ImagineFX - October 2021 Win x64
ImagineFX - October 2021 Win x64
ImagineFX - October 2021 Win x64
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Harness new watercolour skills
with Jean-Sébastien Rossbach ISSUE 204
BE PEOPLE OF COLOUR?"
LAUREN BROWN “THIS IS FANTASY. WHY WOULDN'T THERE
Editor’s letter
42
Editor
ian.dean@futurenet.com Creature comforts with Glen Southern
Make use of ZBrush to speed-sculpt a life-like dinosaur,
and the artist shares his 50 texture brushes!
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Contents
Your art 18 24
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE!
10 FXPosé
You submit your work to us and then
we show your gorgeous art to the world!
28 Artist in Residence
Australian artist Erin Hunting is used to
being watched by real and unreal eyes.
Features
34 The Art of Logan Preshaw
This vis-dev artist and art director’s
approach to life is as bright as his paintings.
Reviews 42 28
78 Software
80 Books
Regulars
3 Editor’s letter
6 Resources
7 Next month
8 Print subscriptions
32 Digital subscriptions
33 Letters Artist in Residence:
Interview: Lauren Brown Erin Hunting
40 Recent editions
4
Issue 204
48 60
Workshops
54 Create spontaneous art
Ayran Oberto paints a colourful portrait
without overthinking anything.
88
Portraits in watercolour
94
Spontaneous art
62 Fish-eye art
70
Traditional Artist
84 Traditional FXPosé
Discover this month’s selection of the
finest traditional art, sent in by you!
98 First Impressions:
Wylie Beckert
Use 3D details Sculpt in 3D
This M:TG artist thanks social media.
5
Resources
Editorial
Editor Ian Dean
ian.dean@futurenet.com
Art Editor Daniel Vincent
Operations Editor Cliff Hope
Contributors
Oliver Beck, Ben Brady, Dom Carter, Anna Cavasos, Ken
Coleman, Paul Heaston, Erin Hunting, Dela Longfish, Ayran
Getting hold of this issue’s resources is easy. Oberto, Jean-Sébastien Rossbach, Glen Southern, Gary Stuckey
4 HOUR
Media packs are available on request
of video RS tuto
Chief Revenue Officer Zack Sullivan
UK Commercial Sales Director Clare Dove
to watch andsts
michael.pyatt@futurenet.com, 01225 687538
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By the power of Grayskull! Bring a dinosaur to life accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. You
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See how Ken Coleman creates retro He-Man Watch Glen Southern as he sculpts a dinosaur websites mentioned in this publication are not under our control. We are
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6
Our artist super-team
unites to bring your
heroes to life!
Ahmed Rawi
LOCATION: US MEDIA: Photoshop, Procreate, Maya, ZBrush, Keyshot
WEB: artstation.com/rawi
1 WARRIOR
“A personal study I did during a new
brushes/palette exploration session. It
2 THE CHASE
“Part of my series The Gleed Ghost. A
colourful flying spirit is chased by characters
3 RUMI
“Jalal ad-din Rumi in a sci-fi setting. I was
keen to try Procreate’s glitch FX feature, so I
ended up with an undead warrior design.” to find the secret behind its beauty.” thought of a way to use it in a painterly style.”
10
3
Ben’s main inspiration is ukiyo-e art, engravings and comics. His work,
which often involves surreal worlds, is also influenced by past cultures,
war, nature, movement and even the unconscious mind.
2
1 BLESSING OF THE OWLS
“Exploring the idea of an imaginary afterlife
ritual that occurred to me after hearing the
2 CAGLAN THE GREY
“Part of a series of warriors called Clans of
Kimmeria. An exploration of feudal society and
mesmerising screams of an owl at night.” the culture of war.”
2 3
2 MOUNTAIN GLORY
“This is another piece
created with pens that I
3 TOXIC FOREST
“As well as acrylics and
oils, I’ve long been inspired
made myself. The different by watercolours. This piece
textures result in different, replicates the watercolour
more interesting work.” technique in Photoshop.”
Gabriel has been working in the games industry for the past five years, with
clients such as IGG, NetEase Games and West Studio. He’s influenced by
comic books and illustrators such as JC Leyendecker.
1 2
1 RAYGUN
“It was nice to have the
freedom to play with a retro-
futuristic vibe.”
2 SALADIN
“It was super cool to play
with the contrast between
the grumpy sultan and the
Done in partnership with West Studio for Riot Games. All rights reserved.
flamboyant genie.”
Since her early childhood, Edit has loved to write and illustrate stories about
imaginary worlds. “Nowadays I only focus on visual storytelling for video
game and animation studios,” she says, “but I might continue writing later!”
1 UTOPIA
“I created this scene for
Kitbash3D’s Utopia contest. I
3
2 SKYSTEAD
“This has a little bit of a
3 LEFT BEHIND
“In this personal piece
I was just playing with forms
Star Wars touch, created and shapes. Obviously,
from Jonathan Berube’s there’s a huge reference to
industrial photo pack with the film Prometheus which
some love and Maya.” I liked a lot.”
1 2
1 MUSHROOM KNIGHT
“Here I pushed the
fantastical character design
angle. I exaggerated
elements to tell the narrative
that she’s also a miner.”
2 VALKYRIE
“A more sombre piece,
inspired by Viking
mythology. I love using teal
and green in my paintings.”
3 PALALUMA ISLAND
“I wanted to convey a
bustling fantasy town. The
unusual building shapes
help to communicate that
it’s otherworldly.”
Do you want to see your art on these pages? Then email five pieces of your work and a short explanation
about each artwork, along with a photo and a few details about yourself, to fxpose@imaginefx.com
A celebratory scene
from US illustrator
James Gurney’s
Dinotopia book series.
matter to artists
gained online, educational book
sales brought in £6.4 billion in the UK
in 2020. Consumer book sales fared
even better, rising seven per cent to
£2.1 billion last year.
Page turners Book sales are on the rise and when it comes to art Clearly the printed word hasn’t lost
training the printed page is still important, discovers Ian Dean its appeal, and for artists in particular,
18
©Marvel/Disney Artist news, software & events
19
ImagineNation News
©Warner Bros
expressing our unique artistic connections made it a lonely quest, Kofi recommends “But I knew that you can’t become
Dynamic Life Drawing
vision rather than pretending to be but in retrospect it was the best thing by Michael D Mattesi: an experienced painter by reading
someone else.” for me. It helped me develop “It teaches how to about it, any more than you can learn
create drawings that
This is a balancing act that all artists completely independently, and I evoke emotion.” to draw by binge-watching YouTube
walk. Interestingly, one of the most didn’t suffer through the nonsense videos,” he cautions. “I knew I had to
popular art book authors, that art students around 1980 had face the real world with my sketchpad
James Gurney to endure.” and just draw, draw, draw from
(jamesgurney.com), has James reveals how he had to create memory and imagination. I made
managed to side-step the his own artistic training programme to regular trips to the zoo and the natural
problem altogether. learn how to paint and draw. His self- history museum.
“I became an artist in a vacuum,” diagnosed training focused on the “When I got the job painting
James says with clarity. “No one else instructional books of Golden-Age animation backgrounds, I learned to
in my family was an artist. I didn’t illustrators and academic painters, paint a lot and paint fast. Working as
have art friends until after college, such as The Famous Artists’ Course, a National Geographic illustrator
and there was no internet back then. and the books by Andrew Loomis, taught me the importance of research
That absence of community and and Harold Speed and John F Carlson. and accuracy.”
20
Artist news, software & events
INDUSTRY INSIGHT
Given the choice between
online art advice and a printed
tutorial, Adam Hughes will
WHICH BOOKS
likely plump for the latter. DO OUR PROS
RECOMMEND?
This issue’s professional artists
pick the training books that they
can’t do without…
Kofi Ofosu
Force: Dynamic Life
Drawing by Michael
D. Mattesi. The
reason I’d recommend this
book is because it teaches how
to create drawings that evoke
emotion – how to capture the
soul of your subject matter
rather than just copying down
what you see in front of you.
ifxm.ag/kofi-o
Kan Muftic
Cinematic
Storytelling by
Jennifer Van Sijll is
an absolute must for anyone
interested in creating art with
narrative depth. There’s an
endless supply of superficial
‘popcorn’ artwork created solely
with the purpose of gaining
followers on social media with
no substance whatsoever. This
should help.
ifxm.ag/kan-m
Adam Hughes
Figure Drawing For
All It’s Worth, by
Andrew Loomis.
It’s got everything you need
to go from the basics to full
illustration. And it’s got some
nifty techniques for drawing
figures in perspective.
instagram.com/atomhues
James Gurney
Recently I’ve been
focusing on how
new findings in
neuroscience can help us better
understand the process of
painting. I’ve been revisiting the
classic book on that topic,
Vision and Art by Margaret
Livingstone, and I enjoyed the
recent book Seven and a Half
Lessons About the Brain by Lisa
©DC Comics
Feldman Barrett.
jamesgurney.com
21
ImagineNation News
©Marvel
principle helped Adam
develop his illustration style.
©Marvel/Disney
22
Artist news, software & events
Drawing the Head and Hands The Animator’s Survival Kit Color and Light: A Guide
Andrew Loomis’ explanations are detailed Richard Williams’ book represents the 50-year for the Realist Painter
and engaging, and it’s hands-down the best career in animation of an artist who won three James Gurney mixes art and science, theory
anatomy reference book despite its age. The Oscars, three British Academy Awards and and practice, and delivers easy-to-understand
author’s systematic approach will help you over 250 other international awards… and he tuition. The impact of light and colour on a
understand the principles behind drawing created Roger and Jessica Rabbit. It’s blend of painting is one of the hardest concepts to
realistic portraits. Aside from the artistic tips, tricks and insights for all forms of grasp, but this book makes it accessible to all.
advice on offer, Drawing the Head and Hands animation will teach newcomers the ropes A perfect companion to James’ Imaginative
makes an excellent coffee table book, too. and make old hands rethink their work. Realism: How to Paint What Doesn’t Exist.
How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years Drawing the Head and Figure
If you’re looking for a crash course in figure of Disney Master Classes You could say that this publication is in direct
drawing, or if you’re an aspiring comic-book Walt Stanchfield’s advice focuses more on the competition with Andrew Loomis’ books, and
artist, animator or illustrator, grab a copy of emotions, life and action than proportions you’d be correct. However, Jack’s approach to
Stan Lee’s How to Draw Comics the Marvel and technical accuracy. With the emphasis on drawing the figure is more simplistic than
Way. You’ll also learn about composition, shot gesture drawing, don’t expect a book filled Loomis’. His step-by-step approach will have
selection, perspective, character dynamics and with finished art; it’s more about capturing even the most inexperienced artists drawing
more. If you’re an artist and comic book fan, the moment. If you’re interested in creating better and more confidently. An excellent
then you need this book. drawings with character, this is a must-have. primer for learning how to make marks.
23
ImagineNation News
Wake up
to online
conferences
Web event LightBox Expo Online’s co-founder
Jim Demonakos reveals how to get more
from virtual events this summer
24
In partnership with
A keyframe that Luca Nemolato
painted for the popular real-time
strategy mobile game War Dragons.
© Pocket Gems
Luca Nemolato
appears in the show Stargirl.
“I wake up at 8.30am and do some I get sleepy and I’m not productive at
© DC Universe
stretching, then shower and get a all. At 4pm I eat a quick protein snack
tea. I drink a lot of green tea because and meditate. Then I work out for an
I really got into fasting and hour and get ready to cook dinner.
meditation - if I don’t get a tea, I I’ve been doing keto for a long time
© Netflix
25
ImagineNation News
Painting a successful
freelance career
Brush up Corel Painter has been used by professional artists for
30 years. Isabelle Staub reflects on how Painter has helped her…
Today, Isabelle Staub going freelance. “[In] hindsight, I don’t Created as a throwback
to her Disney Princesses
is a successful digital think I would have ever felt ‘ready’ to range that caught the
artist who’s worked start freelancing. For me, it was eye, this portrait was
inspired by the
with Marvel, Dynamite something I just needed to jump in absent-minded Dory
from Finding Nemo.
Comics, Wacom and and figure it out along the way
TikTok. Shooting to fame by through trial and error,” she says.
reinterpreting Disney’s Princesses in
her own unique style, Isabelle has BRUSHING UP
since gone on to create clothing While Isabelle’s business knowledge digital painting course. I was very
ranges as well as illustrations. has grown over the years (social much a traditional artist and Corel
Reflecting on her first freelance gig media and new art trends have enabled me to continue that painterly
Isabelle says she was daunted and changed how she works), some style with its program. Being able to
excited by the job. “I was ecstatic aspects of her process have remained. use brushes like oil paint, charcoal and
when I landed my first freelance job, The artist is committed to using Corel chalk made learning digital painting
but I honestly felt like I had no idea Painter to achieve a traditional texture much easier and comfortable for me.”
what I was doing,” says the artist. “At in her portraits. That textural connection to
the time, I was a few months out of She tells us: “I learned Painter during traditional painting is why Isabelle
college and I still felt like a student my freshman year of college in a has remained a Painter artist all these
with little business knowledge at all. It years. “For my work,” she explains,
was definitely daunting, but I “I still want that feel of paint and
pretended like I knew what I was I was very much a movement that you achieve with
doing when speaking to the client.”
She admits to using Google and
traditional artist and Corel traditional mediums.”
Even after all this time Isabelle
pestered her college professors for
advice on pricing, invoices and how to
enabled me to continue that remains loyal to just five different
brushes to create her work. We expect
tackle the basic business aspects of painterly style Painter 2022’s new Favorites feature
26
Advertorial
– that enables artists to select their and paper textures. Once you find
CASE STUDY
most used brushes – will be part of things that work for you, it’ll make Isabelle Staub has used her Painter skills to create art
Isabelle’s Painter workflow. digital painting a lot less intimidating!”
on almost anything, including mobile phone cases
She particularly loves the Concept When not experimenting digitally Painting portraits and illustrative art is one thing, but
Art Jitter Smooth brush and the Isabelle loves getting back to her roots Isabelle has found herself adapting her skills to new
Glazing blender. “I use layer and throwing real paints around. The ranges and styles of work. Recently, she created a series of
commands a lot as well, especially Gel two disciplines can work together. designer phone cases for lifestyle brand CASETiFY. This
or Colorize, to glaze or change colours “The other day I took a giant canvas demanded Isabelle step outside of her comfort zone and
easily,” she adds. outside on a beautiful day and just think differently about her art.
splashed paint all over it – it was “Formatting my art to fit a phone case was surprisingly
TRY IT NOW awesome! Art as a job can be challenging for me,” she tells us, explaining the art was
If you’ve not yet experienced Corel creatively draining, so it’s super already created in Painter. “I had to tap into a design and
Painter, Isabelle says there’s no better important to keep things fun and light marketing-oriented thinking when creating my line with
time to try it out. She has some advice when you get the chance,” she says. CASETiFY. It was a different experience for me, but it has
for novices: “Play and experiment! Download a free demo of Corel Painter been so rewarding to see my art in that way!”
Don’t jump into doing a full-blown 2022 at painterartist.com/future and try the Get inspired to go freelance and see more of Isabelle
piece. Take time to sketch with software for yourself. The new Painter 2022 Staub’s art, shop, and projects at isabellestaub.com.
different brushes, layer commands is on sale now.
27
ImagineNation Artist in Residence
Hunting
(his eyes move back and
forth along with his tail)
while I try and dream up
something for a project.
28
Artist news, software & events
I have a strong love of mascot design and picked
this up via eBay. It’s a genuine advert from a
US newspaper on Frosted Flakes and I think the
artwork and design is perfection.
29
ImagineNation Artist in Residence
30
Artist news, software & events
Here’s Louie (who is by far the most In 2019 I was commissioned by Will Smith and his
photogenic out of the two of us) team to create art for his social media. This one
biding his time to steal my seat. was 90s characters, including the Fresh Prince.
31
GET IMAGINEFX
DELIVERED DIGITALLY!
GO
DIGITAL!
iPad is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.
32
Letters
LLC
twitter.com/imaginefx Crystal Sully make his break in FXPosé. We’re always
Find us on Facebook: keen to give new artists a platform.
facebook.com/imaginefx
Share your artwork via #imaginefx: Kickstarted career
instagram.com/imaginefxmagazine Six or seven years ago my work was
featured as Artist of the Month in
Scrap ImagineFX? ImagineFX back when my career was
A short while ago I purchased some just starting to take off for the first time.
duplicate issues of ImagineFX and cut Years later my work is now the face of
them up to make a scrapbook of Dungeons & Dragons with Wizards of Eric Messinger
inspiration for my concept art course the Coast, having just released my latest @ericmessingerart
that I begin this September. piece to announce its upcoming book
I’ve found this scrapbook to be Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons. I’ve
incredibly useful for inspiration, published my own art book after an
especially since the magazines provide incredibly successful Kickstarter that
so many pieces of art that I otherwise DID YOU MISS funded at 1,000 per cent, called The
THE PREVIOUS
wouldn’t have ever discovered! I would PACKED ISSUE? Untamed Beastiary: A Field Guide to
like to expand on my scrapbook, but Don’t worry – Marvelous Monsters.
I don’t want to cut up any of my current you can get hold I would like to thank you for featuring
magazines as they’re such an amazing of issue 203 me so long ago when I was just getting
read. So I was wondering if you had at ifxm.ag/ my career started.
any magazines anywhere that were single-ifx. Crystal Sully, via email
damaged, misprints or just old issues
and if it were possible for me to pay Art exposure
shipping to receive them. I’ve been a subscriber of your wonderful
Thank you so much for making magazine for the past few years. Since
such an amazing magazine. It’s given my mailed copies run a little behind,
me so much to learn and has helped I decided to take a sneak peak at the
me tremendously on my art journey. digital copy of the September issue.
Rebecca Wathen, via email What an awesome and wonderful
surprise to see my work featured in the Marcus Williams
Ian replies It brings a tear to the eye, but FXPosé section of artists! I want to say @marcusthevisual
turning ImagineFX into your personal mood thank you very much for including a
Rebecca Wathen loves to
boards sounds like a great idea for recycling chop up her ImagineFX sampling of my work!
old, damaged or duplicate issues. I’ll take a to create scrapbooks (oh, It’s truly an honour to be recognised
the horror!). Readers –
look under art editor Dan’s desk… do you have spares? and included among so many of the
talented and innovative artists that are
always featured within your pages.
In the meantime, though, I continue
to create, and continue to enjoy and be
inspired by your publication and the
ImagineFX community.
Kait Matthews, via email
Matías Bergara
Ian replies FXPosé is one of my favourite @matibergara
sections of the magazine. Every issue uncovers
new artists who I know we’ll see more of in the If you’ve created art that you want us to
future, and it’s a pleasure to have them all be a shout about simply tag us on Twitter or
Instagram, and use the hashtag #imaginefx
part of ImagineFX. Keep submitting!
33
Interview
34
Logan Preshaw
DREAMCATCHER
“I still see this stage of my life
as an ‘incubation’ period,
constantly learning new skills
that I can use when the right
opportunities arise,” says Logan.
LOGAN PRESHAW Ian Dean discovers a vis-dev artist and art director whose
approach to life is as bright as his paintings
any of what I career that’s seen him work at Weta colour a dominant part of his art.
M
consider to be the Workshop, Studio Moshi, Working “While I was defining my approach to
most successful Dog and numerous studios in and painting I played with colour in many
and influential around his native Australia and ways until it began to look appealing
concept artists are New Zealand. For an artist who’s to me… and I mean not just realistic,
unconventional and CV lists video games Valorant and but appealing and pleasurable,” Logan
highly stylistic,” says Logan Preshaw, League of Legend, as well as films explains. “I do that with many
who acknowledges that defining a such as Men In Black: International, elements in my work, but I think the
new style in concept art is difficult. and the forthcoming Avatar sequels, general audience notices colour first
“But when I think there couldn't that’s impressive. and they're less likely to pay attention
possibly be any more originality left to His paintings, both personal and to other fundamentals like perspective,
All ‘In A Late Country’ artwork © Eclipse Records
be explored, a fresh new artist crops professional, feature explosions of contrast and form language.”
up and blows that presumption away. colour. They’re loose and active, and He goes on, telling us colour in his
I think the key to that is working rarely let the eye settle. He tells us it art is “hedonistically motivated” and
towards a style that combines all of was never a conscious choice to make tuned to bring pleasure. “It goes
your most treasured influences, beyond simply using it as a utility to
because the result of that probably
doesn't exist yet.”
Computer screens can’t describe a scene, and more into the
realm of exaggeration and idealisation
In Logan’s work that often means
painting colour with abandon. It’s a
capture all the subtleties of to make it ‘juicy’ and almost tactile.
Computer screens can't capture all the
refreshing approach for an artist with a colours in real life… subtleties of colours in real life, so
35
Interview
I think that's almost necessary to TANTRUM
fill the gaps.” How do you paint angry yet
colourful characters? This is
There’s a sense of joy to Logan’s work Logan’s skill. His characters can
– a vitality that keeps you looking. He offer a range of emotions and
remain bright and engaging.
says experimentation was the most
important aspect of his art education.
It’s a motivation he continues to work
with, and believes once you’ve learned
the rules of art and have understood
the theories behind good paintings,
you need to break them.
“You need to push the limits of your
tastes and treat art on a whole as
organic and constantly evolving,” he
says. “How far can you push
something before you feel it start to
break? When you approach those
boundaries you're probably farther
than many others would dare to tread.”
In respect of his own art, shape and
colour are a focus of Logan’s
experimentations, but stresses you can wanted to be part of bigger projects
realistically play with and find new while continuing to live in Australia, How far can you push
ideas in anything. “Drawing some
armour? Make the pauldrons
he needed to go freelance.
“This affected my art by giving me a
something before you feel
ludicrously big. Give that pirate good reason to ‘stand out’ from the it start to break?
character 20 more parrots. Make that crowd. Online you’re competing with
sunlight 10 times brighter. You don't the entire art world, so if your work is Going freelance was a big decision
know what works until you try it!” memorable, affecting and highly for Logan, but he reveals the work he
expressive you're more likely to be did in various studios laid the
STUDIO VS FREELANCE remembered,” he confides. “Clients groundwork for his move. The two
Some of Logan’s desire to find a bold will feel like you're offering something types of work have competing
style can be drawn from a need to to their projects that they can't get demands. The life of an artist in a
stand out from the crowd. Working in anywhere else. I think that knowledge studio is like a “pressure cooker” where
studios around Melbourne proved encouraged me to push the you’re expected to deliver high
encouraging, but the artist says it pales boundaries more, because to even standards every day.
in comparison to industry hotspots survive in the scene my work needs to “You have constant deadlines and
like Los Angeles. Logan knew if he resonate with a lot of people.” a burning desire to prove yourself to
the team,” he explains. “These
CITY SKETCH experiences helped increase my skills
“Many of my artworks are exponentially in a short time-frame.
artistic experiments that
evolve into fleshed-out new I was pretty much drawing for eight to
worlds. This is no exception!” 10 hours every day and it was usually
stuff that intimidated me. Studio work
prepared me well for freelance life
afterwards and I recommend every
artist gain some sort of studio
experience early on, regardless of
whether they want to go freelance or
in-house in the long term.”
Freelance has its own pitfalls. The
biggest one, says Logan, is how many
artists undervalue themselves. He
admits to definitely undercharging for
Artist
PROFILE
Logan Preshaw
LOCATION: Australia
FAVOURITE ARTISTS: John
DAYLIGHT HORROR
Liberto, Craig Mullins, Theo Prins,
Sparth, and Muyang Xu
“Part of a series of unsettling horror- MEDIA: Photoshop, Blender,
inspired monsters with the unusual twist
Procreate, Tilt Brush and 3D-Coat
of bright colours and joyful personalities
not usually associated with the genre.” WEB: artstation.com/wickedinsignia
36
Logan Preshaw
STAY CREATIVE
Discover Logan’s advice for
maintaining focus…
You may not have heard of it, but Logan
recommends the Pomodoro technique for staying
focused on the job. It’s a simple idea: work for 25
minutes and then take a five-minute break. Do this
throughout the working day to relieve stress and
return to a job with fresh eyes.
The artist explains: “The value of these breaks is
that you can get up, stretch, eat some fruit, step
away from the artwork for a bit, or do some quick
house chores. I find I lose the ‘core’ of an artwork if
I spend too long looking at it, so hitting reset with a
quick break is an essential part of my process.”
Thinking more broadly, Logan will often take a
break from painting altogether and exercise the right-
side of his brain in other ways. This time is spent
learning new skills, such as 3D software, playing the
guitar or mastering the drums. “Sometimes even
playing Minecraft with friends,” he jokes. “It really
depends on what interests you, but if you have an
interest, pursue it! Don't believe that you need to
sacrifice everything else for painting, since creativity
is cyclically reinforcing itself and all of it contributes
to making you a stronger artist.”
his work in the past. His advice to new work, as counterproductive as taking
artists turning freelance is to consider breaks and sleeping longer hours may
everything in your fee. Every hour seem at first.”
should be accounted for, as well as It’s interesting to discover that even
electricity, tax and superannuation. with years of experience behind him
Don’t fear negotiation, either. “You Logan’s not always good at taking his
need to know what's fair, when to own advice. The work he did on the
push back and what you can forthcoming video game Ark 2 was
realistically live on,” he says. the most satisfying in some time, but
was “highly intensive […] I was
REIN IN YOUR WORK HOURS eating, sleeping and breathing that
Maintaining a healthy work-life project, [I was] just absolutely
balance is vital too. Without a studio consumed by it because I wanted to
organising your time you need to get it right”.
show restraint. He explains: “It's easy The work on that game directly led
when working on your own to go over to landing his role as art director at
usual work hours, work through leading Californian creative
nights, or not eat well. Maintaining production house, West Studio.
healthy sleep, eating and work habits Life as a pro artist, either studio-
will increase your efficiency and based or freelance, is undoubtedly
it’ll take you less time to complete stressful, but Logan has a clear
37
Interview
2 FINDING BALANCE
“As I work into the image and
move onto secondary details, I’m
constantly aware of the value
scheme and image balance. It's my
goal to indicate materials, break
up the large forms in a pleasing
manner and define areas of detail
and rest. I’m also pushing and
pulling values to alter the balance
of the image and direct the viewer
to my focal points. A little brighter
highlight here, dipping an area into
shadow there; every decision you
make affects the balance. It pays
to be aware of what areas in your
image are "blending" into a large
mass of value and what areas are
popping out.
38
Logan Preshaw
FINAL THOUGHTS
Logan is the kind of artist who wants
to share and help other artists, and
just like his bright and positive
SKYLINE painting, his words matter. We ask
“Another piece from From In A Late him what piece of advice he can share
Country. The goal here was to
create the feeling of being trapped that could make a difference, and he
in a sprawling futuristic city, with leaves us with these words…
freedom far on the horizon.”
“You're in a massive gallery, and the
walls are covered with all the amazing
outlook to overcome the hurdles really look… dissect them and let them art that's ever been produced, today
thrown our way and stay creative. take you in, reverse engineer them. and throughout history. However,
“Take in life!” he states. “Inspiration is I'm at my least creative when I forget there's a gap. On the far wall in front
everywhere, and sometimes all it takes to observe and be inspired by the of you, there's a space between all the
is ‘switching on’. When you step small things.” gilded frames and incredible artworks.
outside, don't just take it for granted: When it comes to creating his art That space represents the artist that
observe the light, shapes, history in Logan has some particular ways of would blow your mind… you would
the architecture, the way people move, working that can benefit all artists. die for them, you’re their biggest fan
the clothes they wear. Read books – Some of this comes from gaining the and their work is everything you ever
anything that interests you. Look at right perspective. For example, he says wanted to see. Except they don't exist
some of your favourite artworks, but the defining feature of sketching is yet – it's just a blank space.
confidence. “You aren't setting up for “I believe we all have that ‘blank
Inspiration is everywhere, any big finales, so it's easy to commit
to inaccuracy and looseness. That is
space’, but it's different for everyone.
No-one's dream artist is the same.
and sometimes all it takes is fun to look at as a viewer, since they’ll
see the possibility of the artwork as
I think the most fulfilling goal you can
have as an artist is to fill that space
‘switching on’ much as the art itself.” with your own work.”
39
Complete your collection!
41
Feature
LAUREN BROWN
We’re out here too and
there’s a lot of stuff that
we can do with these
characters and the way
we present ourselves
Inspired by nature, fashion and the desire
for greater diversity, this illustrator’s
reputation is sure to grow, finds Ian Dean
W
himsical, ornate journey it’s clear this was always where
and elegant, she was meant to be. As a child Lauren
Lauren Brown’s drew copiously from nature and
illustrations for sketched animals. “I just loved
her own series, everything: how animals worked,
humorously dubbed the nouveau and how they moved and how they
garden by the artist, are striking interacted,” she says, revealing how she
interpretations of the traditional would create stories and adventures for
art movement. Each one is themed them. Later, her interests took in
around an element in nature we all fashion as well as fantasy art, and
take for granted, but in Lauren’s hands everything began to click.
becomes a window into a new world.
“The moment I saw Alphonse LIMITED IMAGINATIONS
Mucha’s work, I was just like, ‘Oh my There was something missing,
God, this is exactly what I wanted’, however, and that was herself.
because there was something so Growing up, Lauren never saw herself
beautiful about the graphic design in the art she loved.
approach, but also the way that he “I remember walking around halls
treated his figures as women. The of many conventions, looking at the
drapery of fabrics, the elegance… it’s fantasy art displays, and just seeing no
almost like royalty of how they were people of colour whatsoever,” says
framed by flowers.” Lauren. “This is fantasy. Why wouldn’t
To get to that wow moment Lauren there be people of colour? This is the
talks like it was a turning point, but lowest common denominator of
revealing more about her artistic diversity you could put in these
realms, and yet we just don’t see any
Artist people who look like us. So a part of
42
Lauren Brown
LOC JEWELLERY
“Someone actually reached out
to me saying that they wanted to
make loc jewellery that was
actually mushrooms. So I’m going
to be collaborating with this artist
to make some actual wearable
mushroom loc jewellery and I’m
super-excited for that to happen.”
43
Interview
44
Lauren Brown
FRAMING THE
SPORECROWN QUEEN
The artist reveals that a love of animation is her secret
weapon to creating dynamic portraits…
3 USING PHOTOSHOP
“The graphic design aspects don’t come until the final part
of the process […] I have a general idea of the framing I want
to use, but it usually comes at the very end once I have
everything else. It’s like, ‘Okay, now how do I frame this the
best way possible?’ And that’s where the last day comes in.”
45
Interview
TIEFLING
Inspired by Adeyanju Adeleke, Tiefling caused a stir:
“Why wouldn’t there be a Tiefling with an afro?”
46
Lauren Brown
47
PROFILE
Dela Longfish
LOCATION: US
etal
artist at Santa Monica Studio where
oo k is a d elig h
d e ring a liens… artstation.com/delalongfish
WANDERING WARRIOR
“One drawing always inspires other ideas
and what began as one character can quickly
turn into a cast of characters.”
SPACE PILOT
“Side-kicks and secondary characters allow
the opportunity to add visual variety to
your cast of characters.”
SKELETON
What began as one CREW
“I tend to do multiple
48
Sketchbook Dela Longfish
DAY OF THE DEAD QUEEN
“Day of the Dead celebrations were a
big inspirations for these designs.” OF THE
PUMPKINS
“Being in the Halloween
mood, I was thinking
about what spirits watch
over the pumpkin
patches. I used twisted
vines and leaves as
inspiration for
her body.”
ALIEN
TRACKER
“Sometimes I start
with just a mass of
scribbles and see
what emerges
out of it.”
SCI-FI
HERO
“I tend to jump around
between subject matters.
One day I’ll be drawing
fantasy characters and the
next something more
sci-fi inspired.”
49
PUMPKIN
FAIRY
“Another version of a
character who keeps watch
over all the pumpkins.
This version is a bit
more benevolent.”
SKIN
‘N’ BONES
“At one point this
rooster skeleton
was going to be
the side-kick.”
SCI-FI
ZOMBIE
SAMURAI
“Sometime I don’t know
where ideas come from,
but I always love
seeing where they
end up.”
50
Sketchbook Dela Longfish
FROG SKELETONS
SAMURAI
“There are times
IN HATS
“I first started using blue
I have specific ideas in pencils while doing
mind for a sketch and animation pencil tests
other times the designs back in school and
evolve on their own. This never stopped
started out with the idea using them.”
of seeing a frog with
a sword.”
WILTED
FLOWERS
“This set of drawings started out
with the idea of telling a California-
inspired ghost story based around a
group of skeletons. I even wanted the
car to look and feel like a skeleton
so it complemented the look
of the characters.”
FROG WITH
A SWORD
“I usually work on a few
drawings at a time,
bouncing back an fourth
between them
as I draw.”
Do you want to share your sketches with your fellow ImagineFX readers? Send us an email with a
selection of your art, captions for each piece and a photo and bio of yourself to sketchbook@imaginefx.com
51
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52
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RESOURCES
See page 6 now!
Workshops assets
are available…
Download each workshop’s resources by turning to
page 6. And if you see the video workshop badge,
you can watch the artist in action, too.
62 This issue:
54 How to create
spontaneous art
Ayran Oberto paints a portrait
without overthinking anything.
60 From 2D concept
to 3D portrait
Character artist Anna Cavasos
balances beauty and horror.
66 Apply CG skills
to a fantasy scene
Combine CG techniques with
photobashing, with Oliver Beck.
70 How to sculpt
a real dinosaur
Glen Southern breaks down his
ZBrush sculpting workflow.
53
Workshops
Photoshop
HOW TO CREATE
SPONTANEOUS ART
Ayran Oberto demonstrates the creative approaches he uses to
produce colourful portrait art without overthinking anything
When ImagineFX attractive: thick lips, large eyes with using colour. My approach during
Artist
contacted me, I was long eyelashes, small pointed noses this stage is to create a sense of
PROFILE interested to hear that and hair that flows in all directions. randomness using a range of
Ayran Oberto the theme of the cover As with my other client work, I Photoshop tools. I want to combine
LOCATION: Spain was to experiment start by visualising various options. effects that on initial viewing appear
Ayran’s digital art with a painting. This has always During this stage what’s foremost in like mistakes, but with a little vision
explores the stylisation been my mission with my personal my mind is to avoid drawing the can end up having potential towards
of the human portrait.
He also freelances in the
work, so I was more than happy to same angle. I look for natural angles the end of the painting process.
advertising, film and approach the cover in the same way. of the head that would allow for a Once the colours are finalised, it’s
video games industries. The idea was to paint a female logical movement of the character’s time to enjoy discovering the image,
artstation.com/ayran
portrait and for this I went to my eyes towards the viewer. using design rules that enable me to
comfort zone. My lines, which are Once the sketch with the strongest reveal attractive shapes in each area
always flawed, tend to produce composition is chosen, it’s time to that are gradually refined as the
features that I consider particularly give it maximum visual impact, painting progresses.
GET YOUR
RESOURCES
See page 6 now!
54
In depth Spontaneous art
55
Workshops
56
In depth Spontaneous art
RESOURCES
PHOTOSHOP
CUSTOM BRUSHES:
INK COLORVARIATION
CREAMY ROUND
CREAMY ROUND
SOFT EDGE
OILY 2
57
Workshops
58
In depth Spontaneous art
Everything flows
11 In this step I check that the lines of the image
always guide me towards the face. The curved lines are
an excellent tool for this: in addition to supporting the 12 Liquify without remorse
I use the Liquify tool to correct elements that have already been refined. I
viewer’s gaze, they can also be used to generate a move them while checking the thumbnail to achieve a more coherent positioning
sensation of movement, removing any possibility of the of the facial features and hair. For this I go to Filter>Liquify, click the Forward Warp
illustration coming across as static and rigid. Tool on the left-hand panel and push the forms as required.
59
Workshops
Something draws me searching for a concept that would real gold jewellery and a beautifully
Artist
to the contrast give the most intrigue. embroidered fabric to all tell a story.
PROFILE between pretty and This piece starts with the sculpt. I I also want to show her skin being
Anna Cavasos repulsive. That’s what look at classical beauty Emilia pale and discoloured, as if she resides
LOCATION: US
initially caught my eye Clarke, whose features would work deep in a cave, and the viewer has
Anna is a 3D character with Lena Richard’s concept piece well contrasted with the scars. When just stumbled upon her. I study
artist and recent
(lenarichards.artstation.com); the considering the robe, jewellery and cave-dwelling animals and albino
Gnomon graduate based
in Los Angeles. She woman was beautiful enough to props, I want to go for the essence of humans. Albino skin has the lack of
creates pieces varying capture your attention, but what she a mysterious sorceress, whose red that I need, but the patchiness
from stylised to realistic.
annacavasos.com
was doing was so gross you couldn’t intentions are unknown. I want her and translucency of salamander skin
look away. As a student, I was to have hand-carved wooden props, was necessary for the creepiness.
How I create…
A CUSTOM
PATTERNED
FABRIC
Using Substance
3 Alchemist
In Alchemist, I use a base fabric
Finding the perfect fabric with a small thread count and
1 I search online for a fabric texture, but coppery colour. Using the mask
can’t find the right one. I decide to search a that I created earlier, I make an
few fabric stores, and end up finding this embroidery layer that has a large
brown floral print. Knowing I only needed thread and lower roughness. This
the perfect pattern helps me to whittle creates a nice breakup in the
down the examples to the one that works. specular pass.
60
In depth 3D portrait
Animate the Create the hair
head glow The hair is done in XGen. The
braid is done with a tube
Her animated head glow is
done using Nuke. I paint a floral groom, with three cylinders
black and white pattern in braided around one another.
Mudbox, and assign it as a The eyebrows and eyelashes
V-Ray extraTex pass. I multiply were lighter to evoke a sense of
it with a Noise node in Nuke and albinism and unify the portrait.
then animate it so it has some
slow movement.
Lighting and
compositing
Less is more when it comes to
lighting. It’s hard to hide parts
of a piece you’re proud of, but
the viewer can fill in the blanks.
It also tends to add more
intrigue when you can barely
make out what’s there.
61
Workshops
Combining my love of The vintage toy box art, 80s iconic combining a model I previously
Artist
customising action movie poster art and Frank Frazetta posed and exported in Daz 3D.
PROFILE figures and kit- are strong influences on the type of The workshop will continue on
Ken Coleman bashing 3D models finish I go for in my nostalgic the lighting and rendering of
LOCATION: Ireland for concepts is exciting imagery. In this workshop I’ll different passes of the model in
Ken lectures in game art
for me. Over the past year, I’ve explain my process, from how I KeyShot. These KeyShot renders will
and design at Clonmel developed a library of 3D scanned 3D-scan and prepare the models, then be combined in Photoshop to
Digital Campus in assets, including character heads, before importing them into ZBrush. build an image mixed with my own
Ireland. He also designs
for clients such as
armour and weapons to composite I’ll show you how to use basic hand-painted backgrounds and
Catalyst Games and scenes of my favourite characters ZBrush navigation tools such as textures and then given a final
Morbid Angel. from the world of He-Man, Skeletor Gizmo, Transpose, Subtools and paintover in Corel Painter to get that
artofkencoleman.com
and the Masters of the Universe. Brushes to build a character, 1980s-style oil-painted finish.
62
In depth Retro art
63
Workshops
Face lift with Camera RAW Adding texture and detail Composing a layout
7 Photoshop’s Camera Raw filter is a 8 I find that using photos of rusty 9 Now that I’m happy with the overall
powerful tool for adding a degree of punch to surfaces and stained concrete are fantastic figure, I group all the elements. I create a new
your illustrations. Select the top-most merged for creating detail and depth in images. The file the same size as an ImagineFX page at
layer copy and press Filter>Camera Raw concrete and porous stone is my favourite 22x30cm but at 450dpi for higher resolution.
Filter. You can see from the image how I’ve textures for the skin. I drag these elements Most of my work is at least A2 in size at
placed my sliders. My approach is always on top of the figure and I mask them using 300dpi. I now drag the figure group across
Shadows up, Clarity up, Saturation up slightly the silhouette from the clown layer that I and start to place background elements and
and Highlights and Whites down. This extra exported from KeyShot. My painted Polyfilla particles to build a scene. I have folders of
tweak really gives a burst of colour and detail layer is especially useful and fun for creating hand-painted backdrops, particles and
to your 3D render. a bone-like effect on Skeletor’s face. objects to help build scenes quickly.
64
In depth Retro art
10 Hand-painted backgrounds
I add stock photos of some Irish coastal 11 Adding my own particles
I create my own particles by taking a 12 Final prep before paintover
Before bringing the composition into
landscapes and one of my hand-painted photo of baby powder on black craft paper, Painter for a paintover, I click Image>
backgrounds. I’m lucky that there are many as well as creating particles with Painter’s Duplicate to create a copy of the file. I select
local landscapes and textures to help enhance Particle brushes. I add these elements by the figure’s outline, then flatten the image
my work. Using my local environment in my placing them in the scene and setting the and copy and paste just the figure over itself.
art is important to me. My hand-painted Blend mode to Screen. I also create gradients I now have options to use Blender brushes on
clouds were created on various large canvas, of green by selecting the colour from the the figure and background separately in
photographed and combined in Photoshop glows on the 3D figure’s body. Using the Painter. Using large oil brushes for the
to create a set of various backgrounds that I Gradient tool and cloud brushes I create background and more refined fractal brushes
can drag and drop into my art. directional light that matches the model. for the skin gives a nice sense of depth.
65
Workshops
66
In depth 3D detail
When it comes to Eighty per cent of the foliage in this these two elements together. I’m
Artist
personal work I rarely illustration was done in 3D, and it very excited by the possibilities
PROFILE have a clear idea of was surprisingly straightforward. this approach opens up for future
Oliver Beck what I want to do. I Aside from pushing my technical artworks, I’m sure that this piece is
LOCATION: Germany constantly carry out skills I wanted to create an artwork only a glimpse of what is to come!
Oliver is a freelance small experiments here and there, with a sense of adventure. I love For now, though, I’m looking
concept artist and and sometimes they evolve into portraying huge architecture in my forward to continuing my work in
illustrator. When he’s not
working for clients he
something larger. art, usually with a touch of fantasy the realm of fantasy environments.
enjoys finding new Before I started this artwork I had or a bit of a Dark Souls vibe. I’ve only I’ve been reading The Silmarillion
challenges in his been exploring foliage scattering and recently begun to get into characters, – the origin story of Middle-earth
personal work and
improving his art skills.
creating vegetation in CG for a which gives me better opportunities – and am very inspired by Tolkien’s
ifxm.ag/oliver-b couple of weeks, and decided that it to tell stories and incorporate tale. Maybe I’ll illustrate a scene or
was time to bring everything I had storytelling in my pieces. So I location from the book for my next
learned together in a larger piece. thought it was about time to bring work, but no promises yet!
67
Workshops
Reusing a side-project
The statue with the missing head is a side
experiment done in Houdini. I bring in one
of the statues, remesh it, and split it into
parts using the Voronoi node. I could have
just removed the head by painting over it,
but I love doing these small experiments
and Houdini is always a lot of fun to use.
Make a difference
One of the most important steps to
finalising the image is applying some
post effects. Motion blur, noise,
vignettes and lens flares can make a
world of a difference. Experiment with
them on different layers and see what
you can come up with.
PHOTOSHOP
CUSTOM BRUSHES:
TWO-SIDED
JUICY EDGES
68
In depth 3D detail
How I compose…
A DRAMATIC
ENVIRONMENT
Final render
3 This step involves the most amount of work.
I expand the temple structure, add characters and
foliage, refine the lighting and materials, and set up
Create the water passes for the final render. What you can see here
The water in this image is, aside from a few brushstrokes and
colour adjustments, fully 3D. I create a simple material in Octane,
doesn’t involve any painting or photobashing – it’s all 3D
using the internal autogenerated noise texture in the Bump and with some quick colour grading! Don’t be afraid to
Roughness channels. I then adjust the Noise settings until I achieve embrace 3D tools and techniques in your 2D art.
a result that I’m happy with – easy and quick!
69
Workshops
ZBrush is my favourite of techniques, which is to add simple where you get to add the finer details
Artist
sculpting package by primitive shapes to block-out the such as scales, wrinkles, pores,
PROFILE far, but people can primary form and then use just three creases and cracks in a large
Glen Southern find it intimidating or four of the most popular Brushes dinosaur’s skin. I’ve made alpha
LOCATION: England when just starting out. to add detail. Understanding this images to use with the detailing
Glen runs SouthernGFX, Here I show how to tackle creating a sort of workflow, where you block brushes and I include them with this
a character and creature large dynamic dinosaur sculpt. out primary forms and pin down workshop’s resources. With a range
design studio. He’s been
using and training
There are so many ways to start a scales and dimensions, then focus of detailing alpha-textures you can
ZBrush for more than project like this in ZBrush, and there on secondary forms (which includes really make your sculpt ‘pop’ off the
15 years and is a Wacom are lots of confusing tools and large muscle groups and major screen. Whether you go on to paint-
Ambassador. Recently,
he’s been creating in the
feature names like Dynamesh, landmarks) will help you grasp the over the model for an illustration or
VR space working with ZRemesher or the popular ZSpheres. fundamentals of ZBrush. use it as part of a 3D print project,
companies like Adobe To get you up to speed and simplify The final step (tertiary detailing) is you’ll have some amazing details on
and Gravity Sketch.
southerngfx.co.uk the process, I’m using the most basic the one that I love the most. It’s the underwater creature.
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70
In depth Sculpt & detail
71
Workshops
Primary forms
3 Primary forms are the building blocks that we use
to start creating. They help to establish the overall scale, Add basic limbs to the body
length, volume and shape of a sculpture. I use a limited 4 For the limbs I add basic Cylinders from the Tools menu. I use the same
amount of ZBrush brushes including Move, Clay brushes to pull and shape them and I keep the Dynamesh feature on so that I can
Buildup, Flatten and Inflate. I drag the geometry around remesh the model as needed. Dynamesh is in the Tool menu and is activated by
to match the reference and also kept looking at it from tapping with your stylus (assuming you’re using a graphic tablet) and is perfect
the top to make sure it’s reading well from that angle. for free-form sculpting.
72
In depth Sculpt & detail
50
ZBRUSH
ALPHAS!
RESOURCES
ZBRUSH
CUSTOM BRUSHES:
SCUTES
With a separate jaw you can try different poses easily and project I’m still looking for the primary forms, but SCALES
really focus on the corner of the mouth, which is a crucial beginning to think about the next part, which is about
part of the design. forming the secondary details such as muscle groups.
CREASES
OSTEODERMS
73
Workshops
74
In depth Sculpt & detail
75
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SOFTWARE
78 Painter 2022
Corel’s painting tool still targets those who
are serious about being painterly, but
makes concessions for beginner artists, too.
BOOKS
80 Creating Stylized Animals
Learn how to walk on the wild side
and make your animal character art stand
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81 My Neighbor Hayao:
81 En Plein Air: Light & Color Art Inspired by the
Take your watercolour art outdoors with the Films of Miyazaki
help of this book, which even advises what See how artists reimagined Studio Ghibli’s
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77
Reviews
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ainter 2022 continues Another handy addition to the you draw comics for example, you
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78
Art tools Software
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79
Reviews
Anthropomorphism – giving
a non-human object human
characteristics – is covered
in-depth in the book.
hether it’s for an animation variety across this section. Better still,
W project, a children’s
picture book or a line of
posters for your Etsy store,
the visuals are backed up by detailed,
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explanatory paragraphs, extended
being able to design animal captions and standalone tips. In
characters with visual impact is a Gervais Merryweather’s chapter
skill worth learning. 3dtotal on gesture and pose he passes on
Publishing’s guide aims to sharpen numerous insights gleaned from his
those skills. career as a freelance animator.
The book’s first 80 pages contains Meanwhile, the jaguar rockstar that’s
chapters that cover core animal concepted, stylised and refined by
design and illustration topics. These César Vergara is only a gig away from Tata Che’s snowy owl is delivering warning letters to
include boosting character appeal, their own children’s streaming show. naughty children in the lead-up to Christmas.
drawing faces and expressions, and an
overview of anthropomorphism.
Each topic is explored in-depth by a
Being able to design animal though: they all take their finished
conventional animal design and give
different artist, which adds visual characters with visual impact it the anthropomorphic treatment.
Sometimes there’s a bit of a
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The main portion of the book sees but there’s plenty of good advice on
seven artists take on an animal- offer nonetheless.
themed project. They’re led by two- Creating Stylized Animals concludes
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follows the same structure: they start biographies of the 19 contributing
with a mind-map of related words, artists. Credit to editor Marisa Lewis
before going on to tackle research, for marshalling their collective talents
The eyes have it –
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chapter covers how to expressions, poses, and values and
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over 250 artists contributing more history of Hayao Miyazaki, the reader
than 400 eclectic works. is then free to explore 240 pages of
Some of those pieces were created incredible work filled with unique takes
for a 2017 exhibition at San Francisco’s on My Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving
Spoke Art Gallery. As the exhibition Castle, Spirited Away and more. The
toured over the following two years it media is varied: from traditional
materials such as inks and
watercolours, to paper lanterns,
Self-taught Los Angeles artist Nan Lawson painted
embroidery, sculpture and digital her version of Princess Mononoke for the exhibition.
prints. It’s a credit to Hayao’s strong
vision that his designs remain While it’s a pity that there’s no
recognisable in even the most extreme creative insights on offer, this book
interpretations, such as Princess remains a solid collection of art that
Ponyo takes human Mononoke’s headdress being turned Studio Ghibli fans will lap up.
form in this detail from into a gas mask by Freehand Profit
an illustration by US
artist Stacey Aoyama. (aka Gary Lockwood). RATING +++++
81
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Traditional Artist
Inspiration and advice from the best pro artists
88 84
98
94
This issue:
84 Traditional FXPosé
Discover this month’s selection
of the finest traditional art,
which has been sent in by you!
88 Workshop: 11 tips on
rendering perfect portaits
Jean-Sébastien Rossbach reveals
how he works with watercolour.
94 Workshop: Develop
your fish-eye art skills
Learn how Paul Heaston is able
to create a wide-angle sketch.
98 First Impressions:
Wylie Beckert
This Magic: The Gathering artist
is thankful for social media.
83
Traditional Artist FXPosé
Madalina Buzenchi
LOCATION: Italy MEDIA: Watercolour, pencils, gouache WEB: madalinartz.com
1 2
1 NATURE JEWELS
“I used to collect stones when I was a child,
so I wanted to impress this beautiful memory
on the paper.”
3 SENSATIONS
“A single leaf that touches us can evoke a
series of memories. I made this piece for my
watercolour illustration course.”
4 LIGHTS
“I was inspired by my favourite Disney
movie, Tangled, and especially by the lights
on the lake. In this case the protagonists are
me and my husband.”
Johanna Puhl
LOCATION: Germany MEDIA: Oil, inkpens and watercolour WEB: johannapuhl.com
“Beside video games, nature is a huge inspiration for my art,” says concept
artist Johanna. “I love the organic nature of watercolours, but also the
control you have over a digital drawing, so I try to combine both.”
1
1 ROBOT AND ROSES
“My botanical bot series
depicts humanoid machines,
overgrown by different kinds
of flowers and plants. They
are digital drawings, done
with watercolour brushes
and paper textures for a
natural look.”
2 MUSEUM DRAWING
“I love to get inspired by
actual history and culture, so
I go out to museums or the
zoo with artist friends from
time to time. This page was
done in an Aztec exhibition
and coloured at home later.”
3 CREATURES FROM
IMAGINATION
“This is one of my favourite
sketchbook pages, featuring
organic plants and fantastic
creatures. I want to make
more time for my analogue
sketchbook again.”
4 THROUGH THE
FOREST
“A spontaneous little
watercolour painting of two
riders and their unusual
horses. I love creating little
fantastic worlds like this,
which make the viewer want
to join on an adventure.”
4 5
5 GRUNLINGS
“These cute fruit and veggie creatures
are probably my most-known characters
and I have a huge collection of them now.”
Expressive
background
Coloured pencils
Watercolour
11 TIPS ON RENDERING
PERFECT PORTAITS
JEAN-SÉBASTIEN ROSSBACH reveals his methods of working with watercolour
– the classic traditional medium that’s both simple and complicated
88
In depth Perfect portraits
Salt effects
W
atercolour is my I often make the analogy between As I’ll explain in this article, the
preferred painting watercolours and dance, because the amount of water you use, the type of
medium. It’s easy colours somehow have their own life paper and the granularity of your
to work with, and and flow. When working on a new pigments are all important factors
safe because it painting, you enter a game of when helping to take your colours
requires neither solvents nor suggesting and reacting. And this is where you want them to go.
mediums. But as with many things what I like about the medium. You Jean-Sébastien has been
in life, simple can also be hard, and have to stay open to how painting for over 20 years.
achieving the art goals you have in watercolours interact with pigments His art has been displayed in
mind can be challenging if you’re not Inclined and the paper, and readjust all the galleries worldwide, and sold
at auction. Discover more of his work at
aware of a few techniques and tools, time. Over time I’ve found it’s
which we’ll review together here. table become a philosophy of letting go. jeansebastienrossbach.bigcartel.com.
89
Traditional Artist Workshop
Wet on wet
Mixing wet
and dry
Dry edges
91
Traditional Artist Workshop
A THE BACKGROUND
To fire up my motivation I begin
this portrait of a geisha with the fun
part: the background. It’s a wash of
Payne’s grey, Raw umber and touches
of Burnt sienna loosely applied wet on
wet to encourage granulation and
staining effects. This is also the stage
when I block in my composition.
B SUPPORTING COLOURS
I place the darkest colours all
around the character’s face because
I’ve decided that I’ll keep her face
completely white. Watercolour is very
often a matter of finding a way to
create contrast, because the medium
itself is rather pale and desaturated. By
putting all the darker tones around her
white face I’ll make it stand out from
C UTILISE THE WHITE OF THE PAPER FOR THE GEISHA’S FACE
Her face is the last thing I paint – or should I say I actually don’t paint, because I keep the white of the
paper preserved to convey the white make-up on her skin. Even the bottom of the composition is covered with
the rest of the composition. a light grey wash so that the only pure white is that of the geisha’s make-up.
92
In depth Perfect portraits
93
Traditional Artist Workshop
GET YOUR
RESOURCES
See page 6 now!
DEVELOP YOUR
FISH-EYE ART SKILLS
Learn how US illustrator PAUL HEASTON is able to create a wide-angle
“point of view” sketch from life using pencil, pen and ink wash
L
ook as far as you can to edges of the buildings parallel to the Odds are by now you have
MATERIALS
your right and to your left DRAWING TOOLS
horizon but it just didn’t look right. encountered wide-angle art before.
without turning your head. Q Tombow Mono Then I remembered how buildings Whether you’ve heard it called
Now do it again but looking 4B pencil in panoramic photos are wider at the fish-eye, bubble art, curvilinear
up and down. Everything Q Staedtler 0.3 centre and they taper down to the perspective or something else, the
you can see in front of you without Pigment Liner right and left as they recede from the idea is the same: to fit a lot of space
turning your head makes up your Q Molotow One4All viewer. In doing this, the top and on the page you have to bend that
“field of view.” What if you were try white acrylic paint bottom edges of the buildings curve space a bit. There are a few ways to go
to draw every single thing in that marker to meet vanishing points on the about doing that, and I’m going to
Q Pentel grey brush pen
space? How do you reconcile all of horizon to the right and left. I tried show you how I like to approach a
Q Kuretake water brush
that information within the confines this in my sketch and it worked! wide angle drawing or “point of
and diluted Noodler’s
of a rectangular picture plane? Lexington Gray ink
While it felt like a breakthrough view” sketch in a few simple steps.
Years ago, when I first started Q Pentel Hi-Polymer for me, it turns out, many other Paul is an urban sketcher
doing sketches from life, I was trying Eraser artists had been exploring the and illustrator who’s taught
to draw a row of buildings from PAPER concept of curving perspective for workshops internationally
across the street. I wanted to include Q Stillman & Birn years, from Parmigianino in the on sketching space in wide-
everything I could see; the whole city Epsilon paper 1500s to MC Escher in the 20th angle perspective. Follow him on Twitter
block. I sketched the top and bottom century to Kim Jung Gi today. at twitter.com/paulheaston.
94
In depth Fish-eye art
2 Adopt a wide-
angle mindset
This is the most challenging
yet crucial step in tackling a
wide-angle sketch from life.
We’re used to zooming and
cropping to select small
portions of our field of view
4 Foreground first
In pencil, loosely sketch your hands, sketchbook
or drawing surface, and anything else that might be in
your immediate foreground (legs, chair, work surface
5 Block in basic shapes
Using the grid as a reference for direction and your foreground as a
and so on). The scale you choose for this portion of the reference for scale, roughly pencil in the biggest portions of your field of view. I like
drawing is important because this will establish a scale to work roughly left to right and foreground to background in successive passes,
reference for the rest of the drawing. correcting as I see fit to keep everything in proportion.
95
Traditional Artist Workshop
96
In depth Fish-eye art
97
Traditional Artist Interview
First Impressions
Wylie Beckert world and start building a following
This Magic: The – even if you’re beneath the notice
of art directors for now.
Gathering artist
thanks social media What art has most affected you?
Seeing Jacek Yerka’s work made a
huge impression on me early on.
How did your post- Before that, I had thought of fantasy
college years affect art as a genre that existed solely in
your art? an alternate-universe medieval
I lived in a miserable, England: knights in armour,
unheated house in dragons, fairies, castles. Yerka’s
rural Maine and worked a part-time paintings are much more personal:
job that paid $260 a week. The they feel real, habitable and familiar
upside of this was that the low cost despite their strangeness. Yerka is
of living meant that transitioning to still my favourite artist to this day.
the unprofitable life of a newly
minted illustrator wasn’t too much Has the art industry changed?
of an adjustment for me, and with When I was getting started as an
no distractions and (nearly) nothing illustrator [2014] many of the big
to lose, I was able to devote myself fantasy art brands were very rigid in
to studying art fundamentals and the type of artwork they would hire
building my illustration skills in a – it seemed to be the peak of the
way that someone with a cushy shiny, photorealistic digital
studio job in an expensive city painting; with my line-based,
would never have been able to. That traditional-media style, I was more
period of my life was both a or less unhirable. In recent years I’ve
hardship and a luxury. noticed this status quo starting to
shift. Magic: The Gathering in
Is the online social side to modern particular is starting to move
art a burden or an aid? WICKED KINGDOM : myself rather than sitting on my towards a less homogenous look
A burden, but an indispensable one. THE KING OF CLUBS hands waiting for the emails from that’s allowing a lot more unique
Long before I was getting hired “A traditionally painted playing art directors that never came. voices into the industry. Given the
card deck with a narrative twist
professionally, social media allowed and a dark fantasy aesthetic.” I was first hired by Magic: The positive response from players and
me to build a sustainable career for Gathering – now my main client collectors, hopefully more
– in late 2019. A full three-and-a- companies will follow suit.
© Wizards of the Coast LLC
FAE OF WISHES […] I would have Celebrated Magic: The Gathering artist
Wylie shares her artworks and process
Card art created for Magic: The Gathering’s Throne of Eldraine
expansion using ink and pencil on paper. had to quit art at wyliebeckert.com.
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