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The Gnomon Workshop Releases Six DVDs

The Gnomon Workshop offers four exceptional talents to its library of educational DVDs. Wendy Froud, an acclaimed artist who has worked on such films as LABYRINTH and THE DARK CRYSTAL, shares her techniques for sculpting a faery doll. David Krentz, a multitalented creature designer, discusses dinosaur anatomy and sketching. J.P. Targete, an award-winning book cover illustrator, demonstrates his entire process of developing a digital painting. Stephen Platt, a comicbook artist and concept designer, explains the art of comicbook penciling.

"This is a very exciting day for us," states Alex Alvarez, director of The Gnomon Workshop. "I've admired the work of these artists for many years, and we feel privileged to have the opportunity to bring these artist's techniques to students and professionals around the globe."

DVD Descriptions:

* DRAWING DINOSAURS: ANATOMY AND SKETCHINGWITH DAVID KRENTZ

In this DVD, Krentz conveys a strong understanding of dinosaur anatomy mixed with the sheer joy of giving life, personality and motion to these inspiring creatures. He covers a wide range of topics from skeletal structures and muscles, to range of motion and the essential gestures of various body types. He focuses on capturing these elements in the form of quick sketches of both herbivorous and carnivorous dinosaurs.

* CREATING A FAERY FIGURE WITH WENDY FROUD

In this two-disc DVD workshop, Froud explains and demonstrates how to create a faery figure. She begins with a guided visualization to help you access your imagination for unique designs. Wendy then shows how to properly build the armature and prepare the polymer clay, anticipating the various problems that may occur further into the process. From there, she sculpts the head, upper torso, hands and feet, determining the figure's proportions and gesture and explaining how to quickly add facial details with an array of tools. Next, she shows how to fabricate the body and she shares her process for choosing materials for the costume and hair. Finally, she demonstrates painting, assembling the costume, creating the wings and adding hair, all while considering how to give the faery a personality of its own.

* COMIC BOOK PENCILLING WITH STEPHEN PLATT FROM THUMBNAILS TO FINISHED PENCILS

In this DVD, Platt covers how to create a fully penciled page from beginning to end. He begins with exploration in the thumbnail stage and enlarges the chosen rough thumbnail using a photocopier and lightbox. During the course of the demo, he shows how he indicates change in form, graduated shadows, texture and mass, all while maintaining a dramatic graphic expression. In addition, he discusses industry conventions as well as advice on portfolios and earning a living in professional comics.

* IMAGINATIVE ILLUSTRATION WITH J.P. TARGETE VOLUME 1THUMBNAILING AND FINAL COLOR SKETCH

In his first of three DVDs, Targete takes you on a creative and technical journey showing you how he begins a fantasy illustration, "Dark Riders," purely from imagination. He covers the early stages of his process, from the initial idea to thumbnails, concept design and the final color sketch. He also discusses how character personality, costumes, weapons and action poses affect the narrative of the final illustration. You will learn the creative process of composing your thumbnails, and how to use segments of your designs for future reference, as you get closer to the final dynamic illustration. Over the course of the lecture, he covers the uses of traditional media like markers, acrylic and oil paints, discussing the advantages of each.

* IMAGINATIVE ILLUSTRATION WITH J.P. TARGETE VOLUME 2TONAL UNDERPAINTING AND DETAILING

In this second of three DVDs, Targete takes you through the crucial middle-step of creating a black and white tonal underpainting. He discusses his techniques in detail while emphasizing composition, value and lighting. You will learn how he uses Adobe Photoshop's painting and transformation tools to quickly detail his backgrounds with texture and pre-made original imagery. He also shows how visually embellishing the characters and scene will help with the final color painting. Through this lecture you will get an insight into his thought process as he journeys further into the world of the DARK RIDERS and continues to develop the characters, creatures and story in the illustration.

* IMAGINATIVE ILLUSTRATION WITH J.P. TARGETE VOLUME 3THE FINAL COLOR ILLUSTRATION

In this third and final DVD of the series, Targete discusses the color painting techniques he uses to finish an illustration. Sit back and let Targete be your guide as you learn how he colors and details an illustration using Adobe Photoshop. He covers color palette along with color lighting, color glazing and value. He also discusses how he uses his original color sketch to help with the final color painting. Watch and learn how he paints fully detailed foreground characters from start to finish. Throughout the DVD, he explores materials, texture and atmosphere, as well as ideas on creativity and realism. In this lecture you will get an insight into his thought process as he completes the DARK RIDERS illustration.

Since 2000, The Gnomon Workshop (www.thegnomonworkshop.com) has provided artists and students with the educational resources they need to succeed as artists in the entertainment industries. Whether they're interested in design, modeling, effects, animation, storytelling or matte painting, these DVDs provide a valuable educational resource for students around the world. The Gnomon Workshop is the sister company of The Gnomon School of Visual Effects, which provides professional caliber visual effects instruction to students and professionals in Los Angeles, California.

Design Studio Press (www.designstudiopress.com) is a specialty publisher that focuses primarily on original artistic works and educational books.

Bill Desowitz's picture

Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.

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