Editorial
Welcome to a superbly packed issue of 2DArtist, and in marking the end of another year we’ll be checking out the final chapters of three of our current tutorial series’, in preparation for three brand new ones starting in January for a fresh and sparkly 2010!

We’ve gone environment friendly this month with three tutorials dedicated to creating stunning environments! First up, Serg Souleiman is here to teach us his techniques when using a 3D base, created in Google SketchUp, to concept an industrial scene. With this series we’ve been giving artists free reign in terms of the genre of work they create, and it’s been a great experience to watch as they’ve all created and submitted such wildly different scenes. I think we have certainly proved a point with this series: that simple 3D can in fact improve your painting workflow and help you face some of those tricky perspective, scale and depth issues! So be afraid no more: 3D is your friend – embrace it!

Our second environment tutorial comes in the form of Roberto F. Castro’s Custom Brushes lesson, in which he shows us how to master the art of creating brushes to paint leaves and trees for environments (p.70). If you’ve ever had problems painting trees for your scenes, then you’ll want to check this out: Roberto takes us from scratch through the entire brush creation process, showing us how to create the trunk and add the different layers of leaves using different custom-made brushes to get a wholly believable-looking end result!

And to wrap up the environment painting craze we have happily stumbled into this month, Nykolai Aleksander brings us the final installment of her Beginner’s Guide to Digital Painting tutorial series for Photoshop, where she’s making all those final adjustments and saving the image out for various needs (p.88). If you’ve been following this series then you’ll no doubt be a Nykolai fan by now; she has brought us honest and light-hearted tutorials filled with information that you can only get from an artist who has been painting every day (sometimes without sleeping) in Photoshop for the past 7 years! This is someone who has very kindly and selflessly offered us her complete knowledge, and you’d be a fool not to take her advice on board. So get studying and paint, paint, paint!

Bringing something new to the table this month is Richard Tilbury, with his first chapter of our new Painting the Undead series. This month: painting a vampire! Avoiding clichés and wanting to make his own mark on the subject, Richard takes us right from the thumbnailing stage and through the entire concepting and painting process, so get your oversized cape on and fly over to p.80 for your first fix of some ghoulish painting fun!

Our interviews this month feature the charismatic and openly honest artist, David Smit, as well as the geniuses behind the immensely successful – and downright fun – Flash game, Machinarium. David Smit was with us last month to conclude our Dynamic Characters tutorial series, and we had such fun working with him that we wanted to know more, and thought you all should, too! David is not only well traveled in a global sense, but has also worked for various game companies and has an impressive educational CV to boot. To find out why he seeks to do what those will not expect, and how Lego helped to forge his creative career, check out p.6. Jakub Dvorský & Adolf Lachman then talk to us on behalf of Amanita Design on about the adorable and hugely addictive, Machinarium. For a behind the scenes look, turn to p.30.

Our Sketchbook this month has shaped up to be a deep and curious look into John U. Abrahamson’s sketches for his upcoming exhibition in California, Flesh and Blood. Using an automatic drawing process, John uncovers strong feelings and issues that come to light when he puts pencil to paper, often associated with his abandonment by his mother as a child, as well as past relationships and the inspirational beauty he sees when he’s out and about in the world. Seeing the world through another’s eyes can really open your own to what’s around you, so be sure to talk a walk today, fill your lungs with some fresh air, and breathe in some inspiration!

We’ll be seeing you in 2010. Have a very happy Christmas and a creative New Year! Ed.