Accolades:
James Clyne is a master when it comes to translating his inner worlds of gigantic structures and machines. His smart construction approach, based on a very open abstract process, gives to his productions a very original feel unseen anywhere else. He is an artist which has recreated a new sci-fi vocabulary with an amazing precision and talent.

-Sparth
Concept Artist
Id Software

James Clyne is, without doubt, one of the premier concept artists working in the film industry today. His sense of design and his imagination has always inspired me. He always brings a unique sense of elegance and power to any design, whether it is a simple object or a complex scene. This is a talent few concept artists possess today. Having met James when we worked together on Titan A.E., I knew then that he was going to shine in this industry. Since then he has never ceased to impress me.

-Stephan Martiniere
Art Director and Concept Artist

DVD Descriptions:

Futuristic Set Design with James Clyne
Conceptual Environments for Feature Film Production
In this first of three DVDs in a series, James will cover a wide range of Adobe Photoshop® techniques that he uses as a concept designer in the feature film industry. Focusing on the subject of futuristic architectural landscapes, James starts with a blank page and quickly delves right into such topics as sketch ideation directly in Photoshop® and blocking in a dynamic composition. Setting itself apart from other concept art techniques, this DVD concentrates heavily on the smooth integration of photo reference and high-end conceptualization ideas, or what James terms “Photoshop® kit bashing”, blurring the line between photo and ideation rendering. Subjects such as Photoshop® layer properties, creating custom brushes, and developing architectural concepts are also covered.

Historical Set Design with James Clyne
Conceptual Environments for Feature Film Production
In this second of three DVDs in a series, James will cover a wide range of Adobe Photoshop® techniques that he uses as a concept designer in the feature film industry. Focusing on the subject of historical architectural landscapes, James jumps into subjects such as keeping a rendering loose while maintaining presentation level quality and how to reinforce the visual narrative. Setting itself apart from other concept art techniques, this DVD concentrates heavily on the smooth integration of photo reference and high-end conceptualization ideas, or what James terms “Photoshop® kit bashing”, blurring the line between photo and ideation rendering. Subjects such as “painting in” a mask, strong lighting technique and character indication are also covered.

Contemporary Set Design with James Clyne
Conceptual Environments for Feature Film Production
In this third of three DVDs in a series, James will cover a wide range of Adobe Photoshop® techniques that he uses as a concept designer in the feature film industry. Focusing on the subject of a contemporary loft interior as a film set, James acts as a location manager, production designer and illustrator to visually explain a common feature film art department pipeline technique. Setting itself apart from other concept art techniques, this DVD concentrates heavily on the smooth integration of photo reference and high-end conceptualization ideas, or what James terms “Photoshop® kit bashing”, blurring the line between photo and ideation rendering. Subjects such as using photo scrap as virtual set pieces, texture mapping in 2D, and rendering a wide range of materials from brushed steel to polished hardwood floor are also covered.

Instructor Bio:
James Clyne is a Conceptual Designer for the film industry, but once in a while he tends to deviate into industrial design, fine art and art direction. After studying Fine Art and painting at the University of California at Santa Barbara, Clyne went on to study Industrial Design at Art Center College of Design, where he focused on transportation design, product design and entertainment design. Clyne began his professional career designing environments and developing characters for Sega, Activision, and Rhythm and Hues. Eager to stretch into other creative fields he found himself on a short stint on Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas conceptualizing props and sets. Since then he’s had the opportunity to work with companies such as ILM, Warner Brothers, Universal, 20th Century Fox, Sony, and Dreamworks Studios on such films as Galaxy Quest, The Polar Express, Minority Report, Charlotte’s Web, X-Men 3, War of the Worlds, The Fountain, Transformers, Jim Cameron’s Avatar, Star Trek (J.J. Abrams) and a live action Akira. Recently, Clyne has shifted into an Art Director’s role for the movie 2012.

Since 2000, The Gnomon Workshop has provided artists and students with the educational resources they need to succeed as artists in the entertainment industries. Whether they’re interested in design, modeling, effects, animation, storytelling or matte painting, these DVDs provide a valuable educational resource for students around the world. The Gnomon Workshop is the sister company of The Gnomon School of Visual Effects, which provides professional caliber visual effects instruction to students and professionals in Los Angeles, California.

Visit http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com for more information on The Gnomon Workshop and our library of over 200 training DVDs.

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