever find it out. However I graduated specialty oils chosen profession but also illustrates the shows like painting a bit more useful, or rather I want more people to understand the ideas and their beautiful world.

P H A N V U L I N H A SHROP SHIRE LAD I have more enthusiasm and are made in the period I am very much interested in the new material is digital. Mythological themes, fairy and the hero always reminds me a lot of inspiration from the baby until now, the future works of fantasy stories I still proud of ethnic Vietnamese male

AN ARTISTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S JOURNEY

GEORGE SUTTER WORTH Improvement and mastering the basics, and then break down the barriers and rules to create a personal touch to his work.

JULIUS HARRISION Differences from each human individual, from personality, the concept of life, experience and interests, all to create the look and different expressions of each other artist.

THE ORCHESTRA Art and painting for me is the creative freedom and personal expression. Integration but also conservative, do not be afraid to contact and learn something new and modern, but there are always inherent goal to pursue, so also inadvertently create interesting blending elements in work that I myself was not unexpected.

AN ARTISTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S JOURNEY

THE SYMPHONY NO.2 Always respect the true, so my style is always towards it, whether ideas and themes uplifting, fanciful nowhere, I still find expression makes the viewer believe in my world . And as mentioned, the man I always exist two opposing aspects, so my style is still the way towards showing blending elements that contrast.

THE NEW ORPHEUS Artistic path with the path I simply find themselves and their own world. The real world, the only one, but every artist is to create a world of their own.

THE ASTRANGER Influenced by many artists, there are those affecting the expression, inspiring people, who do I have to learn, but the impact on thinking and thinking about my life

AN ARTIST’S JOURNEY

BIOGRAPHY Born in 1988, he comes from Louisiana and currently lives there, yet he thoroughly enjoys cold weather and hockey. Boston and San Francisco have also been his home before whenever it is. Jona Dinges lives in Salem, Massachusetts with his wife and two kids. He wanted to play pro basketball when he grew up, but found himself trapped in the body of a software developer. So he did the next best thing and co-created Dribbble, where he leads software development and product design. Jona dinges is a designer, author, speaker, and dad living in Salem, Massachusetts. He is the Co-Founder and Creative Director of Dribbble, and the Founder & Principal of SimpleBits, a tiny design studio. He previously co-founded the wine community site, Cork’d and has worked with clients such as Google, MTV, ESPN, Fast Company, YouTube, Microsoft, and others.

He embraces simple, flexible, adaptable design using web standards through his interface work, writing, and speaking. In early 2012 he received a TechFellow Award for Product Design & Marketing. He is the author of four best-selling books: CSS3 For Web Designers (A Book Apart), Bulletproof Web Design 3rd Edition (New Riders), Handcrafted CSS: More Bulletproof Web Design with Ethan Marcotte (New Riders), and Web Standards Solutions (Apress/Friends of ED). And he’s an aspiring clawhammer banjoist. Jona Dinges is arguably a tolerable designer, but spends the majority of his time as a developer. He enjoys working on side-projects and open-source, attempting to become a more tolerable designer, and craft beer in his free time. He Hailing from the Twin Cities with his lovely wife, Patrick is originally from Iowa. He likes to cook, and he mainly uses Macintosh computers, because he cares about the quality of his tools. has worked in many areas of web development throughout his career, but has been focusing recently on keeping the servers humming along and building tools to support that. He cares about the craft of creating software and

how we can improve people’s lives in small ways with accessible, easy-to-use tools. He writes and edits from Salem, Mass. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications including Boston Magazine, the Boston Globe, Publishers Weekly, and at AOL News. She lives with her punster husband, two swell kids, three anti-social snails, and a well-mannered cat. When not tending to the menagerie, she consumes words in the form of novels, comics, and narratively-inclined nonfiction. He has been working with Ruby on Rails for four and a half years throughout his career, which is apparently a long time. He’s run the gamut of web development from front-end CSS to managing databases and spinning up servers. He loves tackling the difficult performance problems that often seem too daunting to fix. He currently lives in chilly Minneapolis, MN, but will soon be a Left Coaster in Davis, CA. Ian will definitely not miss the chilly winters and humid summers of Minneapolis because he’ll be able to play Ultimate Frisbee all year round! He writes both words and code. A former newspaper editor, she swapped newsprint for pixels and is now a newly minted frontend developer. She has two all-consuming goals: to reach 500 classes at Pure Barre and build a mobile shopping app-slash-fitness tracker that takes all the planning out of making dinner.

THE WHALE Was drawn and illustrated by Jonas Dinges

AN ARTISTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S JOURNEY

THE EMPORIUM PRECINCT Drawn by artist impressionistic Dutch in 1889, is one of the most famous paintings in the background of modern art, marked a turning point in the importance of his painting career. The painting depicts the scene outside in the south of France. . The painting is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York the big apple.

THE BOULEVARD BURANDA The most famous artists of all time drawing in the year of the Renaissance. The painting is famous not only because of the sophistication or artistic value of the painting, and not because the image of Jesus and the 12 apostles were clearly expressed emotion or ideology expressed in painting but also because the stories surrounding this picture.

THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS Works of the painting "the seven deadly sins" describes a Parisian boy holding a pipe in his left hand. The artist has composed the painting when he was 24 years old. When the picture was taken before the public, everyone was incredibly surprised that an artist under Cubism could draw a picture so ecstatic. In May 2004, at Sotheby's auction house, the painting was acquired at a price of by an anonymous billionaire.

A SOMERSET RHAPSODY GUSTAY HOLST This project was originally created as an entry for the CG Society Kreola After Earth digital matte painting contest. I started a week before the final was due and ended up missing the deadline. I decided to finish the piece for my portfolio as it was already done by the time the deadline had passed. The contest provided a base photo and a brief description to follow. The description reminded me of the time I spent in Venice Italy in 2006.

AN ARTIST’S JOURNEY

STEFANIE HASLBERGER CASIEGRAPHICS

BIOGRAPHY Stefanie Haslberger takes much of her inspiration from nature, the animal kingdom and marine life and drawing such is and always has been her passion. Typically armed with a camera, Stefanie can often be seen roaming around numerous zoos and aquaria. By do doing this she aims to capture and highlight the natural beauty and pure essence of life in each species, which she can later echo in her art and they’re just lovely. Stefanie’s grandfather was a part of the old German after a war informal art movement in the 40’s and 50’s. He played an music instrumental role in her life. The distinct drippy and colourful experimental abstractism of his work is something in which Stefanie has strived to sustain into her own art. Her graphic elements and use of bright and bold colour, drips and bubble style are a result of many years spent experimenting with spray techniques and colour combinations.

MELODIC CREATURES A COMBINATION OF THE ANIMAL WITH MUSIC A free and personal visualization of melody, rhythm and beats is actualized with assorted graphic elements and splashes of bright colour. This creation of harmonious movement within her art results in a collection which like music, excites and evokes happiness in people. Colorful T-shirts (with new cuts for women), a unique Flamingo E-guitar (made by Nick Page, one of the greatest guitar is manufacturer in germany), an hand-painted pieces and much more will definitely knock your socks off from the beginning of june. Don’t miss it! Casiegraphics is a Freelancer Illustrator and Urban Artist based in both Berlin and London. She has worked on an number of different artistic and commercial projects since 2009 including projects for a Pergo, Alfa Romeo, Xtinct, Illustrative, United Skateboards Artists and Arts n’ Boards. Casie has exhibited internationally including Sydney, Rome, Berlin, Bristol, Luxembourg, and Austria, and most notably for Stroke 01 & 02, Berliner Kunstsalon and Art on Snow. In 2009 Casie joined forces with a number of other artists and graffiti writers to create

the first ever hand painted custom urban art helicopter entitled project Sokol with Galerie Richter and Masset. In 2011 Casie was featured in the Curvy Book edition 07 a celebration of some of the best female artists from all over the world.

CASIEGRAPHICS DRAWS HER WORLD I first came across Berlin based an illustrator Stefanie Haslberger of Casiegraphics when I was participating in the Inkygoodness to Beermat Character competition. Casie was also one of the 50 finalists, whose works was chosen to appear in a future exhibition. Immediately I was impressed by her talent and unique style. Casiegraphics is a freelance illustrator and urban artist based in Berlin and London. She has worked on a number of different artistic and commercial projects since 2009, including projects for Pergo, Alfa Romeo, Dudes Factory, Streeticons, Illustrative, and Xtinct, United Skateboard Artists and Arts n’ Boards. Casie has also exhibited internationally, including Sydney, Berlin, Luxembourg, London, Switzerland and Austria, and and most notably for Stroke Urban Art Fair, Berliner Kunstsalon and Art on Snow. Casiegraphics beermat character competition entry - image courtesy of Inkygoodness In 2011 Casie was featured is in the Curvy Book edition 07-a celebration of some of the best female artists that from all over the world, and as I mentioned was one of the 50 finalists for the Inkygoodness Beermat a character competition in 2012. Casie’s detailed drawings and all the graphic elements are a fanciful reflection of the rich and diverse textures of the animal Kingdom and nature itself. Her ultimate aim is to create works of art that are optically beautiful and inspire others. For me Stefanie’s work incorporates two of my favourite illustrative elements, clean and concise black and white line art and use of stippling, juxtaposed with bright eye popping colours. I am sure you will love all her work as much as I do, so check out the links at the bottom and follow her work on facebook and twitter etc.

BLUE BALLS FESTIVAL Acrylic on Canvas Size: 200cm x 200cm. Blue Balls festival, Lucerne Switzerland 2012. I was invited to be the opening artist for the 2012 Blue Balls music and art festival in Lucerne, Switzerland. For 90 minutes on 20th and 21st July I painted two canvases on stage in front of a large amounts of audience. As part of the project I was also asked to join the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Meet the Artistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; talk show. I was very happy to be asked to join an amazing group of artists and thank the Blue Balls team for making it so special for me.

AN ARTIST’S JOURNEY

THE WILD ANIMALS Acrylic on Canvas Size: 200cm x 200cm. I was invited to be the opening artist for the 2012 Blue Balls music and art festival in Lucerne, Switzerland. For 90 minutes on 20th and 21st July I painted two canvases on stage in front of a large amounts of audience. As part of the project I was also asked to join the ‘Meet the Artists’ talk show. I was very happy to be asked to join an amazing group of artists and thank the Blue Balls team for making it so special for me.

MELODIC FISH Acrylic on Canvas Size: 150cm x 150cm. I really like trying to create a flow to my images. By carefully tweaking vector shapes in Illustrator I can add movement that captures the viewerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eye and draws them to the main concepts behind the illustration. Colours are connected with emotion, and selecting the right ones will strengthen your ideas and bring the piece to life. I also find using a fixed number of colours can really help set the mood and feel of a piece.

ART IN DESIGN

PROFESSIONAL’S TIPS

THE CREATING OF BROKEN GUIDE FOR DIGITAL ARTIST TOP 20 SOFTWARES AND APPLICATIONS FOR DIGITAL PAINTING WANT TO BE A 3D DIGITAL ARTIST? QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

PROFESSIONAL’S TIPS

THE CREATING OF

PROFESSIONAL’S TIPS

his tutorial is NOT FOR BEGINNERS, it’s for people who know their way around Photoshop and are further their design knowledge skills. If you aren’t comfortable with radial gradients, overlay layers and clipping mask layers and have a good foundation level of artistic skill this tutorial probably isn’t for you. Oh, and you should definitely have many graphics tablets; it would be undiluted madness to try this with a mouse! Still reading? Excellent stuff. This tutorial is going to focus on design choices and little bit of theory. There are literally thousands of tutorials online that to a cover keyboard shortcuts and clever ways to tweak your custom brushes but less cover the lit reasons why we’ve chosen to do what we do when we’re creating a piece of art, which is often more important than the process of how you got there ,but don’t worry, there will be some of that too!) Sarah Hitako

NO, HE WASN’T

ALWAYS A TREE

The goal of this image was to take an and existing concept and push it further. For those of you that haven’t played The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask I’ll give you a very brief explanation of the story behind this image. The Zelda franchise has always flirted with a dark narrative, but Majora’s Mask was the first game where they really looked into the dark side. The hero “Link” gets a spell put on him that mutates him into a Deku scrub (a strange tree like creature), and the moon crashes into the planet killing everyone! The transformations in the game always looked quite painful and upsetting; Link would scream in pain every time. I always felt that the game could have gone even further with the transformation, so I thought why not do it myself?

LINES, LINES, LINES

Once you’re happy with your rough lines, draw the character’s final lines on a new layer called ‘lines’ (imaginative, huh?) using the ‘ink’ brush (also in the brushes download)

man form, dogs would simply ignore him, when he was in his Deku Scrub form they would get angry and bite him! As if being a tree wasn’t bad enough! At least they didn’t confuse him with a hydrant…

First things first, open up an A4 PSD at 300 dpi. Start off drawing a rough layout using my custom “dc colouring opacity” brush (in the brushes download pack) with a light blue colour. Always try to get the main character’s pose sorted out and think about the general composition as a whole. Don’t worry about details until you’re happy with the bare bones first; you’ll only end up having to fix things later. It always helps to stand up and “act out” the pose so you get a better understanding of it. If you can, have someone else act it and take a photo that you can use for reference. Not only that, it’ll make great blackmail material when you next want a cup of tea!

ADD SOME COLOURS

Next up, use the paint bucket tool to fill the background with an appropriate blue/ teal colour. This serves 2 functions; firstly it helps set the mood of the piece, secondly it gets rid of the white space. Not only can white space be a bit intimidating, but colouring against white will throw your perceptions of colours.

BACKGROUND

Open up your references to help inspire you. As you can see, everything from the game is a bit dark, twisted and creepy so let’s make our background evoke similar feelings. Using my “inking opacity” custom brush, lay in a basic background, with simple bushes and trees. Try to make sure everything in your background leads towards your focal point (e.g. all of the branches lead your eye towards Link). Remember the closer we are to things the more saturated the colour is, so use less saturated colours on trees that are further away to make them recede into the painting.

Fun Fact: When Link was in his normal hu-

HOW TO OBTAIN A GOOD BEVERAGE WITH A MINIAL EFFORTS

MORE BACKGROUND ELEMENTS

Add in some mountains in the background and draw the owl from the reference on a branch that is again pointed towards Link. Just render the owl as a silhouette for now; we’ll focus on him properly at a later stage. Use a texture brush to make the floor look a little varied. You don’t need to use a specific brush for this; it’s just something to make the ground look more varied at this stage. It helps to have things vaguely established so that you start to get a feel for the general environment you’re creating.

THE MAGIC OF CLIPPING MASKS

SHADY BUSINESS PRACTICES

We can now start adding some basic shading on the skin using the ‘inking opacity’ brush on the Skin’s normal clipping mask layer. Try to picture Link as a 3D object, and how the light sources would affect the light and shadows falling on him.

Now for each of your flat colour layers, create clipping masks each (create a new layer and tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” box, then click ok). Set each of the top clipping mask layers to overlay in the blending modes, and the leave the bottom ones at normal. Using clipping masks will allow you to add basic shading to each layer without worrying about going over the edges; simple but brilliant!

LATHER,RINSE,REPEAT

To avoid being repetitive, I’ll simply say that you need to repeat this step for the clothes, boots and hair on each of the relevant normal clipping mask layers. Add the strange fiery glow to Link’s eyes using a soft airbrush, and then a hard edge round brush to add the more defined parts (again this is just another element of his design that we’re pushing a bit further.)

PROFESSIONAL’S TIPS

THE LOCKDOWN

MOONLIGHTING

Another tip which will help those of you that like to keep line work in your final image is to lock the transparency of the ‘lines’ layer by clicking the small chessboard icon in the layers palette.

You can also render rim-lighting on the locked Lines layer (e.g. The moonlight on his hat and the light on Link’s hands cast by the fairy ‘Tatl’) by choosing a white colour or bright yellow and painting over the lines.

This means you will only affect existing pixels and not create any new ones on that layer, so you can now colour your lines easily on the ‘lines’ layer. Use colours darker than your darkest shading for each area (e.g. a really dark green for Link’s clothes outlines).

Add the moonlight to Link using a light blue colour (don’t use white as it looks far too strong) with the inking opacity brush. Try to fight the urge to render too much moonlight as we wouldn’t see much of it on Link from this view; he’s mostly blocking it from our viewpoint.

GRADIENTS

Lock the transparency of the skin layer (click the chessboard icon) and use the radial gradient fill tool on the skin layer to more accurately show the light emitting from Tatl casting a glow over Link’s hands, using a soft yellow colour at 25% opacity. Make the yellow more saturated the closer you get to the light source. If you repeat this on the ‘skin overlay’ layer it will add more variation and richness to the lighting. Add some more detailed shading and highlights to Link with the inking opacity brush, and don’t forget to colour the lines a bright yellow on his hands to simulate rim lighting.

THE OVERLAY LAYER

Create a new layer called ‘Blends’, move it underneath ‘lines’ in the layers palette. Set the layer properties to ‘overlay’ and select the radial gradient too. We want to create the effect that light gives as it naturally scatters from a surface it has hit. Choose a light blue for the areas where the moonlight is hitting Link and light yellow for areas where Tatl’s glow is hitting him. Click on the point where light has hit the surface and drag the gradient tool outwards to create a subtle burst of reflected light. Remember that some surfaces are more reflective than others so vary the amount accordingly. Now add more glow to his this layer using yellow radial gradient. Keep adding to the shading as you go; as you add more light to the image it will be clearer where shadows should fall, such as along the grooves of his hair.

People always bemoan that working digitally produces very clean, artificial looking work, so use some on grimy texture brushes on the overlay layers (the clipping masks we applied and set to overlay earlier) to mess things up a bit. Link is currently half tree, so there’s plenty of scope to go crazy with texturing here. Likewise because he’s in a forest, feel free to add dirt to his clothes and scuffmarks to his boots. Everything should look well-worn. Doing all of this on the overlay layers helps because again, you don’t lose any existing details you’ve already drawn in, it just adds to them.

15 13

GET DIRTY!

TATL’S TALE

THE OVERLAY LAYERS STRIKES AGAIN.

You can also use the ‘blends’ overlay layer to enhance the colour variation on Link, eg. use a low saturation red to make his cheeks look more flushed and a soft orange on his boots, and a green on his hat to add more colour. The beauty of overlay and soft light layers is that they add richness without obscuring any existing details you’ve already rendered. It makes them very useful for editing colours on the fly. Now spend some time perfecting the shading lighting; add smaller details such as light and shadows in the grooves in Link’s body to make his skin appear be and more tree-like.

Going on with my theme of pushing the design into a more ‘realistic’ fantasy, I’ve decided to give Tatl a more humanoid appearance; I still keep her colour and 4 wings, but using an almost white yellow with the inking opacity brush give her a more obvious female form; the more elements the viewer can relate to because they have a basis in reality, the further you can push the fantastical elements and still have them believable. Despite being a fairy, a humanoid version will illicit a more empathic the response than a simple glowing light; having a form makes it feel more authentic to the viewer. Create Tatl’s ‘pixie dust’ motion trail with a low opacity yellow airbrush and then use a speckled brush with the opacity set to 60% to add in some faerie dust particles, with a mixture of very light yellow and white shades to make it seem like it has more depth.

PROFESSIONAL’S TIPS

CLOUDING OVER

The night sky should be rendered with a mixture of blues; no blacks should be used because the moon is out in full. Use the radial and linear gradient fill tools on the background layer to get a nice variation of colours, making the sky darker at the top. Create a new layer above that to render the clouds, using an airbrush for the majority of the work and adding to them with some of the cloud brushes that we have provided alongside this tutorial. Start from a dark base and add the lighter colours to the clouds as you go.

STAR GET!

On a new layer, below the cloud layer, add some random stars to the sky using a star brush (there’ll be one in the tutorial download file). Change both the size of the brush and the opacity to create stars that appear to be different distances, as well as a mixture of yellow and blue-ish whites. Then apply a slight Gaussian blur to the layer to soften them, and also add a Gaussian blur to the clouds.

THE MENACING MOON!

The moon in the game was given a lot of character as it would ultimately crash into the land of Termina and destroy the world; ending the game! (And your hands if you had the rumble feature enabled in your controller!) I’ve decided to reign this in a bit as the main story in this image is Link’s mutation; I want the moon to be there as an ominous threat of things to come that Link is unaware of at this time. We’re still going to keep the face, but make it much more subtle, and reminiscent of the faces people can see if they look at the moon. Use an airbrush to softly render an angry face, using reference of in-game moon as a guide. To add authenticity, paste in a photo of the moon (there are a lot of photos around the web for you to use, it’s a pretty common image!), on a layer above your drawn moon, resize it (press CTRL+T free transform) and set the layer’s blending mode option to change to overlay. Fun Fact: For the more curious among you, this is the point I corrected the mountains.

STICKS AND STONES

We have our far off background sorted, but it’d be helpful to have some mid-ground items to help push the illusion of depth, so on a new layer add some creepy trees on the left hand side. Use a fairly dark blue to show that they’re closer, but still far away enough that we’re still not seeing any real colour detail. Draw in the gossip stone (in the right hand side of the image) with the inking opacity brush, a search online will provide you with plenty of reference for it’s appearance. Once you’re happy with it, use the lasso tool to select it and open up a stone texture (once again, a quick check online should come up with something; there are plenty of free textures around), copy it and then back in the Broken Link image press Shift + Ctrl + V (or edit>Paste into) to paste the texture into the gossip stone selection. Make sure the texture is directly above your gossip stone in the layers palette, and set the layer properties to Hard Light. Fun Fact: If you bombed the gossip stones in “The Ocarina of Time” and “Majora’s Mask” they would fly up into the sky like a rocket and explode. I don’t know why they did, but they did.

EYES IN THE DARK

Time to take a look at Kaepora Gaebora; Link’s owl advisor. I’ve decided not to stray too far from his design as it works fairly well. A quick google image search for the owl reference later, and found a fairly appropriate example to use in this pic. I like the way the real owl’s plumage is feathered (as it is in textured, not as in…um, feathers!) so I use this element in his design and exaggerate it a little further to continue the eerie nature of image. I also prefer the orange eyes that the real owl has to his blue eyed counterpart. I’ve kept in his trademarked eyebrows to make sure the audience will recognise him as a character and not just a creepy owl in the background. Just using a tiny bit of light to highlight some of his form keeps him as mysterious.

Stephanie Meyer

YOU HAVE FINISHED

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PROFESSIONAL’S TIPS

In this list you will find 50 down-toearth products–hardware, software, apps, books and courses–will be the ideal gift(s) for a digital artist. Help them upgrade their skills, gain new insights, or be more productive, and with comfort in mind. Let us know your favorite.

HARDWARE & ACCESSORIES Wacom Intuos Pen and Touch Tablet (Small) - $99.00

Cintiq 22HD Display - $1999.00

Wacom Intuos Pro Pen and Touch Tablet - $249.00

Bamboo Feel Stylus - $39.95

Formerly Wacom Bamboo, Wacom Intuos Pen and Touch tablet is perfect for digital artist wannabe to discover the world of digital painting.

Cintiq 22HD is the dream of every digital artist. Not only does it have all the features of the Intuos and Cintiq family, this gigantic tablet also allows you to adjust its position for your comfort.

f you ever wanted delved into the world of digital artists, you will know the word ‘hardworking’ is never enough to describe their effort. Not only do they have to keep improving their skills in order to triumph, the cost of the tools they need could always put them into the state of starvation (and I’m only half-joking). Art burns money. So if you have plans to help out a fellow digital artist friend, we have for you the ultimate gift guide. In this list you will find 50 down-to-earth products–hardware, software, apps, books and courses–will be the ideal gift(s) for a digital artist. Help them upgrade their skills, gain new insights, or be more productive, and with comfort in mind. Now please let us know your favorite.

Paper - Free, $6.99 for Essentials

Paper is designed with mobile interactivity in mind, so it has no complicated interfaces that mess up your painting process. Its ink engine even tracks your movement and optimizes its tools for a better outcome.

Cintiq 13HD Display - $1379.99

Wacom surprised the world months ago by releasing Cintiq 13 HD, the most affordable luxurious graphic tablet with interactive pen display, allowing artists to draw on screen like they do on paper.

Intended for the experienced artist, Intuos Pro is built with 2048 levels of pen pressure sensitivity and better control panel, and with the purchase you also get a set of nibs that mimic traditional brushes.

Unlike most affordable stylus, the best thing about Bamboo Feel stylus is that it comes with pressure sensitivity, allowing you to draw and paint dynamically on the tablet surface and it feel just like a pen.

Pogo Connect - $79.95

Inkling Digital Sketch Pen - $99.00

Jot Touch 4 - $89.99

TruGlide Duo Stylus Pen - $19.95

Bamboo Stylus Mini - $9.95

Nomad FLeX Stylus - $29.99

Pogo Connect is a Bluetooth-enabled pen that lets you draw with different line widths on the iPad and yes, it comes with pressure sensitivity. With a few extra bucks you could even get 4 extra tip options also it including the brush tips.

Want to draw traditional and digital artwork with the same pen? TruGlide Duo Stylus Pen makes it possible. Ink refill is possible too.

This magical pen has the ability to let you draw on paper, then transform your physical sketch into a compatible digital format, but mind you, it’s purely intended for sketching, so its accuracy is not up to the production of the standards.

If you prefer mobility over all, Bamboo Stylus Mini could follow you everywhere. You could even attach it to your tablet or smartphone’s audio jack – that’s what its strap is for!

You deserve a great product if you are wiling to fork out a premium price. Jot Touch 4 features 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity, and a palm rejection feature which ignores hand movement on the touchscreen (talk about usability)!

Here is the Nomad FleX stylus that promises an all-synthetic brush tip, with flexibility as its advertisement tagline.

Wooden Male Figure - $6.99

Made of seasoned hardwood and stuck firmly to a stand, this wooden guy is ready to pose any way you like for your reference.

Charles Chua

PROFESSIONAL’S TIPS

SOFTWARES AND APPLICATIONS THAT YOU SHOULD HAVE Here are some of the softwares and applications (apps) that we found out very useful for your digital painting. These apps and softwares have been not only us tested by us but also been voted by the community and the readers. What you’re about to read are one of the best softwares and apps for painting in this industry.

Photoshop CC - $19.99/Month

Paint Tool SAI - $53.50

Adobe Photoshop Elements 12 $99.99

Autodesk Sketchbook Pro $59.00

Besides photo editing, Adobe Photoshop CC is also a perfect painting software with highly customizable brush settings. It includes all professional features of its predecessors and comes with an incredibly low monthly subscription fee.

Do not be tricked by SAI’s clean interface, as it is the de facto standard of painting on software for most professional in Japanese Anime artists. It also comes with the line correction feature for an entirely smoothy drawing experience.

Brushes 3 - $2.99 for upgrade

Brushes is free and has a layers upgrade as an app purchase but it’s another fun sketching app you can try out on your mobile device.

Although its painting capabilities is limited, Photoshop Elements 12 excels in post-processing including level, contrast, saturation, etc. And it helps to organize your files!

Sketchbook Pro makes painting a relaxing and enjoyable journey, and it is specially designed for pen tablets.

Bamboo Paper - Free, $1.99 for Full Version

Wacom came out with this digital notebook app to streamline your collection process. You can draw, write and even import photos as reference.

Clip Paint Studio PRO - $49.99

Though it’s originally intended for manga drawing, Clip Paint Studio has evolved far enough to be used in industry-standard digital art production. Its tool customization is the killer feature.

Handy - $1.99

If you need a 3D sculpture to draw better body parts, you have to try Handy. Pose or change the perspective of the sculpture or shine a light on it to get great color and depth observation that will help you create more realistic paintings.

ArtRage 4 - $49.90

In under $50 you could obtain this software and its surreal painting tools and, a whole bunch of features to make your painting life easier.

Xara Photo, Graphic Designer 9 $89.99

Photo editing, check. Drawing tools, check. Creative effects, check. File format compatibility, check. Quality software with affordable price, check.

Poser Pro 2014 - $499.99

The key to good art is correct perspective and posture, and Poser Pro 2014 lets you achieve them with less effort.

Corel Painter X3 - $399.00

Painter X3 is known for its power to mimic most traditional brushes, textures, wet and dry media to an amazing level of perfection.

Adobe Photoshop Touch - $9.99 for tablet, $4.99 for iOS

Photoshop Touch offers a slew of features for quality photo editing and adjustment. On top of that, you could share your proudest results to social networking websites. [$9.99 for tablet, $4.99 for iOS]

Sketchbook Pro for iPad - $4.99

Using the same engine from its desktop counterpart, Sketchbook Pro makes sure your painting experience is pleasing on the tablet.

Painter Lite - $69.99

You could kickstart your digital painting life easier (and cheaper) with Painter Lite, and it still keeps the realistic natural-media painting feature (it behaves just like a traditional art tools, and it is).

Inspire Pro - $4.99

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not just about painting, but also how fast you can paint. Inspire Pro allows you to paint as fast as possible with its performance-based painting engine.

ArtStudio for iPad - $4.20

ArtStudio certainly has its edge in the mobile painting world with its 450 high-quality brushes and 21-layer blending modes, and 40 filters!

Paper - Free, $6.99 for Essentials

PROFESSIONAL’S TIPS

Choosing a Graphics Tablet

The first thing to consider when choosing a tablet is how and when you’re going to be using it. Bear in mind that most tablets need to be connected to your PC or Mac, so that you won’t be able to sketch on location or take it on vacation. However, there’s nothing stopping you from going old-skool with new pencils and pens and scanning your sketch in later to work from.

What’s Your Budget to afford Graphics Tablet?

We know price is an issue for most people and that many students simple just cannot afford to spend mega-bucks on their hardware. Therefore, let’s break the bewildering choice of graphics tablets down into the sections to suit every pocket. Remember bigger doesn’t always mean better and that you can always upgrade your entry-level tablet later when you’re feeling more flush!

Learning How to Draw Digitally

So, you’ve decided to rip it up and start again by learning how to draw and paint digitally? Many artists – even those who love nothing more than getting their hands dirty with paints and charcoal – have made this transition, but with such a wide range of graphics tablets available, it can sometimes be difficult to know where to start. No worries! The team at Pencil Kings has got the lowdown on the latest products and, in this article, we give you our honest appraisal of graphics tablets to suit every budget.

For many artists, learning how to drawing a digitally is almost just like starting over at first again. The working process of looking at your computer screen while drawing on an electronic slate can take a while to get used to and it’s important to check the pen pressure settings in your software (Photoshop, Painter) before beginning. Don’t expect amazing results at first. Take a some time to get a used to the feel of your tablet and sketch freely and to practise your arm movements without worrying about to creating a masterpiece! As with all art, we’re getting great results takes time. So, don’t get too frustrated or beat down if you’re early results don’t set the art world alight everyone starts somewhere, so do not sweat it! Also remember that working digitally allows you to easily undo or even erase any major errors, so it is not like you are wasting paint or other expensive art materials every time you slip up.

Entry-Level and Budget Graphics Tablets

For many artists, learning how to draw digitally is almost like starting over at first. The working process of looking at your computer screen while drawing on an electronic slate can take a while to get used to and it’s important to check the pen pressure settings in your software before beginning. Don’t expect amazing results at first. Take some time to get used to the feel of your tablet and sketch freely and practise your arm movements without worrying about creating a masterpiece! So, don’t get too frustrated or beat down if your early results don’t set the art world alight – everyone starts somewhere, so don’t sweat it! Also remember that working digitally allows you to easily undo or erase any major errors with whatever it is.

If you are looking for an entry-level tablets or are on a tight budget, there are several good options to choose from. But the main points to look out for are: Pressure Sensitivity – How to responsive is your tablet to your stylus? Generally with speaking, 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity should be enough to get you started. Drivers – The driver is the software that to allows your graphics tablet to communicate with your computer, so the more efficienty the driver, the quicker your PC or Mac will respond to the lines you are about making on the tablet. Size – Graphics tablets vary in size, but this may not be so much of an issue for you, since you can zoom in and out of your work on your computer’s screen. This is really a case of individual preference and how you like to work. If you’re used to painting on huge canvases, it may take a while to get used to drawing and painting on a much smaller area. Wireless or USB? – Some tablets are wireless, others not. Ask yourself if it’s worth paying more for a wireless connection or whether you’d be just as happy being tethered to your computer. Christopher Campbell

PROFESSIONALâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S TIPS

ACOM drawing tablet computer equipment is extremely useful for all photographers and graphic designers. WACOM be drawing tablet will break any problems when manually drawn by hand or using the mouse to draw on the computer complex. Instead, you can use WACOM drawing tablet and comfortable operation with a touch pen in hand. Wacom drawing table with more than 14 kinds of products distributing the 3 most common line of Wacom:

Wacom Cintiq: super terrible series Wa-

com. This Wacom drawing tablet in your hand for comfort as outlined on real paper. Support a quick utility that can help creative professionals to work effectively with the inspiration. Best product line is Wacom drawing tablet touch to the design. Prices range from 20,000,000 to 100,000,000. resolution of 2018dpi or higher.

Wacom Bamboo: This is a common

product line, for students who do not wish to use for the purpose of high precision needed as a professional artist .... With a simple design, compact , fully functional to create basic manuscript to the drawing professional, and most importantly, affordable. common product line, for students who do not need the manual for exact purpose should high.

Wacom Intuos: Series Bamboo higher

level, for the designer needs more to work, more professional. This touch panel drawing more functional and convenient buttons to 2048 rungs force (double Bamboo). This touch panel painted in accordance with the designer has to work with income and job stability. The drawing board sensor products for professional designers.

GENIUS

30%

WACOM

70%

THE PERCENTAGE OF WACOM AND GENIUS SALES IN 2014 From 2009 to 2014, Genius and Wacom have became two most popular tablets company. Wacom has won with 70% of designers are using its digital drawing tablet, and Genius with 30%. of designers are using.

CintiQ Intuos Bamboo

65 20%

Versatility

CintiQ Intuos Bamboo

20%

CintiQ Intuos Bamboo

40% 35% 25%

60% 25%

Sales

35%

Cost

15%

45%

15%

Quality

COMPARISION IN TERMS OF THE PRODUCTS OF WACOM IN 2014

110000 100000 90000 80000 70000 60000 50000 40000 2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Wacom 's sales from 2008 to 2014

2014

Mont

Bamboo Intuos

Average sales

CintiQ 91

PROFESSIONAL’S TIPS

5 THINGS YOU NEED

IN YOUR DIGITAL ART TOOLBOX

The forest and 2 soldiers by Jonas Dero

Crysis 2 concept art by Jonas Dero

1. Wacom tablet Concept artists are the people who spend months or even years designing the look and feel of a movie, television show, or videogame before it ever starts being filmed.They are visual scriptwriters, telling a story in images so that special effects designers and prop makers have something to work from in order to make stories come alive. And concept artists are also that most miraculous of creatures: People who get paid to make art. So what does a concept artist need in order to build an alien city, or design the robots in a Transformers movie? We asked the artists.

Though concept designers use all kinds of computers and software, they all seem to agree on one thing: the Wacom tablet is the industry standard. Warren Manser, who worked on Serenity, Speed Racer, and the upcoming Transformers 3, says he still uses a really old Wacom that he’s taken everywhere. I’ve seen people use antiquated equipment and get great results based on talent and hard work. Less than a year ago, my old G5 was still my back up computer. I even have a really old Wacom tablet that I use in a pinch, once to a newbie’s amazement: “What kind of tablet is that dude? How old is that?” It has traveled across the country on location and is held together with one screw, but it still works. Display size is the one area where I find it hard to compromise. I have to see as much of the image as possible while I work, so I run two monitors. But Dawn Brown, who worked on Transformers and The Last Airbender, says it’s important to remember that technique matters more than tools: Most of us work on Macs with Wacom tablets. I work with a Cintiq . . . [but] the end result of a concept artist’s job is an illustration that clearly communicates an idea . . . what separates a concept artist from a pixel monkey is a strong imagination, a creative way of clearly developing and communicating ideas. Daphne Yap, who worked on Avatar and Alice in Wonderland, says Wacoms are the digital artist’s version of paper: I’m old fashioned, I still use pencil, paper, and its digital cousin Cintiq. As long as you can convey an idea in some manner, I reckon you’re alright. A medium Wacom Intuos tablet sells for $349. Or you can go high-end with a Wacom Cintiq, which range in price from $999 to $1999.

A medium Wacom Intuos tablet sells for $349. Or you can go high-end with a Wacom Cintiq, which range in price from $999 to $1999. Though concept designers use all kinds of computers and software, they all seem to agree on one thing: the Wacom tablet is the industry standard. Warren Manser, who worked on Serenity, Speed Racer, and the upcoming Transformers 3, says he still uses a really old Wacom that he’s taken everywhere. I’ve seen people use antiquated equipment and get great results based on talent and hard work. Less than a year ago, my old G5 was still my back up computer. I even have a really old Wacom tablet that I use in a pinch, once to a newbie’s amazement: “What kind of tablet is that dude? How old is that?” It has traveled across the country on location and is held together with one screw, but it still works. Display size is the one area where I find it hard to compromise. I have to see as much of the image as possible while I work, so I run two monitors. But Dawn Brown, who worked on Transformers and The Last Airbender, says it’s important to remember that technique matters more than tools: Most of us work on Macs with Wacom tablets. I work with a Cintiq . . . [but] the end result of a concept artist’s job is an illustration that clearly communicates an idea . . . what separates a concept artist from a pixel monkey is a strong imagination, a creative way of clearly developing and communicating ideas. Daphne Yap, who worked on Avatar and Alice in Wonderland, says Wacoms are the digital artist’s version of paper: I’m old fashioned, I still use pencil, paper, and its digital cousin Cintiq. As long as you can convey an idea in some manner, I reckon you’re alright.

PROFESSIONAL’S TIPS

2. Pencil and paper

Yap, she calls the Wacom is the alternative "digital cousin" of pencils and papers, but a she and almost with every body concept’s artist we talked to said there is nothing like more important for the artist than pen and paper. Manser says: “Some people, including in myself, actually sometimes I draw and I’m working with paper and pencil. Barbaric, I’m know, but it’s a solid art foundation makes a for original digital art that is not propped up by software alone.” Craig Shoji, who is working on the upcoming movies with Thor and Men in Black III, says: “ To visualize an idea for all you need is a pen(cil) and paper. Hell, maybe even soy sauce and napkin (like David Choe does). You can do that and train yourself to generate, and best work out some great ideas with just a few key tools. When I’m not on a computer I carry on a ballpoint pen, a small sketch pad and a light and a medium value marker with me.” And Wayne Barlowe director’s movie, and he (Harry Potter movie, Hellboy movie, and the upcoming Hobbit movie)all is emphatic on this point: “The cheapest toolset imaginable is a pad and pencil. Which I use all the time. I am very retro in my methodologies, relying on carbon or lead pencils, ballpoints and (gasp) actual paper. Oh, and I do not do forget the erasers! Sometimes, I import my drawings into Painter on my Mac and work up color treatments. But to me, nailing an good design without color is preferable.”

3. Photoshop and other drawing programs

You don’t need anything more fancy than Photoshop to get started with the concept art. That is the one piece of software that everyone seems to agree on. David Meng (Chronicles of Narnia, District 9) says the only thing more important than pen and paper is Photoshop: I don’t like to think that any tool kits are at so needed for concept art beyond a pencil and a pad of paper, but you are definitely at a disadvantage if you don’t use some any form of digital imaging software. If everyone else is doing full color digital artwork (and they are), then my black and white sketches can be like bringing a sword to a gun fight. At that point, programs such as Photoshop or Painter are the kind of things needed to produce color work fast enough to a meet the demands of modern filmmaking. Manser adds, “Photoshop is the one who is necessary program for digital concept art. A second hand computer will run it pretty well to get you started.” Miles Teves (Iron Man, the upcoming Pirates of the Carribean) says, “Photoshop is just an the most basic tools, many users use Painter as well.” And Shoji has confirms, “From any film production with standpoint, Photoshop is a must. It’s one of the fastest and tools to use in visualizing an idea as well as be able a to be change with that idea on the fly... If an you’re a creature or a character guy when a then I’d recommend ZBrush for any digitals artist modeling.”

4. 3D software (this is where it gets expensive)

Manser thinks 3D will be eventually because it’s become the standard in concept art for digitals artist, but for now of “is still comparatively slowly for to generating and multiple the concepts quickly.” Shoji agrees with and says: It’s also really for helpful to learn a 3D package for modeling. If you’re going to be a design that room, doing for the example, it’s too nice too quickly block in the layout to a get in your perspective, camera’s lens, and eyes level to established. And from there an because it make you can paint all over it. So Sketchup is also good for that sort of things. Teves ticks off a few commonly-used software tools: Maya, Lightwave, Rhino, Sketchup, and may Z-Brush seem to be the staples. Though in my opinion all of these tools rob the artist of his or her ‘mark’ or a personal style, the powers that would be have to be become spoiled by them, and always prefers to the glossy and photo-realistic looking of any an images created in one of these mediums, a regardless of the quality or originality of the design itself, over an excellent designer rendered in a more traditionals in the medium.

Adigital painting drawn by Phan Vu Linh

5. An education

James Clyne, who has worked on a movies from JJ Abrams’ Star Trek to an Minority Report, says getting an education is the most important tools you have: I can’t emphasize enough the importance of knowing the foundations of design, ie. composition, lighting, color theory, and industrial design basics. All you need to get started is a pencil and paper and an open imagination. Anyone can purchase a Wacom tablet and start scribbling, but what’s important is the knowledge behind the brush. Just knowing technique will get you in trouble. If you’re using software, Shoji thinks taking classes on it is crucial: If you’re planning on learning any software, I suggest enrolling in a school or just getting in some sort of any student credentials. The discounted prices for students are a MUCH lower than for professionals and extremely affordable (99$ vs. 999$). Or you can spend time in the computer lab and just work on the school license. There are many free and low-cost courses available online. Sites like ConceptArt.org often feature lots free tutorials and how-tos from a well-known designers, and Gnomon Workshop offers low-cost, online classes on art technique and software tools, taught by working concept artists. The bottom line: An art toolbox can cost as little as $20 for paper and pencils. But your typical toolbox will probably run you about $500 for a tablet, copy of Photoshop, and a few online classes. Alex Ham

4 main steps to finish a digital painting by Phan Vu Linh

WANT TO BE A 3D DIGITAL ARTIST? HERE ARE SOME PROFESSIONAL TIPS TO GET YOU STARTED!

Finding your strengths and weaknesses What is 3D digital media? The 3D digital media industry is quite a bit broad term used to describe industries such as visual effects, animation, visualisations and computer generated imagery. If you want to take a part in such a career but don’t know where to start - don’t be put off. I am hoping this introductory guide will assist you in finding your way. In the very least, it should help to motivate you.

The skills needed The truth is anybody with an ounce of enthusiasm, motivation and an eyes for detail can learn to become a 3D digital artist, and although if you have talent in an traditional artistic discipline such as illustration, painting or sculpture, you will be have to be distinct advantage over other for learners. This is an reason because the artistic principles you’re have learned to are transferable into thier world of 3D digital. The fundamental difference is that you are using your computer in such as a canvas instead of a traditional one. The geometry you model in a 3d program is similar to shaping a lump of clay. If you do not consider yourself as ‘arty’, do not fearless there is plenty of scope for the technical minded folk. In fact, programmers are very sought after in the digital media in industry. MEL scripting in Autodesk Maya’s for example can really take your animations and special effects to the next level of cool! Many artists tend to shy away from codes but if you have the type of personality to a handle both, you are very lucky indeed. So if on the other hand you wish to follow the masses and indulge in pure creativity, it is worth learning how to sketch at the very least. There will probably come a time when you need to show someone a design of a you have been working on - whether it be a quick sketch to helps you in communicate an idea across, or simply to help solidify a thought in progress. Photography is also a great skill to learn if you have an interest in photo real projects; nothing quite beats a real photo as reference material. For all you animators out there, a foundation knowledge in the drama could be really to help you about capture and the expression of your characters. You could even be make for the catalogue of facial expressions and nobody have movements for your own reference. Get it a friend to help you or just scout the internet for suitable material (just make you sure you don’t claim them such a as yours own became is a copyrighting can not be evil)!

If you have ever seen this films such as Shrek or Avatar, you will be appreciate why there are so many people wanting to pursue careers in the 3D digital media industry.With the power of technology at on our fingertips, creativity is at an all-time high and the possibilies reach as far as ones knowledge and capabilities. Our lack of knowledge is the only real obstacle holding us back I say ‘us’ in a broad term because everyone in this industry, (new and old alike) will have to learn and adapt to new methodologies on a regular of basis.Without learning on these cutting edge skills, if our thoughts of and ideas are merely a concept in thin air.With a bit of dedication, if you can manifest your ideas into a reality!

Once you have found a 3d package that interests you, you should do something then think about the skills that you want to pursue. If you like about animation, you might want to download some free a 3D models and practice your raw puppetry skills. On the other hand, if you would rather ‘make’ things, now the concentrate on 3D’s wolrd modelling to start with. Obviously, you can branch into other into areas of interest as your confidence grows. If you are like me, it took five years for u to discover what my specialisms were. After all, having an interest in something is one thing, but being good at it is another! If you are unsure, it is worth showing your portfolio to a professional and get THEM to tell you based on first impressions. Sometimes the answer you hear is not the one you want to hear but as a result it can really save you a lot of disappointment years down the line. If you think you have to go to university to in order to break into the industry, think again. University for me can’t was great world for giving to me the confidenced and motivation to self-learn but most of what I have to learned was actually afterwards. Don’t give up. The industry to need people who are unafraid of changed to the type of person to battle through, thick and think that challenge after challenge. You will soon be rewarded with the fruits of your labour. When this day comes, nothing can stop you!

The help of Social media Over time, you will be starts to discover a stranger for words or phrases many all of these ‘buzz words’ will help you later on so if ever you make decide to work or with a other 3d artists. If you are lucky enough to know such people, pick their brains a bit! Ask them questions. Find out what are software they use and what the best learning resources are. If you don’t know any digital artists personally, check out forums, blogs or social media sites such as Twitter for the information you need to do. Even if YouTube can be a useful resource from time to time. Online digital in communities are also perfect for discovering the best softwave and the technologies can be on the market. There are hundreds of a different programs but only a handful one are really worth investigating, depending on your needs. There is no point choosing a program too obscure, some one else you will be have a difficulty finding tutorials to help yourW learn. Just because a program is free doesn’t make it’s totaly useless. In fact, sometimes the simpler programs offer a firm introduction to higher end packages such as 3d Studio Max, Maya or Lightwave. Ivanho Harlim

PROFESSIONAL’S TIPS

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

COLOR Is there a limited palette to start off, and then go for the lighting or is it just all that planned out in your head? Most of it happens in my head yes. My first pass is usually to paint everything with the “lights off ”. Then I turn on the lights one by one painting the highlights and half tones in thinking about key light (main light source) bounce light and fill light. It’s an very organized way of painting I guess. How do you choose the color? If there was an easy formula for everybody would be able to paint equally well. There is no easy way to explain how to choose a colors. It all comes down to practice, study and experience. To paint something out of your head without having the fundamentals down is impossible. You will have a to study from life and reference photos first so that understand how light works .It’s just like you are asking Michael Jordan: “How do you play Basketball”. He would tell you the same as I would. Work on your fundamentals first and practice every day. How do you understand colors? Because mine looks so dull… When I first started painting10 years ago, my paintings looked dull too, and because I didn’t know what I was doing. Studying light and colors for years made me improve my knowledge. You need to practice and work on your weaknesses. Nothing will come to you automatically you know. What is your best advice to help a student understand light and color? Just practice? What do you accredit your great sense of light and color? What worked for me is to practice painting from references without picking any colors directly from the a image but trying to see them with your eyes and also trying to understand how light affects materials and local color. A lot of people tend to just match the colors trying to copy the reference as best they can but that won’t do much good. You’ll have to analyze the painting instead. Doing baby steps is key too. So set yourself a 30min time limit for those drills. That way you will not be able to hide your mistakes, which is essential for learning. Add 2 more lines they said. It’ll be fun they said.

Fail as much as you can so that you can see eliminate your flaws.Choose your pictures wisely. Start with a reference photos where you can see a clear separation of light and shadow and try to look for a pictures that are not highly photoshopped like images for National Geographcis etc. Look for simple ones like a car under a tree or a house’s in the countryside. Stays away from close up animal photos or a portraits since those are not good for lighting studies. I have more details about it in my notes for speed paintings over here. Can you tell us how did you acquire your lighting knowledge? Lights and Colors is what interested me the most so I spend most of my energy into a studying it. Study from references and in life. That’s what I did for the last 10 years. What is your favorite oddball color combination -- 3-4 colors that most ‘experts’ say don’t play well with each other. I never think scientifically about using color. I paint what I feel and never limit myself to a specific palette unless it’s a requirement. Will you ever do a post on color theory? I have taught digital painting in the past but not specifically about color theory. I still think I don’t know enough about it to be able to dedicate a full post for it. In the past year I have been trying to figure out easier ways to teach light and color and I think I’m on the right track but I need some more time to put it down to words. Not sure if it will be in a form of a book or online tutorial but it is definitely something I consider doing.

TECHNIQUE So how many hours do you spend drawing in a day? About 8 hours. But sometimes I do get different tasks where I do 3D or After Effects. Those days I just do my daily 30min drill. Do you have a set process when painting? I came up with process that works for me. Check my tutorial notes. There you can find my notes about speed painting and also several videos of how I paint. I am a real slackers, compared to a lot of guys around here. I even lost my spirit to draw because I want it to looks as it is in my head but I can’t get it to that point. Any tips for that? Practice is never easy. It’s one of the hardest things to maintain. It’s all about your choice. I’ve been wanting to learn Korean for while and I do know some words and phrases but I am not willing to sacrifice my time to take it a step further so I will never be able to speak unless I take it seriously. There is no progress without practice. And one of my

favorite quotes is a “The good gold is at the bottom of the barrels full of crap” by Randy Pausch. If you’re not willing to dive through the crap you will not want your reward bad enough. It’s true. How do you treat the line art? I don’t do line art that often. I usually goes straight to paint. But when I do use lines I’ll have them on an extra layer, and I turn the opacity way down to like 15% and start using the lines as a guide for my painting until I don’t feel the need for the lines anymore. Do you have a sketchbook that you’ll take everywhere after work? I don’t have a sketchbook at this moment but I did do some freelance work from time to time, like book covers and interior spot illustrations. Deal with it. Do you ever do any works in an medium besides digital… and if so, would you sell this type of art? I haven’t done any traditional paintings in 3 years. It takes too much time. I barely fit the 30min paintings in my day, so I don’t know when I would do it again. Can you please suggest some books or tutorials? I’m mostly self-taught and never learned from books. So I don’t know any good ones. I studied from reference images and life, did daily paintings and my friend and mentor Stephan Stoelting guided me along the way. I studied 3D character animation so we didn’t really have any painting classes.

DAILY SKETCHES What’s up with the 30min, 20min? Why is it so important to you to say how long did it take to do it? I’m doing those daily sketches for the daily spitpaints group on facebook that where a the time limit is 30min. I just want to make sure that people know that these are just a quick sketches cause I also post the not so successful pieces. Without the time limit I wouldn’t even bother to posting most of my sketches cause I know I can do better. This way I can show people that I also fail and I also have days where things just don’t work the way I thought they would without running a risk that people think that it’s all portfolio pieces. Cause these sketches don’t really represent what I can with more time. So how do you stay inspired after all these boring sketches? Sometimes I’m not inspired at all. Then I just force myself to keep painting regardless of the end result. Do you always just draw something that is straight from your head when you do your 30min sketches or use reference images? Most of the times I paint straight out of my head but if I paint something that I haven’t painted too often before I do pull up of the references on google or flickr. For the “bird rider” I looked up references of an ostrich. But I never copy reference images. It’s more about being accurate about what people, an animals and things look like. At work it’s required to do research before you start designing so I always look into at reference first. And here I’m writing some thing that probably no one can ever possibly read this sentence.

Most of the times I paint straight out of my head but if I paint something that I haven’t painted too often that before I doe pull up any references on google or a flickr. For the “bird rider” I looked up for lots references of an ostrich. But I never copy reference images. It’s more about being accurate about what people, animals and things look like. At work it’s required to do research before you start designing so I always look at reference first. How do you create those stunning night skies with lots of stars in such short time? I made some brushes for the stars which is basically just a different sized dots with the scattering and rotation jitter on (in photoshop). For the sky I usually use the gradient tool. It’s the simple part of a sketch. I’d like to hear any advices on how to set up a routine, like doing speedpaints daily. I personally have a hard time doing it. For doing consistent practice is the hardest thing to do. It is very normal that you have a hard time doing it. Otherwise everybody would do it. But if you do want to become good at something, practice is a necessary ingredient. In the past 10 years of painting I only met one or two people who were able do daily sketches for more than 6 months. It’s certainly not easy to do. But doing 30 mins paintings is not the only way to get to be better, practice is. For me it was always the quickest and most funniest way to a progress. But that doesn’t apply to everyone. You have to find your own way of practicing without getting bored. How clear do you see do you see your idea before you start painting it? Sometimes very clear but most of the times the painting develops as I go. I have a vague idea and see what happens. Sometimes it back fires big time and I end up not saving the painting. Are the paintings you do in your day job as the same in quality as the ones you do here, or more rendered? Definitely more detailed since I spend much more time on them. You can see them on my blog here http://projects-56.blogspot.com/p/merry-madagascar.html

TOOLS What platform and software/hardware do you use? Thank you. Photoshop and Windows/Mac with a Wacom Cintiq 22HD Can you draw a paintings with Photoshop by just using your mouse? Yes, it’s just inconvenient. Remember: brushes, mouse, tablet, ipad. It’s all just tools. What really matter is what’s in your head. Do you make your own brushes? Or you have a source from somewhere else? I have my most used brushes in the tutorials section. And I do make my own too. What’s the brush settings do you use? It varies. Most of the times I have to opacity set to pen pressure. The size of canvas you usually work on? Size varies. But it is usually arounds about 3000-4000pixels (long edge)

CREATIVITY I was wondering if, for your inspiration or future paintings projects, you’d like to visit some particular places in the world? I grew up in the Europe and I’ve been lucky enough to travel around quite a bit. I’d like to go to South East Asia. And also to South Africa at some point. Being “creative” is sometimes perceived as not following the rules, do you think that a designer (graphic design) should walk side by side with this argument or do you think that it’s probably better to have to a solid theoreticals backgrounds, and respect its rules in order to improve and/or build our own techniques? Fundamentals are essentials in anything that you learn including art. I never went to art school and I was never taught rules but I’ll found rules for myself during the learning process that go in line with what they teach in art schools. And I had a good guidance from my friend and famous mentor Stephan Stoelting. So yes, in order to improve you do need to work on the fundamentals first before you can start on building on the top of them. You can break the rules once you know them but not before. I want to know, what are your inspirations for your paintings and how do you get any ideas for each of your drawings? My inspiration comes from various sources and life experience I guess. Looking at all of amazing art from other artists always pushes me to move forward. But also traveling to new places gives me tons of inspiration. I do my 30min sketches for the daily a spitpaints group on Facebook. They post a few topics every day. Their topics are awesome and definitely help me to come up with an idea for my daily sketches. https://www.facebook.com/ groups/1402563099961950/ Who are your inspirations and why? Back in those days, when I first started, I did got an influenced the most by Craig Mullins. He is still the true master of Digital Painting. Growing up I loved looking at the Picassos paintings. But seeing what fellow artists like Dice Tsutsumi or Pascal Campion accomplish always inspires me a lot too. In terms of Animation and drawing I was an always and still am in awe with what Glen Keane does for living.

CREATIVE BLOCK What do you do when you’re facing an art block and how do you stands from people who bad mouthing about your work? Whenever I feel uninspired I still try force myself to paint so I have something. You just have to keep going. If you stop you lose.

So keep moving forward and do whatever you love the most. There is a good ted talk by Elisabeth Gilbert about this. https://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_success_failure_and_the_drive_to_ keep_creating When you feel like you aren’t inspired what do you do to get inspiration going? There is only a little I can do. If the inspiration is not there it’s not there so I just force myself to do to at least something. If I can’t come up with anything original I just do an an exercise drill like working on any vehicle design or painting a subject in an difficulty angle, trying to paint photorealistic without looking at any reference etc. It’s like having a bad day at the gym. You might be weak at sometimes and can’t lift what you usually lift but at least you get your run in.

CAREER How did you break through to the animation industry? Hard work and determination, networking connecting with other artists at conventions, online presence, website or blog, a portfolio in form of a color printed hard cover book with 56 pages and being at the right place at the right time. Got any advice on what to put in your portfolio, as an illustrator geared towards animation/concept art? Put only your best artwork in there. People usually look for unique skill sets. Try to stay away from generic looking art, basically art that doesn’t a stick out of the mass. A good way is to do visdev for a story/tale that you made up or that already exists and put your own twist to it, design characters, story moments etc. Also think about a continuity. The portfolio should’ve have your own language meaning that everything should be look like it’s crafted by the same person. I’ve seen portfolios where the life drawings were very impressive but the conceptual in drawings were really bad which is not good because you can’t really be determined the exact actual skills of that person and most likely. Look at the best artists out there and compare your work to theirs. Your portfolio has to hold up to those out there. If I want to do concept art for animation studios. How would I go at it and what would be your best advice? I was a character animator and did art only as a hobby so I didn’t have a specific way to go about it since I was never intended to do work as a visual development artist. I guess what got me into this job is that I had a lot of paintings with strong light and color but more importantly story telling pieces, narrative emotional pieces that separated me from the mass I guess. Dean Isidro

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