Blending in Photoshop. C:

Easy enough!

That's maybe a 5-minute topic -- anything else?

COVERING TECHNIQUE

oh god i wish i could go just so i can see you work!

Haha, it's not that exciting ^_^

Anything specific, technique-wise?

Still, that's helpful, thanks!

I can't go to FC o.o
IF I COULD I would probably follow you around like a lost puppy.
And I would absolutely go to any panel you hosted.

Just watching you work would be a dream.

Yeah, it sounds like folks are mostly interested in just seeing a time-lapse progression of how a normal piece gets done.

Hey, I can dig that :3
Though there's so much more I could learn from you.

How about a tutorial on furry PORN!

Nah.. never mind.

If there's one thing this fandom doesn't need...

I'd really like to see you take a piece from start to finish, not drawing it in real time, but having a piece broken down into as many steps as you realistically take with examples of the files along the way. You could fill in the space between these steps with talk about approach and tools and such. Yup. That's what I'd like. :"D

Good call ^_^ Thanks as ever for the thoughtful input!

With only an hour, I'd go through progressive steps using a finished piece. The cool thing about digital is that if someone has a question that requires you to make some scribbles, you can just NOT save. That and with a finished piece to look at, people who aren't very familiar with your art work can ask "how did you do -that-" And point to a technique that you've used.

Very true! Thanks for the input ^_^

How you choose colors! I think that'd be real interesting to hear about, as well as useful!
Also, how to render light on various surfaces such as glass, leather, metal, etc.

It'd be nice if you'd record this so that those who won't be at FC'09 can see too! C:

All good topics! Thanks for the suggestions, dude ^_^

And yeah, maybe there's some way to put together a DVD or something... Something to look into, anyway ^_^

It would be great to see you working. I think I would be interested in seeing how you go from Concept to Complete.

Technique's all good and fine, but this should really be to showcase you and how you do things. Color choice / Lighting / Anatomy seems like things that real world experience teaches, and while you can certainly give advice, practice and active observation will be a much better teacher.

Might I interject a few thoughts on top of that though?

Do NOT let any of the attendees to ask questions during the demo. So many people at conventions have no respect for even the most acclaimed artists. They will pester the whole thing with their 'questions' that you've already answered or will be getting to. Leave fifteen minutes or so at the end to answer questions?

Anyhow, g'luck, I'll keep an eye out on the schedule of FC.

Thanks for the input! I do think it would be fun to at least show a bit of just me working as I normally do.

And I do know what you mean about questions tending to bog things down sometimes -- I guess we can play that by ear ^_^ Hopefully it'll work out. But yeah, I guess hopefully see you there if it all works out, hehe.

I'm with the crowd: start to finish, one complete piece. Perhaps take some talking points from Work In Process, including free association, and inspiration through sketching. Allow, for instance, your audience to specify a couple of prompts; it works well as a writing exercise, to be given either a context-free sentence or a number of verbs and nouns, which ought to be integrated.

Dazzle the audience with your ability to produce, from seemingly random words, an interesting and inspired piece.

An hour would be enough, but I'd advise you to book a two-hour slot. Take some time to sit everyone down, do some introductions, set the mood, then get to work -- and half-way through, take a break. Not everyone's as high-energy as you are! Taking five minutes at the stroke of the hour gives people a chance to go to the bathroom, get a beverage, recharge their batteries.

It also gives you the opportunity to address multi-session artwork, how a break can give you a fresh perspective.

My opinion on 'art as craft' is no secret, and as such I'd vote for neglecting to describe specific techniques ("If you want to know how I did that, buy my book after the panel"), since your audience will forget them. They don't have any art supplies of their own (it's a panel, not a workshop) so they're sitting there twiddling their thumbs, and they'll be fascinated by your description of this or that shortcut key, but it won't stick.

The abstract, however, will stick much better. I believe this is why the third panel I gave at last FC was more successful than the others; I addressed a number of topics in very broad terms. In my case, those were surprise/suspense, the joke, etcetera. In your case, that could be 'thinking with light', 'draw a giant X', and 'black is not a color'.

Again, purely from my own perspective of art as craft, I think you should cover the topic of deciding when a piece is done. Discourage obsessive perfectionism, and make the participants aware that the anxiety they feel over perceived inadequacies in their work can actually be a symptom of fear, an inability to commit. Discuss how you decide when a piece is finished, how you can accept moderate flaws, and how to recognize when something is 'not perfect, but good enough for fuckin' Alex'.

Aim to complete at the 1:30 to 1:45 mark. That deadline can, in fact, play part of the topic of the previous paragraph -- working with deadlines, how to bring a piece in on time (focusing on attitude, perhaps, more than actual skills). That gives you some down-time to discuss the piece, accept praise and, most importantly:

REMIND THE AUDIENCE WHAT THEY WITNESSED.

The adage of any good presentation: announce what you're going to deliver, deliver what you wanted to say, remind them what they learned.

In terms of set-up, I'd recommend a laptop, tablet and beamer, so that you can face the audience while you're working, and have it projected nice and big behind you. Allow audience members to ask questions, but don't let them dictate which topic they're addressing. If their question is irrelevant, give them a bit of an answer, be encouraging, but make a quip to elicit laughter from the audience, thus neutralizing both the questioner and the topic, so you can get back to what you were talking about.

For the sake of posterity, and because you're totally rockin' awesome, it would be cool to have a record of the event. Screencasting software can capture a video of everything you're doing along with your rambling, though a separate mic and recorder will do a better job of the latter. If you're comfortable with that a camera can be set up to record your person, so any gestures you make at the screen behind you can also be captured -- this is, of course, entirely dependent on your comfort level and the degree of dignity you wish to maintain for the rest of your life.

These resources, by the way, are yours to request. Bad Dog Books will provide provide the hardware, software, and on-site support you require.

It is absolutely, absolutely crucial that throughout all this you remain calm, serene, with a docility that borders on the manic. You should paint 'happy little trees' and give them 'a little friend, right there'. You must have swatches set up for Van Dyke Brown, Hunter Green and Titanium White, and I think you know how you should style your hair.

I think it's a great idea! It'd be wicked popular, and tons of fun for all involved :)

Ooh, nice -- didn't know there were 2-hour slots to be had. That changes things a bit.

Thanks for the input, all-round. It's helpful ^_^

as a begginer i could say techniques like anatomy as my dogs looks like foxes and my wolves as cats XD
because i think photoshop sometimes could be easy, as its only practice and learn how everything works in there (stop being afraid of messing up everything) and i think there isnt and exact way to use it.

well that is my humble oppinion (too bad i wont go to the FC ) if you can get a video or something please post it =D

Thanks for the input ^_^