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Super Summer Character Art Boot Camp!

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JacqueChoi
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JacqueChoi polycounter
Super Summer Character Art Boot Camp!
“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
― Ira Glass

Are you a highly dedicated student amateur artist looking for something to maybe push you through to that ‘next level’?

The idea behind this boot camp is not to focus on helping you make 1 character over the summer. It’s to get you to churn out quite a few low-poly/hand-painted assets per week, with rapid iterations. This is to help you quickly identify your fundamental weak points, and then REALLY help you smooth over them through repetition.

I would equate this method to taking life drawing classes:
When you draw a 2 hour pose, the skill you’re primarily working with is simply refining your ability to render/finish. But if you were to do 60 x 2min drawings, then you would work on such elements as proportions, posing/weight, negative space, energy, line quality, Contra Posta, lighting, and pretty much ALL of the actual fundamentals of drawing.

That’s the basis of what we’d like to cover. Virtually every sticking point you come across, from proper modelling of joints, tightly packing UVs, skinning, to the much more ‘refined aspects’ such as pixel painting, material differentiation, brush strokes, and various lighting schematics.
The emphasis of the class will be highly based on ‘theoretical skill’, and you will be expected to already have a pretty solid understanding of the software, and pipelines.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhxcFGuKOys"]Why You Need to Fail - by Derek Sivers - YouTube[/ame]

The Class Structure:
I’ll try my best to run the ‘day-to-day’ type coaching with each student, giving them assistance with reference searching, techniques, and overall guidance on each step of their assignments.

The workshop classes will be run in a joint Skype Chat, and we’ll be able to give feedback when we can, and you will be able to refer to the designated TA’s for any additional help. We will be requiring to see MANY screenshots, so we can iterate on every step of your process.

The goal for everyone is to get these students to be able to make models that can fit in any of the best games in the world. Once the class completes we’ll throw up a culmination of all the results and progress of each artist, with a collection of all the critiques that lead to their improvement.



The Illustrious Art Panel:
These guys are some of the best artists I know. They’ve volunteered to give weekly critiques, and really help polish your skills. They will help critique any particular area of your process and let you know which specific details workflows, could really help push your work forward.

Ben Regimbal - B1ll – http://www.benregimbal.com
Vadim Bakhlychev – Slipgatecentral/Molotov – http://slipgatecentral.deviantart.com
Hai Phan - Haikai – http://www.haikai.net
Tamara Bakhlycheva – Firstkeeper – http://firstkeeper.deviantart.com
Jonathan Fletcher – Jfletcher – http://www.artpanda.co.uk/
Steffen Unger – Neox – http://www.steffenunger.com
Brian Jones - Bobo_the_seal - http://www.bobotheseal.com
Josh Singh - http://www.joshsingh.net/
Jacque Choi – http://www.jacquechoi.com
Del Walker – Del - http://www.drawingyourdreams.com/
Ben Matthis – poopinmymouth – http://www.poopinmymouth.com
Jesse Sosa – Skankerzero - http://skankerzero.com/
Brian Parnell - Parnell - [url] http://subshape.com[/url]
Tyson Murphy - Murph - http://tysonmurphyart.blogspot.ca/

Who We'll Need:
We will need highly motivated 10 students willing and capable of putting over 40+ hard hours a week.

You will need to have the time and energy to dedicate yourselves to this, and prove that you have a high capacity to respond positively to feedback (Possibly need a reputable Polycounter to vouch for your attitude).

We need a varying level of skills in the class. We want you guys to help each other out, show each other new things, and maybe bring along the ones who are struggling with things you know.
Must have solid knowledge of:
- Adobe Photoshop
- 3DS Max or Maya.
- Have a Skype Account and join our Class Chat





As expected there will be REALLY limited spots available, so let us know if this is something you want to be a part of.



Drop your name in this thread, and post your portfolios, or PM me.

More than natural talent and raw ability, we want to get guys that have a LOT of drive, motivation, and time. It certainly wouldn't hurt to have a reputable Polycounter or 2 vouch for you.


Tentative start date will be May 14th.
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