Planet to Planet; Creatures and Strange Worlds is the title of resident CGPAD’er Mike Corriero’s new artbook.  Its Mike’s first print of a compilation of sketches which feature his unique vision of the weird and wonderful world of creature and environmental design. 

Mike’s passion for creature design and his unique approach coupled with his amazing technical ability make his creatures leap straight out of the page or screen in believable ways.  Mike’s freelance career spans over 6 years and in that time he’s honed his artistic skills which allow him to tackle any and all subject matters.  This new publication is filled with hundreds of gorgeous sketches of his amazing creature designs, environments and a few robots.  Each of Mike’s designs take recognisable everyday creatures and blends them into amazing, grotesque, gruesome and compelling creatures.

This publication is printed on what feels like cartridge paper and gives the viewer the appearance that your actually holding Mike’s personal sketchbook, the printed designs really do feel like the original pencil sketches conjured straight from Mike’s imagination.  Each page is jam packed with glorious artwork, its impossible to flick through this publication as there is so much artwork to take in and look through.

This stunning artbook from Mike is a title which every artist who has a passion for creature design has to own and for anyone who loves amazing pencil sketches.  The book is available through Lulu Marketplace and priced at only £11.78.

To see more of Mike’s work visit his website or blog at:

www.mikecorriero.com

http://mikecorriero.blogspot.com/

To order your copy of Planet to Planet follow this link: http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/planet-to-planet/10296723

Black Sun Entertainment have released a short animated film called Azureus Rising to great applause and review, it has also won Best Animated Picture at the Malibu Film Festival and is a stunning example of what can be achieved when great talent is brought to work together on a project.  Its a showcase film highlighting fantastic vision and its production from all the great artists involved in it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Azh•ur•ee•us  Rise•ing

Azureus Rising is the proof of concept for an all new feature film trilogy.  Azureus is the story of a young man who after escaping death and enduring a life changing journey – matures into a heroic freedom fighter.

Azureus Rising is an epic tale of self discovery, obligation and love against all odds.

If you would like more information on either the project or artists then please use the links provided.

http://azureusrising.com/ http://hideyoshi.deviantart.com/ http://dw78nov.deviantart.com/

All images and videos are copyright of Black Sun Entertainment and the artists associated with them.

Welcome to our newest, professionally judged contest on CGPAD.  This time in collaboration with the amazing talent of STEAMBOT Studios.  The contest will provide all registered members of CGPAD the opportunity to win Steambot Studios fantastic artbook: EXODYSSEY 

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Steambot studios (Montreal, CAN and Austin, Texas USA) is a next-gen visual developement studios creating world class visual content for international clients in the feature film, videogame, advertising, broadcast, graphic novel and publishing industries.

The know-how required to use 3-D tools to animate, compose, and structure ideas is of indisputable value. This knowledge has allowed Steambot to rise prominently within the industry.

Steambot counts Electronic Arts, Disney, UbiSoft, Eidos, Dreamworks and BlueSky as clients and have contributed visual content for high profile entertainment properties including James Cameron’s Avatar, Assassin Creed, TRON 2.0, Thief 4, Deux Ex III, Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, Far Cry 2, Turok Evolution, The Red Star, Top Spin, Naruto ROAN, Myst 4, Skyland…

The studios recently launched their first original intellectual property – Exodyssey: Visual Development of an Epic Adventure which is now available in major bookstores.”

Along with winning this amazing artbook all entries will be judged and commented by the guys of Steambot Studios.  The comments along with the title should provide any member with years of encouragement and inspiration. 

For a chance to win this fabulous artbook and recieve encouraging comments from Steambot Studios simply register for membership over on CGPAD.

http://www.exodyssey.com/     http://www.steambotstudios.com/V2/    http://www.cgpad.org/forum/   http://www.designstudiopress.com/   http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/

Click here to view the embedded video.

Images and videos are copyrighted by Steambot Studios

Already as a kid I loved all movies designed by Ray Harryhousen. This old chap is actually one of the pioneers of “stop motion animation”, something probably long forgotten by now in the days of “motion capturing”

Tim Burton and Nick Park  gave homage and revived this technique by directing “A nightmare before Christmas” and “Wallace and Gromit”. Check those out if you like really creative and stylish movies…..

The movie “Clash of the Titans” is a remake of an older movie with the same name from my birth year 1981. Ray Harryhousen was one of the leading animators in this movie.

here’s the link to his IMDB profile: Ray Harryhousen

I think that this man deserves a lot more credit for his work… take the skeleton  scene from “Jason and the Argonauts” = So epic!!!!!! And so cheesy  

Click here to view the embedded video.

This was done by hand 12 pictures for 1 second….  and the scene takes about 5 minutes….!!!! Can you believe this?

I found a really cool article about the older movie and the remake.

Heres the link:

Clash of the titans comparison

Its partly about how creature design  was done back then and how it is done today. Its also  about the  movie design in general. There is some interesting information to be found!

For those who are really into the stories of ancient greek mythology, check out the game God of War 3 which has come out his week! But I would advise to read the actual stories, they are so much inspiration!

Regards

Thujon

This is an interview with Dave Rapoza a fulltime freelance artist,  I tried to ask him some very basic questions that would help everybody who is aspiring to have a career as an artist!

CGPAD:  Tell us something about yourself.  How did you come in touch with art?

Dave: Well, ever since I was little I drew characters and little comics/cartoons. But I was never very focused and only sometimes did I actually consider it as a future. Mostly I would make movies with friends or skateboard. Only after graduating high school did I decide this was something I wanted to do. At that time I was going through some legal trouble and was in court for about a year. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to get a job and would end up working crap jobs forever.

Basically I just decided I had to get good at something and doing art seemed like the most enjoyable way to do it. So I sat down for a couple years and studied and took on as much freelance as I could find. Now I’ve been working freelance full time for around 3 years. Not to say this was just something I happened to do… I always thought that would be awesome to work for Wizards of the Coast and whatnot. Just never thought I’d actually be able to do it for a living.

CGPAD:  Where did you learn to draw and to paint?

Dave: I’m self taught. Still spend at least an hour a day studying. Mainly when I study I do strictly fundamentals… Painting from life, drawing from life, anatomy, photo studies etc. I’d love to study more everyday but my schedule doesn’t really allow for it. Thats why I started my daily Crimson Daggers LiveStream group… Sort of forces me to study at least an hour a day and make time for it.

CGPAD:  I followed your online stream for some time now and I am familiar with some of your work. You seem to be really motivated. Where do you get your energy from? Your inspiration?

Dave: Mostly just from achieving goals. Last year my big goal from the beginning was to work for Magic: The Gathering… Took me the whole year but I did it! And having that feeling of accomplishment really gives me energy. Not to mention I really love what I do. Sometimes its hard to get everything done in time and still put my all into each piece but thats why I’m always studying. Also, the group of people I have around me that are always working really helps. By that I mean the Crimson Daggers. They produce so much work so consistently that its hard not to feel inspired. Its exciting to watch and participate in all these people’s improvements! Hopefully they all go on to do great things with their lives.

Other than that I’m inspired by a lot of my friends who are working professionals. I love seeing them push their work further. Really pushes me to improve and keep on working. Never just settling on work that looks just “ok”.

CGPAD:  You are working as a fulltime freelancer.  In this competitive environment it is probably pretty tough to get jobs, especially in this time, how do you manage it keeping enough commissions?

Dave: Its only as hard as you make it for yourself. If you’re always working hard and studying then doors just open as your work improves. Also most people like to talk about how theres no work. Yet when I look for their work I find that its not on any of the art forums or in the looking for work sections. Mainly its just a matter of investing yourself and really being out everywhere all the time. You have to create momentum for yourself. Thats the reason I keep so active online. If you’re not on all the possible forums/art sites/social networking sites and if you’re not constantly updating… Then I don’t believe you’re trying very hard. There is always work out there if thats really your goal. Otherwise just keep working at the problems within your work!

CGPAD:  You have really good tips for beginners on your blog (www.daverapoza.blogspot.com ) can you give any tips to aspiring artist anyway?

Dave: Just stay focused on your goals and don’t listen to anybody who tells you this isn’t a possible future. I don’t believe anybody is just too crappy to get work. Everybody has something they want to do and if its art then you just have to stay dedicated. Keep at the studies and keep on pushing your work to new levels of finish. Its always only a matter of time if you’re serious about what you wanna do in life. As long as you can wiggle your hand on a page with a pencil and have some ideas anyways.

CGPAD:  Do you paint only digitally at the moment or do you use also traditionally media?

Dave: I only paint digitally. This is something I want to change, just don’t have the money at the moment to invest in supplies haha. Would love to expand and do some oils and whatnot. Hopefully in the future I’ll be comfortable enough to do all that!

CGPAD:  Which software do you use normally?

Dave: I use photoshop. I’ve tried painter but just couldn’t really handle it haha.

CGPAD:  Have you any long term goals?

Dave: Hmmm… I have a lot of goals. One would be to expand the Crimson Daggers and make it really awesome. Not to open any schools but to just get more people to realize that they only need whats in front of them… All the information is out there already!

Other than that I want to work on video games in the future and work  primarily on book covers later on. I know that if I stick to it I’ll be able to… Just a matter of time I hope haha.

CGPAD:  Do you have any artists that have a massive influence on you and you art?

Dave: Yes… I have a ton of influences! Let me list some!

Aleksi, James Jean, Paul Bonner, Il’ya Repin, Jana Schirmer, Hannes, Jason Chan, Whit Brachna, Bruno Nox Gore, OmeN2501(dunno his real name), Michael Kutsche, Bobby Chiu, Michael Komarck, Jaime Jones, Craig Mullins annnddd many others!

CGPAD:  What studies do you recommend for others, who want to learn?

Dave: All the fundamentals, all the time. Work on your anatomy, draw from nudes, draw from life/photo. Draw from Loomis/Bridgman/Vilppu/Hogarth. Just expose yourself to everything and see what sticks. Paint from life and photo. Study color theory… There are many things to study! Also don’t forget to apply the studies afterward. Finish em then do work from your imagination and use what you learned in that piece.

CGAPD:  There’s always the discussion between traditional arts vs. digital arts. What do you think of that?

Dave: I don’t think it matters whatsoever. Just do what you love, they’re all just tools… If you don’t know what you’re doing and can’t render form/have no knowledge it’ll look like crap no matter what. I believe each has their own benefits. Love the textures and quality of traditional, and I love the versatility with digital. Plus you don’t need to buy more colors for photoshop…

CGPAD: If you could go back in time to when you started, what advice would you give yourself?

Dave: Stay focused on your goals. Maybe art doesn’t seem realistic and you may just enjoy it as a hobby. But really you wish you could do daily for work or whatever else. Just know that everybody faces that. Its just a matter of deciding what is most important to you. There will never be a “right” time to do it. The stars will never align and you’ll probably never have a moment where everything just feels perfect. Don’t wait for that. Start today and work at it everyday. Doesn’t matter even if art isn’t what you love, this applies to anything. Just stay focused on everything you want to do with yourself and work hard at it. I used to watch illustrators on the forums and think it was unrealistic to think I could do it!

I remember sitting in Newbury Comics talking to my friend about Magic card artists. How totally unrealistic it seemed to be able to do that kind of work. If you told me then I’d be doing it in 2 years I wouldn’t have believed you. But thats just it, you just have to start as soon as possible. With time and energy invested in yourself you can pretty much do anything. I know I’m totally coating you with cheese right now but I’m serious. If its something you want just go and do it and eventually if you’re persistent it’ll work out.

Its hard not to be cheesy talking about this stuff but thats just how people feel. Maybe its too serious and makes you feel uncomfortable. But when people who do the stuff you want to do come back and tell you these things they’re not just saying it.

Anyways, hope that helps anybody reading this who wants to do this line of work! Thats pretty much what I would have told myself hahaha.

CGPAD: On behalf of myself and our members of CGPAD and followers we would like to thank you for your time, insightfull answers and of course your inspiring work.

–

For more information about Dave Rapoza, visit:   www.daverapoza.com

We hope as always that this article is usefull and you enjoyed reading it.

Thujon, Mull

In last week’s S.O.T.W. theme, staff-member IGB challenged the CGPAD forum members to submit concept-art panels utilizing an early, 20th-century expedition to the Great Rift Valley as the base inspiration for their entries, and shortly after procuring the appropriate reference material, and collaborating on a general direction for the setting of the boards, this international art team consisting of forum-members Thujon, DerMonkey, Zanta, LuisFelipe, and Crewler found themselves working towards locating the secret-entrance to the Temple of The Great Rift!

Now, you can finally view the result of their combined efforts; assembled into a set of action-packed, comic-style story panels by IGB himself!

*full-color variant

*Sepia variant

This is a very modern dilemma for a lot artists and I find myself increasingly intrigued by the situation when people discuss the difference between traditional and digital painting methods.

When I discuss about the differences between digital Vs traditional methods and how closely they are related I often have to justify and clarify this fact and explain the fact that painting digitally is producing real art in a similar work process as traditional media.

So why do people refuse to believe digital painting isnt a valid form of Art?  Lets look at the similarities first.

Because one has to have the same foundations to paint digitally as to paint traditionally, Lightning, Color theory, Perspective, Composition, Values, hand to eye co-ordination, drawing abilities , imagination and creativity and so on….  without it the best software in the world couldnt produce a piece of art just like the best pencil or bristle brush in the world can’t produce a stunning masterpiece…. its simply another tool in an artists arsenal.  I’m sure once the the camera was first used as a form of art a lot of traditionalists refuted its ability to create art yet we all know how well this art form has progressed nowadays.

So knowing this why do people still believe that painting in Photoshop or Painter is cheating?

When digital art started its birth it was far removed from the advanced tool it has become today, simple image adjusting, adding filters and of course  Ctrl + Z (undo).   Perhaps this is where mainstream people judge their mis-informed information on and until they sample or watch a true digital painter at work then they will continue to perceive digi’ art as some form of ‘easy road’.  However is this proof enough that digital art is somehow inferior in the creation of art compared to traditional methods?

No I don’t think so, this is a very modern technique (digital) and still in its youth but advancing in a very rapid fashion. Advancing software and technology allows artists to not only create a piece of art entirely in a digital manner but also to combine media, a simple pencil sketch can be beautifully coloured digitally, printed in high resolution and if the artist wanted could paint over with oils or acrylics, its about having the control and freedom over creativity.

I am a bit of an artist myself and I attempt to paint daily studies where and when applicable.  When doing  portrait of someone, I unfortunately often miss proportions and have to correct them.  Correcting problems in Photoshop can be easily done as there’s no drying time, expense of painting over a canvas in comparison to traditional media… but is that cheating?

Quote from Digital techniques Vol. 1, page IX Introduction:

“Speaking of traditional media, it is important to remember that digital painting is becoming widely accepted and highly regarded as the techniques and resulting imagery advance. Long gone is the time of sceptics who regarded painting with the aid of hardware and software as cheating; the artist still needs to be just as talented as ever before to produce the breathtaking work you can see throughout these pages. However with the benefits that digital painting offers, such as increased speed, freedom to experiment, efficient work flow and ease of sharing work with online communities more and more artists are discovering and embracing this incredible medium.”

Some artists have developed a very interesting style blending traditional media with digital media, or an artistic personal style which looks like it.

Take Craig Mullins for example:

So where are the borders of traditional art? Is it mixing colours on a palette and painting it onto a canvas, having this very exquisite smell in your nose and the paint on your fingertips enough difference to claim that digital painting in not the real deal, ergo not real art?

Sometimes this struggle reminds me ironically of the struggle between religion and science…lol!

Perhaps one day we wont have a traditional and digital art, instead it will all be classed as ART.

Hope you find this article interesting and helpful.

Thujon

Hello everyone!

I’ll be writing some articles and news for CGPAD’s frontpage from now on and I hope to  fulfil everyone’s needs and wishes as best I can!

I recently bought a book called “Digital Painting Techniques” which I would like to bring to your attention and believe me its worth every penny.

The book contains the following topics covered in these chapters:

• Custom Brushes
• Speed Painting (featuring: Levente Peterffy-a member of CGPAD)
• Matte Painting
• Creatures (featuring: Matt Dixon, Mike Corriero-a member of CGPAD)
• Humans
• Environments (Featuring: Daarken, Carlos Cabrera)
• Sci-Fi & Fantasy (Chee Ming Wong aka Koshime off CGPAD)
• Completed Projects

It is a really good compendium about techniques in the one area that we all love; digital painting.

If you would like to know more you can find the book on the main page of 3dtotal, the link is listed in our Blogroll.

Some of our dear forum members are  interviewed inside this valuable source of knowledge.

Until next time have fun, thanks for reading and stay tuned!

Thjuon

We from CGPAD.org wish you happy holidays, merry christmas and a happy new year. Keep on painting and work on your painting skills as much as you can. I think we had a blast of new members in 2009 and hopefully a lot more in the coming next 2010. The community spirit is great and there is always more to learn then just to “paint”.

I would really like to keep this site updated as much as possible and with the help of my fellow CGPAD members I am sure we can reach this goal without much problems. So with this said I wish you all a great time, a happy new year and lots of inspriation for the upcoming year. See you in 2010 guys

I am terribly sorry for the lack of news on our mainsite guys but I was totally gone from the art scene. Problem as I am the webmaster of this site also so you see why there wasn’t any news posted lately. But from now on we will post art news, CGPAD related news as featured members from our art forums.

I think our date of relaunch couldn’t be better with a new year coming, huh? Keeping a site like this up to date takes a lot of time which I can’t deliver anymore. For this reason I can count on the help from my fellow stuff team. So you read postings from these guys beside mine:

• Koshime
• Mull
• CB3
• Myself…

Kosh will probably post some more inside news as he is deeply into the art business with his own business called OpusArtz. We also feature the winners of the creature of the week contest as other featured members…

As you can see even CGPAD needs to advertise and if you want to see your ads on our site please contact me (webmaster at cgpad dot org) directly, thanks.

I can’t say much about posting new tutorials and stuff like that but hopefully there are some on the way I doubt they will be posted this year as christmas hits the tree pretty soon But for next year there are probably some cool tuts coming for your guys, keep practicing and painting until then