WHIT BRACHNA's ENVIRONMENTS and LANDSCAPES 1: LIVE Streaming Presentation! (UPDATED)

[Jason Manley]

Environment Design and Believable Landscapes: Using Reference Effectively

This lecture on the creation of environments and landscape imagery will cover the following (and more as time allows!). There will be a full question and answer period and a ton of awesome info.

- reasons for using reference, and how it can help to improve your landscape designs.
- the most effective methods of gathering reference and researching your images
- ways to break down the complexity of photography and mimic some of the effects.
- traps that are easy to fall into when referencing photos, and how to avoid them
- trying to understand how other artists have simplified similar effects and the importance of finding your own way.
- going beyond the surface detail to try and understand the reasoning behind different effects

We are fortunate to have ConceptArt.Org and Massive Black's very own Whit Brachna joining us for this first live streaming course on the creation of environments and landscapes for illustration, concept design, and fine art. Whit is an alumni of the next-gen atelier and has seen his work end up helping projects like DOOM 4, New Vegas, and dozens of other major worlds and universes. Whit is an accomplished draftsman and a leading environment artist in the fields of video games and film,


When SAT Aug 22 1-5pm CENTRAL DAYLIGHT TIME
Where: Right here on CA.O!! http://conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=180 is the link!
How: http://www.conceptartstore.com/endeusreef.html (link to the store for tuition)
How Much: 95 bucks USD

We really appreciate whit helping us to do this and for supporting the new technology for the site. The wolrd of art is a better place because of all the support, so thank you...truly.




Jason Manley

[mc2mc2]

Argh you guys are awesome coming up with all these classes. Dunno if I can afford it though. Does this cost $95 aswell Jason?

edit :

When SAT Jan 22 1-5pm CENTRAL DAYLIGHT TIME

So is it this saturday? or Jan 22nd haha

[~Faust~]

Wow this is really awesome! Definately what I need.

[Idiot Apathy]

Sweet.

[bLux]

I hope it's not $95. I mean, it's a great price for what we'll learn, because all of Whit's previous videos have taught me many things, but it's a little much for someone that's about to start college(me).

If we do pay for it, will we have access to a recorded version to save? I have to work during the whole session.

[yoitisi]

xbrianx: I suspect the price will stay the same as the previous ones for this. It will be available for viewing at least 30 days after the live class is over, though you can't save it to your harddrive as it's all streamed content. However, it's well worth the money in my experience

[Delmar]

Awesome topic again !!


Jason, i think the date should be Aug. 22 not Jan. 22.


thanks for these great lectures lately. J. Mueller was an eye opener!!

Cheers

Andi

[yoitisi]

Jason, i think the date should be Aug. 22 not Jan. 22.

Fixed, thanks

[UnidColor]

This is just a must, cannot miss it ! Thanks alot once again

[Kvick]

I used to think the downloads were comming in too fast to afford, but these classes are nuuts. I understand why you're poppin' em out at the rate that you are though, so GODSPEED!

I just can't afford it D:

[Rist]

These workshops have been great. I've taken the workshops I was interested in taking and I must now bow out for future workshops. I can possibly join one or two if they are relevant to what i am doing.

For those who are on the fence, but still need workshops like these. You MUST do the ones you need. They provide information which the downloads and other resources just neglect to mention. I've been part of all 4 of the releases thus far (as a viewer of course lol) and each one has changed a part of the way I work and conduct business.

[donm]

wish I could join this one since whit has, in part, inspired me to focus on environments, but I cannot afford it as of yet. I might be able to grab it for the streaming 30 day offer though. thanks guys, I'm excited.

[Robot_Butler]

Great timing. I just bought all Whit's DVD downloads this past weekend. That man is a dynamo.

Too bad I'm out of town Saturday I should be able to create 4 free hours in the next few weeks to watch it streaming.

[Mr.Blonde]

hello everybody! I'm pretty excited and a bit nervous for this presentation! I'm looking forward to talking to everyone about this subject which I've obsessed over for a while now. For those who are attending get ready to ask questions because I'm looking forward to answering some tough ones for everyone...

I'm also going to be showing some studies I've made over the past few years that haven't seen the light of day, and won't likely see it again soon.. so get your printscreen ready, hah take care!

*edit* also I'm going to be going through step by step and showing some of the reference used for a few different paintings I've made in the past */edit*

[Robot_Butler]

Don't be nervous, Whit. I remember I had a huge presentation to give in front of hundreds of people. Right before I went on stage, my ass-hole friend told me, "Just don't say Fuck." Of course, it was all I could think about, and I ended up dropping the F word multiple times.

How many people sign up for these anyways? Is it dozens? Hundreds? MILLIONS?

[Earendil]

Awesommmme!

[Munin Raven]

Will these live lectures be available to buy as a video DL at some point in the future? I would assume a recording of the live stream will be made? Times have been tough for me for quite a while, but I would really like to catch up on the regular downloads and hopefully these as well when my circumstances change. I want to support CA but I just can't at this point in time.

[Jacfat]

haha pretty hard to pass this up.

[JakeG]

How much of the presentation will involve painting demos?

[FranciscoShreds]

:0000 fuggin awesome... Looks like I'm calling off work this Saturday. Gonna be brilliant.

[Chromosome]

How much of the presentation will involve painting demos?

Same question here. No doubt it'll be super informative (as whit's demos are) but there's something to be said about seeing a demo for a majority of the time, instead of just hearing a "lecture". Also, will there be a recording sold later, (kind of like Siggraph or GDC)?

[Mr.Blonde]

How much of the presentation will involve painting demos?

Same question here. No doubt it'll be super informative (as whit's demos are) but there's something to be said about seeing a demo for a majority of the time, instead of just hearing a "lecture". Also, will there be a recording sold later, (kind of like Siggraph or GDC)?

There will be no live painting during saturday's presentation. In my experience it is very difficult to paint and talk about painting at the same time. I will be going through and showing the reference behind some of the paintings I've made, and explaining how it was incorporated into the whole. I will also be showing some master studies and talking about how doing them has helped me and how it might help you. I'm afraid I would be pretty useless at answering questions and presenting different ideas if I were painting at the same time. Here are some advantages and disadvantages as I see it for the streaming presentations, downloadable videos and workshop demos. I hope this will help to show what I think each medium is ideally used for:

Streaming Presentations
+ability to ask questions directly to the artist
+a wide range of ideas can be covered relatively quickly
+visual examples can help to hit points home without spending a ton of time actually painting the idea
+anyone from across the world with a decent internet connection can join in
+you can get more of a broad theoretical knowledge of a subject, and apply it to the way you paint instead of trying to mimic someone else's approach
+30 days ability to re-watch the stream

-Painting and talking at the same time is hard. showing someone an idea through painting takes a really long time, and isn't very well suited to getting the most information out there in the short amount of time available.
-You're talking to the whole audience at once, so it's hard to give individual attention to everyone

Downloadable Videos
+artist has time to reflect on decisions made during the painting (the image is painted before and voiced over later)
+You can watch the video over and over and pick up different nuances about someone's specific method
+anyone from across the world with a decent internet connection can join in

-no direct question and answer
-there is a tendency to focus on surface effects and ideas used in the specific piece that was made, rather than the more important foundational stuff

Workshop Demos
+direct individual attention from instructors
+meeting awesome new people and learning a shitload from attendees as well
+going to a (likely new) city which tends to have a pretty good basis in the entertainment industry
+watching people paint first hand and seeing their whole setup
+portfolio review
+hanging out with friends you don't get to see very often

-it's hard to make it to the workshop if it's halfway across the world

[LostFayth]

Looking at the title it seems there are gonna be more landscape streaming classes. It is something I can't miss but then again can't afford right now. Do you think you'll do this or a similar class again in the future? I'd love to join a possible class in the (near) future.

[Demon Lizardman]

Sounds cool, but I will have to think about it.

[Kan Muftić]

I won't be able to attend live session, but I'm def getting the video afterwards. So, I would really like to know if you will discuss something that none seems to mention in any of the videos/tutorials:
- How to change your image over and over again (clients request) and still keep all the aspects of a nice painting?
- How do you deal with time pressure?
- What to do when you simply don't know how to paint something?

I am sorry if this is too much to ask for, but I am dealing with those problems at work and wonder how other folks handle it.

Thanks Whit, looking forward to your lecture.

Kind regards,

Khan

[bLux]

I too would like to post my questions here, since I won't be watching the live stream to ask them. Is that okay?

- What do you do when you're off work and want to paint, but can't think of anything? Do you just put on some good music, a movie, or play games? It seems like that's how I feel all the time and I end up just doing small studies from reference, nothing creative.
- When doing interior environments, do you start with 3D models to save time or do you just tackle the painting like any other landscape painting?

My mind just went blank, but I'll edit it later with some other questions I guess.

[Mr.Blonde]

Looking at the title it seems there are gonna be more landscape streaming classes. It is something I can't miss but then again can't afford right now. Do you think you'll do this or a similar class again in the future? I'd love to join a possible class in the (near) future.

I won't be able to attend live session, but I'm def getting the video afterwards. So, I would really like to know if you will discuss something that none seems to mention in any of the videos/tutorials:
- How to change your image over and over again (clients request) and still keep all the aspects of a nice painting?
- How do you deal with time pressure?
- What to do when you simply don't know how to paint something?

I am sorry if this is too much to ask for, but I am dealing with those problems at work and wonder how other folks handle it.

Thanks Whit, looking forward to your lecture.

Kind regards,

Khan

I too would like to post my questions here, since I won't be watching the live stream to ask them. Is that okay?

- What do you do when you're off work and want to paint, but can't think of anything? Do you just put on some good music, a movie, or play games? It seems like that's how I feel all the time and I end up just doing small studies from reference, nothing creative.
- When doing interior environments, do you start with 3D models to save time or do you just tackle the painting like any other landscape painting?

My mind just went blank, but I'll edit it later with some other questions I guess.

Hey guys. Thanks for bringing up these questions. I will definitely try to hit on those points during the presentation. The information about reference is going to be my focus, but I'm going to be covering many questions on as many topics as possible. The reference presentation will be a springboard for questions and covering various other topics. The thing I really like about streaming is that I can go with the flow of what the attendees would like to learn about.

There may be more presentations on environments. I'm not familiar with the upcoming schedule, but I will not be doing another streaming presentation any time soon. I'm not sure where the "environments and landscapes 1" title came from. The title I chose was Environment Design: Using Reference Effectively, but in retrospect "using reference" is so broad it might as well be called Environment Design: Painting Effectively. It's all so inter-related anyway: I will likely wind up talking about oil painting from life, or staying motivated, or layer management, or relationships with clients and how it all ties in with practical working methods. I will start out with the information in the first post of this thread (which I would have killed for when I first started out in art school.) Then, I'll move onto basically whatever the attendees want me to cover and what I feel will help people to learn.

Khan and xbrianx's questions are really interesting and I'm happy to hear them.. If anybody else wants to post more questions it will help me to focus the information I present!

[domo arigato]

Hey Whit,

just gotta say I'm totally pumped for this. Your work kicks all different kinds of ass and this environment class couldn't have come at a better time for me.

I was wondering if you'd be giving any feedback on work near the end of the class if there was time.

thanks,

Andrew

[Rolo]

I don't think I can afford!!
But I'm thinking of getting Whit's part 1 and part Environment vids.
This, however seems like a great opportunity!

[ErikStorstein]

Yay, I made it in time. This'll be awesome, just pending review on the order