I WANT TO BE A DIGITAL MATTE PAINTER

YOUR GUIDE TO SUCCESS

PART 1 _ INTRODUCTION
 THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBING TO THIS GUIDE
AND FOLLOWING YOUR #PASSION

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INTRODUCTION MASTER DMP / ART FUNDAMENTALS SOFTWARE PHOTO REFERENCES FINAL WORDS

WHO AM I ?
My name is Irena, originally from Czech Republic
I have been gaining industry experience since July 2017, when I joined Animortal studio as a Junior Compositor and
later I was assigned a Junior Matte Painting role. During my 3rd year at university, I worked as a freelancer and be-
fore my graduation in 2018, I joined Milk VFX studio as a Junior Digital Matte Painter. Recently (2018/2019), , I have
been working as a 3D DMP artist at Moving Picture Company. I have been working on the new ‘‘The Lion King‘‘ ;
coming to cinemas in July 2019.

WHAT IS THIS GUIDE ABOUT ?

Tips and answers to your frequently asked questions. What you should know and what I, together with my fellow
artists, recommend to learn and where to learn it when you do not study in university. This guide will point you in
the right direction and show you tutorials that you can learn from.

WHY AM I DOING THIS ?

I would like to help you understand what a Matte Painting role is in 2019, give you an insight help you start building
up your skill and confidence in order to become a successful artist and provide all information you will need to build
strong and nice looking (Junior) portfolio.

WHY SHOULD YOU LISTEN ?

Since you have subscribed this guide, you have the interest to find out more about this role and you want to pursue
your passion. This guide will give you the sources you need.
INTRODUCTION MASTER DMP / ART FUNDAMENTALS SOFTWARE PHOTO REFERENCES FINAL WORDS

Hello again everyone and thanks for your interest in reading this guide.

In the following pages I would like to share my experience and view on how I see this industry as a Junior Matte Painter, what my approach was to learning, what mistakes I made and what you
need to know and focus on if you want to become a Matte Painter. I will briefly talk about where our VFX development is leading us and also share some tips that can improve your learning and
productivity. This specific guide is not a detailed exercise book, or detailed breakdown of my matte painting process. I would like to cover this in the
following tutorials and guides coming during this year (2019).

So let’s get started.

INTRODUCTION MASTER DMP / ART FUNDAMENTALS SOFTWARE PHOTO REFERENCES FINAL WORDS

YOU FREQUENTLY ASK

DO I NEED TO GO INTO UNIVERSITY OR ART

SCHOOL IN ORDER TO GET TO THE INDUSTRY
TO BECOME SUCCESSFUL ARTIST?
INTRODUCTION MASTER DMP / ART FUNDAMENTALS SOFTWARE PHOTO REFERENCES FINAL WORDS

NO, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO

Even though I did study VFX and Motion Graphics and graduated in July 2018, I definitely do not think it is
important to get a degree. Do not get me wrong, my 3 years at university was one of the best
experiences I have ever gone through, I got to learn new softwares, I met amazing people, I had awesome
supportive lecturers, but this does NOT guarantee you a job in VFX industry.

Matte Painting is form of art used in VFX / Games to support and convey story and also how everyone
says to “Make that scene look beautiful”. That requires a lot of practise and wide range of skills. It surely
is different than to what it used to be years ago, but the art rules and fundamentals are still the same
and are requirement.
I know some people really do not like theory, but believe me it is important to pay attention to this
information, you will read and see why. Even without university degree.

And this is why you are reading this guide, because you are possibly not at University (or you are) but you
want to become a Matte Painter, you do not know where to start and you do not have anyone to teach
you.. Or you are reading this because you want to improve and get better, so you are looking for more
information.

[my note: At my university, the same as a lot of universities, we didn’t have matte painting classes,. It was up to
me, my drive, my investments, my passion for learning, my determination and being able to accept failing. And
I failed number of times.]
 INTRODUCTION MASTER DMP / ART FUNDAMENTALS SOFTWARE PHOTO REFERENCES FINAL WORDS

BUT YOU HAVE TO

Develop (rather healthy) habits that will help you reach your goals and vision, in this
case, becoming Digital Matte Painter. (but this can also be applicable to every single goal
in your life)

FIND YOUR PASSION

EXPERIMENT AND EXPLORE

SET YOUR GOAL

DEVELOP SELF - DISCIPLINE

FIND PURPOSE IN WHAT YOU ARE DOING

DEVELOP DETERMINATION

ACCEPT AND SEEK FOR FEEDBACK

BE PERSISTENT

GET READY TO FAIL

[my note: These are not traits you develop overnight. If you struggle to find
these traits, you must figure out your own personal way to develop them. It can be by setting up a
routine or developing habit, but mainly, enjoy the process. It can be VERY hard
sometimes, but by following your beliefs, you can achieve anything.. ]
 WANDA SYKES

‘‘IF YOU FEEL LIKE THERE IS SOMETHING OUT

THERE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING, IF YOU
HAVE A PASSION FOR IT, THEN STOP WISHING IT
AND JUST DO IT.’’
INTRODUCTION MASTER DMP / ART FUNDAMENTALS SOFTWARE PHOTO REFERENCES FINAL WORDS

MY FIRST DMP PRACTISE

DIGITAL MATTE PAINTING
INTRODUCTION MASTER DMP / ART FUNDAMENTALS SOFTWARE PHOTO REFERENCES FINAL WORDS

In January 2017, I started my first proper DMP (shortcut for: Digital Matte Painting) practise. This practise consisted of me;

“smashing images together without knowing what

I am doing. Ehm, and how about adding some
dramatic oversaturated sky, so it has the right dramatic effect”

When we first started, or when we want to start, all we desire to achieve is this wonderful looking artwork like from the Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Prometheus, Game
of Thrones or you name it. What you might not know is the long process, number of artists and hours that goes into creating an image like this.
On these big blockbusters, on one single scene, there is a large number of artists collaborating with each other and being led by their supervisor or art director, who
manages and helps the team to achieve these stunning looking scenes. These leading roles also take a huge amount of time, but even these people had to start
somewhere. Every day they put a big amount of time and investment into learning; to get better at what they do.

I was the same. I loved these wide scaled scenes showing wonderful looking environments, a combination of 3D and 2D, with some animated elements. And that is
what I started with.
I searched for tutorials on youtube called ‘‘Matte Painting for beginners’’, they showed some photobashing techniques, but that is not what I should have started with.
Whenever I was finishing (I often was not able to finish or accomplish what I had in my mind) ) I began asking myself why it doesn’t look how I want?
How do I make it work, where can I learn about DMP, what is my artwork missing, etc...?
Those of you, who have already started practising, do you ask yourself these questions too? In this guide I would like to show you why.

Today, in 2019, you can find a lot resources to learn from all over the internet. Some are more affordable, and unfortunately, some are less affordable.
Especially for young individuals.. When we want to start, all we do is try to find the cheapest way to learn, ideally for free, so we source from Youtube or any other
website that offers free tutorials. Once we have some budget and we find a course that requires payment, you may become unsure and ask yourself if the course is
worth the money, and if the course will give you exactly what you need.

So which courses are the best to start with? As mentioned, we love Youtube.com, because it offers information for free. It sounds even cooler if you find a tutorial
showing ‘How to do Matte Painting’,

and there is nothing wrong with that. We have all done it, BUT....

Unfortunately some tutorials I have seen on Youtube are very misleading. I am not naming any specific ones, because some of them, can show you photobashing
techniques, which you surely will need. But remember these tutorials might not get you your desired job, because they do not show the actual
thinking process behind creating a matte painting, and what knowledge you need to step into this discipline.
INTRODUCTION MASTER DMP / ART FUNDAMENTALS SOFTWARE PHOTO REFERENCES FINAL WORDS

I like watching communities, Facebook groups and forums, where enthusiastic artist share their work but I often see that:

THEY REPEAT THE SAME MISTAKES ALL OVER AGAIN, BECAUSE OF

THEIR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE AND CONFUSING RESOURCES THEY WATCH.

WHAT IS MATTE PAINTING IN 2019?

Matte Painting is very often misunderstood and mixed with Illustration and Concept Art.
Matte Painting is a discipline used in VFX and game industry and is involved in post-production pipeline (more about the VFX pipeline here and the Matte Painting
pipeline here). A Matte Painter is responsible for creating realistic looking images that extend an already existing plate filmed on the set, or helps to support the ‘story’
of a certain sequence. This discipline meets all the rules of realistic painting, (let’s apply the word hyperrealism). It is very wide field to study and practise, especially
today, with growing technology and task requirements.

Have you ever seen those stunning hyper realistic portrait drawings? Why do they stun you? Because of the level of detail, proportion, lighting and values used to
convey the form and the surface of the skin, the story in their eyes etc....This was not something these amazing artists learnt over night. They spend enough time on
learning anatomy and practising and understanding what they are painting. This practise becomes better with every piece of artwork they create.

In Matte Painting, it is almost the same. You could be creating a simple sky replacement, but again, meet the rules of realism.
In order to do that, you must pay attention to each element of your image/plate. For example; make sure it matches the shading and the light values of your new sky.
Your task could just be just simple clean up, but again, you have to think about the rules like repetition, sharpness, color, matching values etc...
Potentially, you could be creating a Sci-fi city for your personal portfolio, where all the elements follow the rules of realism, the audience subconsciously know that the
image isn’t real, although it looks real to our eye and mind. And why is this? Because it is following the rules.

You can see perfect examples below

ARTWORK BY STEVEN CORMANN - This artwork perfectly shows the explanation above, we subconsciously know this does not exist, but still it looks realistic.

ARTWORK BY JACEK PILARSKI - This is artwork where you, without any doubt, believe is real. Like a cut from some film.
INTRODUCTION MASTER DMP / ART FUNDAMENTALS SOFTWARE PHOTO REFERENCES FINAL WORDS

APPLYING FOR A JOB IN THE VFX INDUSTRY?

Then focus on creating highly realistic artwork. It can be just 1 or 2 matte paintings. Spend enough time on your matte paintings, share them with communities
(like the MattePaint FB group), get some feedback and improve until you get it right. It will require time, but you can do it! I did it, we did it.

There are many factors to be considered, when you are applying to this industry, I would like to cover one of the most important ones in another parts, where I’ll be
talking about communication and getting the right contacts. It is denitely something we need to talk about in separate chapter, as that is going to be a long one. But
now, we are still learning fundamentals. Focus on them.

OTHER MISTAKES I MADE WHEN I STARTED

FAILING POTENTIAL IDEAS
We, as artists, want to have a nice looking piece of art expressing some sort of story or idea, we want to have this cool looking portfolio everyone will be stunned by.
I wanted this too, but after all the failing, I realised I just did not study enough of the process and workflow of matte painting. Previously we talked about misleading
tutorials, lack of knowledge of the fundamentals or too large an idea which ends up unsuccessful. Start with small ideas. Learn to clean up your photos, do a simple
extension, learn how to match images using only two photographs or learn how to use the basic brushes. Start small and then grow.

LACK OF PLANNING
Another mistake I made, was that I moved to Photoshop (we will talk about this software later) with a spark of an idea that I had in my mind, without any planning,
without having enough photo reference and without research and preparation. Plan ahead and research your topic, when you are assigned to a plate, read the brief
properly and find the right reference and really PLAN.

LACK OF SELF-CARE
When I was starting out, I spent a ridiculous amount of hours on learning, I could not sleep, I had 2 jobs, university, and I just lost my balance with all of the issues I
was packed with. I will say what every other artist will say, please find a balance. Whether you work full time and you have decided to change your career path or you
are a student. Many artists went through issues with sleeping disorders, anxieties, depressions and difficult times in general. Put in the work but find your
balance. It is more important than you think, especially as you are getting older.
 SO

LOOK AFTER YOUR HEALTH

work hard but smart
INTRODUCTION MASTER DMP / ART FUNDAMENTALS SOFTWARE PHOTO REFERENCES FINAL WORDS

LISTEN TO PODCASTS
At the end of 2017, I slowly began listening to art podcasts, I listened to other artist’s stories and achievements, that helped me to develop my own persona. Believe it
or not, they all went through difficulties. We all have a different story, but no matter what the story is, do not let anything or anyone to stop you.
I would highly recommend follwoing this page THE COLLECTIVE PODCAST
I also really like watching Adam Duff’s videos on his Youtube channel

you may also like

ART CAFE
FENG ZHU - CINEMA PODCAST

JOIN COMMUNITY
AND SURROUND YOURSELF WITH LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE
I would like to end this chapter by highlighting the importance of surrounding yourself with like-minded people. Seek them. When I first started, I joined communities
like the MattePaint group on Facebook and the Kitbash 3D community, from there my growth has started. I started receiving feedback on my work and even got my
work streamed on Kitbash3D live stream. (my university project DEAD LIGHT) When I look at this project again, it looks crappy to me, but that is not the point. We all
start somewhere and it does not matter what other people think, if you really want something, go for it! Seek feedback, talk to people, listen to podcasts and do not be
afraid to expose yourself and show you have the passion and dream to become a good artist.
INTRODUCTION MASTER DMP / ART FUNDAMENTALS SOFTWARE PHOTO REFERENCES FINAL WORDS

LET’S LEARN
We will talk about these mistakes and how to avoid them in another part of this guide. I will link you to the right sources covering how to research reference, how
to create a mind map, how to work with software and how to build your Junior Showreel. I learned from my mistakes and now I would like to show you how to
avoid them and how to overcome those frustrating moments, when at the very beginning, you feel like your work ‘s.cks’ and you keep failing.

Let’s talk about mastering Light, Perspective, Composition, Color and terms like Value, Atmospheric Perspective and Ambient Occlusion...

IN PART 2 MASTER DMP/ ART FUNDAMENTALS - PERSPECTIVE

GET YOUR PART 2

INTRODUCTION MASTER DMP / ART FUNDAMENTALS SOFTWARE PHOTO REFERENCES FINAL WORDS

PLEASE SHARE YOUR FEEDBACK AND QUESTIONS WITH US

thank you

gartesupp@gmail.com