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    Art Fundamentals

    Lesson 1 in Character Illustration

    Lesson Information

    In this first Lesson, Philipp will show you how to turn the basic building blocks of art into powerful creative decisions. Line, anatomy and lighting all help to convey emotion and meaning in a piece, and you will learn Philipp's particular style of harnessing these elements to fuel his creations. He will then take you through several of his past artworks, to break down exactly what makes them tick. 

    Homework
    Style and Substance

    Choose 5 historical or pop culture characters and describe their three most important visual elements. Then choose your 5 favorite artists and define the three most unique aspects of their style. 

    Once you have these lists, render of one of the characters you chose in the style of one of the artists you described. Try to limit yourself to three hours or less.

    Extra Credit

    Design and illustrate a unique element or prop for the character as a still life, focusing on its 3D form and surface material. 

    3 Comments

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    Josh Harris

    I'm not sure if it's just me and my learning style. But I honestly feel, going through the first lesson playlist of the fundamentals that nothing is well explained...it feels like he says "this is balanced" and doesn't show why or how it is balanced. Or how he says he doesn't know human anatomy that well, so he gives you other books to go read instead of being able to explain anything. The entire 20 minute section of visual composition he didn't show how ANY of the principles actually worked, but instead just mentioned what the principle was and "this is a good painting that shows this principle" without really ever doing a good job of explaining it...
    Like I said, maybe it's just my learning style, but so far I'm not getting too much out of it at all. :/

    Jimmy Ke

    Phillip, I was wondering if the homework is for personal practice or if you will offer feedback. I can absolutely understand if you cannot provide personal feedback though, as you probably have hundreds or thousands of students. Thanks for your consideration. I have completed the first lesson and found it to be in depth and useful especially in theory.

    J Fixby

    Ok, a little comment on peacocks. Nothing said is actually true. Peacocks do not use feathers to display colors and eyespots. That is just a popular misconception.

    Peacocks use their tail feathers to emit infrasound for a long distance (up to 60km) communication.

    Lesson Plan

    Homework can be cool.

    Check out some of the amazing work Art Fundamentals students have created by doing their homework.

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