ImagineFX has a new PDF Workshop download from Christian Bravery, video game art director for Black & White 2:

“The only brief here was to create a workshop piece, so I could do pretty much whatever I pleased. I wanted to produce something that would encompass character and environment visualisation, coupled with elements of action and narrative. I chose some mainstream sci-fi subject matter: a giant robot in a ruined cityscape with our hero winning through against terrible odds. Archetypal stuff, but fun to paint and the kind of action shot that publishers always love.”

Check out the article which contains links to grab the workshop PDF and a ZIP file containing the images related to the tutorial.

More in the way of new product and video releases this week:

• The Gnomon Workshop has just released seven new videos from the likes of David Finch, Steve Firchow, Alvin Lee, and Joe Weems. Of most interest to the illustrator are four titles covering comic book inking, penciling, and coloring.
• Wacom has recently introduced two new additions to the Cintiq family of products, the 20WSX and the 12WX, a compact 4.4lbs unit that resembles the Intuos3 (except with it’s own LCD screen!), with a more affordable, sub-$1,000 price tag.

Massive Black has just released Part 1 of a downloadable video tutorial, by French concept artist Bruno “Nox” Gore.

In this video, Nox takes us through his process of starting a quick concept in Photoshop. He uses no plan or reference material, but in the end still manages to knock out a great-looking image. The commentary is amusing and casual. Be sure to wait for the surprise ending, which is a nice humorous touch.

The download is a bargain at $10 and includes a .zip of the video (in a high-quality Quicktime format), the PSD file, and the Photoshop color wheel that Nox uses in his workflow. Overall a great value. Part 2 is due to be released later this week, and will include the final completed PSD.

An application called Colors! has been developed to make use of the Nintendo DS pressure-sensitive screen, effectively turning it into a simple, self-contained painting/sketching platform. Required hardware includes a DS Lite (which has a brighter screen), R4 Revolution flash-cart (allows the use of home-brew applications), and a MicroSD flash memory card.

If you’re new to running home-brew apps on the DS, there is a helpful setup tutorial posted on the Conceptart.org forums.

Be sure to check out the gallery of Colors! artwork. Concept Artist Sparth apparently has some sketches posted there.

Just a few links to cover today’s news:

• The Hellboy II website is featuring a gallery of concept art for the upcoming movie sequel, The Golden Army.
• The official site of the Conceptart.org / Massive Black workshop, Revelations, is now live. The workshop will run on Jan 4th-7th in Seattle, WA, and has a very impressive list of instructors from the visual arts industries. Artists from the likes of ID Software, Bungie, and many others will be attending.
• Wikipedia has an extensive reference table on the Muscles of the Human Body, complete with detailed photos & illustrations. Helpful for anatomy studies. See also List of Bones of the human skeleton.

It’s Art Magazine has released Vol. #12 of their flagship publication. Inside are interviews and galleries from illustrators Raphaël Lacoste, Benjamin Carré, Nick Harris, Jacek Kaczynski, and Ehsan Dabbaghi. The magazine is available both as a Printed Collector’s Edition or PDF download.

Wired has released a series of articles today on the return of the animated series Futurama. Inside you’ll find a behind-the-scenes look at the production workflow of the illustrators and 3d animators.

Also mentioned is respected concept artist Syd Mead, who was consulted for much of the show’s space & Sci-Fi artwork.