First ArtStation blog post - let's give this a go!
Late last year (2023) I decided that I needed to brush up on my material rendering skills to improve both my illustration work and concept sheets.
Sometimes it's easy, and tempting, to just fudge a material in a painting or concept and rely on what you think something should look like. "Metal is all shiny, right, so I'll just add a highlight and it's done!" - turns out that when you take the time to really analyse a material and work out how to replicate those special properties, it can make all the difference.
I've found in the past that taking lessons, online or in-person, with feedback and homework is a much better way for me to learn than following along with a YouTube video. So I enrolled with Clint Cearley at Swatches Academy for their Material Rendering course. Over 8 weeks we studied a range of materials and then worked on a final project bringing them all together. No, this isn't an ad - I just loved the class!
Here's a selection of my work throughout the class:
The process of analysing a material, breaking it down into its core properties, and then replicating this on a different subject really helped with my rendering skills.
Here's the final project too:
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Learning a process really worked for me - and I came out of it with some good work to show for it.
All of this can be found in my portfolio too:
- Explorer's Kit - https://www.artstation.com/artwork/OGKNkv
- Fantasy prop illustrations - https://www.artstation.com/artwork/OGNRnk
Thanks for looking!