STEP 1Here is an excellent look into the early stages of Craig's work, beginning at how he establishes a loose sketch and progresses into how he lays out broad areas of light and shadow.
Draw your outline or silhouette in a mask channel so you can use it as a selection to paint through and behind throughout the process of painting.
STEP 2Now go to your RGB color channel and make a gradation like you see here. I have in mind a dark green picture with a diffuse overhead source. Keep in mind the type of lighting when you make this grad, as it will direct everything you do from here on out. Don't go from very bright to very dark, you can do that later if needed. Of course you can experiment. Have fun, it can work, this is only one way.
Load your silhouette mask channel so that your figure is selected. Use the levels or curves to darken this area. Since you are darkening a range of pixels, you still have a nice grad in the figure, it is just on a lower scale.
STEP 3Inverse your selection so the BG is selected. Using a paintbrush se to low opacity or using a wacom, make a few abstract shapes behind your figure to suggest something behind. I varied the color a little here and there. Keep the shapes big and general, no rendering yet. You can see that I made a lighter warmer grad at the bottom to indicate light hitting the floor. A soft blob for the shadow from the figure. I put in a vertical circular step to add a little dimension
STEP 4Inverse your selection so the figure is selected again. I was losing the outline of the figure at the top, so I lightened it up a bit with a big soft brush. It is not really needed, but I thought it might help.
Now the form definition begins on the figure. You have the middle tone created by the initial grad, so now you have to go up in value and down in value to show the form as revealed by the overhead light. So the logic here is a surface that is horizontal is in halftone and will be left alone. The darks are surfaces that face downward or are recessed in between objects or anything that is in shadow. Block these in with nice big general shapes. Do not make them black, remember, we are working from the middle values out, we have not gotten to the dark darks yet.
STEP 5Now go a little lighter than your midtones and any surface that faces upwards gets a lighter tone. I also added a few more darks here and there. Sometimes going lighter suggests where your darks can be refined a little more and vice versa. Work them back and forth. I also changed the basic tone of the weapons, as the would be of a different material from the armor suit. A little darker and a little cooler. Then do the darker and lighter block in procedure on the weapons as well.
Now you can make your darkest darks. The real darks come where surfaces come together and shade each other from all light, both direct and ambient. Also dark surfaces in shadow can go very dark.
STEP 6Now go up to your lighter lights and you are about done. Now that all your major values are about where they should be, you can go on and render till you drop. I added a little definition of material to the floor. Keep in mind that you can keep any and all steps on separate layers if you want. Don't be afraid to work slowly at first. The better your block in the less noodling it will require later, and if you do detail it out, it will be on a solid foundation.(for more tutorials go to gfxartist.com or click
here)
vistit Craig Mullins' website:
goodbrush.com
Animations backgrounds create the world where cartoons come to life. In traditional, classic animation, the backgrounds are often masterpieces in themselves. In this blog you will find backgrounds re-created from Disney Classics such as 101 DALMATIANS, CINDERELLA, SLEEPING BEAUTY, SNOW WHITE, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, THE JUNGLE BOOK and many more
Dynamic Life Drawing for Animators
Spring 2008 Courses
Roy Thomas and Peter Sanderson tell the history of Marvel, accompanied by reproductions of artifacts. In little plastic pockets reside facsimile Bill Everett sketches, for example, or copies of Marvel Christmas cards or fan group memorabilia or Marvel Stamps (from the comics, not the post office ones). It’s a great deal on a fun coffee table book. Buy at Amazon
fmx/08 offers talks, workshops, screenings and much more – covering the creation, production and distribution of the whole spectrum of digital imagery. The main focus lies on the convergence between animation, effects, games and digital media.
What we want: Awe inspiring fusions of architecture and landscape – that simple. The emphasis is on imagination and artistic expression.
Visual effects innovator Robert Zemeckis uses motion capture technology to resurrect the ancient epic poem "Beowulf" for the modern screen. Actors Anthony Hopkins, Angelina Jolie, John Malkevich, and Robin Wright Penn bring to life Neil Gaiman's fascinating redefinition of this macabre dark ages tale. Fans who relish the intense, action-packed film will want this extraordinary hardcover packed with lavish concept art from production designer Doug Chiang's revered studio (responsible for the design of "Robota", "Star Wars: Episode I", and "War of the Worlds"). Quotes from the production designers, artists, actors, and filmmakers, as well as accessible text on the technology utilized in the film, complete this stunning homage to the genesis and visual execution of a unique motion picture. 
Paul Lasaine began his career in live-action, primarily in visual effects as a matte painter. After interviewing for a job at Amblimation, he later received a call from startup company DreamWorks to work in visual development. He is now a production designer at Sony Pictures Animation. His credits include titels such as Alien³, Batman Returns, The Prince of Egypt and The Lord of the Rings.
Shaun Tan is the illustrator and author of award winning children's books such as The Red Tree and The Lost Thing. He has received numerous awards for his picture books, including the CBCA (Children’s Book Council of Australia) Picture Book of the Year Award for The Rabbits with John Marsden. In 2001 Shaun was named Best Artist at the World Fantasy Awards in Montreal. He has recently worked for Blue Sky Studios and Pixar, providing concept artwork for forthcoming films.
Conceptart.org & Massive Black Inc.
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McCaig is best known for his work as a principal designer on the three Star Wars prequels, including the iconic characters Queen Amidala and Darth Maul, as well as his work on many major motion pictures, television, and video games. His work can be seen in such acclaimed films as Terminator 2, Hook, Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula, Interview with the Vampire, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Some examples of his work are published on the Gnomon Workshop website.
Ryan Larkin was a Canadian animator who rose to fame with the psychedelic 1969 Oscar-nominated short Walking and the acclaimed Street Musique (1972).
Kids' WB! has provided a first look at artwork from its upcoming The Spectacular Spider-Man animated series.
Xiangyuan Jie, has been working at the Disney and Fox Feature Animation studios as a background stylist and visual development artist. His screen credits include Mulan, Tarzan, Lilo & Stitch, Brother Bear, Ice Age 2 - The Meltdown.
American Art Archives is pleased to be hosting the J.C.Leyendecker studies where you can see several examples of how Joseph's mind worked when designing the essentials of his advertising and slick cover work.
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