You can make better art. I can help you do that.
‘Art Head Start’ is a $19.95 home study art design training ebook.
There are at least 3 parts to making art.
- Conscious art expertise, art skills and design methods
- Semi-conscious emotional and story telling skill
- Unconscious spiritual or soulful quality
With my art lessons ebook you'll learn the how-to, the why-to and the when-to of art and design. You'll get the Visual Communication basics you need to make art that IS something, not just ABOUT something.
You'll learn things about evoking emotion visually and telling a compelling visual story. I touch on spirit and soul in your images, on growing your natural creativity and on nurturing your nature.
Your new understanding of art principles will bring you more confidence and better images. You'll know just what to do next, how to do it and why. Perhaps you'll even learn the subtle skill of letting your images "tell you" how they want to be expressed.“Rigorous but laid-back, it is wonderfully instructive and interesting.”
—Bob Stites, Art Instructor, Osher Institute at Rochester Institute of Technology
Learn Visual Communication |
Why my art lesson ebook? |
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Use these buttons to sample my home study art topics yourself
In this simple quiz, identify at least 8 visual methods used to enhance this image.
Don't want to overwhelm you, so I've shown only the top 2 levels of headings here.
In the actual ebook, there are two additional levels of art lesson contents below these.
~ Contents ~
READING TIPS
ABOUT THIS BOOK
What’s covered and why?
What it is
What’s not covered?
Who should read it?
What visual styles are included?
LEARNING TIPS
Don’t confuse this with school
Read it more than once
Practice and patience
Be project oriented
Wisdom
PART 1 – THE BASICS
CHAPTER 1 - A GRAMMAR OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION
You - the visual communicator
We start with visual grammar
My visual grammar
Visual grammar use
CHAPTER 2 - EXPLORING THE IMAGE ELEMENTS
Symbolism
Image Elements and their visual effects
The Image Elements in detail
2A. LIGHT AND COLOR
Our medium
Light - Electromagnetic Energy and Waves
Light effects - How light behaves in the world
Color, reflection and absorption – the most common light effects
The Color Wheel, your ‘Color Compass’
Colors together - Color Schemes
2B. ELEMENT 1 - PIXELS
Lots of dots
Pixel confusion
2C. ELEMENT 2 - LINES
Lines
Digital Lines - Vectors
2D. ELEMENT 3 - SHAPES
Shapes as both 2D and 3D
Shapes - Properties
2E. ELEMENT 4 - FORMS
Form from Shape
Edge contour for depth
Texture and form
2F. ELEMENT 5 - OBJECTS
Objects as your subjects
2G. ELEMENT 6 – SCENES
Scenes - your top level
Scene Depth effects
Figure/Ground - Traditional and Contemporary
PART 2 – PUT YOUR UNDERSTANDING TO WORK
WISDOM
CHAPTER 1 – THE NEW WAY OF MAKING 2D IMAGES
Overview - 3D modeling to make 2D images
Advantages of 3D modeling for 2D graphics
3D scene to 2D image workflow
CHAPTER 2 – SCENE PERSPECTIVE
Simulated camera Lenses
CHAPTER 3 – LIGHTING YOUR IMAGES
Why create your own custom lighting?
Light Rendering Basics
Light Rendering Methods
Lighting Render Bells and Whistles
Realism in lighting
Lighting Tips
Common lighting errors
Lighting for realism
More Ways to Improve your scene Lighting
CHAPTER 4 - IMAGE COMPOSITION
Introducing Composition
Analyzing a composition
More on composition
CHAPTER 5 – ATTAINING REALISM
Why bother?
Realism - common mistakes
CHAPTER 6 – ADDING DRAMA
Visual icons
POV (Point-of-View)
Symmetry
Gesture
Color drama
Fake media and perception errors
Drama lighting
Weather, time and mood
Color scheme for your whole image
CHAPTER 7 – THE IMAGE PROJECT PROCESS
First get a concept
Sketch it
Connect inside and out
Plan
Grow your sketch into a prototype image
When you have trouble
Think you’re done? Then it’s time to polish
Final render, another 'final' render, another…
Present it!
CHAPTER 8 – ON SEEING
Looking is not enough
CHAPTER 9 – SOME PERSONAL OPINIONS AND A THEORY
Signature and copyright are not art
Honesty and trickery in art
Digital Postwork
My art theory of ‘hooks and layers’
PART 3 – RESOURCES
TESTED AND RECOMMENDED TOOLS
SOFTWARE
2D Image Editors:
Image Databases:
3D Modelers:
Scene Generators/Assemblers/Renderers/Animators:
Web Editors:
Utilities:
HARDWARE
Stereo Glasses:
Display Calibrators:
Display Cards:
RECOMMENDED WORKFLOWS
CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS
Images:
Models:
Stock Photo Resources:
ONLINE RESOURCES
Art and Art History:
Physics:
Vision:
Psychology of imagery:
Computer Graphics:
Lighting:
Math:
GLOSSARY
Here's a free sample chapter from 'Art Head Start', in PDF format.
Most folks have the free Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader - but you can download it below.
Light, Color and Lighting![]() |
![]() Digital 'Additive Color' System |
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| Lighting for realism | |||
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| How pigments color light by 'subtraction' | Light beams bent by refraction - Like wheels on an axle entering a medium of different density. Entering at an angle slows one wheel first, bending the path. |
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| Light with transparent objects | 'Light and transparent objects' - Legend diagram |
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| More sample illustrations, shown in a "scrapbook" format | |










