The Gnomon Workshop has six new DVDs touting the concept design work of Mark Goerner and Neville Page in conjunction with Design Studio Press. Goerner's two titles illustrate sketching and rendering interior spaces; and Neville Page's four DVDs take you through character design, painting and detailed techniques for rendering eyes and flesh.
Alex Alvarez, founder of The Gnomon Workshop and the Gnomon School of Visual Effects, says, "These new DVDsfurther stress The Gnomon Workshop's commitment to having truly accomplished designers share their techniques. Mark Goerner has worked for everyone from BMW/Designworks to Rhythm & Hues, and has been designing architectural spaces for such films as MINORITY REPORT and X-MEN 2. Neville Page has spent his career moving between creature design, engineering, sculpture and concept design, with clients ranging from Universal Studios, Warner Bros, Mattel and BMW. He's currently working on THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE. Adding these artists to the Gnomon Workshop catalog further strengthens the library we can offer to artists and students everywhere."
"Neville Page and Mark Goerner's DVDs enable us to show more artists and art students how concept designers work every day," adds Scott Robertson of Design Studio Press. "Mark's two titles illustrate the entire process of building an interior space, from the initial thumbnails to the final, rendered illustration. On the other hand, Neville's four titles show you how to create a character from the very rough beginnings to a completely rendered final, including creating totally believable eyes, and uncannily realistic skin."
Gnomon Workshop DVDs are priced at $69 and can be purchased online at www.thegnomonworkshop.com. Academic pricing is available. Each title includes 120 minutes of instruction, lecture notes and bonus material.
DVD Descriptions:
* THE TECHNIQUES OF MARK GOERNER 1: SKETCHING INTERIOR SPACESThis is Goerner's first in a series demonstrating the step-by-step development of interior spaces. The lecture takes the viewer from thumbnail sketching through the creation of shaded and detailed marker sketches. Goerner shows you this process of striking a rough composition using the basic principals of one, two and three-point perspective, compositional massing and indication. Using traditional media of pen and marker, Mark explores issues of scale, design ideation, lighting, value staging and ornamentation.
* THE TECHNIQUES OF MARK GOERNER 2: RENDERING INTERIOR SPACESThis is Goerner's second disc in a series demonstrating the step-by-step development of interior spaces. Picking up where his previous DVD SKETCHING INTERIOR SPACES left off, this lecture takes the marker sketch into Adobe Photoshop to create a full color digital painting. Goerner takes you through his use of photo reference and perspective grids, as well as his process of developing a color palette by establishing hues and values for focus. He also covers Issues of building a believable atmosphere, explores design using layers; demonstrates techniques of cut, copy and paste to generate repeated design elements and patterns; and shows how to plot reflections.
* THE TECHNIQUES OF NEVILLE PAGE 1: CHARACTER DESIGN -- FANTASY WILDEBEESTPage breaks down the development of character design and drawing into a systematic process that is easy to follow and easy to implement. He starts off with a very free form approach utilizing black/white thumbnails to create strong silhouettes. This also helps to take the edge off of the potential intimidation at the start of a project. Page shows you how to create plausible anatomy, form delineation via simple primitive shape studies and surface detailing such as skin, wrinkles, hair and graphics.
* THE TECHNIQUES OF NEVILLE PAGE 2: DIGITAL PAINTING -- FANTASY WILDEBEESTDrawing on the content from his previous CHARACTER DESIGN DVD, Page paints a quick photo-realistic illustration using techniques employed within Photoshop. He starts off by establishing a color palette and value study by generating a small thumbnail painting. This becomes the foundation for the final illustration. Page demonstrates various texture brushes and glazing techniques to create a quick, yet realistic representation of animal skin. The lesson reveals techniques for hair and detailing, as well as graphic treatments and color shifting. Page also shows how to create a simple photographic studio setting for your character.
* THE TECHNIQUES OF NEVILLE PAGE 3: RENDERING EYESMaking eyes appear rich and soulful is critical to conveying character. In Rendering Eyes, Page clearly describes a process for rendering beautiful, frightening, or appropriately horrible eyes. Detailing the anatomy of the eye, he explains how to approach the various details that contribute to a natural looking eye including reflection, glossiness, refraction, color, veins, the iris and wetness. Whether you choose to start with an existing sketch, render from scratch, or paint over a rough sculpture - all of which are described during the course of the lesson - these techniques are crucial to any character rendering.
* THE TECHNIQUES OF NEVILLE PAGE 4: RENDERING FLESHIn this lecture, Page leads you methodically through the process of creating a wet, fleshy creature. First emphasizing the importance of reference, the properties of fleshy surfaces are deconstructed. Page teaches how to create custom brushes by sampling from an image, how to define the diffuse, specular and translucent qualities of flesh and he also provides a thorough reflectivity demonstration. Leaving little to chance or guesswork, through process and technique, Page illustrates the ways in which he achieves his character's disturbingly real skin textures.
Gnomon also announced three new Analog bundles. These bundles reflect a 10% discount off of full retail pricing, while the pre-existing "All Analog Titles" bundle has had its discount increased from 10% to 20% off.
* SCULPTURE BUNDLESave 10% when ordering all of John Brown's Sculpture DVDs. More than 14 hours of lecture demonstrates the techniques of armature building, maquette sculpting, surface texturing, molding and casting.
* DRAWING AND DESIGN BUNDLEThe Analog library includes a comprehensive suite of titles covering the techniques of drawing and designing vehicles, characters and environments. Bundle includes DVDs by Feng Zhu, Carlos Huante, Scott Robertson, Goerner, Page, Harald Belker and James Clyne.
* PAINTING AND RENDERING BUNDLEThe use of Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter as painting and rendering tools has become a standard in today's concept design industry. This suite of DVDs addresses techniques used for vehicles, characters and environments. Bundle includes DVDs by Ryan Church, Zhu, Huantes, Page, Goerner and James Clyne.
The Gnomon Workshop is an outgrowth of the Gnomon School of Visual Effects, a professional institute specializing in training for the high-end visual effects community. For more information on the Gnomon School, visit www.gnomon3d.com.
Design Studio Press is a specialty publisher that focuses primarily on original artistic works and educational books. For more information, visit www.designstudiopress.com.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
