Fantasy Workshop: Mastering Digital Painting Techniques (ImagineFX)

Coming into digital art, you only know as much as you find out and what people tell you. While some people do complain that this book isn't exactly "up to date" on the programs used and represented, the techniques are as fundamental and thorough as one could ask for when coming into digital art or looking to better understand the process after struggling along. I'm in the latter category. I had to discover plenty of techniques on my own and would've been thankful to have had this resource years ago. The artists involved here do a fantastic job of going through their processes and how to build up the artwork with each step.

I was disappointed by the lack of step by step instruction in this book. It lacked so many critical steps such as transitions from layer to layer, different settings, techniques, ect. A lot of the segments would jump from a sketch to a finish colored piece with shading, not listing the techniques, use of layers or filters or any sort of details that would really teach you how to recreate any of this yourself. While i am not a beginner in the field of digital illustration I still found this book hard to use and did not find that much value in it. It felt like a brief interview with the artist that you would see in an advertisement for the book, as opposed to being an instruction manual. There is more of a description on what they do as opposed to how they do it. If youre looking to really learn digital and fantasy art painting techniques there are better, more in-depth courses online that will take you step by step into the process of creating. I am a fan of Aaron Blaise's instructional courses on digital painting (which actually guide you step by step through the entire process from sketch to finished rendering), which I found after purchasing a lot of disappointing books like this one that left me with little substance.The nice thing about this book is it gives you some rough, general ideas on how to make your art pop in different ways through various lighting and brush techniques (but without much detail into the process) and also provides some beautiful, creative images to look at.

I am a cartoonist, and trying to learn all I can about digital color. I found the Hi Fi Color for comics to be a great starting point, the Hi Fi Master book is useful but it doesnt teach you quite enough. When I was looking for the next level I got to this book, and thought I would take the chance. Now, this book is not a comprehensive step by step. These are reprinted art magazine articles from fantasy artists that foces on certain design problems, and how to approach them.Two programs should be used with this book. Either Painter or Photoshop. I think though that painter better suits those artists looking for a more painterly feel. Photoshop I think is better suited to those looking to color like a comic book colorist.Two projects really got me excited in this book. One is a feature on how to clean up line art after your scan. Its a usefull tool, especially for those that want to go straight from their line work to color. Another is a project coloring a goblin, that wonderfully illustrates working with layers, and how to build up texture and lighting.Im glad I decided to buy this book, but I cant recommend it for someone with ZERO experience. You should know at least a little going to the book, you will benefit from it more. There are of course more complex projects, but if you're just starting out I dont think this book has enough directional guidance to teach anything.A great book over all, but if you're just starting to learn digital color. Im not sure this is the place to start.

I was very excited when I ordered Fantasy Workshop from ImagineFX. I thought it'd be a great instructional how-to book and while it is on a small way, it is not setup as a step by step art book.I knew it was small, it's formatted a bit thicker and 5cm smaller than an A4 (sorry, I live in a metric system), but for the price it's a bargain to receive 200 pages even in this format.The projects are diversed, there somewhat of 20 but some chapters use the same one to analyze other areas i.e: "Paint Realistic Ears" and "Paint Realistic Lips" use the same one and so. It's not bad but it's a bit repetitive.Overall most are great projects (graphically speaking) and the process involved in creating them is really good, a lot of insight, valuable tips and my favorite part the Q&A section!! While small in comparison to the many questions that arise when reading the book, it's a great idea to have this in these category of art books. I loved that.

I bought this book to learn different ideas and techniques for common works in digital painting. The references portrayed in this book mainly consist of character design, which fits the material I was looking for. The book consists mostly of short descriptive concepts pertaining to one specific detail, such lips, ears, hands, and specific styles. I constantly find myself looking back at it for reference. This book is very useful in finding out how to develop a certain style, dealing with painting a certain body part, or just to see the artwork done in steps. The way a concept is showed in steps, allows one to decipher how someone else would go about creating a certain feel to a painting. I found it very resourceful and applicable to my needs. If you're looking for a conglomeration of some of the best, and most importantly useful tricks and tips Imagine FX has to offer, I think this is a good bet.

I was expecting more from this book.I now know it was published in 2008 so the versions of software referred to are quite old, but given they don't cover anything advanced it doesn't really matter. I bought this because another reviewer said it wasn't for software beginners, good I was looking for more advanced tips, but sadly I have to disagree with the other reviewer, the software tips are very basic, you can get better from youtube and forums, the only saving grace is a reasonably in-depth look at photoshop custom brushes, but nothing new, just comprehensive.However there is a good selection of painting and general art tips.Unfortunately the book has been very shodily edited so parts are missing and sometimes a picture is referred to that isn't present (cut and paste job from the magazine). However it does provide a good selection of reference artwork thoughout the book.At £16 I feel slightly short changed.

I found the book to be really helpful, well constructed and in good print quality.It explores a range of digital painting techniques focused on Corel Painter and Photoshop (but they could be applied in almost any digital painting software), with step-by-step description, instruction and snapshots of the working process in each project. Also, where needed a 'pro secret/tip' is provided - which help not to waste time, or improve the technique - and at the end of every chapter there is an 'Artist Q&A' section in which artists answer to fans' questions realted to digital painting. By the end of the book there is, in addition, a feature gallery of individual artists' illustrations.It may not be suited for someone just starting out with no knowledge at all of Photoshop or Painter, but a very basic knowledge on how to set up a scanned document in the software, as well as brush creation is provided in the first couple of projects.After all what matters more is practice.

Good book on fantasy art as done the modern, digital way (Painter/Photoshop programmes). Many screen-grabs of work-flow by a variety of pros so you can see how they do it (although these are quite small and you have to use a magnifying glass to check the details!). Useful for extant digi artists BUT the sequences are not precisely step-by-step and a certain amount of knowledge is assumed. Hence, not great for trad artists wishing to convert to digi, as I am, unless you use it in conjunction with a software manual. There is much to inspire, however.

Since i needed to get more familiar with digital art, i was looking to perchase something that could give me useful tips and tricks painting in photoshop etc. After reading a great review featuring a tour of the book via video, i decided to buy it, and i wasn't dissapionted. The book features tutorials from all sorts of artists and features many different styles, whether your looking to create photo-realistic paintings or Manga. It also has little tips from the artists in the book, be is adjustments of settings in Photoshop, or general pionters in the right direction. It also features printed images of the paintings in photoshop, showing the layers etc and what setting they have - which is handy.All in all i would recommend this for people like me who are just starting to use photoshop for thier art, and also for people looking to increase their artistic vocabulary, a very good book.

this book is really helpful in guiding any amateur artist in things like colour schemes, composition and general ideas for their work. The book is slightly lacking on some details, expecting the reader to fill in the gaps at some points, however books cant be expected to do the work for you. with some dedication, the tips in this book can really help you develop your work to a higher quality