A forum posted by Matthew D. Innis which celebrates excellence in Representational Art - past, present, and future.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Online Tutorial: Dan dos Santos
Moon Called
In my previous post, I shared some online tutorials recommended to me by artist, Dan dos Santos. It would be quite remiss of me however, if I did not mention dos Santos' own excellent online demonstrations.
Dan dos Santos, one of the top illustrators in the fantasy and science fiction field, offers two downloadable tutorials on his website. The first explains the process he used to create the cover art for Patricia Briggs' story, Moon Called, the initial book in a series featuring the character Mercy Thompson. In the 17 page pdf file, dos Santos offers a step-by-step description of his methods, including a list of his materials (paints, brushes, and medium - and which brushes and colors he used at each particular step), and advice on how to photograph a finished painting. The second demonstration follows dos Santos as he creates the cover art for Implied Spaces, a book by Walter Jon Williams. He begins with thumbnails and shows some of his photographic reference, then follows up with his materials, methods, and tips on creating certain special effects. Included with this 14 page pdf is a downloadable time-lapse film of the painting from start to finish. Both tutorials are free, and can be found under the "Extras" tab at the artist's website.
Additionally, dos Santos offers a five-and-a-half minute video (see below) of the making of Warbreaker, the cover art for a book by author Brandon Sanderson. Also filmed using time-lapse photography, this short film shows dos Santos putting the information from the pdf tutorials into action, albeit at a frantic pace. The video was an overview of a DVD produced by Massive Black Media, which unfortunately appears to be no longer available for purchase.
Although I don't necessarily aspire to be this sort of illustrator, I do very much appreciate the technical expertise that it takes to accomplish these well crafted pieces. In fact, the painting immediately caught my eye and drew me in to this blog. And I always enjoy the tutorials. Thanks for this post.
@lebonpainte I assume you are directing this question to Dan dos Santos. "Warbreaker" was available for purchase previously, but at the time of writing this post, the DVD is no longer available from the Massive Black store. (I purchased my copy as a digital download more than a year ago). You might try contacting Dan directly to see if he has any remaining copies of the DVD for sale. Also, Dan does teach at the Illustration Master Class (http://www.illustrationmasterclass.com), and offers demos at the Society of Illustrators in NYC, so there are some possibilities of learning from him directly.
4 comments:
Good article, thanks for showing the video, the girl in the picture (River Marked) beautiful :)
Although I don't necessarily aspire to be this sort of illustrator, I do very much appreciate the technical expertise that it takes to accomplish these well crafted pieces. In fact, the painting immediately caught my eye and drew me in to this blog. And I always enjoy the tutorials. Thanks for this post.
Are your painting DVDs for sale? I am interested in your painting style.
@lebonpainte I assume you are directing this question to Dan dos Santos. "Warbreaker" was available for purchase previously, but at the time of writing this post, the DVD is no longer available from the Massive Black store. (I purchased my copy as a digital download more than a year ago). You might try contacting Dan directly to see if he has any remaining copies of the DVD for sale. Also, Dan does teach at the Illustration Master Class (http://www.illustrationmasterclass.com), and offers demos at the Society of Illustrators in NYC, so there are some possibilities of learning from him directly.
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