Gnomon Workshop to Release Four Mead Concept Design DVDs
The Gnomon Workshop, in conjunction with Design Studio Press, will release four new DVDs from Concept Design legend Syd Mead on Nov. 15, 2004, priced at $69. This invaluable addition gives artists and art enthusiasts their first opportunity to see behind the process of this concept design master, whose work span four decades and have appeared in TRON, BLADE RUNNER and 2010.
*THE TECHNIQUES OF SYD MEAD VOLUME 1: THUMBNAIL SKETCHING AND LINE DRAWINGS: Meads first DVD introduces the student to the principles of creating thumbnail sketches and subsequent line drawings in the process of creating a successful composition. Topics illustrated include establishing value using only shades of black, and then using those shades to identify levels of detail in the composition, including vehicles, architecture, people and foliage. He guides the viewer through the process of choosing appropriate camera angles, and determining the geometry of the image. Mead goes through the process of defining proportion, the horizon line, the vanishing point, perspective and the ground plane, resulting in a series of sketches ready for further development.
* THE TECHNIQUES OF SYD MEAD VOLUME 2: VALUE SKETCHING:This lesson introduces the viewer to the process of creating the Value Preliminary. Using a series of grey to black markers, Mead shows you how to illustrate your image once you've determined the picture composition and sketch views. He guides the artist through a step-by-step process of choosing the best view and, using only a series of nine grey markers, he shows how to create a value system for your illustration, explaining that the more you establish your value range at this stage, the more you ensure the visual sense of your final picture. Using felt tip markers of varying values, Mead guides the user through the process of creating detail, blocking shadows, indicating highlights and defining the detail on the Value Preliminary.
* THE TECHNIQUES OF SYD MEAD VOLUME 3: CREATING THE COLOR PRELIMINARY:Using a prepared line drawing, Mead guides the artist through the physical creation of a gouache miniature color preliminary of the scene. He details how this part of the process helps the artist experiment, determine his color needs and show the client a good representation of the final product before producing the larger illustration. Mead shows the viewer how to prepare cold press finish board, mix paint samples and create a custom color palette in preparation for completing the final rendering.
* THE TECHNIQUES OF SYD MEAD VOLUME 4: FINAL GOUACHE RENDERING: Starting with a piece of blank cold press illustration board, Mead takes the viewer through the process of creating the final gouache rendering of his initial composition. He talks about how to create and prepare a transfer sheet in order to trace down and block in the original line drawing. Once the illustration is transferred, Mead uses the color preliminary as a guide and demonstrates how to use the pre-mixed custom color palette to add detail to the illustration one area at a time. Using this method, he adds detail from background to foreground, retracing at each stage, re-establishing detail areas and completing the illustration.
Meads career has taken him from product design to films, where he has also designed for STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, ALIENS, SHORT CIRCUIT, TIME COP and STRANGE DAYS. This prolific designer created the interior of a 747 airplane, a yacht, a harbor in Kobe and a ship. He is the author of numerous books of his work and has spoken about his career to rapt audiences all over the world. Mead (www.sydmead.com) recently completed work on the new TRON 2.0 game.
Alex Alvarez, founder and director of The Gnomon Workshop, said, Syd Meads DVDs give artists a whole new way to learn techniques from this master concept artist. This series takes the Gnomon Workshop to a new level; we continue to bring the best possible art education to students all over the world.
Founded in 2000, The Gnomon Workshop (www. thegnomonworkshop.com) produces art-training DVDs for the visual industries. Created by professional artists who work in all areas of the visual effects industry, including many of our favorite films, games, product design and fine art, these DVDs give artists the real information they need to succeed in the visual arts industry. With titles in both digital and traditional disciplines, the Gnomon Workshop catalogue covers everything from robots to cars, to creatures and environments.