Sunday, August 19, 2007

Online Digital Painting Class begins Sept. 20th



Hi All,

There's 2 spots left for my next online digital painting class. Register at www.schoolism.com

In my first class on Schoolism, I had the pleasure of having David Colman sign up. For those who don't know who David is, he's an amazing animal drawer and designer working at Disney Feature. Recently he won an Emmy for his work at Cartoon Network. He also has a wonderful book on "The Art of Animal Character Design." For those of you in the Toronto area, David is going to be signing his book at the Toronto Fan Expo coming up August 24-26th and he'll be at the Labyrinth Book Store August 25th 7:30-9pm.

Here's what he had to say about my Digital Painting class on Schoolism:
"To ameliorate one's craft a certain amount of pain must be endured. Only through determination, passion and appropriate guidance can a new plateau be achieved. By guidance I am simply referring to the teachings of a contemporary master. Bobby Chiu is this master I speak of. Through the artistic journey we all come across talented individuals, both professionals and amateurs. However, just because one is a great artist does not necessarily make them a great teacher. Only a handful transcend both
disciplines. Bobby Chiu is one of these few. He sits atop a mountain of skill and achievements yet is able to explain how he got there. His methods are simple to understand yet tightly bound with valuable information. Since taking his class my personal work has jumped leaps and bounds. I recommend this class to anyone and everyone, both young and old, and to all of those who strive for excellence, because Bobby Chiu will get you there."

David Colman – Disney Feature
Development Artist/Story Artist (Los Angeles, USA)

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On a similar note, here are some more testimonials from other wonderful students I've had the pleasure of teaching...

I've been working in photoshop for years as a freelance illustrator. I thought I understood this powerful program, but after taking Bobby's class I was blown away. The nine week course at Schoolism was inspiring, motivational and opened a whole new path for me as I work on new art work. The best part of the class is the one on one intruction you get from Bobby as he works on the assignment you hand in. You're able to work on your own time, watch the videos over and over again, and get personal instuction. Even the best art college in the country will have a hard time competing with Schoolisms savy and inovative online classrooms. I'm already planning on taking another class soon.

Steve Harpster
Childrens' Book Illustrator (Ohio, USA)
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Hi my name is Erez Kramer, I'm from Israel, currently working as a graphic designer and will start studying animation next September.
When I signed up for to course I was hoping to improve my DG painting technique and I could see improvement right from class one.
By the end of the course my DG painting level was much higher and I found out how to put out things that I never knew how to before.

To sum things up, I think that this course is amazing and it will give a lot to any painter in every level.

Bobby- I really want to thank you again, it was a really good experience for me!

Best regards,
Erez Kramer
Student (Israel)
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Bobby Chiu's Online Digital Painting course was a mind blowing 9 weeks experience for me. It was full of passion, motivational and inspirational.

Technical wise, I've been using photoshop to do my works for a few years now and I still learned a lot from the course... I've received some new techniques also additional tips and tricks which will be beneficial for my future works.

Theory wise, I've definitely gained additional knowledge and lots of new ones. Defining shapes through tones, compositions, colour theories and more!

The process of going through Bobby's head (explained in the video) is a rare and invaluable thing for me (and for other artists too, I'm sure) to experience. I've learned heaps from hearing what he was thinking and decisions which he made when he digitally paint his works

The best part is hearing personal video feedbacks for my submissions and the ability to hear Bobby's personal feedback to other people's works is a big bonus! I'm glad that the technology (internet) allow this to happen. Location and time differences are not an issue anymore.

I rate this course 10 out of 10 and will definitely recommend it to people who are passionate about art.

Thank you Bobby for making the online course happen at the first place. I'm extremely honoured to get a chance to be part of it. Now please excuse me, I have to draw, paint and keep learning again (as what all artists should do).

Charles Santoso (Sydney, Australia)
Graphic Designer
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There is very little that I can critique about the class and a TON that I can praise about it. So I'll start with my opinion about what I think you should change. Well as I sit here thinking about what to write I realize that I can't think of much at all. The class was extremely informative. Any artist from beginner to intermediate will find this class to be a very solid learning experience. As a self taught Photoshop artist of about 4 years there were techniques taught in the video lectures that I simply don't believe I would have ever figured out on my own. I use techniques taught in your video lectures every day at my job and in my own personal work. Thank you for creating such a wonderful opportunity to learn from some of the best artists out there.
P.S. Hearing about the old lady that tried to steal your shirt was priceless.

The main reason that I decided to take your class is that I was tired of hearing you talk about me in your podcasts. I am/was one of these slackers you talk about in your videos and I was sick of it. So I had a choice to make. Either stop watching your videos on youtube or stop slacking. So taking your class was the first step to progress from slacker to artist. But the one piece of information that I will never forget as long as I live is that you had a dog name major who saw a ghost and took off running...lol. The reason I remember this is that it was the first lecture and my girlfriend was listening to it from across the room. She was like," You actually paid to hear a guy talk about his dog major and some ghosts?" So she gave me a hard time about it. But thanks again and I hope that you'll hear about me someday.

Jason D. Ross
T-shirt Artist (Missouri)
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I've had a great time with your digital painting class. At first I had second doubts, because there was no required skill level. I was afraid that maybe it wouldn't make sense to join this class. But I've been a great admirer of your work some time now, so I took the chance...

The courses were very different from each other though every course was helpful for the next. I had the feeling you were very inspiring towards every student. Highly talented or low- skilled. (of course I watched the other students' entries to see how I was doing)

Your feedback isn't too technical so that makes it not too dry either and the online course certainly helps to give everyone the attention they need in your video-feedback. It sure helped me improve my work! Maybe you should start a student gallery!
Great job! Had a wonderful time and thank you Bobby!


Michel Maas
Art Director (Noord brabant, Netherlands)

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On yet another note.... the He-man Art Contest is free for anyone to enter. It's a fun little contest Kei and I put together. It's just for fun and the winner gets our original sketches posted HERE

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Here's a cover I'm working on for Creative Engine with an amazing painter named Peter Chan.
This is the rough:


This is the "less rough" version: