Looking to up your skill and fast-track your pathway to the VFX industry?
Join our Academy and get 1-on-1 matte painting mentoring from several of the industry's most prominent Matte Painting veterans.
We have an ever growing list of VFX industry mentors there to assist and provide LIVE feedback! We're also adding videos with tips and tricks and hosting live sessions and art analysis.
The Academy includes:
- ❤ 1-on-1 mentoring sessions
- ✍ Quick Tips videos
- ? Weekly Challenges and Prizes!
- ? Live Streams
- ? Personal Feedback
- ? Mock interviews
- ? Resume/Reel Reviews
- ? Private Discord Section
What is The Academy?
The Academy is an organic learning group provided for free to anyone with an Artist-Plus or Artist-Pro Subscription on MattePaint.
It is primarily run by Conrad Allan, a co-founder of MattePaint with over 10 years experience in environments and matte painting. He has worked on shows such as Game Of Thrones, Logan, Thor, Assassin's Creed, Independence Day, and more.
Our Approach To Teaching
You can find a LOT of content online, both paid and free, on how to create amazing artwork. So the MattePaint Academy focuses on how to get an entry level job in VFX and how to nail the technical aspects to a VFX production level. So far we have directly placed over 25 artists in matte painting positions.
Why do we take this approach?
The reality is, VFX Studios aren't expecting you to create hero matte paintings in your first job, they're hiring for a junior position. They want someone who understands the basics of matte painting. So, the Academy focuses on teaching the technical skills a junior will be expected to know. We make sure artists are the absolute FASTEST around at those tasks. This is what will get you the job.
That said, our Academy students do create some amazing work, just check out some of their work below!
Remember, access is free with an Artist-Plus or Pro Subscription!
Self Driven Learning
Artists post their work and receive feedback in video form or markups. Much like our public community group, but we spend a lot more time and effort on Academy feedback.
Similarly, the knowledge we share is mostly driven by what questions are asked in the Academy. So if you are having trouble with the curves tool, let us know! We'll record a video to help you out with the specific technique you're trying to achieve. These videos are then shared with the Academy group everyone to learn.
Personal Feedback
Get personal feedback in the form of a video paint-over. This is an extension of the above, when someone requests it we take their PSD, dive in and have a look at what they could have improved!
Mentoring
Get one-on-one mentoring in matte painting or concept art as well and group mentoring within the Academy! There are multiple mentors to choose from, and our Artist-Pro Yearly plan comes with 2 hours of included mentoring with our founder, Conrad Allan!
Personal mentoring sessions are not recorded so you can discuss anything you wish; resume's, show-reels, a specific technique, etc.
Live Streams
Typical live stream stuff! We haven't done too many in recent months but previous sessions are all uploaded on the video section of the academy.
Challenges
These are typically 2 weeks long, We select a particular technique and briefing for each challenge. They're mixed in levels too, sometimes it's simple plate clean up and a bit of augmentation other times it's turning a concept into a matte painting!
Mock Interviews
Whenever an artist has an interview coming up, we encourage them book a mock interview with Conrad. This is a 45min call where Conrad will play as the interviewer at the studio. With his experience in the industry he'll be able to help you get used to the idea of interviewing and give you feedback on where you can improve.
These sessions are recorded so the artist can listen back. Also with their permission we post the interview in the Academy for others to learn from too.
Get access to the MattePaint Academy from as little as $13.50 a month!
MattePaint Academy Videos
- How to paint light in a night-time scene.
- How to use the Vanishing Point Tool
- Creating realistic reflections for your artwork
- Photoshop Settings 101 for beginner matte painters
- How to organize your photoshop reference using Artboards
- Repeat objects into the distance using Perspective Repeat
- Using Non-Destructive Blur
- How to mask complex objects in Photoshop
- Theory - Halfway to Black
- Fixing Masked Edges on layers in Photoshop
- Dynamic Masking using the Blend-if tool
- Theory - Deconstructing and understanding light
- Using content-aware fill
- Colour Matching Layers
- And more!
Checkout all the Academy videos
The Academy is also our testing grounds for new features on MattePaint too. The group is very much welcomed into the family of MattePaint and we are overly transparent with them. This is because we want the artists to feel part of our family, and feel that they're contributing to the direction we head in while at the same time we're helping them become better artists.
Join the free Discord community!
While you decide whether to join our Academy, make sure to jump into our Discord community server and say hi! Share your work and ask any questions you have of us, or the artists in the community.
? https://discord.gg/UkCP7EC
Have any remaining questions?
Shoot through an email to academy@mattepaint.com for more information.
