WHATS-UPdate: ImagineFX + Dominance War

Artwork by Polarlex


YO GUYS, time for a WHATS-UPdate!



At this moment of writing we have 44 members and 171 watchers. This group has been SO bad ass, and has grown beyond my expectations. I want to welcome our new members, as well as thank everyone for their continued participation and enthusiasm This group is not about numbers and stats, but rather QUALITY over QUANTITY and I am very pleased to say that so far we've been able to maintain that manifesto.



So listen, DOMINANCE WAR 5 (www.dominancewar.com/2009/en_h…) is around the corner and I think this is exactly the kind of thing we AS A GROUP should jump on. Basically its a 2D/3D art challenge to create the coolest, meanest, richest, most vivid characters from the depths of your imagination - and DESTROY all others. This is a global contest between working professionals and students alike - with some of the best artists in the world. While there are prizes, the real reward is the challenge you set for yourself. This will be my first time. Information is tight-lipped in an effort to create suspense and mystery. But you better believe I'll be competing, and whoever wants to join me LETS DO IT. It is still a few months away, but I wanted to plant the seed of the idea into you now.



This is last year's 1st place grand prize winner by Slipgatecentral. Truely a masterpiece.

Go ahead and register (www.gameartisans.org/index.php), prepare your accounts, and when the time comes we can take it by storm. I will then create a new gallery folder for Dominance War 5 exclusive content. (If you're unsure about what its all about, don't worry, just follow the links and take a peek. I'm doing my best to try and understand it too.)



In other news, TWO of our members are being featured in ImagineFX magazine.

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Our very own jermilex and frankhong have articles describing their process and workflows. Jeremy's (shown above) is a workshop on colour theory while Frank's is on matte painting. Right on guys! It's a pleasure having both of them in our ranks here. You should definetly check out those issues (Frank you let us know which one man ).


Artwork by frankhong

Hopefully you guys have been digging the CONCEPT OF articles - I'm personally enjoying them so much. It forces me to really LOOK at concept art in a broad range of styles. Having to put things into words helps me to retain the information, and its been quite the learning experience. If there is a particular GAME or FILM you'd like us to focus on, by all means feel  free to let us know and we will DO IT.

CONCEPT OF: Warcraft conceptcraniopagus.deviantart.…
CONCEPT OF: Project Offset conceptcraniopagus.deviantart.…
CONCEPT OF: Mass Effect 2 conceptcraniopagus.deviantart.…

Here is another FREE PLUGIN that we use in animation extensively. It's called GHOST by Flaming Pear, download it HERE:

PC (www.flamingpear.com/dl/freebie…)  | Mac (www.flamingpear.com/dl/freebie…)



Basically what it does is knock out everything on a layer that is WHITE and retains the dark value information. In short: it does EXACTLY the SAME THING as 'MULTIPLY' but without the need to change the layer from "NORMAL". So its fantastic if you want to easily colour black linework, and MERGES CLEANLY when you flatten your layers (unlike Multiply). Downside: it doesn't work on 64-bit Photoshop.

Stay cool, keep creating, and be the best you can be (in art and beyond).

PEACE