Design and Art Tutorials

We will begin this course by learning about the role of a concept artist and how that role fits into the production pipeline. Next, we will learn about the game design document and then use it to determine which assets concept art is needed. From there, we’ll move on and learn about designing a level for our game from the ground up by planning out its overhead layout. Next, we will learn how to visualize this layout by creating concept sketches. Lastly, we will shift our attention to painting the concept art, focusing on rendering out our composition, planning for and painting the light sources, and then rendering out organic material to line the walls of our level. After going through this course, you will gain a better understanding as to why decisions are made during the process of creating concept art. You will also learn the basic steps involved in visualizing an idea for a level in a piece of artwork.

We’ll get started by learning about a few things that should be considered for every character we design. Here we will discuss the importance of things like character intent, character back story as well as references. Once our direction has been established, we’ll jump in and spend some time doing concept sketches. After our initial character design has been settled upon, we will move on and begin exploring our character by rendering them in different poses. To wrap the tutorial up, we’ll learn about techniques that can be used to create inked line-work as well as cell shaded color for our character. After completing this tutorial, you’ll be familiar with a workflow that can be used to develop stylized characters in Photoshop.

Texture and surface detail is one area that is often overlooked by digital painters. By strategically implementing texture in your digital paintings, you can not only raise the quality of the image but also the level of realism. With this course we’ll get started by diving into Photoshop’s brushes. We’ll learn how we can create and configure our own custom brushes to paint texture. From here we’ll learn how to create our own patterns and several of the areas where these patterns can be utilized. Next we’ll look at some ways that we can bring images into our paintings, layering them over areas to create texture with the help of blend modes. Finally, we’ll learn a few methods of making our two dimensional textures appear to wrap around the three dimensional forms of our painting. After completing this course, you’ll be well equipped to begin experimenting with texture in your own digital paintings.

We’ll get started by taking a look at similarities between human anatomy and animal anatomy. From there we’ll learn the critical areas to look for in any animal and learn how to simplify and draw them in a two dimensional profile view. Next, we begin taking steps towards drawing our own three dimensional animals by learning how we can incorporate gesture drawing as well as action and rhythm. Finally, we’ll begin applying these simple principles by planning out and drawing an animal of our own. After completing this course, you will have all the tools you need to be able to look at an animal and then begin realistically rendering it.

We’ll start off by covering how to create and save new documents as well as how we can navigate around inside them. We'll then take a look at two of the most basic tools for digital painting being the brush tool and eraser tool so you begin creating artwork right away. After that, you’ll learn about several other features such as layers, selections and masks that will add a new dimension to your digital painting experience. And to wrap up this project, we'll go over one possible workflow for painting a digital image.

To get things started we will learn about an alternate workflow in digital painting which separates value decisions from color decisions. Using this workflow we will first learn how to apply a quick base color to our value study using color layers. Initially the colors we choose will be simple and based on a neutrally lit environment however over the course of the next few lessons we will learn how to bring in two different colored light sources to illuminate our subject. Throughout this process we will learn how the color of each light changes based on the area it is illuminating. Along the way we’ll also learn some tips for using various blend modes as well as incorporating textures into our image. After finishing completing this course, you will have a good understanding of how multiple colored light sources work together to influence how we see color.

We will begin by taking a quick tour around the user interface learning the location of important tools and panels. Next, we will learn how we can create and manage layers in Photoshop. From here we will dive into some of the most commonly used tools for digital painting, learning where they are and how they work. After spending some time learning how to select and store colors, we will jump right into setting up a composition with a sketch where we will discover the difference between resizing and resampling our artwork. Next we will take a glimpse into the painting process by first blocking in some color and then blending it together. Along the way, we will learn how to create custom brushes and patterns as well as how we can utilize these to paint textures. We will wrap things up by learning about layer masks and what we can be on the look out for to make our textures more believable.

We will start off by covering some typographic software similarities between Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. We will then take a moment to learn some terminology and basic letterform anatomy. After that, you will learn how and why to adjust the spacing between both letters and lines of type. And to wrap up this project, we will look into some paragraph formatting options available to us in all three applications. This series of step-by-step videos were developed with artists new to typographic principles in mind so we will be moving at a steady, easy-to-follow pace making sure you understand terms and basic techniques.

We will get started by examining our concept sketch and looking at the best way to build our logo. Because our logo features an interlocking puzzle pattern we will focus first on the best way to go about building this portion of the graphic. In doing this, we will learn how to use some really great tools for building custom shapes, including the Illustrator shape builder tool as well as the pathfinder panel. From here, we will shift our focus to the type in our logo by integrating a letterform into the center of our graphic. Not only will we learn how to execute this but also why the target typeface was chosen. To wrap things up we will prepare our logo for presentation by adding color and utilizing it several different scenarios. After finishing this course, you will have a good understanding the mechanics that go into constructing a logo in Adobe Illustrator.

We will begin this process by bringing in a vector logo and examining some of the photo assets we will be using in our composition. For this project, we will not be drawing much but we will prove that it is still possible to create a compelling design. Throughout this course, we will be using a variety of the tools that Photoshop puts at our disposal including layer masks, adjustment layers as well as vectors to create our poster. We will even learn the more complex process of creating a halftone screen out of portions of an image and integrating it into our design. To wrap things up, we will add some visual appeal to the poster by creating a distressed paper texture. After completing this course, you will have a good feel for several of the commonly used tools and techniques in adobe photoshop.

We will start off by covering resizing and re-sampling images. We will then take a look at correcting the color and tone of an image so you begin learning non-destructive ways of doing both. After that, you will learn to make specific pixel selections. And to wrap up this project, we will go over how to remove unwanted information from our images. This series of step-by-step videos were developed with artists new to Photoshop in mind so we will be moving at a steady, easy-to-follow pace making sure you understand terms and basic techniques.

We will get started by learning what an anchored object is and why they are useful. From there we will learn about each of the three types of anchored objects. These are inline, above line and custom positioned anchored objects. Once we understand how to use each of these types of anchored objects we will begin learning how to incorporate both object styles and paragraph styles into an anchored object workflow. Along the way, we will also learn some techniques that will save us time when working with anchored objects. For example how to setup a keyboard shortcut to insert empty inline anchored object frames as well as how to work with custom positioned anchored objects and text wraps. One thing to keep in mind is that these lessons are going to be geared toward viewers who have already completed our Introduction to Paragraph and Character Styles course as well as our Introduction to Object Styles course.

We will get started by taking a peek into the printing process and learning how to setup our document for this type of printing. Here we will also learn about final print resolution as well as specifics for our bleed area. From there, we will move into creating our artwork. Now throughout this process not only will we learn about several valuable tools and techniques in Photoshop, but we will also learn things like how to choose the most effective colors for our design as well as how large should our type be for maximum clarity. After completing this course, you will have all the knowledge you need to dive right in and begin creating effective artwork for this out of home medium.

We will get started by examining each individual shape to see which character features could be associated with the different areas of the shape. Next we will lay a foundation of quick, loose, pencil-like line work, flushing out some of the details of our character. During this phase, we will learn a variety of different ways to draw the features and forms that relate to male characters. From there we will refine our line work with more confident inked lines. Finally we will look at a quick method of applying color in the form of cell shading to our character concepts. After completing this course, you will be better equipped to creatively pull character concepts out of a simple shape.

We will begin this process by learning how to use the refine mask features in Photoshop to successfully extract a our model from her background. Next we will walk through recreating the environment for our model as well as grounding her into it. From there, we will shift our focus to the typography on our cover, looking to create a sense of movement that compliments the pose of our model. After completing the background elements in our composition, we will work on color correction to help our model fit better into the scene and give her more of a vintage look. Next, we will learn how to paint stylized flames that will highlight the movements of our model. Finally, we will shift our focus to lighting and really add that last bit of polish that makes our piece shine. After completing this course, you will have an understanding of the tools, techniques and workflows that go into creating a professional magazine cover.

We'll get started by learning what a grid is and why it's important to layout based designs. From there we'll break down a grid into it's basic components and learn what each one does. Next we'll begin learning about the four basic types of grid and what type of project they are best suited for. We'll wrap things up by learning how and why it is sometimes best to compound one grid inside another.

We'll begin the process with basic lines and simple shapes as we develop both the pose and anatomy for our character. We'll gradually refine this detail as we begin to think about his wardrobe, accessories and other details. After we finish our character sketch, we'll begin preparing it for color by refining our line work, masking off our painting area and discussing a few custom brushes. We'll then begin painting our character starting with the mid-tones and then moving into the shadows. To wrap things up we'll explore applying textures to various parts of the character as well as highlights.

We'll begin this process by taking some time to learn how to enable and configure our perspective grid. Next we'll learn some basic workflows for creating artwork with perspective and transforming objects in perspective. Once we are familiar with this process, we'll dive in and begin drawing our skyscraper concept based on a simple orthographic drawing. Throughout this process we'll learn how to precisely control the placement of perspective objects. We'll learn how to apply perspective to objects that don't fit on a perspective plane and we'll learn how to use several time saving features such as automatic plane positioning. After working through this series of lesson, you will have a good understanding of how perspective drawing in Illustrator works.

We'll begin this process by learning what an object style is then move on to some basic functionality including creating, applying, and editing our styles. Once we have a good understanding of object style basics, we'll focus on more advanced functionality such as integration of paragraph styles into object styles & creating parent child relationships between object styles. We'll wrap things up by learning how to apply effects to the different parts of an object using an object style. A word of caution though. It is highly recommended that you have a already completed our Introduction to Paragraph Styles and Character Styles course before working through this one. After completing these lessons, you'll have a good understanding of how to add object styles into your workflow to quickly and efficiently control the formatting of both text and graphic based objects.

We'll begin this process by learning exactly what table and cell styles are as well as where we can manage them. Next, we'll begin recreating a table using a workflow that considers both type of styles. First, we'll create a table style that controls table specific attributes. Then we'll focus on creating individual cell styles that control the attributes of various cells within the table. Along the way, we'll learn more advanced workflows such as calling a paragraph style through a cell style and creating parent/child relationships through our styles. A word of warning, it is highly recommended that you have a good grasp over paragraph styles, character styles and table creation basics before going through this course. After finishing these lessons, you'll have a good grasp over a workflow that integrates both table and cell styles and makes creating multiple tables a snap.

We'll begin by breaking down the structure of a table and learning how to navigate and select it's different parts. Next we'll learn how to create a table both from scratch as well as from data created in Microsoft word or excel. From there we'll learn about headers and footers then move on to the different types of content we can place into a table. We'll wrap things up by learning how to edit the structure of a table and how to control both the stroke and fill attributes for various parts of the table. After going through this course, you'll have a good understanding of how to build and customize tables in InDesign.

We'll get started by examining each individual shape to see which character features could be associated with the different areas of the shape. Next we'll lay a foundation of quick, loose, pencil-like line work, flushing out some of the details of our character. During this phase, we will learn a variety of different ways to draw the features and forms that relate to a alien type characters. From there we will refine our line work with more confident inked lines. Finally we'll look at a quick method of applying color in the form of cell shading to our character concepts.

We'll get started by learning how we can quickly generate several rough ideas for our character concept using simple silhouettes. From there, we'll choose our favorite silhouette and begin drawing the rough line work of our character. Once we've finished, we'll begin refining and cleaning up the line work to prepare it for color. Next, we'll learn one method of painting color values onto our character and blending them to create the illusion of a 3 dimensional image. Finally, we'll walk through the storyboarding of a short animated sequence for our character. After completing this course, you will have a good idea of how to create and develop a character for animation. You'll also understand how to go about storyboarding out an animated sequence for a character.

Let's dive right in and get started by revealing the power of Illustrator's Appearance Panel, and then take a look at how Smart Guides can simplify precision placement of our objects. We'll also learn about available brushes in the Brush Panel and look at some techniques for creating stylized flourishes using these brushes. Next, we'll learn how we can work more efficiently by integrating symbols into our workflow. We'll also take a look at some of the powerful new tools in Illustrator CS5 such as the width tool, the shape builder tool and drawing modes. We'll wrap things up by learning about blends and advanced masking using Opacity Masks. After completing this course, you'll be better equipped to tackle virtually any Illustrator project.

We'll get started by examining each individual shape to see which character features could be associated to the different areas of the shape. Next we'll lay a foundation of quick, loose, pencil-like line work, flushing out some of the details of our character. During this phase, we will learn a variety of different ways to draw the features and forms that relate to a stylized female character. From there we will refine our line work with more confident inked lines. Finally we'll look at a quick method of applying color in the form of cell shading to our character concepts.

We'll start by quickly exploring both the initial sketched idea and the final vector outcome of our logo. From there, we'll proceed to build a gear out of some simple shapes that we can duplicate throughout our logo. Next, we'll begin positioning the key elements of our logo and use the live trace feature within Illustrator to convert raster artwork to vector for use in the logo. We'll move on and add both secondary type and color to the logo then finish up by fine tuning all the elements within the design.

We'll begin by learning about two popular packaging designs for CDs. After learning a little about our client, we'll begin designing the front cover of a CD insert in Photoshop. While working on the front cover, we'll learn how we can incorporate various other elements into our design, including a vector logo and textures. Next, we'll move on and begin to create the back cover of our insert, taking into account the lyrics that will appear on top of it. Finally, we'll move over to InDesign to create the layout of our insert. Here we'll learn about several features, including paragraph styles and character styles that will make the process of completing our design more efficient.

We'll begin by quickly exploring both the initial sketched idea and the final outcome of our logo. From there, we'll use Illustrator's live trace feature to convert raster artwork to vector for use in the logo. Next, we'll build a wave pattern that begins on our surfer's board and transitions into a baseline for our logo's type. We'll move on from there and begin working with the type for our logo by customizing a problematic character. We'll complete our design by adding stylized curls to the wave pattern and then color to our logo.

We'll begin this course by learning how we can place our character sketch into Illustrator and use it as a template. Next, we'll begin to create a silhouette of our character by isolating and drawing in basic shape areas. From there, we'll learn how we can use Illustrator's pathfinder panel and these basic shape areas to create the smaller shapes that make up the details of our character. We'll then learn how we can clean up our document and eliminate some of the unnecessary anchor points that have been created. Next, we'll establish a light source and use Illustrator's gradient tools to create both shadows and highlights. Finally, we'll complete our character by adding in a few smaller details as well as clean up our silhouette.

We'll begin by learning about a few important things to keep in mind when beginning to design a character. We'll also take a look at some rough sketches that were done exploring some different ideas for our creature. Next, we'll begin drawing some rough line work, and explore the basic forms and details for this character. After building some nice detail into the initial line work, we'll refine the creature by tracing over our rough lines on a new layer. Next, we'll dive right into painting our creature, beginning with basic flat colors and then moving on to shadows and highlights. Finally, we'll flush out some nice details for our creature that will give it that added bit of visual appeal.

We'll begin by learning about the steps in the design process that lead up to building our logo. These steps include getting to know a little bit about our client, then gathering some research and reference materials for the project. Next, we'll discuss outputting our ideas in the form of quick thumbnails and sketches. From there start to build our logo by looking at a couple different ways that we can create inked line work for our character. We'll then send this line work over to illustrator and convert it into a usable vector format. Next, we'll arrange all of the elements of our composition creating a relationship between them. We'll then begin adding color to our design spending a good deal of time adding shadows and highlights to our character. Finally, we'll fine tune the logo by adjusting some potential problems areas before presenting it to our client.

We'll begin by learning about three different groups of color that, together make up the twelve segments of our basic color wheel. From there we'll talk about how these twelve segments can change using tints, shades, and tones. We'll then discuss color temperature followed by some basic rules for creating colors that harmonize. Next, we'll learn about the psychology behind color. Then we'll explore some of the tools within Photoshop for working with color. Finally we'll walk through a process that will help guide us in making great color selections on a real world project. Using the techniques discussed here, you'll gain a better understanding of how color works. You'll also be better equipped to make informed color decisions on your own projects.

We'll begin by learning about a few basic types of shape and some ways that we can incorporate them into our own work. Then, we'll explore some methods of modifying basic shapes to create a more advanced and focused form. Next we'll learn about line and how it can be used as either a divider or a border element within a composition. From there we'll move on and learn about a few basic types of image, including photographs, illustrations and background imagery. Finally, we'll learn about using type as a design element that can contribute to the overall communication of a design.

We'll kick things off by breaking down letterforms and learning about their different components. We'll then learn the difference between a typeface, a typestyle and a type family. Next we'll unravel the mystery of how type is measured through points and picas. Then we'll move on and learn about line spacing, letter spacing and word spacing. From there, we'll learn about working with large bodies of type and discuss different methods of alignment. Finally, we'll learn about the process of choosing and using a typeface.

We'll begin by learning about composition and how every design element works together inside a composition. From there, we'll learn about both symmetrical and asymmetrical balance and discuss some basic rules of thumb for dividing space within a composition. Next we'll learn about establishing a focal point within a design by creating emphasis. Then, we'll learn about rhythm and how it affects the flow of our work. We'll move on from there and talk about unifying a composition using grouping, harmony and alignment. Finally, we'll learn about the importance of creating areas of contrast within a design.

First, we'll start out by learning some of the basic concepts and techniques that work together to create a sense of depth in an image. From there we'll discuss foreshortening and why objects look different when we look at them from different viewing angles. Next we'll learn about some of the basic tools used to construct a scene in linear perspective. Then we'll break down 3 different types of linear perspective and how to work with each. Finally, we'll discuss how to draw ellipses and cylinders in perspective. Using the techniques discussed here, you'll have a better understanding on how perspective works and be equipped with everything you need to create the illusion of depth in your drawings.