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Teachyo Self: A Collection of Artistic Resources

tripplejaz

Toei Wizard
Sep 1, 2017
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tripplejaz.artstation.com
PLEASE NOTIFY ME OF TYPOS


WHAT IS THIS?

The intent of this thread is to provide resources for those who wish to level up their visual artistic skills. It will be an ongoing list/process. Feel free to add your own helpful resources in the comments and I'll add them to the list. Resources include: art centered YouTube channels with tutorials/helpful advice, image tutorials, other artists you find inspiring, reference images (e.g. anatomy drawings/character breakdowns).


THE NAMES

I won't be going into detail over everyone but these names are important, helpful, and great artists, most of whom I'll refer to below.

Bobby Chiu (Imaginism Studios)
Marc Brunet (Former Senior Concept Artist for Blizzard Ent.)
Feng Zhu (FZDSchool)
Aaron Blaise (Disney Animator)
Matt Khor (Ctrl + Paint)
Clint Cearley (Magic: The Gathering illustrator)
Maciej Kuciara (Industry professional)
Jama Jurabaev (Industry professional)
Ash Thorp (Industry professional)
Anthony Jones (robotpencil)
Jake Parker (creator of Inktober)
Ross Tran (Rossdraws)
Dan "The Man" LuVisi (Last Man Standing comic book)
Chris Oatley (The Oatley Academy of Visual Storytelling)
Noah Bradley (Magic:The Gathering illustrator)
Stan Prokopenko (Proko)


YouTube CHANNELS

Bobby Chiu - A man of creative imagination, creator of Schoolism (an online digital art education center), and founder of Imaginism Studios, Bobby Chiu is the YouTube channel responsible for kickstarting my creativity as a digital artist. He regularly uploads still and gives out great advice in a digestible format. His most notable industry work includes character art design, along with his talented wife Kei Acedra, for the recent Tim Burton directed Alice in Wonderland films. I admire his fantastical world building.

Marc Brunet - Marc Brunet got his start on DeviantArt and was picked up by Blizzard Entertainment early on in his life and he stayed with them, becoming a Senior Concept Artist, until recently stepping down to start his own company Cubebrush, the Amazon of game development, along with an online digital art school called Brushboost. In his YouTube channel, Marc has given away remarkably helpful tutorials and advice. Be sure to check out his older videos that show the basics of anatomy and color design. This man is a sci-fi genius.

Feng Zhu - As legend as he is within the industry, let me introduce Feng Zhu: a man so great, he churns out world class concept art in less than 2 hours and you can watch him do it on his YouTube channel. Feng Zhu runs his own industry design school out of Singapore called Feng Zhu Design School, or FZDSchool. His YouTube channel is directed towards those who want an inside look into the industry, as well as helpful advice for creating great concept art efficiently. Just go watch his stuff and be prepared to be blown away.

Aaron Blaise - This is a man who's work you've seen more than once and never known it. This is Aaron Blaise, traditionally trained animator and Disney artist. His body of work includes Beauty and the Beast, directing Brother Bear, and the Lion King. Oh yeah, he's the real deal when it comes to animation. Check out his YouTube channel for live streams of his process and smaller, more digestible tutorials. He also has his own animation and drawing courses available at his website CreatureArtTeacher for very affordable prices, considering the quality and the person who you're learning from.

Stan Prokopenko (Proko) - One of the more extroverted artists available to learn from, Stan Prokopenko is known for his great methods of teaching as well as his campy sense of humor. His videos cover a wide array of vital fundamentals, his anatomy videos being among the most popular. I really enjoy Stan and you will too. He also offers paid courses on his website of the same name, Proko, but his generosity knows no bounds with how much free helpful content he's produced in the past few years.

Scott Robertson - A man I'll mention later for his incredible written work, here is Scott Robertson the mentor of Feng Zhu. Roberston focuses heavily on industrial design, but don't let the work title fool you, there is perspective, draftsmanship and creativity to be had from him. Industrial designer is the proper term for a concept artist; you need to understand function as well as fashion to create realistic set pieces.

Clint Cearley (Swatches) - Clint Clearly is a professional illustrator who works for Wizards of the Coast producing Magic: The Gathering card illustrations. The YouTube channel he runs called Swatches, is another form of digital art learning. He shows you tricks of the trade, reviews followers' portfolios, and has a few tutorials going from beginning to end on paintings he's done. I really enjoy his simple, efficient paint strokes resulting in complex character paintings.

Ross Tran (Rossdraws) - Always energetic and entertaining, Ross Tran delivers regular content that is set to inspire you and at the very least, make you smile. He draws fan favorites as well as his own characters, teaches you the important of shape, color and composition, and has an adorable little shiba.


WEBSITES

Schoolism - Online art school doesn't get better than this. Schoolism is one of the most rigorous and polished approaches to online art school in the world. Although I personally have not taken a course, I plan to, and the testimonials and work of the students (not to mention the teachers) speak for themselves.

Ctrl + Paint - Probably the best digital art learning resource on the internet, founder Matt Kohr says (in his own words) "Ctrl+Paint is my opportunity to provide art-school-style education to digital painters." Having a formal education, Matt learned that not everything they teach in schools is worth the price of admission; Ctrl + Paint streamlines learning where colleges have failed.

Cubebrush - created by previously mentioned Marc Brunet, Cubebrush is a rich collective of curated art assets and tutorials, some provided by the man himself and others from a large community of industry professionals. This is a great place to find 3D models, 2D reference sheets, brushes, and tutorials.

Creature Art Teacher - If you love drawing animals and want to draw them like Disney always has, this is the website for you. Proctored and taught by the aforementioned Aaron Blaise, Disney animator, he has created a series of courses designed to help teach you fundamentals of creature movement and anatomy.

Learn Squared - Another alternative online learning art school, Learn Squared was spear headed by Maciej Kuciara, Jama Jurabaev and Ash Thorp. All three of these guys have earned their industry stripes and their work is scattered from cinema to video games and beyond. Although a relatively new school, their method of doing courses is similar to Schoolism. Check it out if you're interested in producing work like theirs.

The Oatley Academy - Another ex-Disney artist, Chris Oatley also has a passion for teaching that brought him to creating a school for visual storytelling, appropriately named the Oatley Academy of Visual Storytelling. He, as well as his industry pals, offer up courses on a myriad of things from character design to screen writing. He also runs a podcast and YouTube under the same title where he brings industry professionals on to talk about their work and show you to get things done.


BOOKS

If you get sick of digital learning like I sometimes do and want to touch something in 3D space, here are some must haves for learning types.

How to Draw, How to Render - Scott Robertson

These two books are the keys to unlocking the secrets of being a better artist. There is no time wasted here, Scott tells you exactly what and how everything that looks real, looks real. He takes you to one of the less spoken about fundamentals, perspectives while simultaneously having you draw shapes in perspective. Following it up with the sequel, How to Render, we start looking at how materials and objects are affected by light and how to properly represent it in a 2D space. Absolute must haves.

The Animator's Survival Kit - Richard Williams

Here is man who made one of the best animated motion pictures to ever be released, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and he put the secrets of how he made it into a book! This is priceless information, and yet the price tag he decided on is only $20!

Figure Drawing For All It's Worth - Andrew Loomis (Warning nudity/NSFW)

When we talk about drawing naked people, or figure drawing, we're talking about Andrew Loomis who gave us this book. Yes drawing naked people can be scary, not just because it's sensitive imagery, but because it is difficult. Drawing and capturing people is not an easy thing to do, and I argue it is by far the most complex task an artist can undertake. Luckily we have this gem of a book to move us right along in the right direction. If you've already watched Proko's videos and want to go a step further into human anatomy, this needs to be on your shelf.


Thanks to the internet, there is a virtually limitless catalog of information out there available to the public for free! Take advantage of this, friends, and start Teachingyoself today! If I missed anything vital or important, or you think there's someone of equal caliber to be on this list, let me know in the comments!
 
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