Tutorial 1: traditional media + Photoshop

Ok, so here it is, the first tutorial, in Polish, focusing on traditional media and Photoshop. The tutorial has step-by-step files included.

Tutorial 1 (in Polish): click here to download (~4.8 mb)

Digart of the day

Polish website about art DigArt (sort of like DeviantArt) made one of my older images, 'Battlefield 2073' (looks familar, huh? ;)), their DigArt of the Day. Nice :) BTW, if you want to know more about the process I used for this particular concept, have a look at ImagineFX Magazine, issue #69 (May 2011). There is a tutorial there + some custom brushes I used.

Thyn 3D matte - WIP 6

Continuing - I modified the composition a bit by adding a bridge on the right. The city will be partially under construction and more mine will be visible at the bottom.

The Ministry - WIP 1

Along with Thyn, I'm preparing another matte, slightly more futuristic, in a spirit of 'Equilibrium'. This time it's based on a real plate, a photo I took in Shanghai. Here's the first stage - blocking some buildings and establishing general mood.

Thyn 3D matte - WIP 5

City model is textured and ready for some serious matte painting. I decided to do one big matte with only subtle 3D projection, showing the city from the its mountain side, like below. The wide camera move from the previous posts will be rendered additionally, as a form of pre-viz. I want the matte to be hi-res and full of details and for the camera circulating like that that would require additional weeks of work, which I don't really have.

Green house laboratory - new concept

Here's one of the concepts that will be used in the first tutorial I mentioned. Made on a base of a pen and marker sketch.

Thyn 3D matte - WIP 4

Here's another WIP for my Thyn matte. As you can see, UV-ing is pretty much done, now it's time to paint those textures in and than finally move onto the matte projections.

Tutorials coming up

As I like to keep myself busy, while working slowly (but surely) on the matte shots for the demo reel, I'm preparing a couple of tutorials presenting some of my techniques.

Tutorial 1 will cover the use of traditional media with Photoshop coloring and will be illustrated with two examples, one interior and one exterior, from start to finish.

Tutorial 2 will show how you can mix a number of 2D and 3D applications together in order to create a realistic production painting.

The first tutorial should be available within a week, so don't forget to drop by. Each part will be available as a neat PDF document, maybe I'll throw in some project files as well.

Thyn 3D matte - WIP 3

Here's another WIP. Since the camera move is very wide and revealing, I decided to create a base texture for the architecture in a traditional way, by procedural textures (for small objects) and by UV and texture maps for buildings and walls. Once the base is on, matte painting will be used to add variety and details to the whole city. On the screenshot above, you can see all surfaces with assigned separate shaders, quite colorful and "modern art"-like but no worries, soon it will look photoreal. Part of the BG is already in place.

Thyn 3D matte - WIP 2

Here's the second WIP. I modified the camera move, focusing more on the city and slowing down the speed (it still needs some tweaking), so it wouldn't look like a miniature. I also added hand-held shakes tracked from real-life footage in Boujou, so it's a bit more realistic. Here's a finished 3D model of the scene, ready for projections. Palm trees and bushes are cards, smokes from chimneys and factory/mine are done with particles and sprites.

Thyn 3D matte - WIP 1

Ok, time for the first WIP.

The matte will be an establishing shot of Thyn, a fantasy-like city with a castle built partially into a cliff (actually, a place from one of my own pen-and-paper RPGs I wrote years ago). In general, desert/rock environment, in a mood of "Prince of Persia" or "Scorpion King". Final shot will be a 3D matte with multiple projections to cover long camera move - it will fly over the desert and circulate a bit around the city. The whole animation will be about 16 seconds, so quite long and quite a bit of work :) Additionally, some effects will be added like smoke from various chimneys and some movement (caravan approaching city gates, cranes on the city wall). The final comp will have, of course, things like moving clouds, sun rays and other stuff.

OK, enough for the intro. Here's a first rough scene blockout and camera movement.

Here some simple city buildings that will be multiplied and create base for city projection. They will have procedural shader applied that will serve as a starting point for the matte.

Demo reel time to prepare

Finally, I decided to put my stuff together and prepare a decent matte painting demo reel, since an empty link on my website is kinda annoying. I have most of the reel done, actually, but still need a couple of new, sophisticated shots. So, the next few weeks will be devoted to these two environments and their development. I'll make sure to post here the progress and some tips&tricks regarding matte painting and 3D projections.

For now, all I can say is that the first shot will be a long establishing shot of a fantasy fortress/city, with multiple projections, loads of details and the camera circulating around, showing the whole impressive (hopefully) vista. Second matte will be most likely live action shot (greenscreen), placed somewhere in the future. Will keep you posted.

Mecha rising

Here's a quick new piece. Since big robots/mechs/iron pants are somehow popular recently, I decided to throw in something of mine. This guy is tough and taking off one arm is not enough to stop him..

Today, the image has become "It's Art Mag"'s (http://www.itsartmag.com) front page Editor's Pick. Thanks guys :)

EXPOSÉ 9... finally.

After 2 months of waiting and 2 shipments from Australia (the first one disappeared in a thin air), finally got my copy of EXPOSÉ 9 that features five of my artworks. Yay! We'll see if I can get there next time as well. Gotta try hard...

New blog (yeah, we've had that before)

Hi, there. My previous blog was seldom updated, I guess I was too lazy. It's time to change it. Here, apart from some finished artworks (that can be found in my official portfolio), I'm going to post various WIPs, sketches and quick designs, relevant news, artbook/movie reviews and perhaps some short tutorials. I'm not sure how often the blog will be updated and I don't want to make some false promises but I'll do my best (yeah, I know, that sounds lame).

Anyway, right now I'm working on a new portfolio, so a bunch of stuff will definitely appear soon. So, if you're ready for some 'behind-the-scenes' stuff, get ready. Cheers.