NEWS:
The next run of Becoming A Better Artist workshop (for May 2014) is now open for enrollment:
http://workshops.cgsociety.org/courseinfo.php?id=499
Make sure you click on the “What you’ll learn” and “Week by week outline” expandable contents in the course details page linked above, as they contain more information detailing exactly what you’ll learn during the course and how the workshop is run.
If you have questions about the workshop, there is an official Q&A thread that is already quite long, with lots of questions answered in it, as well as lots of comments and testimonials from past students:
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=166&t=828694&page=1&pp=50
Hi Rob,
I am a traditional artist who recently bought a Cintiq 22HD to use to make my workflow more efficient. I plan to use it to plan my paintings (sketches, drawings, tonal and color studies) and then use those for a traditional oil painting (I figure I want to be a 21st century traditional artist and take advantage of all the tools available to me. I am not a professional artist (yet) but am striving in that direction.
I am an animal artist (you can check out my work at my website) but I don’t paint traditional wildlife stuff and I am looking to push my work in a more surreal/allegorical direction that is still beautiful art but so much more than that. And you are right, no one teaches this stuff!
So my main question to you – since I focus on animals can I still do the course and the assignments effectively? I don’t draw/paint people and have no desire to do so. My paintings include animals, architecture, decorative and landscape elements (everything but people).
Sorry to ask this here. I was going to ask in the forum above but it seemed like the only way to to post was to register and pay $59 which I wasn’t willing to do.
Thanks!
Marque
Hi Marque. You actually don’t have to pay anything to join the forum. The fee you saw was for a premium membership with special perks, not the normal membership. So go ahead and register–it won’t cost you a cent.
As for your question, I have had all kinds of artists from various industries take my workshop–from illustrators, concept artists for games/film, art directors, photographers, 3D production artists, lighting technical directors, comic book artists, graphic designers, fine artists, and so on. They had different artistic aspirations and focused on different subject matters, so it really doesn’t matter what your specialization is. The essential foundation of visual art and visual communication is universal for all visual artists, and as long as you are working in a visual medium, everything you learn from the essential foundation as well as lessons on developing a compelling creative vision and effective learning/growing strategy can be applied to whatever subject matter, medium, or industry. I’ve had students that loved architecture and environment, or only animals, or only sci-fi/high-tech, or only fantasy characters, and so on–it really didn’t matter.
Rob,
Thanks for answering my question. I am looking forward to the course.
Marque