So I decided to record a lecture on the making of Gathering to share with the community. It is around 2.5 hours and is based on the lecture that I gave a few weeks ago at the Union event in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Description from the Gnomon Workshop:

Gathering is a personal project by Alex Alvarez, created as a large scale detailed illustration for print. Using Maya, ZBrush, Bodypaint, Onyx, Shave, Mental Ray and Photoshop, this lecture gives an in-depth, although fairly non-technical, overview of the creation process. Suitable for viewers of all levels, Alex shares his techniques for layout, modeling, sculpting, texturing, shading, lighting, rendering and compositing the various elements. From the character to the terrain, cliff, plants, trees, skulls, candles, fur and atmospheric effects, each section explains the tools and strategies Alex employed to efficiently produce the image. Rendered at 6000x3750 pixels, suitable for a 30"x40" canvas print to be displayed at Gnomon, The Making of Gathering represents an excellent opportunity to watch an experienced artist share his workflow.

link: [link]

Hope it is useful! Again, this is free...

-Alex