List of Websites for the Digital Arts

[Skai]

I'm an animation and visual effects student (minor in motion pictures and television with some interest in video games) and is currently trying to compile a list of websites that offer tips and tricks for various stuff. Be it Maya, 3Ds Max, Adobe line of products (Photoshop, After Effects, Illustrator, etc.), ZBrush, or any other programs, it'd be nice to have a collection of links that offers not just tips on how to do certain things, but some good to know information via news site and blogs. It's also nice when you're on a block and need to look for inspiration or references for a project.

As I continue to build on my list, if anyone else have some links of their own they would like to share, I'd be happy to add to it. Sharing is caring bros.


Blogs & News

• Gamasutra (News and job postings with a focus on video games.)
• Cartoon Brew (A news and trend outlet that covers a wide range of topics, including contemporary and classic animation from around the globe, CGI, advertising, design, anime and industry/business news.)
• Animation Scoop (Blog for animation.)
• On Animation (Video topics that cater to animators.)
• ComingSoon (Movie news.)
• Latino Review (Movie news. Never thought a Latino perspective news on Hollywood would be known for breaking a lot of news in the film industry.)
• Deja View (Disney veteran animator Andreas Deja offers insight on the work he has done on classic Disney films.)
• Random Curiosity (Daily anime review (by the episode) blog for the latest showings in Japan. Spoiler heavy!)
• io9 (Blog for science and fantasy entertainment news. Tagged to concept art for articles specific in concept arts.)
• Kotaku (Blog for video games news. Tagged to fine art for articles specific in fine arts.)
• DualShockers (Video games news site with a heavy focus on the Japan side of the industry.)
• Academy of Art Animation Notes
• Academy of Art Character and Creature Design Notes
• Character Design | Artist Interviews
• Lifehacker (Blog for general life hacks.)
• Architectural Record (Architecture news.)
• Architizer (For architects and stuff.)

Lessons/Tutorials

• Art Tutorials Wiki
• Drawspace
• Enliighten
• Tom's MAD Blog (Inking tutorial by Tom Richmond.)
• Duey's Drawings (Step-by-step drawing tutorials by Brian Duey.)
• Gurney Journey (Learn about lighting!)
• The Dimensions of Colour (Study of color.)
• Composition with Phil Straub (Learn about compositions!)
• Feng Zhu Design (Free video tutorials by artist Feng Zhu that cover a broad range of topics from digital painting to portfolio preparation.)
• Ctrl+Paint (Artist Matt Kohr teaches digital painting/drawing through free video tutorials. He also offers more in depth training through premium content.)
• Video Copilot (Offers lot of free tutorials for After Effects.)
• IAMPETH (Lessons in penmanship and calligraphy.)

References/Resources/Inspirations

• Creative Uncut (Concept arts from well known video games.)
• CG Textures
• 3DTotal (Great resource for computer graphics. Includes galleries of many artists, a free texture library, free tutorials on many subjects, and more.)
• Danny William's Album (Lot of sculptures (3D and clay) references from dude's Google albums.)
• 3D.SK (Human photo references.)
• Anatomy References for Artists
• Pose Maniacs (Flash based tool for human poses.)
• KindGirls (Nekkid girls for your referential needs.)
• Character Designs (Focuses on photoes for character designs and figure drawing.)
• Philippe Faraut (Gallary of classical sculptures.)
• Inspirational Artworks (Lotta links to other artists' works.)
• Armstreet (References for medieval armors and clothing.)
• OSF Costume Rental (Really a costume rental site but has a lot of pictures you can use for references.)
• Art of the Title (A collection of title sequences of movies. Definitely must check out David Fincher: A Film Title Retrospective under Features.)
• CinemaSquid (High resolution screen caps of Blu-ray movies.)
• Leave Me the White (High resolution screen caps of movies and TV shows.)
• All Paintings (Online gallery of paintings and art works from all over history.)
• Dr. Macro's High Quality Movie Scans (Collection of high quality images of famous actors from 1940's and earlier.)
• Web Gallery of Art (Awesome web gallery of European fine arts from the 11th to 19th centuries.)
• Google Cultural Institute (Google's very own virtual museum for significant moments in human history.)
• The friggin' world.

Communities

• CGHub
• ConceptArt
• WetCanvas
• GameArtisans (Community for video game artists.)
• Polycount (Community with focus on news and resources for video game artists.)
• CGSociety (Also known as CGTalk, a society of digital artists.)
• deviantArt (Community where artists good and terrible share their work. Also got some nice tutorials.)
• MyFolio (Similiar to deviantArt but less terrible, or so I assume.)
• dribbble ("Show and tell for designers." A site to share designs as a prospect and for scouts to find potential hires.)
• Vimeo (A video-sharing website similar to YouTube that is more digital art oriented.)
• 4chan Artwork/Critique (lol 4chan, but I found a lot of good stuff there.)

Artistic Challenges

• Quick Poses
• Figure & Gesture Drawing (Cool practice site that lets you set some parameters, giving you random images for you to practice drawing.)
• 11 Second Club (A monthly competition where artists are given an audio dialogue to create a character for and animate, and to receive constructive criticism from skilled artists to professionals.)

Retails

• UtrechtArt (Art materials store. Now owned by Blick.)
• Blick (Art materials store. Blick acquired UtrechtArt in April 2013.)
• Ken Bromley Art Supplies (Art materials store based in UK.)
• JetPens (For your mechanical pencils and pens needs.)
• Monoprice (Great online retail for cable needs. Also sells highly rated drawing tablets for good prices.)
• NewEgg (Online retail for computer parts and more.)
• Tiger Direct (Online retail for computer parts and more.)
• Amazon
• eBay

[Kaisha]

FZD is a decent place for seeing how another artist tackle subjects. Not really much out there for web resources that interest me, since I tend to stick to the books as my references.

Ctrl-Paint isn't too bad either for digital painting/drawing vids.

[Vandalhart]

We have Digital Tutors here at work. I'm pretty sure it can get a little pricey, but it seems to have a lot of software tutorials.

[Ceberoth]

i cant believe http://www.11secondclub.com wasnt mentioned, huge monthly animation contest that consists of free reviews from people within the industry to the winner, also heavily coated with threads from professionals within the industry

http://cgtalk.com is huge as well!!! everything from 2d to 3d to industry news and literally backstage passes into the biggest hollywood special effects and companies. you could browse amazing work for days with the quality that exists.

http://vimeo.com for anyone who is lost and doesnt know the internet...

[Skai]

We have Digital Tutors here at work. I'm pretty sure it can get a little pricey, but it seems to have a lot of software tutorials.

I was also introduced to Digital Tutors by my school, but it's expensive and homeboy is broke and cheap. I'm glad my school offers free Adobe CS and Autodesk gives out free access to their programs to students.

By the way, much thanks for the links! Highly appreciate it.

[Elcura]

Missing a few links to good sites.

http://www.cgsociety.org/
http://www.3dtotal.com/
http://www.gameartisans.org/
http://www.polycount.com/

[Elcura]

Oh, conceptart.org is also good shit. Can't believe I forgot about it.

[Skai]

Finally got around to updating the list. Added references and retails. Still adding more.

[feary]

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