Resources for Art Fundamentals

[Kvothe]

Hello,

I am not so internet or social media savvy, so I'm not really sure how people find so many cool artists to follow and get inspiration from, and I also don't have the best artistic fundamentals.

With those two failings in mind, I'm hoping someone can direct me towards a course or book or whatever, that will help really solidify at least part of what I'm lacking whether that be in composition, lighting, or anything really design related that can help me as an aspiring 3D Houdini artist .

Thanks in advance.

 

[flcc]

mmh... The artistic side, very large subject.
You can find a lot of great guys on artstation, cgsociety, behance, why not instagram, (if you know who you are looking for).

Here are a few in the digital or concept art area:
craig mullins (one of my favourites) - http://www.goodbrush.com/
ryan church - http://ryanchurch.com/
Levente Peterffy - http://www.artoflevi.com/
eytan Zana - https://www.artstation.com/eytan
Simon Stalenhag - http://www.simonstalenhag.se/
...
There are so many

All these guys who make awesome concept designs have a strong artistic education. The basics are drawing and painting (digital or not).
you will find tons of tutorials, Among others by : Jama Jurabaev, Eytan Zana, Sathish Kumar.
But the real secret is practice, practice, practice. Paint or draw everithing you can. Digitaly or not.

Don't forget classical painting, it's the source of inspiration of these "concept art" guys.
Just a few :
William Turner, Rembrant.
Romantic painters : Caspar David Friedrich, Thomas Cole.
Check also : Peinture orientaliste

Although I have had an artistic education, composition is not my forte. Everyone has weakness eh ?. But at least I know that. That's why I can recommend some :
This book and this tutorial have interesting approaches IMO.
 Framed Ink - Drawing & Composition for Visual Storytellers (Marcos Mateu-Mestre)
Stephane Wootha Richard - Speed Thumbnailing.

This one too: Composition 101 with Jason Scheier

You also will find tons of tutorials on this topic.

Good luck

Edited July 29, 2021 by flcc

[Dweeble]

Great resources!

I've been reading Composition by Arthur Dow (it's free on Project Gutenberg) and the exercises are extremely accessible. It's mostly straight lines, brackets, repeating patterns etc. Totally manageable even if you can't draw. Pen and paper lets you iterate through design attempts like mad.

[paranoidx]

I hope this help, this is very rich art fundamental resources from Neil Blevin (Soulburn) and he translates it into CGI very well 

http://www.neilblevins.com/art_lessons/art_lessons.htm

[Kvothe]

23 hours ago, flcc said:

Good luck

Thank you for such an exhaustive list of recommendations! I am beginning to delve into those and they seem to be phenomenal recs thus far. 

Drawing has always been hard for me, I've had more luck sculpting than doing anything in 2D.

Do you really think I ought to take the time to try to develop some digital painting/drawing skills?

I once thought I should, but it seemed like the time commitment would take away from developing Houdini and film making skills, to the point that I'd be overburdened at the others expense.

 

[Kvothe]

12 hours ago, paranoidx said:

I hope this help, this is very rich art fundamental resources from Neil Blevin (Soulburn) and he translates it into CGI very well 

http://www.neilblevins.com/art_lessons/art_lessons.htm

Thank you! What was your approach to utilizing his lessons, did you isolate yourself to just a section? I only skimmed the page (I just logged onto my home computer for the first time today) and it seems immense! 

[flcc]

Maybe I didn't understand what you were looking for. But you talked about artist and composition. May be you need to be more specific about what your after.

If you want to do explosions, liquid simulations, or destructions , basically be a FX Artist,  no you don't really need to learn drawing and painting.
If you want to make great visual, yes drawing or painting help a lot. At least to acquire the notions that you lack, and eventually make sketch of what you want.

Look at these houdini artist :
Lukas Vojir et AlexaSirbu
https://www.instagram.com/alexa_sirbu/
https://www.instagram.com/lukasvojir/
Mikhail Sedov - https://www.behance.net/msedov
Joey Camacho - https://www.behance.net/rawandrendered
joshchilders - https://www.joshchilders.com/
Christoph Bader  - https://deskriptiv.com/

They do thing who really are well know houdini effects.
Why then do they make great visuals and you forget what they did it with ?
Because they have a strong artistic backround.

Composition and colour are two things that are easier to learn in 2D. Simply because you have to experiment a lot.
Composition is about the lines and masses of your final image, i.e. a 2D plane.
You can make drastic changes in a few seconds. In 3D you are well... in a 3D space !
Each modification will have to remain coherent in space, and that will take time.
By the time you've done one test in 3D, you'll be doing ten in 2D, which is why you'll learn.
I'm not saying that it's not possible, but that it's better to have a good notion before working directly in 3D.
The same goes for colour.
You don't need to be a good drawer. Just be able (even if you don't do it) to sketch what you want, in order to evolve comfortably in 3D.

 

Edited July 31, 2021 by flcc

[Kvothe]

17 hours ago, Dweeble said:

Great resources!

I've been reading Composition by Arthur Dow (it's free on Project Gutenberg) and the exercises are extremely accessible. It's mostly straight lines, brackets, repeating patterns etc. Totally manageable even if you can't draw. Pen and paper lets you iterate through design attempts like mad.

Thank you! I'll check it out for certain.

[Kvothe]

1 hour ago, flcc said:

Maybe I didn't understand what you were looking for. But you talked about artist and composition. May be you need to be more specific about what your after.

If you want to do explosions, liquid simulations, or destructions , basically be a FX Artist,  no you don't really need to learn drawing and painting.
If you want to make great visual, yes drawing or painting help a lot. At least to acquire the notions that you lack, and eventually make sketch of what you want.

Look at these houdini artist :
Lukas Vojir et AlexaSirbu
https://www.instagram.com/alexa_sirbu/
https://www.instagram.com/lukasvojir/
Mikhail Sedov - https://www.behance.net/msedov
Joey Camacho - https://www.behance.net/rawandrendered
joshchilders - https://www.joshchilders.com/
Christoph Bader  - https://deskriptiv.com/

They do thing who really are well know houdini effects.
Why then do they make great visuals and you forget what they did it with ?
Because they have a strong artistic backround.

Composition and colour are two things that are easier to learn in 2D. Simply because you have to experiment a lot.
Composition is about the lines and masses of your final image, i.e. a 2D plane.
You can make drastic changes in a few seconds. In 3D you are well... in a 3D space !
Each modification will have to remain coherent in space, and that will take time.
By the time you've done one test in 3D, you'll be doing ten in 2D, which is why you'll learn.
I'm not saying that it's not possible, but that it's better to have a good notion before working directly in 3D.
The same goes for colour.
You don't need to be a good drawer. Just be able (even if you don't do it) to sketch what you want, in order to evolve comfortably in 3D.

 

You've been a great help, and I will examine all the resources you've referred me too. Exactly what I was looking for so thank you.

I suppose I'll have to at least feign competence in 2D, as it turns out. I went to the wrong type of post-graduate studies (not art), and I now feel inadequate. 

I have actually been studying some color theory, but it's quite abstract, so the references you've provided will be invaluable to me, thank you! There's quite a bit for me to study, hopefully it's something I can do on my own. 

[flcc]

1 hour ago, Kvothe said:

I have actually been studying some color theory, but it's quite abstract

Yes color theory... Good to know, but don't really help.
it's like with music, you can find lesson to learn an Instrument, learn orchestration rules, solfege, but no one can teach you how to find a nice melodie or write a nice song.
Color is a bit like melodies.
The rule here is personnal culture. Look at a maximum of artistes digital or classics. Find the ones you like, try to reproduce some piece you like. Build a sort of "internal" personnal library. The bigger it is, the more you can get out of it.

Another analogy is Quentin Tarentino, He never went to film school, but he had a huge, huge film culture, Look at the result.
There's no one way to learn.

Edited July 31, 2021 by flcc

[paranoidx]

On 31/07/2021 at 3:31 AM, Kvothe said:

Thank you! What was your approach to utilizing his lessons, did you isolate yourself to just a section? I only skimmed the page (I just logged onto my home computer for the first time today) and it seems immense! 

You have to begun start study and you will reply that question by your self slowly in time.