Art, Design & Visual StorytellingEdit

Fundamentals. Concept art, composition, color, typography, photography, cinematography, animation principles. The craft underpinning 3D work.

Concept Art & Illustration: Channels

Channels on concept art, figure drawing, painting.

• Absurd Design. Surrealist illustrations for your next amazing thing
• Awesome Illustrations. Curated awesome-list of illustration resources, tools, and references.
• Awesome Stock Resources. A collection of links for free stock photography, video and Illustration websites.
• Biodiversity Heritage Library. 300,000+ Botanical and Animal Illustrations available for free download. (CC0)
• Black Illustrations Freemium. Beautiful illustrations of black people for your next project
• Blush Freemium. Create, mix, and customize illustrations made by artists around the world.
• Characterz Freemium. 9,000+ customizable diverse 3D character illustrations with Blender source files
• Control Illustrations Paid. Combo set of 108 customizable illustrations
• Flowbite Illustrations. Open-source collection of 3D styles SVG illustrations available in dark and light mode
• Get Illustrations Bundle Paid. A bundle of over 34 vector illustration packs and 2800+ items
• Handz. Free library of 320+ diverse 3D hand illustrations with Blender source files
• Humaaans. Mix-&-match illustrations of people with a design library
• illlustrations. 100 awesome open-source illustrations also including COVID & WFH for your next project
• Illustration Gallery. A huge collection of royalty-free illustrations to power up your projects
• Illustration Tools. Directory of tools and resources for illustrators, creatives and artists.
• Illustrationz Freemium. 100+ 3D character illustration packs with 167M+ combinations
• Malt. Malt is a non photorealistic rendering (NPR) framework. It offers fully customizable real-time rendering framework for animation and illustration. GitHub
• Michael Mattesi. Force drawing (Instagram).
• Neural Network-Generated Illustrations. AI generated illustrations for Allo from Google
• Ouch! Illustrations Freemium. Stylish illustrations for better UX
• Plasticity (GitHub). A 3d modelling software for concept artists.
• Shape.so Paid. 4300+ icons, illustrations exportable to SVG, React & Lottie
• Smash Illustrations Freemium. An list of illustrations over 250+ items
• Storytale Freemium. Hundreds of illustrations for web and app projects
• Stubborn Generator. An awesome character generator for your next illustrations
• unDraw Illustrations. MIT licensed constantly updated collection of beautiful svg illustrations

Concept Art & Illustration: Courses

Structured concept art and design courses.

Drawing & Painting for 3D Artists

Gesture, figure, digital painting fundamentals for 3D artists.

Related:

• Animation with Dall-e + AE | Reddit. Patent drawing of an electronic device that..
• ArtStation Learning. Free courses from Blizzard, Riot, Pixar pros.
• BodyVisualizer. 3D body shape visualizer for proportion reference.
• Ctrl+Paint. Structured free video library. Digital painting fundamentals, value studies, color.
• Genetic Drawing. Python library to generate a stylized rendering from an image.
• Gizmos. Used for drawing runtime gizmos in builds and editor (Unity3D).
• Graphite 3D Paid. A collaborative drawing tool for modeling precise shapes in real spaces.
• Human Anatomy for Artists. Massive free photo reference by body part and angle.
• Instanced Line Rendering Part I. Builds on the foundation from "Drawing Lines is Hard" and uses instance rendering to draw lines.
• Intro to JS: Drawing & Animation. Use JavaScript and the ProcessingJS library to create drawings and animations.
• Learn HTML5 Graphics and Animation Freemium. Introduction to the canvas 2D drawing API.
• Line of Action. Free timed gesture drawing (figures, animals, hands, faces).
• Posemaniacs. Rotatable 3D pose reference with muscle groups.
• Proko Free Library Freemium. Anatomy, figure drawing, portrait (substantial free tier).
• QuickPoses. Timed drawing practice with huge photo library.
• SketchDaily Reference. Timed drawing sessions across categories.

Photography: Reference & Fundamentals

Photography knowledge directly applicable to 3D lighting and composition.

• /r/FOSSPhotography. Community about Free open source software for Photography on reddit.
• B&H Explora Photography. Deep technical articles on lighting modifiers and color temperature.
• ButtleOFX. A simple, user-friendly and open source compositing software.
• Cambridge in Colour. photography tutorials.
• Femto-Photography: Visualizing Photons in Motion at a Trillion Frames Per Second. Raskar et al
• Fstoppers Education. Studio lighting, portrait ratios, product photography.
• Gavin Hoey (Adorama). Studio lighting tutorials with setup diagrams.
• Open Source Photography Community on Google+. Open Source Photography Community on Google+.
• PIXLS.US. Community dedicated to tutorials, workflows, and showcases of high-quality photography using Free Software tools
• Strobist Lighting 101. Definitive free course on shaping light (directly applicable to 3D lighting).
• Workphlo. Studio product photography lighting breakdowns with placement diagrams.

Cinematography & Camera Work

Shot composition, camera techniques, lighting for film/CG.

• CinemaTyler. Deep analysis of lens choice, color, blocking, lighting in film.
• Every Frame a Painting. Gold-standard video essays on composition, camera, editing rhythm.
• Fusion. Free node-based compositing software from Blackmagic Design.
• How to Create Stunning Cinematic Lighting. Cinematic lighting tutorial.
• In Depth Cine. Practical lighting setups and narrative technique.
• No Film School. Cinematography. Constant stream of technique articles.
• Nuke Freemium. Industry standard node-based compositing software by The Foundry, has a free version for non-commercial use.
• Roger Deakins on Learning to Light. Cinematography Techniques Ep. 1.
• Shane Hurlbut ASC Blog. Real DP knowledge on cinematography, lens choice, lighting setups.
• StudioBinder Film Guides. Shot composition, camera shots encyclopedia, camera movements, lighting.
• Wolfcrow. Cinematography fundamentals, color science, exposure theory.

Composition & Visual Storytelling

Composition theory, color theory, visual hierarchy.

• Can't Unsee. Interactive game training visual alignment and spacing precision.
• Handprint Color & Composition. Deepest free color theory resource online. Covers perception and harmony.
• Laws of UX. Gestalt principles, visual perception laws (directly applicable to 3D composition).
• Neil Blevins Art Lessons. Composition types, tangents, visual hierarchy by a Pixar artist.
  See also: Learning, Community & Industry → 3D Inspiration & Showcase
• PhotoPills Golden Ratio Guide. Golden ratio, spirals, triangles with overlay diagrams.
• RenderNet Freemium. RenderNet AI is a tool for generating images and videos, providing control over character design, composition, and style.

Animation Principles

The 12 principles of animation and related fundamentals.

• Animation Resources. Archives of classic animation, frame-by-frame studies.
• Animator Island. 51 Exercises. Structured practice curriculum by difficulty.
• Endless Reference. Video clips browsable by action type (walk, run, fight, etc.).
• Hippydrome. Richard Williams walk cycle and timing chart reference.
• iAnimate Free Resources. Webinars from Disney/Pixar/DreamWorks animators.
• New Frame Plus. Animation analysis in games (walk cycles, weight, timing).
• The 12 Principles (Illustrated). GIF breakdowns of each principle.

Design Principles & Typography

Typography, visual hierarchy, design fundamentals.

• Better Web Type. Free typography course on rhythm and hierarchy.
• How to Proof a Typeface. Jonathan Hoefler's proofing guide.
• Kerning Tool. Kerning typography in Houdini.
• NNGroup Visual Design. Research-backed principles on hierarchy, contrast, whitespace.
• Practical Typography. Free online book on type fundamentals, hierarchy, spacing.
• The Futur. Graphic design fundamentals, typography, grid systems.
• Typewolf. Curated typography inspiration. Fonts in real-world use.

Color Theory & Tools

Color palettes, generators, matching, and theory tools.

• Adobe Color. Color wheel, harmony tool, palettes.
• Canva Color Palettes. Pre-made palettes.
• Color Hunt. Curated color palette collection.
• Color Method. Interactive color matching game.
• ColorBox. Systematic color scale generator.
• Coolors Freemium. Fast palette generator.
• Fast Palette Studio. Rapid palette creation for pixel art and game dev.
• Gradient Horse. Experimental gradient generator.
• Huemint Freemium. AI-assisted brand color generation.
• Lospec Palette List. Pixel art palette repository.
• Paletton. Classic color scheme designer.
• poline. Esoteric palette generation via polar color interpolation.
• Swatchr. A color palette management system for Unity.
• WebGradients. Gradient library.

Design Tools

Vector editors, creative effect tools, and design utilities.

Related:

• Are.na Freemium. Mood board and research tool for creatives.
• BabyTrack. Blob tracking effect.
• Carbon. Code snippet screenshot generator.
• ContentCore. Curated creative content.
• Cosmos. Visual content curation platform.
• Efecto. ASCII and dithering effects.
• Halftone Maker. Halftone generator.
• Mockup Photos Freemium. Device and print mockup library.
• Muzli. Design inspiration Chrome extension.
• OS Design Directory. Open-source design resources directory.
• Space Type Generator. Experimental type generator.
• The Toolbox. Curated creative tools directory.
• Tiled Art. Tessellation creator.
• Undesign. Design learning resources.
• X Design Freemium. Design tool.

General Inspiration

Blogs, feeds, and curated inspiration sources.

• Activation Ideas. Brand activation inspiration.
• But Does It Float. Contemporary design and art feed.
• Designspiration Freemium. Design inspiration feed.
• DETHJUNKIE. Dark creative blog.
• Geometric Design (Canva). Geometric design article.
• H.R. Giger (Artnet). H.R. Giger gallery archive.
• Iconz Freemium. 460+ 3D icons in multiple angles and materials
• Mech Blog. Mecha design inspiration.
• Mockupz. Free 3D mockup scenes for showcasing your design work
• Movie Scenes Inspired by Art. Thread on movie scenes mirroring paintings.
• Mr Cup. Graphic design blog.
• Muddycolors. Pro illustrator blog.
• OTAKU GANGSTA. Anime/otaku visual blog.
• Robotz. Free modular 3D cartoon robot with customizable heads, bodies and hands
• Sakuga Booru. Animation clip archive (non-www mirror).
• Savee Freemium. Visual bookmarking tool.
• The Black Workshop. Design inspiration blog.
• Truchet's Tiles. On Truchet tiles and patterns.

2D Art References & Inspiration

2D animation sheets, cloth, anime model sheets.

• 2D Tutorials. Draw a Box. Free drawing fundamentals course.
• Anatomy 360, Free Reference. 3D scanned human reference images.
• Dimensions.com. Dimensioned drawings database.
• National Gallery of Art (NGA). Open-access collection of historical paintings, drawings, and prints. High-res downloads for reference.
• Saint11 Pixel Art Paid. Pixel art tutorials.

Pre-Production, Storyboarding & Script Tools

Storyboard apps, previs tools, script breakdown, reference managers, moodboarding, and direction-theory channels.

Related:

• Are.na Freemium. Collaborative visual research blocks and channels.
• ASC Magazine. American Society of Cinematographers magazine. Cinematography and on-set VFX features.
• Cine Designer (C4D) Paid. Cinema 4D previs and techvis plugin for lights, lenses, set pieces.
• Every Frame a Painting. Visual-language essays (archive).
• FilmGrab. Curated film stills archive. Free.
• Halon Entertainment. Previs, VP, and virtual scouting case studies and tooling writeups.
• Lessons from the Screenplay. Story and screenplay analysis on YouTube.
• Magnopus. VP and XR studio. Tooling and case studies.
• Shot.Cafe. Searchable film and TV frames.
• ShotDeck Paid. Searchable film still library for storyboards and references.
• StudioBinder Blog. Filmmaking craft articles and breakdowns.
• The Third Floor. Previs and postvis studio blog with breakdowns from major features.
• VES (Visual Effects Society). VES handbook, talks, and methodology resources for on-set VFX.

Design Software

Also in Software Reference → Design Software