ImagineNation News
. . Continued from previous page...
Photosnop: "but I'm always
Interested In see ing how d ifferent
artists use otner p rograms to
create th eir work I .ove ZB rush
too, bU7 I rea lise I haven't eve',
oegun:o t o ucn t he: sur race of
what that prog ra m ca n do "
Joen na w o uld love to get h er
r and s on Arurnestuo ro p ,o a nd
=o ntLab. beca use "there's a
constan t co-itroversy about
suitab re comic letteri'1g fonts - so
I've c ecceo to design my own !"
Meanwhile, Doug 's exc ited about
new 3D package M ud b ox; " It' s
o ne o f the few 3 D programs tr-at
doesn' t lOOK very int irn id atinq . It
seerl,s very Intuitive ,.
And wh at o ne th ing do they
most w an t to change abou t t h eir
ar c? For D o ug , It' S Simp ly to
Im p ro ve overa ll. "I f eel like m o st
ot my art Is al: smoke and mirrors ,
en o I don't want tnat any more,"
tle confesses "I 'm flnaily look ln~J
at anatomy a ne co lou r theory
b o o ks." Joanna's de te rm ined to
get int o sequential storytelling,
o au 'ltln g as I: may sound , " It's
extremely tr.c ky t o master the
paci ng o f a book wh ich can be
read In less tha n an hour, b ut w II
t ake a year to crew." she says
A n d Joel's resolution IS [ust to f.no
more time for his er r: "I wrote the
book on At tenton ~)efldt Diso rder
and I ttur-k I'll be a lo t more
p ro d uc tive In 2007 If I c an Just
keep m ine In c heck," he laughs
We' ll be wa tchi ng w ith Interest
:0 see If these resou tio ns come
to pass , Ana w hy n o t lel i.s krow
yo ur owr art - rela ted re so lu t ion s
at www.imaginefx.com .•
~ro m teft-to - nq ht : wo rks of ar t by
Carl Oob sky. James Kei and Coro
Kaufman - all art mstruct or s or
Co,-,cept Arl ,org At e.ier.
ConceptArt Atelier
hool' 0 Massive Black launches major new
training sc 001- the ConceptArt artist's studio
ConceptArt.org and art studio Massive
Black have launched a major new
teaching school, the ConceptArt.org
Atelier. The Atelier (which
means artist's studio)
aims to prepare student
artists in the fields of
entertainment, fine art
and illustration for the commercial
world - something which art training
programs at other universities are
not achieving, says ConceptArt.
" The curriculum IS i:1 th.ck rdxture of
tradtiooe l ar-o ustonce art training
ano cutti ng edge d'gital p roduct.on."
exolams Jason !'10f'l ey c~ MaSSive B lack
No Cintiq! DIY
Home made Enterprising artist builds his own
Artist Drew Northcott, like many
people, had been lusting over
a Wacom Cintlq combined LCO/
graphics tablet for a long
time - but also like many
people, he simply
couldn't afford one. So
he decided to build his
own equivalent, or at least attempt
to, by combining an LCD monitor
and his standard Wacom tablet,
"I wasn't rea lly ce rtem It wou ld work
ulll stripped the m o r-rto r." savs Drew
"Once 1 was su re- al tha . metal co u o
go, that 's when I knew tor sure." A f te r
much tn a ' and error, plus some
"It's deeper than what we use t o lrain
rnterns he re at H dSSlveB lac k and
sho uld Yield very ~J o () d result s The
student s who 've b eg L,n are elreecv
coing a g reat J08 on t heir t asks, We 'll
set E! to r no: I, ing less tnan ~]r'eat~less :'
H ig h ra lent , hard-work mq st udents
ore be ing accepted for the school.
located In San Franc 'seo , and whi le
tu it io n ~e e s m ay seem steep at 5600
a '~10n th, t hrs IS effordacle compa red
to o th er p-ivate art sc-ool p rograms.
So i youre ser ous abou t :edr'l i'1g
yo ur art dl',d wo"k,ng Irl "n tert ZJ,nme n:
dS a concept deSig ne r, chec k o u t
www.conceptart.org/school
rrusheos. he aclually succeeded - and
has docu ~ n te d the w ho;e p rocess
or' ms website. step by stec Drew's ny b ric LCO/g rapll les
tablet , co mple te With custo m
- h e feed bil ck he's got has been
black dye jo b.
unexp ec ted ly huge, Wit h thousands of Photo :~~ H an~ ...ah Nor thc c t t.
oeoole vIsit ing the pages, prompting
Drew 0 set up a foru m lor people to
shore their own huildlng exoenenccs
D'ew n ow Intends to reill, e r'ls
creanon and add furthe r' build no tes,
as wel l oS =,tt lfl g In m o re ar t alo ng the
VkJY' "As to fur ther bui-es. does envone
know where lean ge, a lOO-wa tt
stee n . eng ine? "
See the fl.- II p rocess o n Dr ew 's s te at
www,bongofish.co.uk,
 ImagineNation News

In short... Fantasy bodies

Your free Heroine
Pose r model
w as moo elted
fro m scratch ,
wh ile :tle

The latest news in brief

Bas mod 1A freebie from Dark Anvil, plus Pno cess IS
based on this
two new and original fantasy Poser figures free rnocet.
for digital artists
Dark Anvil, creators of 3D fantasy "We set about rno dell n9
et j CGJobs models, has released a new free tne characte r fro~
CGSocie t)' has laun ched CGlo bs, base model character for Poser scratch We msist on
a ne ll' pan o f its online portfolio artists ­ and we're proud to bring usillg all our own
service. Each CGPor t folio now includes it to you on this issue's DVD. Known or ,ginal conte nt Even
an extra Employme n t Det ails page, as the Heroine Base, the figure is the skin textu re set
which ena bles you to add yo ur CV modelled entirely from scratch, co m es from a u' owr­
a nd ro ver lett er and which register ed including the texturing, and exc lusive rcsource "
prosp ect ive em ploye rs can se arch , intentionally features comic-book Or ', a rattle r ugli er
Of course, you ca n alw ays op t o ut style proportions, such as longer no te, check ou t tne ne w
ityo u're no t seeking work. legs. She also sports low-resolution Srny thlak ironciooo fig ure,
portfolio.cgsociety.org body maps and hair, and is intended a demon heLl -b reed who 's
to be used as a starting point for a so b eer model ed ennrely
Gel 'em ung... Colorelli your own creations . fro m scrercn
wa corn 's new Co lorelli ga me is a ime d To see w hat ca n b e done Wit h :he Smy th la" arc The
at ch ildren and offers a m ixture of Heroine, Dark A 'w it h as also reles see Pr'ncess cost 5> 10 each 'ro m
crea tiv ity and fun , a new comrne rcral figure, Til e Dark A nv l's s te at www.
Th e idea is to Pnn coss "The Pr ncess Trll,an a darkanvll.net And don't
ex plo re an island cha rc:ic .er eme rged from a story for forget to expenrnen w ith
a nd use a Wa com our Cc rk Anvi l wo rlo by Joe Bo dey," you r free Heroi ne rJgure
pen a nd tabl et to exp lains MDM 's Graeme McM ;lIan. o n tI' ,e DV D.
in teract with th e
vari ous cha racters
thereon , as well as
lake all mi ssions and o the r more
creative acti vitie s. It cos ts £40,
www.colorellLeu

ngin SCIFInder
A new tool from Sfcrowsnest,
SCIFlnde r is a specia lis t search e ngine.
(pow ered by the C oogle toolset) th at
on ly searches for co n ten t o n sc i-fi a nd
fa ntasy websites, At the time o f writing
I(,,00 0 sites have be en indexed, with
more being ad de d a ll th e time.
www.sdfinder.co.uk
\. ., tool Colour wise
Adob e has releas ed an on line
application th ai enab les you to create
colours th em es that complem ent ea ch
other . It's pri maril y a to ol for people
who create web
co n tent , b u t is a handy
resource for an y artist.
The website explain s
th e vari ou s rul es
o f colo ur ing (from
Analogou s to
Triad) and yo u have
the opportunity to do w n load yo u r
colourfu l e ffo rt s to use with Adobe
Creative Su ite 2 appli cat ion s.
hLlp:ffkuler.adobe.com
DAZI3D for free
Give away A bundle of content for you...
Thanks to the kind folks at DAZ aoent-s tve lo ok fo r rn anv
(www.daz3d.com). we've got more POPU I<Jf c recters ,md
outstanding freebies waiting for you re nte snc atten tion to de tail
on this Issue's DVD: not one, not two Ch eck ou t so me more of
but four professional 3D models, Lo urd es's crea tions at www.
which can be used with DAZ Studio. daz3d.com/shop.php?
Arko 3, c revi o .rsly so ld for $40, op =artistlist&artist= 5635 .
w as cre ated spec tfice lly fo r anirre
and rnang a ,y t, end sports tha t
claSSIC.Jaoan ese loc k To spree up
yow Arko ' end enn9 s, use t he Ny o ko
pigtaIl hair (a s sold fa ' $12), wh ch
fils perfect ':I on the o de! an d
cernes w ith 15 I" l lr ex eres. ~1 ar e
fo llic le t un ca n b e (l ad w'l ~' the rv' lki
heir. a layered errs l y le With
num e ro us rn or p n twg ets rh a t she .i to
b lend s ea ~, l e55 I y w .th A lko
"nally, there 's lre slu nn ,rKJ se of
Sha dow Dan c er Clo ;:li ng created by
Lo ur d es lV:erc ado, feat u 'l ng a secret

~ Iina~UleF.X January 2007

 Reader letters
Letters
YOUR FEEDBACK & OPINIONS
Contact the editor, Rob Carney, on
rob @imaginefx.com or write to
ImagineFX, Future Publish ing,
30 Monmouth Street,
Bath, BAI lBW, UK
. , - _ ._ - - - - - ­
Don't throw it in ...
llm il about 12 yea rs ago I wa s a pa rt­
time freelance illustrator, but now I just
pa int to r mys e lf. I'd ju st lo ve to gct into
digita l art, bu t as I have no o ne to turn
to for help o r advice in using th e software
I have, I can't m ak e any progress . [t must
be Illy age I suppose (60) , b ut I just ca n't
to grip s wi th m y graphics programs. I've
sought hel p from all th e loca l co lleges
and universities, furt her ed ucation cen tres
and other learning centres, as well as
libraries , co ns ultant s, computer shops,
plus individuals, all to no avai l. I have •
,. -
;J lI,\Ju. .JLJ[ ~ ~ I .~·~].~ · ·~_~J
,~~Ww~ ~agmefx .com_
This m onth 's question. ..
inva luable. bu t becau se (I sus pec t) of
What did you think of lssue 12?
page limit ati ons, they o fte n d on't go
Thls mayor may not be controversi al,
but can ( raise the issue of the woman
on the cover? My wife (I nearly
divorced her for it!) drew underwear in
permanent marker on the back page
as she was so o ffended ! 'I}' ITf II
.Ol.l Sorry to hear that , Hybrid. Som e
people get so o ffend ed by the simplest
of things . I haven't seen anything so
far that is even d ose to borderline
offensive, especiall y not for arti sts,
who are the main audience. Jill
You have a serio ns prohlerul Or
rather, your wi fe does . You'd better
not open Poser while she 's watching,
or yo n' II find ma rk r n o n your
monitor as well. ( I - ubscrib n
Far be it from me 10 stop yon putting
pretty ladies on th e front (even I - a
femal e - can appreciate a pretty lady).
I jnst feel it might interest yon to note
th at, when I brought it to school
to read during my lunrhbreak, it
was mist aken by the staff for a
pornographic maga zine III "I
The cover was a lovely blend of
fanta sy and manga. Anyone calling it
indeceut needs to get out more, and
anyone th inking it's pornographic
needs to visit all o ptician (or maybe
a psychol ogist) . 1/1 Jc
lma~iii.eB{ J anuary 20 0 7
ex hausted a ll the ave nues of enqui ry
I ca n th ink of, and the n so me, wi thou t
SUC(E:'l>S. Which leave s me to co nc lude
that th e re is no on e in my area of Nort h
W irral. Merseyside, kn owledgeable
e nough to show me so me of th e ropes.
I've b een encou raged to take a course,
but there are none relat in g to mo st of
these programs. So how d oes a n o ld
codger like me get started? Iff ca n't find
a so lut io n , th cn I' Il h ave no cho ice bu t
to throw in th e towel. lf'there is a
so lu tio n, the n f wo u ld br gla d to hear
fro m a nyo ne with a ny suggestions.
Yours fru str aiedl y. ..
IUa n K, ·ill cnud!
Rob replies: Well Ala n , I' J suggest
treating so ft wa rt' as you would real
me dia. Pick up a piece ofso ftwar e
suc h as Artk age (www.artrage.com )
a n d expe rime nt. You don't need to
maste r every eleme nt of say, Pho toshop
(chan nel s a nd masks, for in stance)
to b e a go od digital a rtist, Th in k of th e
computer as an ex tension of your
trad itio n al to ols - a nd d on't be afraid
of making mi stakes. And o f co ur se,
keep readi ng lmaginel-X for lots o f
artis t lip s a nd advice.
Questions and
longer answers
I fin d yo ur Art ist Q&A secti on
int o as much depth as th ey cou ld d o.
Any ch a nce yo u co u ld expa nd th e page
co u n t or put so me m o re in -dep th
qu est io ns o n the DVD?
Datll.f i, p~on. I'U.email
U Rob replies: Tha nks for yo ur lett er,
I U' ? Davi d . Our Q &A sec tio n is o ne o f the
See page 97 for m ost popular pa rts of th e m agaz ine
and we 're a lways looking lor ways 10
details on how I im prove it. Thanks fo r yo ur suggestions,
you can get your we've taken th em on board.
hands on it.
Fantasy overload
gel 5%om I love you r Legends features, bu t why are
they always classic fantasy artists ? Can
MANGATIPS
W E:' SE:' tOso m e var iety plloilsd
FOR BEGINNERS
Iasa I ThnJ"'i vW errl4il
Rob replies: To the po int, Jason ! You' ll
b e p leased to know th at th is issu e we' re
feat uri ng o ne o f the LlK's best-kn own
conte m pora ry art ists, Da ve Mc Kean
(page 42 ), a nd over th e co m ing m onth s IQ.."":"'~,' ~ h r.' '; C'Xt"lIunt ""n ~, w:uk.,1.t!i frT"T'
.....ur -W-L. uht ~J..!I V "':" • ..Jl1tfWL·... l.z, f l:d l w IIl U
we haw plan s for co m ic artists, sel-f l'tOlt: .,,:lrt JLt-:..~l ~t?n l l ll t licrl;.;·-J f ru l Ult.
painters and mor e . Wat ch this space . . .
 ImagineNation Artist Q&A

••

GOT A QUESTION FOR OUR EXPERTS? EMAIL HE MAGINEFX.COM

Adding text ures to l''1 lmc1ge

can ~elp to giv e m p'.i'lIr:lng to
yo.Y fin ished p iece. For thls
piece. I've used a senes o f ba lsa
w oed cut-ou ts that I use for
body airb rushmq mo dels

estion
OW can I use textures to add personality? Ella SimpsoJl, Ellglwut

Answer 1',1il1ln IX.:; is my tool ofc ho ice

Andrew replies
kX I U1 'F~ art' a s lg ll i 1 • nt
add itillil to an y line ic d
pi ~ I : of art. N ll l on ly ,II I
Ihey add .1 flL'\\ ! .vel of
de ta il or hclievabilitv to an iIT a ~, .
b ut they: !I , I i ~(l >t: a ll oppo ru uih
to e mbe d m o rcu u-au ing a nd com I r
into )'1 [1 \ , rk.
for i he applic.ition textures, I have
("1 10"; .n l'ainu r IX.'i ~ p c ifit ally
hl'l au:«: of it robust paint ng l~n g i 11 ('
.U1d tl\'(! Chalk too l fe ature, l'a inrcr
,'rI,llW" you to i m por: .ury bl.uk and
wh ite i ll l 'l g t' a nd tran sform s in int o a
dyna mic. resou rce for ;If.ld iflg uxnurs
til vour illl .lf:,It' Th is is ,I ximph: le,ll n rC
that prov ides en JrI11 1I po rcn i.1I