Digital Skin

-By Serge BiraultI think I have to speak about skin because I had a lot of questions about this. Here's a list of tricks to do paint more "realistic" skin with your computer ...I. Skin TonesAvoid simple gradients. You cannot obtain convincing skin if you only add black and white to a basic skin tone. It's more complex than that.Of course, all skins are different but you can try this :- A little bit of olive green on the shadow.- A little bit of blue...

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Sketchbook 2012 Shipping Out!

by Justin GerardSketchbook 2012: Ents & Orcs ships out today!   The first 50 are individually numbered and have a personal drawing in them.  #1 this year went to Dave from Kalamazoo, who managed to order in the first 15 seconds of it being live somehow. I believe that aliens were somehow involved. Dave isn't saying anything.  Either way, he will be getting a dragon. The sketches this year feature a lot of wizards,...

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Touching Up

by Donato This past week found me on vacation with the family (thus excuse the brevity of this post), but before that happened, I had four uninterrupted days in the studio.  Time which allowed me to put finishing touches on a major commission and luckily find rare hours with which I could revisit a handful of paintings which had been lying around the studio begging for a little love and care.  Why are there unfinished works around the studio?...

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Menzoberranzan

By Jesper EjsingThis is a cover I did a while back, that has just been released. The book is called Menzoberranzan - City of Intrigue, and is all about Drows. The assignment asked for a beautiful female drow, flying through her underground city.Here is what i think is super difficult about Drows: they have black skin and live underground! Which means you are actually painting a dark figure - since they also like to dress black and dark - in a poorly...

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Dragon Con

-By Dan dos SantosAUGUST 31 -  SEPTEMBER 3,  2012Dragon Con starts this Friday, and I am super honored to be this year's Artist Guest of Honor.Some of the AGoH's responsibilities include creating a custom piece of art for the program guide (which I will share with you all in a few days), giving various lectures and demos, and putting on an exhibit in the art show.Normally when I exhibit for a convention like Spectrum Live or IlluXcon, I...

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Is That a Pledge Pin On Your Uniform?

by Arnie FennerThe topics of art schools, higher education, degrees, and the price tag attached to them come up all the time. You have to go/you don't have to go. This school is great/that school sucks. They cost too much, they don't teach the fundamentals, the instructors are incompetent, they don't prepare students for a career that will pay a living wage, etc, etc, and etc.The complaints aren't always wrong, of course. These days a Bachelor's...

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ParaNorman Behind the Scenes

Ain't it Cool News did a great write up on the making of ParaNorman. The pictures are absolutely awesome! Read the article HERE, and check out some videos H...

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The Christmas Carol Collection

-By Tim BrucknerI’ve read Dickens A Christmas Carol nearly every year since my early teens. And as familiar as I am with the story, I still find it inspiring, revealing and reaffirming. It’s said that every generation gets the Christmas Carol they deserve. Looking over the many interpretations of this classic tale, I’m inclined to believe it’s true.I’d thought about doing a set of figures based on the book for years. The “how” has gone through as...

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