On the non-technical side, here's some inspiration. These are just a few blogs and art communities. Why not start your own account so you can post your artwork on them? 

Some of you may already have accounts in places like deviant art or cgsociety. There are a lot of them and they're really good places to get seen and to stay fresh and inspired.
Check them out on a regular basis!

If you know a few more, post them in the comments!

http://bjornhurri.cghub.com/favorite/type:images/

http://cggallery.itsartmag.com/  

http://conceptships.blogspot.ca/

http://illustrators-drawer.tumblr.com/tagged/illustration

http://theconceptartblog.com/

http://www.cgsociety.org/

http://www.deviantart.com/

Join the new Facebook Group! Stay in touch

http://www.facebook.com/groups/342913655806643/

Hey Folks, I want to introduce you to an invaluable resource online: Ctrlpaint.com

Matt Kohr, concept artist and the creator of ctrlpaint.com, makes these short (5 - 20 min) videos that break down the mechanics of digital painting software. This is a really good place to get your basic foundation. Most of the videos on here are free. You may end up wanting to purchase some of his video packages someday, but there's plenty here to get you started

At Algonquin, in Intro to Concept Art, we want to cram as much into your minds and hearts as you will allow us in the short time we have together, so we don't spend a ton of time specifically going over the software tools (don't worry, we'll be there if you have questions or need help).

That's why I'm encouraging you to familiarise yourself with Photoshop now and ctrlpaint can really help you do that. You don't need to be pros coming into this... but it helps.

Here are 5 quick vids on the basics of digital painting in Photoshop. Perhaps the 4th one is less important to master just now, as we will be moving into colour a bit more gradually. But, it won't hurt to watch it.

Even if you don't have photoshop, or you don't feel like opening it up and walking through the steps alongside the vids, just watching them will leave you better prepared; You'll begin to think in the Photoshop realm.

I would recommend grabbing some tea or coffee and curling up for an hour to watch these straight through. Then, sleep on it, and come back to them individually. Open up Photoshop and try some things out. Don't worry about making a wicked sci-fi helicopter, we'll work on that later. Just get comfy.

Enjoy!!

http://www.ctrlpaint.com/dp101-1/

http://www.ctrlpaint.com/dp101-2/

http://www.ctrlpaint.com/dp101-3/

http://www.ctrlpaint.com/dp101-4/

http://www.ctrlpaint.com/dp101-5/

Our first assignment in Character & Creature Design is a samurai warrior. I picked a cross section of work from last year, at various stages of development. You can see that there are many directions you can take the assignment in. Although we start with research and referencing traditional samurai armour and clothing, you can really use your imagination to take it to a new place.