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Form
October 16th, 2007, 09:23 PM
219619

Introduction

Hey everyone

Thanks to davi for setting up the subforum
Thanks to chaos for pestering me relentlessly until i started this, and for picking up the ball on the mentor section!

Ok so basically there is a big need for more mentoring around the section, and clearly there are a lot of 'mentees' looking to improve. I have had about 20 people PM/MSN me in the last day or so since I posted in the main thread, so I figured since I don't have the time to deal with 20 people individually, it would be best for me to start a 'class'. Its also a way for me to continue my own path of learning and I hope it results in a mutual beneficial situation for all involved.

I'm going to limit the first class to ten people, and we will see how it pans out after that. Its first in best dressed, although there are one or two people who will be getting priority as they asked me for this a while back.

I dont consider myself a fluid professional like Sparth or Tinfoil or any of those amazing guys. I am at best a middleweight professional, and will not be taking on any students who I feel are above my skill level. HOWEVER - if you ARE an experienced environment artist, please consider running a second intake alongside this class to cater for more people! Im sure there will be a waiting list!

As far as my background goes, I will be supplying my own examples and demos specifically for this course (as a way of forcing myself to do even more work :P) and will be throwing plenty of imagery around. I have been working professionally as a freelancer for a few years now, and this year I took on the position of Creative Director at Epiphany Games. The interesting thing about that position has been my role in setting and monitoring the art style, keeping continuity and cohesion. Working on an original IP has also allowed me to narrow my focus to environments while Bumskee tackles the characters and some other guys help out with monsters, props, and so on.

About 60% of my time goes into developing environment design for a bunch of different clients, the other 40% is going into developing my traditional art and working on gallery pieces (slowly!).

There are plenty of guys around here who could kick my ass blindfolded, so please, if you feel you wont learn anything from me, dont sign up!

Outline

I havn't set a time frame for the class yet, as far as how many lessons it will spread over. It will just be a logical progression and I will set the tempo on the fly.

Below is a rough outline of what to expect, and also a list of what will be required. Please be honest with yourself about meeting these requirements - if you dont think you can, you should aim to get mentored 1:1. This section is ONLY for artists with a SPECIFIC interest in pursuing environments as a commercial endeavor. Other subject matter such as monsters/characters/tech will not be covered. This isnt a 'learn to draw' class - its for those with a grasp of the basics who need to be pushed to a professional level.

Requirements:

The course will be run on 'weekly' deadlines. The tasks will be set up to require about 10 hours of your time each week. This is a small amount, but there will be room to do more time if you wish.
You will be required to work both traditionally AND digitally. A sound knowledge of photoshop is imperative (enough to be doing basic painting, saving, uploading, etc)
You must have email access and be confident uploading and using ftp etc
You must be able to participate every week. People who drop out of contact ruin the potential for another artist, as they will not be able to participate until the next intake.
You must be comfortable drawing outside or in public, as some tasks will require this.


What the course will cover:

Each week's tasks will be a split between creative and studious tasks. The tasks will not be gimmicky, however, and many of them will feel like hard work. This is important to realise - its not just going to be a second 'EoW'.

Topics we will go through include the fundementals such as linear perspective, atmospheric perspective, drawing, lighting, colour and so on - as they pertain to environments.

We will also be working on idea development, and how to design with intent for games or films (mostly games). This will dip into some light psychology stuff. Nothing heavy, no need to write bibliographies ;)

We will also cover design and composition by looking at the masters' work.

We will look at producing a significant body of work, with at least one 'portfolio' piece per week. The first couple of weeks may push your limits as far as speed and productivity go, but I want it to feel like you are being pushed, not babysitted.

Thats about it for now. Im looking for 10 people to sign up - please PM me with a sample of your work IN THE MESSAGE and a brief paragraph about why you want to do enviro work. I will let you know immediately whether there is room in the class for you.

Class will commence pretty much as soon as the spots are filled.

Ive also forgotten plenty, so feel free to ask questions in here.

SIGNUP IS OVER, THE CLASS IS FULL!

Class Roster:


Agustin Poratti
Windmaker
Gunderson
rvdtor
daldbaatar
blinkythemouse
Jorge Gecov
Nathan House
the lying prophet
D.Labruyere


Ok guys the list is full now, thanks to everyone who PM'd me. Im going to do another intake in a couple months, and hopefully get another artist or two to run classes simultaneously. You are all most welcome to follow along with everything, the only reason for the ten person cap is so that I dont go insane trying to give critiques and shit out to everyone :)

Ok i am writing up the class plans now (i thought id do them all at once so its prepared, instead of as I go along). Welcome to the ten peeps who made it in - you all have a lot of potential and I look forward to pushing you all another step. I also have some surprises in store for you guys... this will be fun :)

Stay tuned to your PM inboxes for an orientation letter that will come in the next day or two.
Cheers guys
A

Nathan House
October 16th, 2007, 10:44 PM
Hey Form,

Oops. There's a reason they tell you to read to the end of instructions first. : ) PM sent.

Form
October 17th, 2007, 09:54 AM
2 spots left... hot potato...

Seedling
October 17th, 2007, 12:39 PM
Form, you are uber cool for doing this! :) I'll be eagerly lurking.

Alzorath
October 17th, 2007, 01:14 PM
I will definitely be lurking, and time permitting - trying to work parallel to your class (2 reasons I'm not asking to sign on though are that I don't have the time to guarantee meeting the deadlines, and I don't think I'm quite up to par to sign up :\).

Look forward to seeing how this goes (who knows...maybe I'll have time when the 2nd intake comes around :) )

Mat Kaminski
October 17th, 2007, 02:01 PM
I believe I'll be following suit with Alzorath. Time permitting of course. But I can still stay out of this season ;) Maybe next season will cast me when I've become more confident with my abilities!
Good luck to all that make it :D

chaosrocks
October 17th, 2007, 02:07 PM
we ar e in ur thread
licking ur brainz

Seedling
October 17th, 2007, 02:11 PM
we ar e in ur thread
licking ur brainz

ROFLMAO!!!

the lying prophet
October 17th, 2007, 10:19 PM
oooooh yeah! first of all, thanks for having me in this "class"! i'll be enjoying this! wooooohooo!

D.Labruyere
October 18th, 2007, 06:26 AM
can't wait :)

Gundersen
October 18th, 2007, 12:14 PM
Look forward to this, Hope to learn alot from you!