Tabla de contenidos para December 2023 en ImagineFX

LOCATION: Mexico MEDIA: Blender, Photoshop, Polycam WEB: www.robingarrett.net Robin is a concept artist in the entertainment industry who is inspired by the likes of Halo and Borderlands. His pristine look is achieved via 3D modelling and texturing, as well as photobashing and painting. 1 ATTIS CITY “I designed an agricultural metropolis from the near-future where traditionally square crop fields would now become large, circular megastructures.” 2 CYBERPOP “Cyberpop is an aesthetic I’ve designed that aims to paint the bleak, dystopian future in a more colourful manner.” 3 CEMENTIUM II “I wanted to imagine a distant moon where the land is chemically identical to human-made concrete. Megastructures again!” 4 CYBERBRUTALISM “Here I wanted everything to feel as miserable and artificial as possible. A bleak outlook into the marginalised areas of an…

LOCATION: Italy MEDIA: Clip Studio Paint, Blender, Photoshop WEB: www.artstation.com/gulikart Francesco has a background in architecture, but now prefers to illustrate character designs with a cel shading style. “Vivid colours and contrasts define my art. I like to alternate lightness to define lines and shadows.” 1 POP GIRL “This character has a variegated design that harkens back to the rebellion of a post-modern, urban world. Voluminous and soft forms place them in an anime pose and dimension.” 2 BLUEWITCH “This character is a witch and priestess of the deep sea. The robes and colours refer to both mystery and darkness, while the lines and pose allude to ocean waves.” 3 GREEK WARRIOR “The illustration depicts a Greek warrior in an imaginary fantasy setting. The lines of force converge and contrast…

Having a booth at a large art convention opens up opportunities you won’t find anywhere else. It’s a chance to meet the people who enjoy your work, impress employers, network with other artists, and make a great profit by selling your work. “The sense of connection and satisfaction you get from knowing your work resonates with people is impossible to experience online, and is priceless,” says Naomi VanDoren, an adventure fantasy artist and author. While the rewards are great, every artist will hit a learning curve when they first start exhibiting. “Setting up a booth or table involves a significant amount of trial and error,” says Naomi. There are also many logistical factors to juggle, attendance costs that will eat into your profit, and you’ll need to experiment to find…

Artist PROFILE Kyle Brown LOCATION: US Kyle is a concept artist living and working in Los Angeles. He also serves as an instructor with the Gnomon School of VFX, Games and Animation, as well as the College for Creative Studies, which is based in Detroit. https://bit.ly/44JxcjH Today we’re going to be adding costumes, armour and weaponry to a creature design. The point of this process is that we want a character, or really a creature that is a character, to have a bit of a personality and some brains to them. We want to show that this isn’t just this wild beast, there’s some semblance of intelligence, so it uses weapons and props, and dresses itself in clothing and armour for protection. This is a great way to tell extra…

“I approach all of my character design work by considering what ultimately serves the character’s personality the best. I want to convey a version of the character that is both clear and will be easily read by the viewer. I then proceed to push the shapes and silhouettes of the character to make them as unique and appealing as possible. I also keep in mind design principles such as contrast, where I break up the proportions in order to keep the eye engaged, and prevent everything from becoming too even. This all helps to give my characters their visual appeal.” Artist PROFILE Nikolas Ilic LOCATION: US Nikolas is an Emmy Award-winning production artist who specialises in character design, illustration and visual development for the animation industry and children’s books. https://nikolas-ilic.com…

LOCATION: Taiwan MEDIA: Photoshop WEB: www.artstation.com/peterskore Through their artistic journey, Hui has found a distaste for practice and imitation. “Now I only draw what I like. I avoid human subjects because of the complex anatomy, and even backgrounds too. It’s quite a challenge!” 1 FLAME OF PRECISION “The core concept for this series involved solidifying entities of energy-like flames into physical forms. They combine samurai, hannya masks and archery.” 2 THE REAPER OF EXILE “This composition strives to integrate heightened sensations of ethereal suspension and chilling unease. The Reaper stands as the antithesis to the saint; a portrayal of contrasting dread.” 3 CALIBUR OF ANOTHER DIMENSION “‘The sword, upon striking, exiles adversaries.’ This concept is embodied in this artwork. The blade itself shall gradually contort and wane, consumed by its own…

The Rookies is a platform to help digital artists get discovered without having to compete with professionals for attention. You’ll get to the front page of those sites one day, but for now, we’ve got your back and want to help turn your passion for creative media into a successful career. WWW.THEROOKIES.CO Sleeping Fairy YEAR CREATED: 2022 MEDIA: Procreate “I created this piece outside of my schoolwork to embody what I like, and my personal universe. It’s a peaceful scene in an idyllic forest, which features a sleeping nymph. With this artwork, I worked on creating warm and comfortable lighting to make the setting welcoming for a break, and to take a nap by her side.” Artist PROFILE LOCATION: France Joanne is an illustrator and junior concept artist finishing her…

If you haven’t exhibited at a big show before, how do you get started? Reach out to artists who exhibit in your area and see if there’s a chance to shadow them at a convenient future event. I had this opportunity with a major artist before I jumped into conventions; it was invaluable. I also put the word out occasionally when I need an assistant at a particular show. I’ve made a lot of friends that way, many of those folks are now successfully exhibiting their own work, and of course it’s a quid pro quo that benefits me as well. It’s truly nice to be able to take a break to eat, use the restroom, or present at a panel knowing that someone is there handling your booth for…

Artist PROFILE Shirley Tan LOCATION: Singapore Shirley is a graphic designer working for Collateral Damage Studios. She is also enthusiastic about anime and manga illustration and co-wrote How to Draw Manga, which will be published next year. Shirley has great interest in 2D and 3D design, and loves to incorporate the best of both worlds into her pipeline. www.collateralds.com Many artists may think of lighting as an afterthought, the icing on the cake or the cherry on top of the pie, but that cannot be further from the truth. Lighting is an essential part of any painting, and it can make or break a piece. With lighting you can create focal points in your piece, change the mood in a painting and help with storytelling. Lighting can direct the viewer’s…

Chris Hong LOCATION: Canada MEDIA: Watercolours, colour pencils, alcohol markers, acrylics WEB: www.chrishongart.com Chris is an independent artist and content creator with over 500,000 fans on social media. She creates rich, deep colours and textures in her art by slowly building up mixed-media layers. 1 IL PLEUT “The character is swimming in thought as their troubles swirl all around them. The umbrella underwater symbolises the feeling of helplessness.” 2 PASSING GHOSTS “The abstract, blobby shapes represent the thoughts that keep us up at night. This piece was inspired by when I was feeling particularly anxious.” 3 BLUE BEAR “I had fun building up the fur texture. I worked dark to light with a watercolour and marker base, then drew in the hairs with lighter colour pencils on top.” 4 EXTRA…

LOCATION: Ukraine MEDIA: Photoshop, Procreate WEB: https://bit.ly/45Qd54f Lana is an illustrator who works in the gaming industry. “Animated movies have always been my biggest inspiration, they encourage me to capture special moments and emotions in my art.” 1 IT’S ALWAYS THE DARKEST BEFORE THE DAWN “Loneliness often accompanies freedom. Though it may seem impassable, never forget the flames in the sky lit by others.” 2 SEE YOU IN YOUR DREAMS “Inspired by the beauty of Sumeru City in Genshin Impact. I was thrilled to depict the atmosphere of the forest magic and the essence of dreams.” 3 FOREVER CHILD “Sometimes people want to remind themselves of what the world was like in childhood. It helps them to remember the importance of dreaming.” 4 DIVE BACK IN TIME “This Shiguang Dailiren…

LOCATION: Argentina MEDIA: Photoshop WEB: www.gonzaloruggieri.com.ar Gonzalo is an illustrator and comic artist who has been published in the US, Argentina, Spain and Serbia. His digital work retains the expressive looseness of analogue tools in order to achieve a painterly style. 1 COVER FOR ILL VACATION “I made this for a sci-fi adventure comic written by Steve Thompson. The repetition and contrast between the characters was the most important concept to represent.” 2 SEQUENCE FROM METAL EAGLE “This is from a spy adventure comic written by Matthew Kund. My main focus, as always with a comic, was to consider the layout and flow of the panels.” 3 COVER ILLUSTRATION FOR COSMIC CAVEMAN “A cover I did for a story written by Noah Ray and drawn by Clint Kisor. This piece…

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF... Marvel production designer Craig Elliott takes us through his working day and offers his advice for the next generation of talented young artists. Page 30 THE POWER TO DREAM One of the key figures behind new animation software Procreate Dreams tells us why the app could be about to force a major shake-up in the sector. Page 32 YOUR VIEWS, YOUR ART Readers write in with their art news and opinions on what we’ve covered in ImagineFX. Plus, we feature art that’s caught our eye on social media. Page 39…

Contact the editor, Rob Redman, on mail@imaginefx.com or write to ImagineFX, Future Publishing, Quay House, The Ambury, Bath, BA1 1UA, England Follow us on X: x.com/imaginefx Find us on Facebook: facebook.com/imaginefx Share your artwork via #imaginefx: instagram.com/imaginefxmagazine Feel the Force! Hi ImagineFX! I’m writing in to say I loved the Star Wars: Visions article from your last issue. I find it fascinating to see stylistically innovative projects and the look of those is mind-blowing. It really shows what can be done with one universe in terms of style. This sort of thing, along with the artwork in the new Spider-Verse and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, pushes my passion and I hope to one day work at a studio that produces these kinds of projects. Maria, via email Rob replies…

Artist PROFILE Toby Willsmer LOCATION: New Zealand Toby is a freelance illustrator in the comic and publishing worlds. His work is known for its vibrancy and dynamics. www.willsmer.com In this workshop I’ll be focusing on some of the techniques I use for adding dramatic lighting and shadows. In this illustration I really wanted these elements to be key, and I’ll be guiding you through the steps that I usually take when working on this type of composition. We’ll start from the early sketching stages, all the way through to the completed illustration. This includes some post colour adjustments to help make your finished illustration pop off the page. I’ll be explaining what to keep in mind such as light sources, and lighting figures and surroundings when drawing and painting them.…

For this tutorial, I’m going to use soft pastels and Conté crayons for drawing, rather than painting. There has always been a debate about whether pastels are a drawing or painting medium, but personally I believe it depends entirely on the way that you use them. Here I’ll be using limited colour to capture the energy and texture of natural forms by changing my mark making and getting a feeling for the flow of line. As I draw each piece, I like to hold it in my hand so I can feel its weight, and use my other senses alongside sight. I want to convey more than just what it looks like. What does it feel like? Is it hard and spiky, and heavy to hold? Or light and fragile,…

Where did you grow up and how has this influenced your art? I grew up in Chester, in the north-west of England. I don’t believe this place had much influence on my art. Much more of an influence were nature, astronomy, folklore, deities, mythology and pop culture. You’re a child, you see a piece of art that changes everything. Where are you, what are you looking at, and what effect did it have? There’s no single artwork, but I was obsessed with early Disney movies. My mum would have Disney movie marathons as my ‘babysitter’ when I went to her work after school. I think that Disney was my first inspiration, as I used to regularly draw my favourite characters. I believe that’s where I began my observational skills, along…