Spring term classes begin on April 7th.

Top Gumroad Tutorials – Heading Into New Territories

Teacher Artwork by Krist Miha

Environment, Photobashing, Sci-Fi and Mech Design

In a previous article, we shared our selection of painting tutorials. In this second installment of our Gumroad series, we will explore new horizons.

Even if you are still stuck at home, painting landscapes sets the stage for your imagination to roam freely.  You can reproduce the wonders of nature, or create whole new worlds of your own.  And what’s a new world without some cool vehicles and mechanized characters to populate it?

We scoured Gumroad to handpick tutorials from some of the industry’s most distinguished artists. Let them guide you as you perfect your skills in painting landscapes – natural or sci-fi – and learn how to use photobashing to create immersive and realistic scenarios.  Discover mech design, and fill your world with props and vehicles from your imagination.

Whether you are just starting on your art journey, or you’re a concept artist who wants a refresher, at Syn Studio Concept Art School, we believe that learning from seasoned artists will ignite your imagination, and give you the skills to bring your vision to life. 

Below is our curated selection of tutorials –  some free, some for a nominal fee – which will provide you valuable insight into the workflows and techniques used by some of the biggest names in the industry.

Sparth

“Art Director and Concept Artist veteran in the Video Game industry since 1996, author of the Structura book series, Halo 5 Art Director.”

30 minute painting – Stardrive Maintenance (FREE)

“This video describes the process and workflow I have elaborated to paint quickly and effectively Science fiction environments in Photoshop. It describes my tricks and shortcuts to successfully complete painting iterations under a 30 minutes time frame.” Tutorial includes the PSD file.

Jama Jurabaev

“Professional concept artist,illustrator and art director working for the movie and game industry in London, UK Recently worked on such movies as  Star Wars, Kong:Skull Island, Ready Player One, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and many others. Jama also worked on the first season of The Mandalorian”

Jama Jurabaev was also a guest speaker at our Syn Studio Gathering of Masters event in 2018 and 2019.

Painting over 3D renders (30$+)

“In this tutorial, I show how to paint over 3D renders. (…)3D helps a lot to establish perspective, lighting, textures and many other important details in your artwork, but there is always a moment when it feels like you need to put some paint work on top of it to push it further.”

Blender 2.8 Bundle (29$+)

This bundle includes an introduction to Blender 2.8, and an environment design tutorial covering modelling, texturing and rendering techniques.

Michal Kus

“Concept artist, educator & Co-founder of Focal Point School. Working on all kinds of projects for the video game and film industry. Clients include: Jellyfish Pictures, EA Games, Disney, Marvel, Red Bull and many more.”

Michal Kus was also a guest speaker at our Syn Studio Gathering of Masters event in 2019

Mech Design: The Complete Pack (9$+)

“This Pack contains all the 3 volumes (Mech Design chapter 1,2 & 3). We will cover how to explore shapes, make dynamic fast sketches, make finalized concepts for production and how to make an illustration out of your final concept by showcasing your design in a certain setting.”

John Park

“Concept Artist working in the Film/Video game industry. He most recently worked on Avatar 2: The Way of Water.”

Study to Concept – Vehicles (12$)

“This is a 2.5 hour tutorial with audio, taking you through the steps of how I approach a vehicle study then proceed to create my own design.”

Hue Teo

Freelance Concept artist and Illustrator as well as founder at www.snowylizard.com which does visual development for studios around the world.

Concept art pipeline-Demo 3+ hours of video content (10$)

“In this 3-part tutorial, Hue Teo explains the process of the Concept Art pipeline for pre-production as well as Prop Design and Environment Painting processes. This tutorial includes 3 hours of video content plus the artist’s PSD files.”

Eytan Zana

“Eytan Zana is a freelance concept artist.

Graphic Composition for Environments (5$+)

“An hour long video taking you through my thought process on coming up with some rapid compositions.”

Darek Zabrocki

“Concept Designer/Art Director & CEO @ Focal Point School. Clients: Nvidia, Sony, Fox, Weta, EA, Ubisoft, Blur and more. Credits: Love Death+Robots, Maze Runner, Destiny, Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty.

Darek Zabrocki was also a guest speaker at our Syn Studio Gathering of Masters event in 2019

First Sun – 4K Tutorial (15$+)

“Video tutorial showing my whole process … on creating eclectic style, environment design shot with interesting design solutions. All inspired and mixed from real life architecture to come up with unique/alternative city.”

Raphael Lacoste 

“Raphael Lacoste is the Senior Art Director at Haven Studios. Having previously worked at Ubisoft for over 10 years, he worked on numerous video games such as Prince of Persia and the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Raphael also worked as a Matte Painter and Senior Concept Artist on such feature films as: Terminator Salvation, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Death Race, Immortals 2011, Repo Men, Jupiter Ascending and more!”

Take Off Scene Sci-Fi Matte Painting Tutorial (15$)

In this Technical / artistic Tutorial with audio comments, I will be taking you through the process of creation of a Matte Painting / Realistic Concept Art showing different techniques.”

We hope these resources motivated you to create new worlds.  After you’ve followed the tutorials, you may be ready for more in-depth training, where a professional instructor can give you personalized feedback on your progress.  Enrolling in a live online class could be your next step.

Syn Studio provides a valuable online learning experience for anyone aspiring to improve their art skills and become a top professional artist. Since 2007, we’ve been helping both amateur and professional artists alike take their art to the next level, through our 10-week affordable Online Art Classes as well as our Class Bundles

Our Spring 2023 term features the following classes, to further improve your skills in landscape, sci-fi, environment or mech design:  Fundamentals of Perspective, Intro to Environment Design, Intro to Concept Art and Character Rendering

You can expect highly specialized online art classes, equipping you with the essential tools required to create stunning visuals. Just like the resources presented above, all of the classes at Syn Studio are designed and taught by industry professionals. And, you get the opportunity to connect with a network of like-minded individuals. 

If you want to stay abreast of our classes, events, and other free valuable resources that we offer, sign up for our newsletter below!

Happy Learning!

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