Tabla de contenidos para June 2024 en ImagineFX

In this month’s magazine we turn our focus on a number of exceptionally talented artists, as well as some of their tools, tips and techniques. First off, we have our beautifully whimsical cover art, which was created by the talented Selenada. If this kind of art speaks to you, make sure to check out her tutorial on its creation, and dive into Clip Studio Paint to follow along. There’s even a great timelapse video of her process too! Elsewhere, we talk to Grégory Fromenteau about his years in the business, getting into the world of video game art and the value of traditional media. Not only that, but we caught up with four artists to discuss their advice for filling art with narrative. In our tutorial section, we have the…

1 SMILING FACE “I wanted to make this character both cute and creepy. What would be more suitable than a clown doll?” 2 TRIP: WIND OF SOUND “This is from my personal series, TRIP. A child and his cat escape reality into a fantasy realm. I wanted to physically transform sound into a relic for exploration.” 3 CONVALLARIA LAKE “Another piece from my TRIP series. I didn’t want the series to be too fantastical and grand, so it was more of a stop-start in terms of the subject matter and design.” 4 BABY GREED “A Halloween-themed character design. The greedy baby doll uses its gigantic mouth to fill his empty shell by swallowing all kinds of different sweets.”…

1 POISONOUS ROUTINE “Potion-making can be very fun if you have all the right ingredients in the right places, a carnivorous cauldron, and one delicious toad. A helpful magic pet toad, of course.” 2 CATCHING TIME “If fish were clouds in the sky, would they still be so easy to catch? I wanted this illustration to portray childlike hope and a belief in impossible miracles.” 3 MIDNIGHT FLARE PICKING “This illustration is all about the friendliest witch gathering the cutest little flares on the most charming night in a world full of magic, not fear.” 4 THE EMPRESS “This piece illustrates the tender love for the most precious treasure in a trove: the royal dragon. It’s the only being that the Empress admires.”…

While generative AI can produce images with superficial visual appeal, especially to those who haven’t seen much AI art, they tend to fall apart under closer inspection. Elements are assembled almost randomly, and the overall image lacks the meaning, coherence and intention that can only come from a human artist. A way artists can fight back against generative AI is to lean into the things that only a human can do, for example using narrative to capture emotion, and convey something personal about themselves in their work. PAINTING WITH WORDS Some narratives will work better than others in paintings. Consider situations that feature opposing forces or some form of tension. Senior concept artist Titus Lunter says: “Interesting stories are inherently about conflict.” Once you’ve found your conflict, you need to…

Alina Fedaseyenka The associate art director at nDreams, Alina was integral in the success of hit VR game Synapse. https://bit.ly/3IHvWoK RaidesArt and LeffiesArt The top twin illustrators are an ideal duo to share their advice for collaborative working. raiffiesart.com J.M. Blay The founder of production company Blay Studios has worked on films including Guardians of the Galaxy and The Hobbit. www.blay.info Pablo Carpio Pablo is a concept artist and art director who has linked up with the likes of Disney, Pixar and Marvel Studios in his career. www.pablocarpio.com Dolph Souza Dolph has a penchant for design-driven animation and storytelling, and will be part of a panel on video game marketing. https://bit.ly/3TiKeRm Charlie Pickard Figurative artist Charlie is also an author and trainer who has written a variety of tutorials on…

Grégory Fromenteau isn’t afraid to change things up. Over the course of his career, which now spans more than 20 years, he’s shifted from animation to video games and picked up a diverse range of skills in the process. We caught up with him to learn more about his work, and why he’s reverting to traditional mediums as generative AI starts to creep into the art industry. How did you get started as an artist, and what has your career been like so far? Since I was a child, I’ve been addicted to painting. I’ve always existed in a sci-fi and fantasy world. I was drawing ideas from the novels I was reading, which included classics by Asimov and Tolkien. Comics were also always available to me, and I liked…

“I’m interested in images of bones, perhaps because they evoke death and reveal the brighter aspects of life by contrast. This is the first in a series of images based on photos of skulls and animal bones. I started by making a pencil sketch in Procreate, then coloured it in Photoshop and Procreate. Lately I’ve been painting using gouache and found a love for the unpredictable effects of traditional mediums. I wanted to add that to my CG art, so I used rough brushes and restrained myself from modifying the strokes to recreate a similar look.” Artist PROFILE Choro Choi LOCATION: The Netherlands Choro is a concept artist in the gaming industry who currently works at Guerrilla Games. She majored in fine arts and specialises in concepts with a sci-fi,…

1 1 THE MERMULE “Sketching in pencil is the best! Sometimes I use references to start, but fill in details and expressions from memory and imagination.” 2 2 WHEN WE DREAM, WE CAN FLY “This personal piece started as a sketch of three horses. It’s inspired by Pharaoh’s Horses, an artwork I loved as a child.” Kelly Sparks LOCATION: US MEDIA: Pencils, acrylic WEB: www.kellysparksart.com Independent artist Kelly creates fantasy portraits and enjoys sketching horses from memory as meditative practice, but admits that most end up as unicorns. 3 3 HOW TO HAVE AN ADVENTURE “An illustrative portrait, commissioned to feature a young grandchild with a dragon, a book, and daffodils.” Teal Newcomb LOCATION: US MEDIA: Watercolour WEB: www.metalkirin.com Teal works primarily in watercolour with accents of acrylic…

1 LOVE “Love can be beautiful and attractive, but also treacherous and dangerous.” 2 DEMETRIA “A commercial illustration of a game character. I adore cold colour palettes, especially neons and pearlescent colours.” 3 WHITE-HAIRED GIRL “This art piece comes from my experiments with colour and form. I don’t know why, but white hair is my favourite for drawing.” 4 MODERN GEISHA “Here I was searching for an interesting look. I settled on one inspired by Japanese culture, painted in neon colours.”…

1 KNIGHT “Imagine a knight walking through a fantasy forest. I used strong colours and a powerful composition, as simplicity is always better.” 2 GRAVEYARD “Spirits walk through the cemetery while the crows keep a watch out for any evil spirits that could interfere with the rest of the dead.” 3 HEALING TEMPLE “An image about spiritual and physical healing. I brought together contrasting colours and architecture that refer to the idea of angels and healing.” 4 PILOT “It’s difficult for me to use monochromatic colours. But here I paired them with a strong, graphic design so the scene can be understood from afar.” 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…

The overwhelming outpouring of grief that followed the devastating news of Akira Toriyama’s passing says everything about the impact he had on the art world. To some he was a hero, to others a master or a sensei. Akira’s career was propelled by his manga series Dr. Slump. The story of a little robotic girl, her inventor, and their many misadventures, the series was an award winner and swiftly adapted into an anime that ran for more than 200 episodes on Japanese television. But it was Dragon Ball for which Akira was known best, and launched him into worldwide consciousness. His manga was first created in 1984, and the journey of Son Goku is now told through anime, movies and more, remaining a global phenomenon that has touched the lives…

Artist PROFILE Robert Laszlo Kiss LOCATION: The Netherlands Having studied industrial engineering at university, Robert merged his career with a passion for concept art and went on to work on Guerrilla Games titles such as Killzone: Shadow Fall and Horizon Zero Dawn. Currently freelance, he also creates content on YouTube and Instagram. www.robertlkiss.com SPACESHIP INTERIOR “Interior explorations for a hero ship. I love the gravity created by acceleration that forces ships to have vertical architecture. It’s interesting having to think about design that has to work with both gravity and 0G.” WANDERER “Fineliners and ink wash are two of my favourite mediums to use. I’m not the most comfortable with colour, so working with values in a traditional way is where it’s at for me, especially since I grew up…

1 SAMURAI KID “An excellent example of what I mean by mixing the past and the present in my illustrations. A rare example of an uncovered face, too.” 2 MOBILE CASE “Lots of people asked me for this mobile phone case. I started to believe it could be a good idea, so I made it real.” 3 BY THE SWORD “This was part of a pair of redraws I did recently. I aimed to ensure that I was improving at drawing. Truly one of my favourites.” 4 KITSUNE X “I made this as part of a collaboration with XPPen. They wanted me to integrate an X somewhere in the piece, so I sculpted it onto the character’s mask.” 5 DRIFTING AWAY “I wanted to get a sense of movement in…

1 THE EMPEROR’S MERCY “This 40K fan art scene depicts the Emperor of Mankind displaying his full divinity amid the darkened halls and blinding his guards, who became traitors. I took inspiration from neoclassical paintings of Julius Caesar’s assassination.” 2 GUILLIMAN AND HELBRECHT “With this piece, I wanted to recreate the look and composition of a Lionel Royer painting. I focused the lighting and colour to draw attention to individuals in a sea of bodies.” 3 SANGUINIUS VERSUS HORUS “This is a 40K fan-favourite scene of a final, tragic duel between loving brothers. I took inspiration from The Fallen Angel by Alexandre Cabanel in the expressions of anger and betrayal.” 4 THE ANGEL’S INFERNO “A scene of the 40K Blood Angels commander Dante on a personalised throne looking back at…

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 Howl’s Flying Castle YEAR CREATED: 2023 MEDIA: Photoshop “This illustration is based on the movie Howl’s Moving Castle by Hayao Miyazaki. The goal was to create an illustration and interpret the colours and shapes into the Ghibli style. The composition, as well as finding the best way to treat my brushstrokes, proved to be a challenge, but so rewarding. I’m happy I pushed through it!” Artist PROFILE Marin Le Tourneau LOCATION: France Marin, who is also known as…

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 Fundamentally fantastic Hi Rob, I use a variety of mediums in my art, from watercolours to Procreate. I’ve always found that it’s really easy to get information about projects and pieces of art, which can be very useful. However, it can be much more difficult to build up the fundamental skills that make you a better artist. That’s why I wanted to say thank you! I’ve been reading Charlie Pickard’s series and it’s exactly this kind of information that I believe will help people learn to develop their creativity. At least, that’s how…

Artist PROFILE Selenada LOCATION: Switzerland Ulyana Regener, also known as Selenada, has been fascinated with the fantastical since she was a child. After swapping her path from music to art, she has worked on illustrations for an array of leading publishers seeking her touch of magic and immersion. https://bit.ly/3wWAchw For this illustration, I was asked to create a fun, bright image with the theme of making artwork magical by the developers behind the digital drawing app Clip Studio Paint. Although it was my first time painting with the software, I found myself completely immersed in the world of digital art from start to finish. It features a wide variety of brushes and I loved how the colours mix and blend just as they do when working in traditional media. In…

Artist PROFILE John A. Frye LOCATION: US John works as an art educator and vehicle designer. His artbook, Fryewerk 2.0: Concept Vehicle Illustrations, will be available soon. www.fryewerk.com In this workshop I’ll guide you through my workflow of essential and logical steps to creating a clear and impactful illustration of a futuristic vehicle. The fundamental differences between illustrating hard-surface design or vehicle illustrations versus human, animal or other natural forms will become clear. A major part of what makes my illustration work distinctive is careful consideration of the silhouette of the form, purposeful application of value contrast, and bold colours. A viewer-first approach to the legibility of the design, attractiveness of the image, and details that draw in the audience are all essential ingredients of a successful illustration that sells…

This piece started its life as a commission, but when that didn’t materialise, I pretty much made it my own. My process begins with a series of preliminary sketches, and I pick the best from the batch to progress with. Next I’ll do a greyscale comp to give me a roadmap for the visual interest. After that, I work on the final pencils. As I love spontaneity, I don’t have to fully pencil every detail out. Since the greyscale comp, I made some changes to the action for Storm to make her more dynamic. I wanted a more sweeping design from top-left to bottom-right. Extending Storm’s leg made sense here, as did pointing Magik’s toe to further add to the flow. I also made a focal point by using lightning…