UPDATE: CA.ORG Downloadable Tutorial "A Hostile Takeover" Final Image Page 2

[DeKal]

CC FUCKING RULES! brad i think you shut a lot of people up with this video. the people who dont believe you about the reference thing and just that you actually paint these things from scratch. incredible. i cant believe that gun, meat's face, the chicks body...i also really loved the pose of the dead guy in the bottom right. cant believe you do this shit without ref. and screw anyone who calls your work plastic. thats total bullshit. just because your highlights are so strong doesnt mean it looks like plastic. i think those people have never seen a style like yours and its like an overload for their brains, so "plastic" is just a desperate attemp at them trying to rationalize your super sick hyper style. i love it and hope you wouldnt change it because of comments from other people. only if you felt you really wanted to. also, really appreciated the shout out and you nailed my question. its basically what i though but you bring it to seemingly unatainable levels but you attained it so its like a paradox. "what are you willing to give up?" thats everything anyone needs to hear. that sentence might even be the straw that will make me quit my job. thanks for all your hard work and your willingness to share. you are the fucking man.

[Cryptcrawler]

I'm dying to see how you do what you do, so count me in for the download. Looks really awesome Brad. Congrats!!


Alex

Alex, thanks very much - im very grateful for your support, to have attention from the big-boys lets me know im doing something right!

Best wishes to you,
-Brad

The final image looks amazing and I have been waiting for this tutorial to come out with such impatience. I just bought it and I am downloading right now. I do wanna thank you very much for taking the time to do this.

I hope everything is going well.
Keep rocking.

Everything is going great and thanks for the well wishes!
Thanks for the support and thank you for the kind words, I hope the tutorial is useful for you.

Yes!! Haha...it's downloading . Thanks so much Brad for providing us with some serious knowledge!

Cheers

Andi

I hope it ends up being useful for you delmar, im really pumped that Massive Black honored me with the opportunity. So thank them and people like my wife and my friends who supported me through the tough times so I could improve my skills, because without them to afford me the time to evolve as an artist id have nothing to offer.

Best wishes,
-Brad

Finally!!! Looking forward to see it Thanks ma

Thanks so much!

I just watched it for the past 5 hours straight and I love it. Thank you very much for creating such a cool tutorial. I do appreciate all the time you spent on this, and big thanks to Massive DVD too.

Its the least I could do for a community and a company thats done nothing but give me the tools and opportunities to get better.
It was a labor of love, trust me.

hey just watching, its really good, very valuable information about stuff that I never used before...like history brush, smudge aso..... thanks cryptcrawler and MB/CA guys you are really inspiring! (Bows)

Man im thrilled to hear that, I cant wait to see what folks do with some of the things ive come across in my travels - thanks for the enthusiasm!

I have been waiting for something really special to buy from CA store, and now I think I have found it. Although there are LOADS of special and awesome stuff there that I want to buy, but this appeals to me more then anything. The style, the characters, the rendering - I feel I just must have this.

Such awesome work, keep on rocking, Cryptcrawler.

I deeply appreciate that, getting reactions and comments like that is what makes this so great!
I hope it provides some useful things to maybe introduce into your own style.

Absolutely stunning! I love the little touch of the big guy wearing a massive black vest.

I recall a thread some time ago where a few people seemed to have a problem with your style and the way it looks 3D rendered, all I can say is huge props to you for what you have achieved, I'm sure we'll be seeing more of your work in the not too distant future and I look forward to it.

I hope so too!
You cant please everyone and I dont expect to, nor should I.
Theres a lot of stuff that I do that goes against the grain in some respects, I can live with that.
Thanks forn the well wishes and props!
Best wishes to you,
-Brad

Absolutely fantastic Art!!!

Mr. Corben is your hero,.....you are one of mine!

...and like many, I'd love to see your process!
I love working from imagination, and will continue putting many more hours into my work, and not sell myself short!

Thanks!

What great compliments and comments, thank you so much for that!
I cant wait to see what you do.

Awesome tutorial, and I really enjoyed listening to your thought process as you worked. You put a serious amount of time and effort into your pieces, and it shows.

CryptCrawler sucks - nice touch

(Would love to see you render some water or more fluids next time.)

Thanks so much dude

Id love to show my technique for water, hopefully there will be a next time!
Im grateful that you enjoyed the tutorial and I cant thank the Massive Black guys enough for - honestly - the highlight of my career.
They are going to be hard act to follow.


Many thanks for the feedback and interraction guys and gals, the support is just *too awesome*!

God bless and best wishes to you,
Brad

[Zarahn Southon]

Wow....Amazing work!

[Monsieur]

Hey man, I just had to thank you for your fantastic video. Just downloaded it yesterday and haven't gotten that far yet, but what I've seen is the best yet from Massive Black. It's not just your awesome skills and the very cool image. In fact I put just as much value in your enthusiastic and inviting voice over. Talking is a skill too, and you master it very well. Very inspiring!

[Partisan]

hey man first of all congrats ! and all the best wishes for your further artist-life. I do have a question ( sorry if you did mentioned it before ) is this piece somehow inspired by Shadowrun?
Sadly i dont have the money to purchase your tutorial :-( .
once again congrats to you *hug*, hopefully in 7 years i will be there where you are right now !

[artmessiah]

Watched it and loved every minute of it. Learned a lot of interesting ideas and will incorporate for future stuff. BTW Thundarr the Barbarian was the SHIT man. "Arial... OOklah...Ride!" LOL! I was really influenced by the same things as you. Miss those old action cartoons (Herculoids, Thundarr, Dungeons and Dragons, etc). Congratz on your success.

Wayne

[Schinderhannes]

Thank you ever so much for this tutorial! Although I have bought a lot of the Massive Black Tut's and of course they are all top notch stuff yours really is an eye opener especially in terms of motivation. Your narration was everything one could hope for and frankly I was quite surprised seeing one talking nonstop! I enjoyed every second!

Dodge, Smudge, History Brush? I remember a lot of artist really shunning these tools! Needless to say you impressively showed the value and variety that can be achieved using them.

Your art is a welcome new variety. Especially the chick in Hostile Takeover has a certain Frazetta look to me because it is not so heavily textured. Most excellent work. Containment Breach is another favorite. As you said in the tutorial keeping the human factor is key. When I first saw it I was like "Man, what did they try to achieve with him?". Really superb!

I hope after seeing your tutorial I will finally be able to pick up my small Cintiq and start drawing. "What are you willing to sacrifice?" and "Put down the controller!" were real kicks in the balls for me. I guess I really needed that!

Again, for everyone who was involved doing this gem of a tutorial: Thank you and keep it coming!


Best wishes!

Rainer

[Cryptcrawler]

Very nice job as usual Crypt!!!
Wish you the best!

Riddick thanks my man!
Best wishes to you too

I've bought a good deal of the MB tutorials, and they're always a joy to watch. But this (i'm in the prosess of watching it) is a real party to watch.

On a funny note. I've just started out working with a smudge tool technique (got a few great tips from a dude over at IFX), so I was very pleased to see you using it aswell. I've got some really good tips from you in that department. And something tells me there are more to come. Thanks man

Its my pleasure Dozeren!
Im really looking forward to seeing what folks do with the smudge tool stuff and how ( and if) they may introduce it into thier flow.
Really grateful you like the tut, we had fun making it,

Best wishes to you,
Brad

As a commercial artist you have to produce quality in a short amount of time (something that should normally be an EITHER OR decision). You have to work so quick, that some artists aren't working much different when it comes to personal pieces.

It's really refreshing seeing Cryptcrawler put a lot of time and thoughts into his personal pieces. I'm amazed (from a personal standpoint) and shocked (from a commecial standpoint - see above) that this piece needed about 150 hours, but in the end it shows.

It's so much better when somebody goes the extra mile and isn't afraid to give his art the effort it needs.

CC sux btw

CC SUX!

Thanks for the kind words, buddy.
The extra mile for me is always factored in, ill get as little sleep as is required to get the polish I want, its how ive always done it and will always do it; reguardless of client or fee.

In the end the legacy you will leave will be the quality of your art, not the quantity of money you make.

Perfect service yea. Ta for the extra mareial

Theres extra material?
Sweet!

Crypt - After going through a few days of the Portfolio Reviews with you in the fall I was in awe at the quality of your work. It just didn't seem possible. I also didn't think it was possible that you would ever do a MB video tutorial. I think it is awesome that you were given the chance to create this video for CA.org; for us and you! I'm about half way through the videos and have already gotten a ton out of it, so thank you x1000!

A lot of what you have to say about your dedication, struggles, and attitude towards your art over this journey of yours is really inspiring to me. I'm smack dab in the middle of what you were going through before you made it to where you are now. In a lot of ways I really needed to hear what you had to say. There have been so many days of frustration and thoughts of giving up, but I feel like the past 5 years would all be in vain if I give up now.

So really, thank you for creating this video, and really going all out with not only the image, but your advice throughout it.

Man to hear stuff like this really is what does it for me, thank you for that.

It gets hard when you feel like your not progressing and have to make choices with your time like " do I go online and talk about art and make connections for the few hours ive got tonight or do I draw?"
You can isolate yourself very easily and get miserable when you dont see results. People will see the improvements before you will - trust me.

When they talk about it being hard they mean it, times like that *ARE* what they are talking about, and the solution likewise works; stop crying, keep drawing, move forward.
You really have to be a controlling, demanding prick with yourself and get disciplined and develop some thick skin.
Like everyone else I had to start (and still have to practice on a daily basis) getting over myself and what I thought I deserved.
If you wake up and make that decision everyday that your going to do this no matter the cost then you cant lose, because your failures along the way will only make you stronger and wiser.
But thats only if your willing to be teachable.

Stay tough and keep drawing!
I promise you itll be worth it.

Grate talk on Crimson!!! Very passionate and inspiring!!!! THX

Drawing is my world.
Thanks paolo I appreciate it!

Oh Brad.

I have to say that i digged your video.
But what i especially loved wasn't necessarily the techniques
to achieve your unique rendering, but your humanity, your sense of humour, all the things beyond technical things...all the things you said that reinforce all the decisions i took in my life... (i was curious anyway, but i clearly knew the rendering is a tiny part of a concept artist skill...what really matters is the idea, the storytelling, the composition, the history behind the scene...and so on)

There won't be any little cryptcrawler plagiarist, because you are unique. And i know that you know that nobody can achieve what you do, cause nobody can copy your successful brain (that was formatted for years).
If there's something i'll always remember for my entier life is this sentence:
"it hurts to get better".
Yeah it clearly does. But it doesn't matter when you do what you want to do in your life.

So a big thanks to you Mister (and sorry for my bad english, i originally wanted to tell you so more). If I were physically next to you, I'll give you a good handshake.

All the best.
Pit.

I very much hope to one day get that handshake pal.
Your english is just fine, your kindness and sincerety came through like a bullet - believe it.
Im really flattered you think im unique but I dont want to be unique; I want to be like everyother student of this craft: always learning and growing and diving deeper; always getting thier ass tanned by someone better so I can stay sharp and hungry. Thats what its all about for me: there is no endgame; no trophy for winning; only the endless hunt to capture an ever more elusive prey.
The day you win will be the day you are recognized in future history as an influencial voice in the world of art; long after you are dead.

Just about all of my heroes in art and literature died poor and obscure or worse. But in the end they won.

Edgar Allen Poe: a lying, cheating, drunken scoundrel and addict who married his cousin and was repeatedly chased out of virginia. His art endures, so he won.

H.P. Lovecraft: Died a young divorced invalid being taken care of by his aunts after having only a handful of his own work published in obscure fanzines and ghostwriting for other writers. His art would go on to influence just about every horror writer and filmaker, from Stephen King to John Carpenter.

He won.

The list goes on and on.
Maybe one day if im lucky ill reach out from the grave and be a little footnote in art history.
And now you know one of the reasons for my internet handle =)

Thanks for your time and great compliments, be safe!
Brad

nice color palette ...

Thanks man!

CC FUCKING RULES! brad i think you shut a lot of people up with this video. the people who dont believe you about the reference thing and just that you actually paint these things from scratch. incredible. i cant believe that gun, meat's face, the chicks body...i also really loved the pose of the dead guy in the bottom right. cant believe you do this shit without ref. and screw anyone who calls your work plastic. thats total bullshit. just because your highlights are so strong doesnt mean it looks like plastic. i think those people have never seen a style like yours and its like an overload for their brains, so "plastic" is just a desperate attemp at them trying to rationalize your super sick hyper style. i love it and hope you wouldnt change it because of comments from other people. only if you felt you really wanted to. also, really appreciated the shout out and you nailed my question. its basically what i though but you bring it to seemingly unatainable levels but you attained it so its like a paradox. "what are you willing to give up?" thats everything anyone needs to hear. that sentence might even be the straw that will make me quit my job. thanks for all your hard work and your willingness to share. you are the fucking man.

Dekal thanks so much buddy!
And CC SUX!!...SUX!

Thank you again so much for yur support man, it really means a lot to me that you take the time to engage.
You know I dont want to shut anyone up, they can say whatever they like because it doesnt frame me in any particular way - it only frames them.

If someone doesnt like my art that doesnt bother me - thats natural imho. You cant, shouldnt and wont please everyone with your vision, thats as it should be.

I Think some of my older stuff definitely has a plastic look, like my Carrion King piece ( the really green one with the slug thing), that was when I was still finding myself and trying to wrap my mind around how light works - and still am.
I think im getting farther and farther away from it, the challenge is to still keep a severe, crisp look without getting that plastic feel, and that can only happen if I make sure to get my materials right. If I keep going and try and get all my materials to behave as close as possble to the real deal by hand and not relying on filters than its only upwards from there. But as you and I both know that isnt an overnight process.

No so; im definitely not changing the style, just trying to evolve it and improve it.
Besides im far too irish to let anyone change me anytime soon.
Were quick to kick back, slow to wise-up like that =)

Be safe buddy and thank you again.
Best wishes to you,
Brad


You guys and gals are just rockin my world with the comments and engagement - its a dream come true!

God bless you all and take care of yourselves.
Keep drawing!
-Brad

[antisphere]

yeah... awesome. ;D

[CruShTinbOX]

Hey Brad, I just got done watching your video. I just wanted to say thanks, it was very inspirational and I learned a lot, it was worth every penny.

[Geir]

Hey again. You said you were interested inseeing how others use the smudge tool. Just thought I'd pop in and show you what how I use it. Here you can see it.

[KennethHunter]

Cryptcrawler, you're re-igniting my fire again man.

[NeecHMonkeY]

I finally picked up your video too and from what I've seen it's awesome!

I didn't get too far though as the section about making time and cutting out everything unnecessary (what are you prepared to lose?) really clicked in my head. I realized that the time I spent watching your DVD was time wasted from more painting. I'm still happy that I supported such a great artist and also the MB team by purchasing the tutorial.

Maybe I'll get back to it someday but right now, I've got some painting to do!

[iansnyder]

CC Sucks! GREAT tutorial, it's very inspiring; I definitely learned a lot and I'm excited to start trying some of your techniques Thanks so much for your time!

[Cryptcrawler]

Wow....Amazing work!

Thank you very much, im flattered you think so!

Hey man, I just had to thank you for your fantastic video. Just downloaded it yesterday and haven't gotten that far yet, but what I've seen is the best yet from Massive Black. It's not just your awesome skills and the very cool image. In fact I put just as much value in your enthusiastic and inviting voice over. Talking is a skill too, and you master it very well. Very inspiring!

Woah man those are some serious compliments, thank you very much for that!
I gotta say they are highly debatable, though; I admit ive never seen a single tutorial but I find it hard to believe that what I have to offer could even remotely compare with the knowlegde the heavy-weights that are in the MB catalog dispense - I just cant see it.
As for a gift for the gab?
My wife would take you to the mat on that one im afraid! =D

I do thank you very much monsieur, im really grateful youve gotten enough out of the video to come and drop me a line about it - it means a lot.

hey man first of all congrats ! and all the best wishes for your further artist-life. I do have a question ( sorry if you did mentioned it before ) is this piece somehow inspired by Shadowrun?
Sadly i dont have the money to purchase your tutorial :-( .
once again congrats to you *hug*, hopefully in 7 years i will be there where you are right now !

A lot of my ideas are distilled from my love of 80's sci-fi, 80's death metal and also a love of video and table top RPG's. Shadowrun is my favorite table-top rpg of all time. Someone would make a mint turning that IP into an MMO imho.
So in a nutshell: Yes, definitely.
Thanks very much for the well wishes and praise - and you will realize your dreams in art if you work your nuggets off and are willing to sacrifice the most precious of things: time.

Best wishes to you,
Brad

Watched it and loved every minute of it. Learned a lot of interesting ideas and will incorporate for future stuff. BTW Thundarr the Barbarian was the SHIT man. "Arial... OOklah...Ride!" LOL! I was really influenced by the same things as you. Miss those old action cartoons (Herculoids, Thundarr, Dungeons and Dragons, etc). Congratz on your success.

Wayne

Thanks Wayne!
Yeah all that old Hannah-Barbara stuff was like crack for me as a kid, especially Thundarr - such a rich world and idea, its only a matter of time before someone, somewhere in hollywood gets nostalgic for it and does a movie. He-Man could have been ok but it just pissed me off because Skeletor always got screwed the most by his totally incompetant lackeys and staff, He-Man just douched around like a man-child and took all the credit.

Im so happy you got something out of the tutorial, my biggest goal was to bring something worth-while to the table that my peers could take with them and hopefully benefit from.

Take care,
Brad

Thank you ever so much for this tutorial! Although I have bought a lot of the Massive Black Tut's and of course they are all top notch stuff yours really is an eye opener especially in terms of motivation. Your narration was everything one could hope for and frankly I was quite surprised seeing one talking nonstop! I enjoyed every second!

Dodge, Smudge, History Brush? I remember a lot of artist really shunning these tools! Needless to say you impressively showed the value and variety that can be achieved using them.

Your art is a welcome new variety. Especially the chick in Hostile Takeover has a certain Frazetta look to me because it is not so heavily textured. Most excellent work. Containment Breach is another favorite. As you said in the tutorial keeping the human factor is key. When I first saw it I was like "Man, what did they try to achieve with him?". Really superb!

I hope after seeing your tutorial I will finally be able to pick up my small Cintiq and start drawing. "What are you willing to sacrifice?" and "Put down the controller!" were real kicks in the balls for me. I guess I really needed that!

Again, for everyone who was involved doing this gem of a tutorial: Thank you and keep it coming!


Best wishes!

Rainer

You can really thank El Coro and the MB guys; without them paving the way and being able to host things like this for guys like me there wouldnt be any of this stuff for any of us.
I could care less if it sounds like blatant ass-smooching because it is - I firmly believe in planting my fuckin lips squarely upon who's ever ass has paid the price to get somewhere in this business and is willing to provide a vehicle for others to prosper by thier own hard work; that kind of stuff gives me a big boner.

You have my deep thanks for all the kind words and for taking the time to come here and leave a comment for me, that kind of thing means something to me.
I really had no idea that using the dodge, history and smudge tools were at all left of center; they just produced the effect that I was desperate to achieve and I didnt have anyone to show me if what I was ding was right or wrong, conventional or otherwise.
To know that people have benefitted from it as much as they say they have is honestly a dream come true for me; I was really worried people would watch it and be like "wtf this guy is a noob I want my $ back"

Keep kicking yourself in the balls and please show me what you end up creating!


Many thanks for your time and for the great feedback ladies and gents - God bless and keep on drawing!

[Chris Noeth]

CC sucks!

... are you happy now?

[AestheticMachine]

It gets hard when you feel like your not progressing and have to make choices with your time like " do I go online and talk about art and make connections for the few hours ive got tonight or do I draw?"
You can isolate yourself very easily and get miserable when you dont see results. People will see the improvements before you will - trust me.
When they talk about it being hard they mean it, times like that *ARE* what they are talking about, and the solution likewise works; stop crying, keep drawing, move forward.
You really have to be a controlling, demanding prick with yourself and get disciplined and develop some thick skin.
Like everyone else I had to start (and still have to practice on a daily basis) getting over myself and what I thought I deserved.
If you wake up and make that decision everyday that your going to do this no matter the cost then you cant lose, because your failures along the way will only make you stronger and wiser.
But thats only if your willing to be teachable.

I can't thank you enough (along with everyone else) for taking the time to make this demo - and surprising to hear you had to crush in 150+ hours
In a funny way, the inspiration was also sort of painful - I'm in a situation where I can't dedicate as much time as I wish I could to art and painting unless I want to be homeless and it's tough and confusing as all kinds of hell about where to go and what to do to improve. I can't seem to see the forest for the trees either, and it feels like I'm just going in circles in terms of progress.
But! No matter how hard it gets, there's still the impulse to engage in art. And I just wanted to thank you for helping to push away the darkness a little bit. Even if I don't have the time to draw and study as much as I would like to, it still feels like some kind of happy osmosis to watch you and other professionals do their work and share it willingly.

[Cryptcrawler]

yeah... awesome. ;D

Im so glad you think so, thank you!

Hey Brad, I just got done watching your video. I just wanted to say thanks, it was very inspirational and I learned a lot, it was worth every penny.

Oh that is great stuff to hear!
I wasn't sure id have much to offer being self taught but ive been incredibly surprised and grateful to learn from the various notes ive gotten that the information in the tutorial has helped some folks; honestly the reaction has been beyond my wildest hopes and dreams.

Thanks for the comment, best wishes to you
Brad

Hey again. You said you were interested inseeing how others use the smudge tool. Just thought I'd pop in and show you what how I use it. Here you can see it.

Dude thanks for shooting that to me; its cool to see how folks have applied some of the ideas ive submitted; hit me up with updates!

Cryptcrawler, you're re-igniting my fire again man.

Woo hoo!
Thats what I love to hear, thanks man!

I finally picked up your video too and from what I've seen it's awesome!

I didn't get too far though as the section about making time and cutting out everything unnecessary (what are you prepared to lose?) really clicked in my head. I realized that the time I spent watching your DVD was time wasted from more painting. I'm still happy that I supported such a great artist and also the MB team by purchasing the tutorial.

Maybe I'll get back to it someday but right now, I've got some painting to do!

Hah!
Im grateful the tutorial had something to offer you and that you would have rather been painting than watching - thats the idea!
Im right there with you about being pumped to contribute to this great place, thanks for your time and comment!

CC Sucks! GREAT tutorial, it's very inspiring; I definitely learned a lot and I'm excited to start trying some of your techniques Thanks so much for your time!

CC sucks!

I wish I could give more and had more time to cruise around here and see all the amazing art, I feel so left behind sometimes because im so busy with contracts - which is great - but I feel disconnected sometimes after being away from the boards, I love the interraction and interest here; its always so inspiring.

Much love and thanks to you guys and gals for the enthusiasm and wonderful notes and emails ive been getting; you have no idea what it means to me - it just gets me working that much harder to try and impress you all.

God bless you all, be safe and most importantly...
KEEP DRAWING!

-Brad

[Cryptcrawler]

Double post

[Cryptcrawler]

CC sucks!

... are you happy now?

Haha!

I am!
Chris, thanks for your support and especially for your interest in my art, man - I really appreciate it.

Best wishes,
Brad

I can't thank you enough (along with everyone else) for taking the time to make this demo - and surprising to hear you had to crush in 150+ hours
In a funny way, the inspiration was also sort of painful - I'm in a situation where I can't dedicate as much time as I wish I could to art and painting unless I want to be homeless and it's tough and confusing as all kinds of hell about where to go and what to do to improve. I can't seem to see the forest for the trees either, and it feels like I'm just going in circles in terms of progress.
But! No matter how hard it gets, there's still the impulse to engage in art. And I just wanted to thank you for helping to push away the darkness a little bit. Even if I don't have the time to draw and study as much as I would like to, it still feels like some kind of happy osmosis to watch you and other professionals do their work and share it willingly.

I was really touched by this when I first read it, AM; im so very sorry that its taken me this long to reply; things are just so nuts and busy here.

I really relate on many, many levels to what your going through.
While id like to sit here and write a self-referencial monologue about what ive gone through to do art I think the space would be ebtter served by me offering (hopefully) some useful tips that helped me make time for practicing and improving.

What honestly helped me the most was was getting honest and stripping down my life to only what I needed.
Socializing, gaming, dates, eating out and paying for a car were all DOA; anything that would allow me to only have a parttime job, the barest of sustenance to keep me alive and a roof over my head so I could draw more was brought into play. Eventually the job and roof over my head were nixed as well and I lived with friends and asked for money from family.
It was miserable and humiliating...but I got more time and when I got more time I got a little better..and then a little better - and the hope started coming alive.

I was honestly terrified when I was doing it, but I was more terrified of the possibility of not being able to pursue art as a career.

Improving at your craft is something that others will see first before you ever will. You are improving, its just not on your time.
Do this sucker a day at a time, if you look too far back and ahead you'll eat yourself alive with fear and regret.

Ill tell you what, man - you sound like your way ahead of the game than I ever was.
#1 You can take pleasure in the achievements of others
#2 You have a myriad of online communties like CGHUB and here and study groups like Crimson Daggers to find people you trust to critique your work and help you improve.

I could never take pleasure in the improvement of others, I only envied them and wanted what they had and hated myself for being an alchoholic and drug addict and pissing away all those years and opportunities. I was also so painfully vain and self-absorbed that I couldnt endure the idea of relying on anyone but myself to improve.

You sound a helluva lot more mature than I was, so If I can do this then you certainly can.
And now that you've also seen the tutorial and seen my first illustrations when I was starting out you know my dirty little secret (Im not a talented illustrator, Im just willing to bust my ass) Im pretty confident that you can push away the darkness and overcome your obstacles and get this, becasue so much of this is about overcoming your own bullshit - the less you have, the faster youll reach your dreams.

If I can help, write me.



I really cant thank you guys enough for all the amazing emails, PM's and comments, the reaction has honestly been a dream come true.

God bless you all and be safe,
Brad Rigney

[BeatleJohn]

ok im so late in joining this thread but i only just discovered this download.. i just wanted to say it was amazing to watch and learn. i cant wait to see more!