PRAGUE CA WORKSHOP : my demo's pictures

**Aleksi** · October 26th, 2005, 11:20 AM

Hello,

Back from Prague, this workshop was awesome !
Really. I have a wonderful time there. The city is magnific. I've shared and learned a lot. Really happy to meet again some friends and discover new peoples. I come back home with a fuckin' inspiration.
Just want to still rise my own standards.

So here are some pics I've done as demos.
I've tried to do some different things from the other instructors, just showing different technics and approaches. Even some of them that I'm not using really often.

First day, I began with a pic inspired by a conversation with Marko the "incredible chara designer Bastardo", about life experience and the need to feed ourselves from Life to grow as artists.
He told me he was once in a plane, sitting just near an old woman trying sadly to cut a chocolate barre with some plastic plane knife.
What a wonderful life !
So I've taken his story as a starting point for making a picture (like a kind of artbrief), creating a SciFi weird vision. As I explained, I began with notes and quick sketches, to find as much references and symbols as I can to express this kind of "social slavery".
Assembly line (c/o my speech about composition and Vassili Kandisky, "Points, lines and plans"), chains and cables, barre code, Brazil the movie...

Second day, I've worked on an environnment, inspired by Prague.
First day there, I've taken hundreds of photographs of this awesome town.
And then my goal for this pic was to create some futuristic vision of Pragues, like in 2038 for example, for a videogame.
It turned as a comic-book cover then, on wich I added graphic design :

Here's a funny photograph, just taken in front of our hotel.
I've just duplicated the vertical line of the L to make ALEKSI and then putted it in my picture :

Third day, I was talking about comic-books and storytelling, graphic layout for pages and this kind of thing. I've used my Prague's picture to produced quickly a double B&W page. And then Oblio filled the ballon captions with appropriate texts :

Funny.

Then a monster speedpainting and an interesting photo taken through a longview in the city :

I was happy to speak not only about technics but also about composition and creative process. I don't know if it was clear but I have fun with it.

IT WAS REALLY FANTASTIC !!

cheers everybody !!
--------------------------------
Just want to add a really huge and honest thank you to the Conceptart/Massive black team for inviting me there as an instructor.
I've spend a wonderful time in Pragues with you.
Thank you Coro, Melissa, Andrew, Marko, Carl, Jason, Mike, Sean, Michael, Layil...and everybody there (cos' everybody was really nice with me).
Thank you to Hpx and Nox too, french poopoooparties are the best :p

Hope to see you soon, and maybe before the next workshop.

We were talking about improvments and progress during this workshop with HpX. He was talking to me about "intendents" stuff. I've witnessed it, looking at some sketchbooks. The difference between the first day of the workshop and the last one was huge. Looking and hearing composition class from Andrew for example, Sean, Michael, Carl explaining painting, shadows, Jason talking about colors theory...Glad to see it really worth it.

**m@.** · October 26th, 2005, 11:50 AM

Thanks for sharing those! I love the city pics.

**Miau** · October 26th, 2005, 11:59 AM

yeah i was waiting for the praha 2038 picture, and the lifeline , thanks very much for your lectures, they were great!

**SirSushi** · October 26th, 2005, 12:03 PM

Really cool demos you did there in Prague. I was actually surprised to see you using photo material to create your stuff, but it makes a lot of sense now. Why not, if it looks great and get's the job done faster?

Cheers.

**Aleksi** · October 26th, 2005, 12:08 PM

Thanks !
SirSushi : It was more to show different approaches of creating pictures. As I said, it depends of your sensibility, what you have to do, the subject you're dealing with and most of all to open minds. And also the needs to do yourself your own Research and Developpment. Finidng new technics, new renderings...
I was there with all the awesome instructors, and just thought "What can I share that could be different for what they're already explaining and doing so well ?"

**Oblio** · October 26th, 2005, 12:18 PM

we've talked a lot yet I didn't had the time to tell you that you are amazing.
thank you for the good days my new friend. See you soon i hope.

Oblio
can we change those text lines? i'll get some sleep and do way better!

**Aleksi** · October 26th, 2005, 12:34 PM

thanks Oblio

I don't think it is usefull to change the text lines. I like them, they're funny and linked to our workshop adventure (and I'm a little bit lazy

)
And same things for my pics. I would love to fix a lot of details but it was done for démos and I show them as they were done and finished in Pragues, without any postproduction varnish .

**P E N Ricklund** · October 26th, 2005, 12:59 PM

You are fast man, nice that you posted your demos. Way to go.
It was so nice meeting you, and you were probebly the sexiest guy there, with your dreads

I miss you already.

Hugs man!

**strych9ine** · October 26th, 2005, 01:32 PM

Man did I fucking miss out, Aleksi at a workshop... seeing your work always inspires me, you rock man. I love the first and second images, too damn cool.

**mr. Point** · October 26th, 2005, 01:33 PM

inspiring stuff. man I'm so depressed because I couldn't come to the workshop. damn student life... the prague 2032 pics are hot! that reminds me of Enki Bilals comics (man I love that guy).. the batman story is so funny.

**ArtbyWard** · October 26th, 2005, 01:50 PM

You rocked hard man, that praha 2038 environment was a real eye opener to me thx. And you are a very nice guy to

!

**Bomba** · October 26th, 2005, 02:49 PM

I really missed not being there in Prague(my favorite destination) with everyone there. Must have been an amazing experience. Vassili Kandisky, good person to point out. Love his stuff and can see why you work is always so strong.
-J-

**Fozzybar** · October 26th, 2005, 03:07 PM

thanks for all the input aleksi!

**Dirty C** · October 26th, 2005, 04:28 PM

Hey Aleksi, thanks loads for the input - you reminded me of The Other Company I Always Wanted To Work For - force of nature

Loads of thanks are due from everyone who spoke to you - the information about Kandinsky was awesome (I'm gonna find those books) and you spent probably an hour dissecting me in the nicest possible way. You french guys rock.

Cheers
Dirty C (wiry haha)

**Aleksi** · October 26th, 2005, 09:12 PM

Pencilator : thanks for the compliments

Icemoon : thanks too !!!

Bomba : it would have been great to meet you there. Maybe we will meet in an other next occasion (if JSR take me in his travelbags to SF

. I hope so.

Fozzybar : Sorry we didn't speak togeither. You should have come to me and forced my bad english and shyness.

Dirty C : big thanks. I wasn't sure I was accurate with my speechs.

**Marko Luna** · October 26th, 2005, 11:21 PM

genial señor aleksi,..pura inspiracion.--grace

**Fozzybar** · October 27th, 2005, 04:48 AM

Originally Posted by Aleksi

Fozzybar : Sorry we didn't speak togeither. You should have come to me and forced my bad english and shyness.

I will do it the next time for sure...someone needs to force me also

**nicolas** · October 27th, 2005, 04:56 AM

Theses are awesome Aleksi...especially since I got to watch you work on them. It was really great meeeting you and talking to you in person! I hope we can do it again some time =) that would be really sweet.

NIC

ps- after watching you paint in PS, I actually feel like a total Noob....

**goran** · October 27th, 2005, 09:21 AM

Great stuff,makes me homesick,thanks for sharing.

**Nike** · October 27th, 2005, 03:19 PM

hi Aleksi!

I think I've told you at the last day in Prague, but I'll say it again, it was simply awesome to watch you working and listening to the advice you gave to people, really useful! thanks!

**Carnifex** · October 27th, 2005, 03:39 PM

hey aleksi,nice.
that comic is great,but what i like even more is the mechanic. the way you used that "liquid" brush is very cool.
thanx about that program aswell,the demo version alone rocks hard.

cheers.

**Marko Djurdjevic** · October 27th, 2005, 03:55 PM

Rock rock rock n' roll.

**Fipse** · October 27th, 2005, 04:13 PM

Hi Aleksi,

Just want to say how much I enjoyed talkin´ to you and watching the demos. I hope you´re now a bit more self-confident in speaking english with all the babbling non-native speakers around

It was good to see you and realize that you´re really a nice guy (and seeing waht someone can do with PS)!

Fipse

**Visceral 619** · October 27th, 2005, 04:21 PM

You did some awesome stuff at the workshop Aleksi, truly impressive. Shame we didn't talk more but you know how it was, so much creativity was goin on that it was mind blowing as well as over whelming!!!!

Thanks for the awesome demos.

**Red_Rook** · October 27th, 2005, 04:23 PM

excellent my friend! awesome!

**Aleksi** · October 27th, 2005, 09:00 PM

Fozzybar : I'm a shy guy :p
hum hum...not always

Nicolas : Thanks a lot. Same case for me, it was great to meet you and speak with you. Sure we'll meet again in the future.
It's a small world.

Nike : Thanks a lot. Really glad if my explanations were interesting. Would have love to talk more about creative process, the core of everything.

Carnifex : thanks. And can't wait for having a look at the 524 875 695,8 photographs you've taken in the workshop.

Marko : AHHHH !! Goddam, you're a really nice guy. So glad to meet you again and speak more with you, to discover the man behind the incredible drawings. Hope we'll meet soon, like you were talking about, just having drinks and speaking about life, life's experiences in planes and this kind of thing

Jean-Sebastien and me are waiting for you.
Bisou bisou ich liebe dich even if Ich verstehe only ein bichen Deutsch wurden

Fipse : thanks for the encouragements in Prague. You really convinced me that talking about creative process and ideas would be really useful. Not only technics. I had to think more about my demos and make them more accurate.
By trying to communicate and building a structure with my ideas helped me a lot for improving my own stuff.

Wargroundzero : thanks. Really glad if my demos were successful. It was a big challenge for me, mostly because of spoken language.

I feel really more comfortable now after 4 days. And funny, I met Lono in Paris tonight and I was so glad of being able to speak correctly with him and having a real conversation with him.

Oblio : it was great to meet you too. I forgot to tell you. And same thing, we'll certainly meet again in the next future.

**IronBrush** · October 28th, 2005, 06:45 AM

Great JOB!!

**[DAN]** · October 28th, 2005, 09:57 AM

Aleksi i saw almost all the demo you did at Prague.It was just fantastic , thanke you very much for shareing your art with us.I am still very angry about myself because I was to shy to speak with you.
Thanke you again.