Course Overview

• 

  Robert Chang

  Robert "Lunatique" Chang is an artist, writer / director, composer / songwriter, and photographer whose work has been featured Pa...

  Read More »

• What you'll learn

  
  

  1. Essential foundations

  2. Advanced concepts

  3. Common pitfalls and creative fulfillment

  4. Powerfully flexible digital workflow and advanced techniques.

  The foundation component will cover the essential foundations of visual art that all competent artists must grasp--such as composition, lighting, values, color…etc, and explores depths not easily found in other instructional materials/courses. Students will discover that what they thought they already knew from books and classes were merely the tip of the iceberg, and there’s so much still beyond their initial understanding. Other important topics include how to depict natural and expressive characters though psychological and physiological analysis, and an extensive section that covers a wide-range of drawing and painting techniques.

  The advanced component tackles highly advanced subjects that often confound even professional artists and are rarely taught or properly explained in depth by instructors and authors--subjects like the anatomy of visual vocabulary, the components of stylization, creating appropriate styles for specific intellectual properties, reconciling aesthetics and taste, adapting the techniques of good fiction writers for visual art, how to inject your emotions and intellect into your work even when doing commercial work for clients/companies, effective surface treatment for intended purpose,manipulating values for stylization, and more.

  The third component of the course will guide students through the methodologies and creative approaches of advanced artists and storytellers, important career tips, the quest for creative and personal fulfillment, and steer students away from all the common pitfalls that both advanced and novice artists often fall into--pitfalls that can sometimes destroy careers and the passion to create. Learn how to face insecurity, self-loathing, lack of discipline and motivation, lack of focus and decisiveness in your creative choices, loss of proper perspective in the relationship between your dreams and your life, and emotional baggage that can cripple you and prevent a fulfilling life of creativity and passion.

  The fourth component of the course is a full arsenal of secret weapons that advanced professionals use on a daily basis; Workflow that allows them amazing flexibility, astounding speed, and absolute control. All highly practical and productive techniques that once the students learn them, will never want to live without ever again.

   

  In Rob’s own words: “While putting together the material for this workshop, I came to the realization that the entire course is essentially the absolute distillation of the most essential things I have ever learned as an artist to date, and if I could travel back in time and spend eight weeks with my younger self, these are the very things I’d want him to learn.”

   

  Related Links

  Robert Chang's Official Website
  Robert Chang's Portfolio
  CGNetworks feature article from January 2003
  D'artiste Digital Painting

  About Robert Chang >>

  
  Testimonials

  #1 - 2010 March~May

  Bradley Machamer

  The way that you talk about what you do, and how you teach; the energy and the effort that you have put into this workshop, and into all of us is incredible - your teaching is far beyond anything I have ever seen before, and I feel so blessed to be one of your students, and to be able to interact and learn with everyone.

  Won Suk Heo

  It has been said already, but I want to say again that Robert has inspired me to be more than just a better artist, but to be a better human being as well. He showed by example the kind of person I want to be: totally dedicated and helpful to others, strive for excellence yet remain humble, and have a broad vision and enjoy everything life has to offer. So thank you Robert. I had very high expectations for this workshop, and it surpassed them in ways I didn't even think of.

  Del Melchionda

  I think Rob has a very unique, very holistic approach to art and creativity, one I've never really seen or heard before from a teacher or professor. He makes you think about the why, not just the how. And this is something that often gets shunted aside with the heavy focus digital art has on technique and tools.

  #2 - 2010 June~August

  Denise Gross

  I can tell you that I already, just from last week's videos, feel that I have learned more about painting than I have from any other course I have taken. And I have taken alot. This is by far the best painting and process instruction I have ever had. Thank you so much for not only putting the time into this but also for actually allowing us to see the process of every step. It is great!!!!

  Krystal Camprubi

  I like the way you build your whole course. I knew a lot of these theoric things but I have the feeling here I actually discovered them for the first time. Probably because you break everything into "learnable" and applicable pieces. I must say I am deeply impressed, not only of your artistic knowledge and accuracy, but also of the passion you put in teaching. I hope everyone of your student had realised that, for it is rare and precious to find such an engagement. I consider myself very lucky to be here...

  Grant Moore

  I have only scratched the surface in terms of taking in all the information in the course. If I were to look at it simply in terms of quantity of quality material for dollar value, this is easily the best course I've ever taken in my life. I feel like I am going to have to go through the material a good dozen times before it really starts to sink in and become a regular part of my thought process. I'm very happy with what you've created Robert and I can tell you made it sincerely from wanting to help people rather than make a quick buck, it's a shame there aren't more people with both the necessary skills and passion to create courses like this. If this were an Ebay purchase, my comment might go something along the lines of, "100% Excellent, would buy again A+++++"

  2010 August~October

  Victor Galo

  As a beginner, all the entire workshop has been priceless to me. I’ve enjoyed this experience since I started reading in CG-Society forums the thread about this workshop. I started to feel more and more longing about joining it. And even with all my growing expectations, I could have never guessed that I would take so much benefit from an online course. It’s really easy to see how much love and effort you have put into this.

  Freya Horn

  Like Lukasz mentioned, I feel similarly about my university education.I spent three years and got into alot of debt and came out the other end good enough to get by..but by no means did I learn as much as I think I can in this workshop. Pretty sad considering this is just an 8 week course, but it's much more intense, concentrated, and I really do feel that you care about the students and helping us improve. My university lecturers all seemed pretty indifferent in comparison.,

  Brandon Pirruccello

  It's pretty obvious that you are immeasurably passionate about art and that goes far beyond the scope of your own skills and self betterment.  You really go out of your way to push us, and that push is something that we all yearn for but don't always receive.  We are all deeply grateful for what you put into this course for each of us individually.  I can only hope, this early in my career as an artist, that I come across more people like you to help me realize my dreams so one day when I finally "make it", I can pass along the wisdom as well.  I knew going into this course it would be an amazing experience and this far through I can already tell that there is only more awesome advice to come.  Thanks Robert :D,

  #4 - 2010 October~December

  Jason Hill

  I admire your knowledge and approach to teaching and learning.  You are most surely the best teacher I have ever been graced to work with, just by the fact you seem to care so much.

  Philipp Otterbach

  What i can say for sure, is, that i definitely got what i had come for and that was a refresher on the essential principles that are the foundation of good artwork and a roadmap on how to improve. This and your personal insights in what being a creative person means, the techniques you use and the structured way of how you tackle creative endeavors was so incredibly interesting and inspiring. This is the third CGSociety workshop i participated in and all three were great learning experiences, that were well worth the money they cost, but this one really sticks out, because of how essential and meaningful the stuff taught here is to all kinds of creative processes.

  #5 - 2011 January~March

  Steven De Saeger

  When I initially read the class description and objectives I thought that it was all too nice to be true ... I started the class with the hope that it would at least partially meets its goals but I am very glad to have found out that the course meets all its goals and that it has given me much more then I could ever hope for. I have been going to art school for 5 years but this course managed to teach me so much more in just a couple of weeks ...

  Hector Eduardo

  I wanna thank you so much Rob for your always caring and delightful teaching. You really have known how to keep us motivated throughout out this awesome ride. Thank you for being such a passionate teacher. Now, I’m more than happy to join the others as saying this workshop met and far exceeded my expectations. I can’t thank you enough Rob for your passionate way of teaching and your honest caring for our growth.

  #6 - 2011 May~July

  Suresh V. Selvaraj

  You've now set an impossibly high bar for all my future teachers. Early in my career, I learnt the difference between someone who is very knowledgeable and someone who is both very knowledgeable and capable of imparting that knowledge. Most people consider anyone knowledgeable can teach, but teaching is a completely different skill and its crucial from a student's PoV. You're one of the rare few who has both. And because of your storytelling background, you also seem to know how to have a good flow through the whole course. But more importantly, you seem to actually *care* about the students, which definitely comes through in your comments and critiques. So, hats off to that!

  Luis Gama

  You know those times in life when you think about your choices at a given time, were they good, were they bad? Who would i be if turned left on that road instead of right? Well, now i look back and i`m so happy that i make the turn into this workshop. I was lost. Without any clue of how to achieve my goals, overwhelmed with information, overwhelmed by amazing work being posted everyday, and absolutely no idea how to get there. Every Monday morning i felt like a kid unwrapping the Christmas presents while i was reading through the notes, even the anticipation " New notes tomorrow...sweeet!". Everything was so well organized, written and exemplified for our needs as an artist, the assignments so well planned to push you further, step, by step, with precise feedback.

  Nele Klumpe

  Before I enrolled in this workshop I felt like I needed to get to the next level. I was improving, yes, but not as fast as I would have liked to. But the problem was more that I had immense problems in the process of creating an image as well as several problems with self doubts. Now I think that I'm ready to take the next step. It's like someone showed me the direction, where to go, whereas before I couldn't see through the fog.

  Abbey Termeer

  I did not expect what I got in this workshop.  I will be completely honest.  I was expecting a workshop of advanced knowledge techniques that really got down to the knitty gritty.  Instead I got my brain ripped out, organized and jammed back in with a comprehension of a world I had seen before but never truly understood. Rob, you were not what I had expected.  In addition to your educated and informed critique you gave support, constant day by day support at that, to each and every one of your students.  Something that puts most college teachers to shame.

  Click here for more Testimonials

• Week by week outline

  
  

  Please Note: This workshop contains a text & images portion and a video portion every week. The two portions tackle different aspects of each week's focus. Students will be given assignments each week that encourage them to think creatively, experiment, and try different approaches to solve problems and find the most effective way to express ideas.

  
  

  Week One: The Engine behind the image

  Text and images content:
  In Week One, students will learn about the heart of an image—what makes some images evocative and exciting while others uninspired and lifeless. Students will learn to understand different types of images such as visualization, decorative, straightforward and abstract narratives, and subcategories like voyeuristic, exhibitive, simple action, and cause & effect. Students will learn the different purposes each serves, and also learn to utilize the same storytelling techniques that good fiction writers use to make their images more compelling and entertaining. The complex subject of taste will also be analyzed and discussed, bringing to light both practical and philosophical issues that all artists must face during their artistic existence. Week one will also demonstrate how students can inject life and personality into images of inanimate objects and scenes containing cars, products, and interiors, thus turning sterile images of artificial objects into expressive ones with emotional resonance. To wrap up week one, Rob will bust some common myths, address typical misguided mentalities, correct popular misinformation, set the record straight about some popular controversies in the digital art community, and even demonstrate his secret weapon for preventing carpel tunnel syndrome when working very long hours repeatedly.

  Video content overview:
  Demonstration of the sketching and drawing phase, and how to use digital tools to speed up your workflow and to maintain maximum flexibility.

  Video topics covered:

  • 1. Countering eye fatigue
  • 2. Going from sketch to drawing
  • 3. Flexible and efficient layer organization
  • 4. Effective brush settings for drawing and painting
  • 5. Using appropriate brush sizes.
  • 6. Importance of horizontal flip
  • 7. Sketch refinement with color variants
  • 8. Transform vs. Erasing

  
  

  Week Two: Dissecting and Creating Effective Composition

  Text and images content:
  For many artists, effective composition is something that eludes them. Week Two will cover various aspects of composition such as dividing up a space, uses of variations, selective detail, overlapping, framing, balance, repetition, diagonals, contrast, negative space, leading the eye, spatial depth...etc. In conjunction, perspective, camera angles, and focal lengths will also be explored to further enhance and strengthen students' ability to construct effective composition. Other topics also covered include accidental distractions and manipulation of the horizon.

  Video content overview:
  Developing composition using fast and efficient workflow.

  Video topics covered:

  • 1. Blocking in general colors and lighting
  • 2. Maintaining layer flexibility for drastic changes
  • 3. Layer security
  • 4. Dealing with the "wrong layer"
  • 5. Finding stray pixels

  
  

  Week Three: Effective Lighting and Manipulating Values

  Text and images content:
  Lighting is one of the most powerful tools for establishing the mood of an image, and it is also responsible for the sense of dimensionality in images. In week three, students will be exploring the various ways to use lighting (dramatic, soft, low key, high key, 3-point lighting…etc), and learn about light quality, light type, and light direction to convey various moods. The relationship between light and shadow, ambient light, and bounced light will also be covered. In addition, Students will learn about the deceptive values of colors, value coherency, how to manipulate values for stylization purposes, and how to design their images with tonal composition.

  Video content overview:
  Maximum creative control of lighting for your images.

  Video topics covered:

  • 1. Blocking in fast lighting
  • 2. Using gradations as foundation
  • 3. Experimenting with lighting schemes
  • 4. Adapting useful 3D workflow for 2D artworks
  • 5. Maintaining lighting flexibility and control
  • 6. Nulling lighting the easy way
  • 7. How to check values

  
  

  Week Four: Demystifying Colors and Using Them with Confidence

  Text and images content:
  Color theory is a very complex subject, and by deconstructing the technical and artistic reasons behind color choices, students will gain insight into how colors can be deployed for specific creative effects, and how to determine the appropriate colors to use in any given situation. Students will learn about color temperature, the effects of chroma, color relativity, color contrast, color emotion…etc, and the laws of physics that play a vital role in understanding the nature of colors such as mixtures of colored light sources and how various colors behave under different colored lights. In addition, students will also learn about the common mistakes that artists make when dealing with colors, how to avoid those mistakes, and how they can be bolder with colors and use them in unconventional ways to achieve unexpected and refreshing results.

  Video content overview:
  Wielding colors with confidence and absolute control

  Video topics covered:

  • 1. Adding punch with colored light sources
  • 2. Altering color of light sources
  • 3. Simplifying colors of reference images
  • 4. Selective color Changes
  • 5. Altering color details
  • 6. Isolated saturation
  • 7. Harmonizing chaotic colors

  
  

  Week Five: Surface Treatment (line quality, brushwork, textures, edges, and details)

  Text and images content:
  Week five will cover the topic that stomps novice artists as much as colors do—the surface treatment. Students will explore important aspects of surface treatment such as how to depict weight, distance, size, lighting…etc with just simple contour lines, various painting techniques and brushwork, the dynamics of edges, how to properly use textures, and selective detail. Other topics include rendering against or along forms, using appropriate brush sizes, the struggle between smooth surfaces and expressive surface treatments, and how to gauge the amount of detail an image actually needs for the purpose it serves.

  Video content overview:
  Essential drawing and painting techniques

  Video topics covered:

  • 1. Achieving organic, expressive lines
  • 2. Hatching approaches
  • 3. Differences between brush engines of 2D applications
  • 4. The pros and cons of blending, and various approaches
  • 5. The "clean and smooth" look vs. expressive brushwork
  • 6. Putting brush marks in context
  • 7. Getting clean edges
  • 8. Precise shapes and edges
  • 9. Extremely fast and effective texture painting
  • 10. Determining appropriate level of detail

  
  

  Week Six: Expressive characters, Stylization, and Aesthetics

  Text and images content:
  Week six will deal with iconic shapes, psychological and physical anaylisis of body language, facial expressions, when to exaggerate or pull back, and part two of the complex matter of taste that focuses on the dangers of unchecked self-indulgence. Students will also dive into the sophisticated subject of stylization, tackling the building blocks of visual vocabulary, and learn to create the right stylization for any given project (anime, realism, comic book…etc). Students will also learn about the detriment of inappropriate stylization and the negative impact it has on intellectual properties. The matter of aesthetics will also be discussed, covering the inner workings of both masculine and feminine beauty, and the various considerations that artists must be aware of when dealing with aesthetics.

  Video content overview:
  Striving for expressiveness while dealing with technical and aesthetic decisions

  Video topics covered:

  • 1. Visualize everything in perspective
  • 2. Dealing with hair and fabric
  • 3. Experimenting with stylization
  • 4. Final painting demonstration

  
  

  Week Seven: Essential Tips and Common Pitfalls

  Text and images content:
  Week seven will cover cautionary advice that will help steer students away from common pitfalls that many artists, novice or veterans alike, often fall victim to. Rob will also teach students how to troubleshoot their own work, clarify important creative philosophies, and list all the critical things students must do in order to become better artists. To top week seven off, Rob will also conduct a no-holds barred Q&A session with the students, where no questions will be left unanswered—be it techniques, workflow, valuable tips & tricks of the trade, career development considerations, facing industry/office politics, dealing with clients, bosses, subordinates, and co-workers, and achieving fulfilling personal development.

  Video content overview:
  Is it really finished? Maximize the impact of your image.

  Video topics covered:

  • 1. Maximize your dynamic range
  • 2. Final color tweaks
  • 3. Effective sharpening
  • 4. Use composite layers
  • 5. Step-by-step walkthroughs
  • 6. Final painting demonstration

  
  

  Week Eight: Critique and Reworking

  Text and images content:
  The final week is for revisions and improvements to students’ final projects—an opportunity for students to implement changes to their work after receiving critique and feedback. Week eight is vital, as students will discover just how much they have absorbed throughout the course, where their work has improved, and what areas they must continue to work hard on. At the end of week eight, Rob will assess the students and do his best to make sure that they have learned all they need in order to become self-reliant, so they will be able to continue on their own after the workshop and achieve their individual goals.

  Video content overview:
  Final painting demonstrations

  
  
  

  Please note: You can discuss and ask questions about this workshop in this forum.

• Student requirements

  
  

  Level of Ability

  The course was designed to address the needs of a wide-range of skill and experience levels, and past students have ranged from advanced artists already working as art directors, all the way to total beginners. For the more advanced artists, it will teach them much deeper level of the foundations than they already know, as well as teach them advanced concepts in creativity, expressiveness, aesthetics, and execution. For beginners, it will teach them efficient learning and practicing methods as well as the critical foundations of visual art, thus preventing them from going down the wrong path early on in their artistic journey.

  Students need to be familiar with web navigation and browsing, as well as email.

  Students need to be familiar with using a bulletin board system (such as CGTalk.com), and how to prepare images for posting on the web (resize, jpeg compression).

  Portfolio Submission

  Students do not have to submit a portfolio in order to be qualified for enrollment; however, at the beginning of the workshop, students will be asked to post examples of their work (or links to their online portfolios) so the instructor could assess their strengths and weakness, thus cater to each student’s individual needs. If a student does not have any examples of work to show, that is fine too—the instructor will simply base his assessment on the assignments the student hands in.