Last weekend, i had the opportunity to attend this workshop - conducted by 4 artists named Zeen Chin, Hoi Mun, Santa Fung and Puppeteer. They were really great and i learned a lot from them! Generally:

• Zeen Chin presses on focusing those intricate details only at places you want people to see first - and garnish your art with accessories to bring out their personality. He loves playing with bounce light.
• Hoi Mun loves dynamic and vibrant art - hence his artworks have high contrast and pops out. He uses ellipse tool to define hard edges, somewhat like how Dice Tsutsumi and Robert Kondo paints. It really brings out the shape and material.
• Santa Fung uses ComicStudio for his comic work! I've never used the software before and was surprised to find that you can import 3D objects that's fully customizable to suit your purpose, and perspective! It definitely saves a lot of time. He highlighted the fact that intricate details (especially on backgrounds) aren't really necessary for comics as they don't show up in prints!
• Puppeteer uses Corel Painter and his favorite brush series is Artist Oils. He starts painting with a 50% Warm Grey as his base, followed by basic colors for the art and from then on, he only uses dropper to mix the paint around on the canvas itself - claiming that he's not good at picking the right color from swatches.
  
  

Watching their demo and seeing these personalities up close made me realize that there's more to just "different people have different style and way of approaching art". I believe that exploring all of the options out there would really help you grow and strengthen your output ability - which means, getting the right software that suits the way your approach art would definitely improve your workflow.

Held yesterday in KLCC Convention Centre was a short and sweet yet inspiring talk by Pete Docter and Ronnie del Carmen! The concept of this movie is very refreshing and listening to the back story of it was awe-inspiring. I love how Pixar actually celebrates all the stumbling, fumbling, lukewarm answers and even hitting the walls as it helps their crew to grow and break free from limitations. The way they encourage 'heads-on' research is what i love the most - to be able to feel enable you to share and inspire the audience earnestly.

Notes:

• "start with small company - you'll get more experience - as well as enabling you to see what floats your boat!" - Ronnie del Carmen
• the bigger the crew, the more coordinator you'll need! communication is vital.
• "prioritize your research, load up your tank especially when you get artist block." - Pete Docter
• "overcome the fear of stepping forward into the unknown." - Ronnie del Carmen
• "the journey into the darkness of the beginning. that's the excitement of it!!" - Pete Docter

Thank you for coming all the way here, Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen!