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Curated collections of Workshops organized by subject matter, such as Environment Art, Character Design or Effects Animation.

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Narrative Realism & Illustration

Concept, Design & Rendering Techniques in Photoshop with Steve Firchow

Lessons

Description

Steve Firchow reveals how to boost your creativity through an in-depth workshop that explores the art of highly detailed narrative realism. In this 4-hour workshop, Steve shares the workflow that he has used successfully over the course of his 30-year career in the entertainment industry, working as an acclaimed concept artist and illustrator.

Covering composition and design philosophy, while sprinkling in anecdotes from his years working on some of the industry’s biggest franchises, Steve’s workshop is aimed at intermediate-level artists who already have an understanding of 2D software and are comfortable with character and environment design, although the techniques demonstrated are attainable for artists of all levels. For ease of general entry, this workshop does not include any 3D tools in the process.

This thoughtful workshop covers a lot of ground very quickly; expect lots of sketching and digital painting to learn how to master the art of deeply immersive narrative illustration. Steve’s focus is on helping artists improve the efficiency of their layout and rendering skills through a wide range of time-saving techniques. He teaches how to balance and control the level of detail in character and environment designs so the final image appears extremely detailed yet never cluttered or confusing. Steve’s composition techniques aim to create drama and motion without resorting to clumsy, push-button solutions, and how to create the impression of extreme detail primarily through control of silhouettes.


Industry insights include consideration of “creative waste” that occurs frequently in large productions. Steve discusses in depth the importance of saving all ideas an artist may have while working on jobs – anything that helps build a catalog of work the artist can repurpose over their career. He also discussed the importance of understanding how to create clean, interesting character designs that take into consideration rigging and animation constraints in production.

With this workshop, Steve has provided his Photoshop files to show the key stages of his artwork creation, and his Blend Brush Settings to help artists emulate the rendering techniques Steve uses in his workflow. 



Duration: 3h 31m

Format: HD 1920x1080

Lessons

Steve Firchow

Art Director at Machine Zone

Steve Firchow is a concept artist, art director, and illustrator who has been working in games, comics, and publishing for 30 years. He’s contributed concept and art direction to multiple game titles, including Call of Duty: Finest Hour, Shadow of Mordor, Shadow of War, Final Fantasy XV: War for Eos Hidden Expedition, War in the North, Mobile Strike, and others. He has created illustrations for Wizards of the Coast, Ace Books, Scholastic, Dark Horse, Disney, Mattel, Pinnacle Entertainment, and many others.


His work has appeared in multiple issues of Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, and he has been published in CG Art Style, The Design Inspiration, and others. His work has also been included in The Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Science Fiction Art Techniques and featured in the game-art exhibit Into The Pixel.


  • Steve’s insights/illustrations helped to bring the games at Machine Zone to life, creating a visual narrative foundation that made expanding and iterating on ideas much more satisfying. Steve was able to provide concise feedback delivered in a way that reinforced collaboration and exploration of ideas while remaining focused on the story behind the image. This emphasis on the narrative helped us create a consistent visual thread that kept the work grounded and helped our team punch above our weight.

    - Justin Stearns
    Art Director / Art Lead at Machine Zone / Trion Worlds / Sony

  • Steve is a fantastic art director with a great eye for lighting, composition, and depth. His paintovers are fast but very impactful, and most importantly, he can articulate all his points in an easily digestible way. I’ve observed his teaching style and saw great improvement and cohesion in all our artists' work, resulting from his feedback and vision! Given his breadth of experience, you don't want to miss out on a chance to learn from Steve!

    - Linda Liu
    Art Director / Art Development Manager at Machine Zone

  • Steve’s designs go beyond a superficial appeal and present well-realized locations and characters with their own culture, history, and personality. As an instructor, Steve breaks down the often-overwhelming task of image creation, bringing focus to the parts that have the most impact. Without his direction, many of my illustrations would have ended flatter, lacking the rich visual narrative he brings to his work. I’m excited this workshop exists so more people can learn the invaluable lessons he taught me.

    - Josh Guglielmo
    Concept Artist / Art Lead at Machine Zone / Kabam

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