Character, Creature, Mech, Environment Design

[CecelyV]

Hello Everyone,

I'm learning Painter X. I have a lot of traditional art training, now I'm molding myself into a concept artist, and I could use some help in learning the techniques used to design characters, creatures, mechs, environments, machines, etc--you know, the stuff they don't teach you in state art department programs

I've found a site (www.thegnomonworkshop.com) that has some dvds and tutorials. However, a lot of that uses Maya instead of Painter X.

If you have some suggestions regarding tips for character, creature, etc design techniques, or if you know of some really good books, cd-roms, or dvds on the subject, I'm all ears! I appreciate all the help I can get!

Please & Thank you

[CecelyV]

Is anyone out there? I could really use some help with this. If you know of some books or dvds or cd-roms or online tutorials, etc, that will help me learn about the fundamentals of character desing, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Help, Please!

[Olof]

Are you serious?

[HunterKiller_]

Asking how to design characters is a very broad and generalized question.
You'll need to be more specific.

[Maiku Jaguar]

I agree with hunterkiller...you do need to be more specific. The gnomon workshop is a site with some of the best stuff though for this. There is a analog section for traditional stuff and a lot of 2d digital art as well. Check it out, it's really awsome stuff. Also...for concept design there is so much that you need to know...everything from anatomy of humans and animals for creatures to the more mechanical side of it that involves cars, aircraft etc...
First off you may want to decided which kind of concept artist you want to be, if you want to draw creatures concentrate on anatomy...if you want to draw mechs they you are going to need to be able to do mechanical stuff. once you know that you can go from there. Creatures are probably easier to start with though as they are not as precise as mechanical stuff is. Hope this helps as a start...once you decide where to concentrate the I can probaly lend more advice.

[CecelyV]

Are you serious?

What's that suppose to mean?
Of course, I'm serious! I wouldn't ask if I didn't need to know.
I'm not asking for the secrets to the universe here, just a nudge in the right direction.

Okay, I realize it's a general and broad question, but I have to start somewhere. I'm not sure exactly what to ask, which is part of the problem.

All I know is that I want to be a concept artist no matter what. I know how to paint and draw, but I still feel like I'm missing something. I have no idea if what I know already is everything I need. I just figured that since there are fundamental building blocks to EVERYTHING that there might be some tips out there for someone like me whose trying to go from state art department academia type art training to concept art done for video games/movies.

I have a lot of ideas, and I can take them from my head to paper and get them fleshed out as far as basic anatomy goes. After that, I'm not sure how to continue. I've never done character design. After you get the basic parts and gesture of a character down, what are your next steps? How do you go about finding your character's personality? Costume? Weapons? Accessories? Expressions? Not to mention the world around the character...

I'll keep drawing and that will tell me if I'm going in the right direction. I think I may be asking questions that I already have the answers for as long as I keep working.

If I need to ask a more specific question, then here: Can you tell me what process you go through to develop a character start to finish?

[CecelyV]

I agree with hunterkiller...you do need to be more specific. The gnomon workshop is a site with some of the best stuff though for this. There is a analog section for traditional stuff and a lot of 2d digital art as well. Check it out, it's really awsome stuff. Also...for concept design there is so much that you need to know...everything from anatomy of humans and animals for creatures to the more mechanical side of it that involves cars, aircraft etc...
First off you may want to decided which kind of concept artist you want to be, if you want to draw creatures concentrate on anatomy...if you want to draw mechs they you are going to need to be able to do mechanical stuff. once you know that you can go from there. Creatures are probably easier to start with though as they are not as precise as mechanical stuff is. Hope this helps as a start...once you decide where to concentrate the I can probaly lend more advice.

THANK YOU!
General or not, you answered my first question perfectly. I want to focus on designing characters & creatures. I know about the gnomon workshop. I plan to get some dvds from there as learning tools.