Ryan Dening Dropship Concept Art Tutorial - Part 1: Thumbnails

Ryan Dening, concept artist and founder of North Front Studio presents this tutorial on designing a dropship. In this first part, he demonstrates his process of design ideation and thumbnail sketching.
Ryan Dening is a concept artist, designer and illustrator. Having studied at Sheridan College, he began his career as a model-maker and designer of theme-park attractions, before moving into concept art for videogames. He worked as lead concept artist on Star Trek Online then, following stints at Activision and Midway Games, moved to BioWare Austin to work on Star Wars: The Old Republic, eventually becoming lead concept artist on the title.

[@pansquared]

This man's sense of perspective is so killer.

[@MINxCaldarian]

it's not perspective

[@tulbezus5844]

@Ferdinand Louise lmao

[@houstonmalakai2889]

You all probably dont give a shit but does any of you know a tool to log back into an instagram account..? I was stupid forgot my password. I love any assistance you can give me!

[@denvergrady1078]

@Houston Malakai Instablaster :)

[@sootandstars]

I tried this and drew a grey blob with some black scribbles on top. Yours is incredible though.

[@XtianApi]

I don't have to see it to know it's better than mine.

[@genkikai9992]

The lack of undo-ing is inspiring, great confidence!

[@dontwantahandle69]

Dayumn, I watched this video over 3 times in the past year, and I'm incredibly dissapointed there's not part 2, or more videos like this one and the ship one. The art is just amazing, I love it so freaking much

[@tarkhancaracal]

"It's kinda dead, it's kinda... Phhhbbbllllbblblbblbltttt". Best tutorial ever.

[@DunsdonIllustrates]

Really enjoyed this video. Would love to see more. Good work!

[@jasonaquino8232]

This is exactly what I want to do for a living. Design star fighters, and military hardware. So cool.

[@Shabazza84]

Mushy gray paint blob explodes into a badass dropship. Mkay.... I need to practice a bit more I guess. EDIT: Also: Thx KZbin algorithm for bringing me here 6 years after the fact... EDIT: Also also: 16:20 Him "not knowing what he's doing with this drawing" looks really different from my "not knowing what I'm doing".

[@Djmack1992]

Listening to this while doing my own concept for an interstellar freighter has instantly opened my stubborn brain up to a more free method of building up a concept. Thanks.

[@TheCobaltOcean]

This, is the style I've been longing for, for so long. Please let us know how it went with these concepts in your next video please :D

[@MegaCrisologo]

superb style wow...the last spaceship looks like my grandmas stapler and my aunts sewing machine.. awesome

[@neznamodvojeno5843]

The last one is a beauty..

[@jillesoom3305]

+Neznam Odvojeno i was stunned indeed

[@cherryblossomsky7023]

This is kinda simplest yet smartest method ever.. Love it💕💜🙏 Thank you.. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@led76illustration87]

Man I was sitting here drawing and I remembered that voice... I hope all is well!?! I was just thinking about you and your video popped up! Crazy! All the best Chad Leduc

[@ThatRyanManning]

Simple is in fact beautiful. Awesome and simple approach. Thanks for the knowledge dump!

[@F1VEFOUR]

This is a really good way to get a headstart on an Idea! Thanks for sharing

[@Emt0o]

Amazing!

[@ManpreetBhattee]

Wow !! Really had fun watching it.

[@whoooshy]

Can't wait to see Part 2!

[@therealarien]

Thanks for this. Inspiring! It's basically what you'd do on paper with copic marker and pen. Funnnnn

[@aerozg]

+Arien Van Stralen Love my Copics! I only have the Cool Grey sketch set for now.

[@DomsBlading]

Awesome demo. Was able to complete my first design by following some stroke techniques in this video. Thank you!

[@LittleRedDrawsArt]

I aspire to this amount of chill while creating :) thanks for sharing your process!!!

[@RobertMarzullo]

What exactly are you doing to draw your angle lines perfectly straight or smooth. It doesn't look like the click and shift method or is it. Thanks in advance and great work here!

[@YThates]

Hold down shift while drawing line.

[@RobertMarzullo]

Isn't that just for Horizontal and Vertical lines?

[@Fr0zenAK]

If you make one point, hold shift, then click another point it will connect the two with a line that has the pressure sensitivity of each point

[@RobertMarzullo]

Fr0zenAK Ok got it. Thank you for helping out! :)

[@Fr0zenAK]

Robert Marzullo No problem, nice vids btw!

[@jorgeterrell]

Love your Video! Thank you very much! its great that you speak over your video explaining your approach and thought process during your work flow.

[@SweatyNuts801]

the second and third thumbnails are amazing!

[@srivignesh35]

Awesome dude....Waiting for part 2

[@JoseMiguelBenga]

Ryan you´re a beast, thanks for this video man.

[@bart3022]

i luv watching you draw XD so clean and neat lines...

[@Rawdo]

Thanks Ryan for this video. I like how you went through the tools you used and great hearing your thought process :D

[@someonetough87]

Ready for part 2...

[@paradox_695]

thanks for the new perspective in drawing

[@ghost2031]

Beautiful Work, very inspiring.

[@jimmixgs]

Waiting for more! :) Awesome and helpful!

[@maayaa77]

Great Demo ! Thankyou

[@thevox360]

Fantastic video, Thanks for sharing. Truly inspired me to pursue learning and understanding digital drawing.

[@Wazszsa]

Great video, Can't wait for your next. Very insightful :)

[@jordanthomas2059]

Thanks for the advice it means a lot that you've replied

[@edkeefe]

Beautiful.

[@romenpheonixx7005]

Great work! Thank you for the inspiration.

[@Zatracenec]

Beautiful!

[@dvnobles]

Very, very cool!

[@LaRetouchephoto]

really interesting video. Nice tuto, thks for sharing tricks and technics.

[@DaveyBakerArt]

Great video, nice working out!

[@jacobzamora2631]

amazing concept!

[@woonko3300]

whoa thanks for sharing dude coooool work

[@jordanthomas2059]

I'm 15, I live in Britain and by the end of next years summer holidays I'll be going to collage! My aim ,my goal, my everything is to become a Games Concept artist for UBISOFT. I am big fan of games,movies Star Wars e.t.c and I was just wondering if you could take some of your time to give me a few pointers and some advice which could possibly change my life :)

[@eraldohamataj2264]

start to draw every day boy, and just don't stop. Study all the foundamentals and continue draw, after a few years of HARD work you will became what you desire.

[@antoniomosley9410]

Same here but I'm 16

[@antoniomosley9410]

***** Buying the books.

[@YThates]

Take the very first comment to heart word for word and I promise you won't fail if you're passionate.

[@IGameChangerI]

***** Another really nice book that is often overlooked is James Gurney's Color and Light. A FANTASTIC book on color theory in realistic painting. It'll help you really *sell* a concept when you know how to make it look like it's interacting with the environment.

[@JoshuaHults]

Has a bit of an 80s anime future look to it which i love !

[@ryanhogan3632]

Awesome work man love the ships =D

[@brucewayne7476]

great video ryan , I feel sad when I see that artstation have 1 video only , but at least we have one .... thanks

[@messirastaroth7644]

Holy shit, you have mad skillz bro. I wish I could handle my pen like you do

[@albertofavero3431]

nice style! lov it!

[@TheOpinionater]

Very cool!

[@Shoxart]

Very good.

[@LordNichron]

Loved this, old style marker + ink concepting with just a hint of ps magic, best of both worlds imo. Is there a part 2?

[@brentcrane4918]

This is awesome brotha thanks.

[@MineCraftOstrich]

Your art is so good, that I clicked on this video because I thought you used photoshop's 3D feature

[@kzakaria91]

where's part 2 ?

[@Rodutchi]

6 years and still waiting, lol

[@epiclolman57]

that last one reminded me of boba and jando fetts ship from star wars

[@charlie1872]

Excvellent, luv this stuff.

[@pathikbiswas9039]

Amazing, Thanks.

[@StephaneCharre]

Amazing love it

[@KnightOfNostalgia]

cool stuff!

[@octocontrol387]

Thank you, cool stuff!!

[@kuyangkreatif3774]

Halo saya dari indonesia dan saya sangt suka seklai video anda bahkan sekarang saya jga buat chennel

[@karlenvarderes]

nice !

[@Konnidesign]

OMG Ryan - its a SWTOR concept artist :) WOW , i played this game, and like a design of the ships and worlds :) thank you ... tahnks for a video ArtStation and thank you Ryan. Will wait for a new ones , (subscribed already) ^_^ WoooHoooo

[@sinance8427]

Amazing

[@DelRae]

You know it's fine. I'll go cry in my corner cause life isn't fair. Not jealous at all 😩😢

[@TheSkulldraw]

thanks a lot ! this video help me a lot =D

[@sketcher_abinash]

How can people dislike this video?

[@BombshellCreations]

Whoa! Great video, but after I subscribed I noticed only 1 vid? Bring on more!

[@PresidentOfSpace]

I understand fully the brush doesn't make the artist, but i'd love to know what 'inking' brush that is you're using. it looks really nice.

[@suslol1]

love you! plz more videos

[@ryandening3968]

Hey folks. I did a new video but it's not a "Part 2" to this, it's similar but I'm using "Mischief" instead of Photoshop. I do want to do a follow-up to this one where I flesh one of these designs out, just need to find the time!

[@yurig.7120]

***** I'm actually following you. If someday you decide to share content at your channel, i would be happy.

[@kraphik3d]

cool stuff

[@mikekaczmarek9955]

Hey Ryan!!! It's Mike Kaczmarek from Perpetual. Great tutorial and work as usual. Hit me up and we'll do lunch ;o) Cheers, Mike

[@alfie3d]

I LOVE IT

[@rybredd]

Great stuff man! I know its way too late, but the vertical ship may look cool with a crane instead of the rear turret, since its a drop ship? They look fantastic, especially for the time frame!

[@The51stDivision]

Hi, I've been wondering what tablet you are using? Because I am planning to buy one and it's always good to know what other people think of different brands.

[@F1VEFOUR]

If you want to actually DO something with a tablet, you have to buy a Wacom. Most People use a Intuos (Now Intuos Pro), as a beginner a Bamboo (Now Intuos Pen/Pen&Touch).

[@Saiarts_yt]

I'm struggling with neither being concept artist, animator, or photographer but for my career I wan't money for daily purpose so I though I might join being in photography and probably being freelance artist as my hobby or concept artist as a hobby

[@y3ee3e]

you draw so well in perspective. what are some times? im having a tough tip. how do you draw those lines so quickly? just practice?

[@buepil]

ohh man that's fucking epic i think.

[@ek1311]

1 000 000$ MAN! Awesome

[@TheSteelRecordz]

Wow! Thats the best concept video I've seen. Thank you for going into detail I don't think I blinked for 40 some minutes lol. What program? I think I need a Mac pro. Seems like everyone uses them lol good video!

[@ryandening3968]

STEEL RECORDZ Thanks! I'm using photoshop in this one. For this type of work you don't need something super-fast, just keep the resolution lower if you experience slowdown.

[@theengineer6213]

***** Which Wacom are you using? Is this the one with the monitor directly on it or the old Wacom where you have to look away at the computer monitor? I'm thinking of upgrading but not sure if its worth it.

[@theengineer6213]

***** Which Wacom are you using? Is this the one with the monitor directly on it or the old Wacom where you have to look away at the computer monitor? I'm thinking of upgrading but not sure if its worth it.

[@ryandening3968]

Thee Engineer I'm drawing on a monitor in this video, it's an older 21" Cintiq. I find it worth it since I was experiencing wrist pain on the Intuos tablets. I do know people that hate drawing right on the screen though so if you have a chance, you might want to test one out first. Took me at least a week to get used to the Cintiq's but once I did it's hard to go back.

[@LordNichron]

+Ryan Dening i'm gonna take a stab in the dark and say youre left handed...

[@MrLewisFloydHenry]

Hello, I would like to start drawing on photoshop and have one question. How do you get those straight lines, is that from moving the pen fast or is there a setting? thanks

[@lowenorman8719]

+Lewis Floyd Henry You can draw straight diagonally or vertically by holding shift. You can also draw a straight line in any direction by first drawing where you want the line to start, lift your pen, hold shift then draw where you want the line to end. I'm bad at explaining but try it for yourself and you'll get how it works : )

[@drakecampbell9702]

The no videos thing is how they run their site too. Artstation gets alot of credit for basically being an unmaintained site.

[@Dtikwa]

hey there ryan are u using PS default brushes if not could u show me where i can get yours? :) i love inking in irl i want to replicate it like u did in ps thanks in advance :)

[@YuraPericle]

Continue to make new tutorials, please!

[@TheArgoo]

34:35 someone know what brush he use?

[@JayTraversJT]

How does he switch between such flat line work to smooth, I am such a scrub at digital art xD

[@Isilmeriel]

How did you rotate your canvas freely like that? At 26:37 for example

[@TheDeltaSev07]

+B Deacon You need to press "R" and mouse's left button. ^^

[@kirankudpane9676]

Image > image rotation > flip canvas horizontally

[@shakir8113]

hi ! your work is awesome. can you tell me where i can find all of these brushes that you use?

[@TikiShootah]

amzing! now....teach me how to draw lol...

[@miguelk7336]

he looks like frickin russel crow dude

[@melonsmodelairplanes8496]

I created a spaceship called 'sunfish' :/ , because it's shape is based on a sunfish

[@cr8g]

any chance for downloading the whole picture with those 3 ships? i would like to put it as my wallpaper... its so great

[@kilerden]

When is part two coming? :)

[@Slaughter1985]

Im using photoshop cs6 and Im just curious. Where do I get those kind of brushes and how do i get them to do the thick and thin like yours is doing?

[@LukmanHakimMY]

more video please

[@shurikenX]

nice anyone know where you can get nice brushes for concept art?