08-02-2016, 12:45 AM
Good news, everyone! CC5 just finished but there is still stuff to do! This challenge will be a little different and we'll try out a few new things that you might not have done before. Give it a try, it's going to be a blast! This first round will run for the entire month of August, but you choose the exact deadline(s).
-In a nutshell-
-Make your own project! Follow the preparation tasks below to get started. The whole bunch of them should be doable in an afternoon or two. I know that's a lot of prep work, but as a reward you'll get to decide what YOU really want to turn this into. Finally a chance to do your own thing
-Did the prep? Nice! From now on it's like any other art challenge, really - with ONE exception! You MUST NOT use images from other people for this one. No google, no magazines, no nuthin. But fear not! Those photos you took are more than you enough to get you through this one. And if you feel like you need any support from your study books like Loomis, Gurney or Robertson? Go ahead, those are allowed, of course. This rule is only there to make you look for cool stuff in real-life, throw a fresh eye at the mundane and find gems that no one else but you has access to. If everything goes well, you should find out a lot about yourself, your own taste and maybe even figure out your own, personal direction in art a little bit more. Anyways - enough talk, get going already!
Ramble box: (skip this if you're in a hurry)
TASKS
-Preparation Tasks-
PHOTOS
-Grab a camera or phone, take a walk wherever you are right now and shoot everything interesting you can find. No, really, do it! Where else are you going to get your references?
MOODBOARDS (example in 2nd post)
-When you get home, make some moodboards with your favorite photos. I'm sure you found some cool shit out there! Keep going until you run out of stuff that inspires you. (I use Nexusimage without status bar, just throw a couple of images on the screen until the background is all covered up and then just take a screenshot of that whole mess. Really quick!)
STORY (example in 2nd post)
-Yep, you get to write something now! Look at your moodboards if you aren't already super pumped and have an idea already, and just write down what comes to mind. How can you make sense of those memories and images you just made? It doesn't need to be a literary masterpiece or anything, just a couple of sentences to give yourself a direction for what this whole thing is going to be about. Feel like writing more, though? No one's stopping you!
BRIEF (example in 2nd post)
-Now write your brief; a clearly and simply formulated task to tell yourself what you need to do to finish your project. Make sure it's a good brief before you start drawing and stick to it until you're done! Don't ask too much from yourself but always make it challenging! Also, make sure you decide on a format: Is it a story illustration? a book cover? a comic? character/environment/vehicle/prop concepts for a mock-up video game or movie? card art? stamp art? a tattoo? a gallery show? Anything goes!
DEADLINE (example in 2nd post)
-That's right, I don't decide the deadline - you do! The challenge runs for the duration of August 2016, so just choose any date from this month year and you're fine! Make it appropriate to how much time you have, how much work your brief is asking from you, how motivated you think you are for this etc. Keyword: Parkinson's law. You can also use smaller step-deadlines for the individual parts of your project to make sure you don't space out on something minor, mismanage your time and screw yourself. Take your deadline seriously. Treat it like any other professional deadline and don't disappoint your client! (even if that's you in this case)
-Core Tasks-
PROJECT
-Congrats, you made it through the preparation work! Now start the goddamn project already lol! Good luck! Post your results in this thread, but if you feel like your project is growing unexpectedly (which happens sometimes), why not make a blog or a dedicated sb thread about it? You can also post your prep work here if you want; others will have a better idea about what you're up to and crits will be easier to give.
STUDIES
-While you're working on your thing, do as many studies as you feel like you need to do to help it come to life. The study part is a big factor in how much you'll get out of this challenge, so don't be lazy here! I recommend a time ratio of 2/3 project time, 1/3 study time. Study whatever your weaknesses are and what's important for the project. Anatomy, perspective, rendering, composition, visual library, design... whatever you feel like you need to learn to get this thing made. Focus and don't get lost, though. Don't freak out if you feel like you don't have enough time to study everything you need - you rarely ever will, especially when you're just starting out as an artist. Pick one or two specific problems, learn how to really nail them and forget about the rest for now.
-In a nutshell-
-Make your own project! Follow the preparation tasks below to get started. The whole bunch of them should be doable in an afternoon or two. I know that's a lot of prep work, but as a reward you'll get to decide what YOU really want to turn this into. Finally a chance to do your own thing
-Did the prep? Nice! From now on it's like any other art challenge, really - with ONE exception! You MUST NOT use images from other people for this one. No google, no magazines, no nuthin. But fear not! Those photos you took are more than you enough to get you through this one. And if you feel like you need any support from your study books like Loomis, Gurney or Robertson? Go ahead, those are allowed, of course. This rule is only there to make you look for cool stuff in real-life, throw a fresh eye at the mundane and find gems that no one else but you has access to. If everything goes well, you should find out a lot about yourself, your own taste and maybe even figure out your own, personal direction in art a little bit more. Anyways - enough talk, get going already!
Ramble box: (skip this if you're in a hurry)
![[+]](images/collapse_collapsed.png "[+]")
SpoilerTASKS
-Preparation Tasks-
PHOTOS
-Grab a camera or phone, take a walk wherever you are right now and shoot everything interesting you can find. No, really, do it! Where else are you going to get your references?
MOODBOARDS (example in 2nd post)
-When you get home, make some moodboards with your favorite photos. I'm sure you found some cool shit out there! Keep going until you run out of stuff that inspires you. (I use Nexusimage without status bar, just throw a couple of images on the screen until the background is all covered up and then just take a screenshot of that whole mess. Really quick!)
STORY (example in 2nd post)
-Yep, you get to write something now! Look at your moodboards if you aren't already super pumped and have an idea already, and just write down what comes to mind. How can you make sense of those memories and images you just made? It doesn't need to be a literary masterpiece or anything, just a couple of sentences to give yourself a direction for what this whole thing is going to be about. Feel like writing more, though? No one's stopping you!
BRIEF (example in 2nd post)
-Now write your brief; a clearly and simply formulated task to tell yourself what you need to do to finish your project. Make sure it's a good brief before you start drawing and stick to it until you're done! Don't ask too much from yourself but always make it challenging! Also, make sure you decide on a format: Is it a story illustration? a book cover? a comic? character/environment/vehicle/prop concepts for a mock-up video game or movie? card art? stamp art? a tattoo? a gallery show? Anything goes!
DEADLINE (example in 2nd post)
-That's right, I don't decide the deadline - you do! The challenge runs for the duration of August 2016, so just choose any date from this month year and you're fine! Make it appropriate to how much time you have, how much work your brief is asking from you, how motivated you think you are for this etc. Keyword: Parkinson's law. You can also use smaller step-deadlines for the individual parts of your project to make sure you don't space out on something minor, mismanage your time and screw yourself. Take your deadline seriously. Treat it like any other professional deadline and don't disappoint your client! (even if that's you in this case)
-Core Tasks-
PROJECT
-Congrats, you made it through the preparation work! Now start the goddamn project already lol! Good luck! Post your results in this thread, but if you feel like your project is growing unexpectedly (which happens sometimes), why not make a blog or a dedicated sb thread about it? You can also post your prep work here if you want; others will have a better idea about what you're up to and crits will be easier to give.
STUDIES
-While you're working on your thing, do as many studies as you feel like you need to do to help it come to life. The study part is a big factor in how much you'll get out of this challenge, so don't be lazy here! I recommend a time ratio of 2/3 project time, 1/3 study time. Study whatever your weaknesses are and what's important for the project. Anatomy, perspective, rendering, composition, visual library, design... whatever you feel like you need to learn to get this thing made. Focus and don't get lost, though. Don't freak out if you feel like you don't have enough time to study everything you need - you rarely ever will, especially when you're just starting out as an artist. Pick one or two specific problems, learn how to really nail them and forget about the rest for now.