Table of contents for February 2023 in ImagineFX

Hello ImagineFX readers! It’s truly an honour to be the Guest Editor for this issue. ImagineFX was the first magazine to ever print my artwork. Now, 17 years later, I’m so excited to be able to share some of my biggest artistic inspirations with you all, ranging from some of my earliest influences to some of my most recent. Hopefully this issue will paint a more detailed picture of the art that has shaped my work, and later my career path. As a teenager, I stumbled upon Aurore Blackcat’s website and was absolutely enthralled by her digital art. Her work has had a massive influence on my style, workflow and subject matter. Some of my other early influences like Jana Schirmer and Iain McCaig are also featured in this issue.…

Hoang Lap (AKA Solan) LOCATION: Vietnam MEDIA: Photoshop, After Effects, Procreate WEB: http://hoanglap.artstation.com Hoang Lap is a concept artist and illustrator. “I’m on a journey to find a deeper meaning in art. A journey of inspiration, sharing and healing. Every colour has its own meaning, and every shape tells a different story.” 1 MIND’S EYE “You might seek your answers with intelligence, but only with wisdom do you get what your heart desires.” 2 THE LOVERS “A love story told by sunflowers will have a different colour from other flowers. They represent the sun, and their nature comes from the sunlight.” 3 THE RAIN “Raindrops bring in the cold, sadness and solitude. The sound unearths memories we struggle to conceal. Would you be carried away by those emotions,…

Lois van Baarle has been impressing the art community for nearly two decades and what began as a hobby has evolved into a career. Through her evolving attitudes, the artist better known as Loish has never lost her creative passions, nor has she forgotten the community of artists that have helped her along the way. Speaking with ImagineFX, Lois traces her journey and influences. “I’ve always been interested in art and have been drawing since I was small,” she begins. “Ever since kindergarten, my peers and teachers called me an artist. However, I didn’t really have an ambition to become an artist as a career for much of my childhood because I was told it wasn’t possible.” This narrative led Lois to settle into drawing as a hobby, choosing to…

“This character, Aresha, comes from my personal work Black Dragon Crown. Before painting I think about the composition I want and find good reference pictures, then determine the movements of the characters. I wanted this picture to have a spiral composition so I drew the wings accordingly. I also changed the colour of the dragon to white because I felt the final colour tone would be more attractive. Other changes I made included the addition of the planet and the replacement of a stone with a tree in the background. I also added extra details to the armour plates because they are an important part of the overall composition.” Artist PROFILE Ruan Jia LOCATION: China Ruan Jia is a CG and concept artist based in China. His work has featured in…

Olivier Villoingt LOCATION: France MEDIA: Oil-based clay and resin WEB: www.oliviervilloingt.com Olivier is inspired by Norse and Celtic mythology and the symbols they contain. “I’m fascinated by the omnipresence of this savage nature, full of ageless creatures playing by laws unknown to us.” 1 THE WATCHER “I wanted to sculpt a strong character who could share his confidence despite the difficult moments that everyone goes through in life.” 2 THE SEER OF THE WANING MOON “For this piece, I was inspired by the description, ‘Since time immemorial, the Seer of the Waning Moon knows all, sees all, visible or invisible, tangible or not, she perceives the Web of Wyrd.’ ” 3 AGELESS MEMORIES “I imagined a character whose life was so long that his memories are a burden…

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 House of Botanists YEAR CREATED: 2022 MEDIA: Photoshop, Blender “I created this image as part of my personal project, Avalon, with the aim of further defining the world’s artistic direction right the way down to its smallest details.” Artist PROFILE Valentin Perouelle LOCATION: France Valentin is a concept artist who graduated from the New3dge Concept Art school in 2021. He is a big fan of Studio Ghibli movies and loves stylised art direction. www.therookies.co/u/valentinp…

Artist PROFILE Valentina Remenar LOCATION: Slovenia Valentina is an illustrator, surrealist and graphic designer who enjoys creating dreamlike paintings with a touch of symbolism to them. https://bit.ly/3USuDYE For each of my surrealist works, I strive for symbolism in the painting. With this piece, I wanted to create a surrealistic image inspired by the zodiac sign Aries. The painting depicts my personal character, Lucien, who embodies the many traits of Aries. He is brave, fearless, holds a deep sense of justice and, as a prince, is a natural leader. Likewise, he possesses the negatives associated with this zodiac sign. He is aggressive, self-centered and pushy, to name but a few. For this painting, I picked a sign that matches his personality. He even looks like a ram on account of his…

Artist PROFILE J.A.W. Cooper LOCATION: US J.A.W. Cooper was born in the UK and grew up in Kenya, Sweden, Ireland and Southern California. With two ecologist parents, animals and natural objects feature strongly in their work. Cooper lives in Portland and is an advertising art director, illustrator and a fine artist. www.jawcooper.com In this tutorial I will take you through my ideation process as I work on a drawing for an upcoming solo show at the Nucleus gallery. I’ll demonstrate how I start with a word list and use that to generate the kernel of an idea as a quick thumbnail sketch. From there, I’ll refine, build, augment and edit a rough drawing in Photoshop until I arrive at something worth turning into a finished drawing. Finally, I’ll take my…

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 Twitter: twitter.com/imaginefx Find us on Facebook: facebook.com/imaginefx Share your artwork via #imaginefx: instagram.com/imaginefxmagazine Howe does he do it? Hi. I read your last issue and have to say it is one of my favourites ever. As a massive Lord of the Rings nerd I pored over all of John Howe’s art and love the fact that he is still involved in that world all these years later. It’s truly remarkable that he has had such a hand in the visual development. Thank you for talking to him and sharing in the magazine. Fitz, via email Rob replies Hi Fitz, thanks for getting in touch and for…

Artist PROFILE Lois van Baarle LOCATION: The Netherlands Lois divides her time between personal art and character design work. She also creates regular Patreon tutorials. http://loish.net This is a redraw of an older image that I first made back in 2003. For the original I used highlighters, so when remaking the image digitally, I wanted the colours to be just as bright and vibrant as the highlighter ink from my original drawing! When working digitally, creating a bright colour scheme is easier said than done, given that there isn’t a specific setting for neon colours. In order to create a similar effect, it’s much more about how the colours interact with one another. The relationships between the highlight and shadow colours are what determine whether the colours look bright, so…

Artist PROFILE Sachin Teng LOCATION: US Sachin Teng is an eclectic illustrator working in fields from editorial and advertising to comics and animation. www.sachinteng.com Composition is visual storytelling in its most concise form, reduced to its most simple geometry. How do you express longing or grief without words or facial expressions? How do you convey motion and rhythm without movement? Composition is your macro storytelling. Simple shape and colour are sculpted into your leading lines, as they’re called in photography, also known as radiating lines within the painting world. These are edges, formed by things like perspective lines, silhouettes and intersections, that guide the eye through the canvas and provide flow and momentum moulded to create and reinforce different emotions and actions. Highly organised and symmetrical radiating lines result in…

“This artwork follows the story of a creature I designed called Kapre. It depicts a world that lulled the Kapre to sleep with a spell that he broke a century later. Waking from his trance, he remembered a fire that swallowed his children. Having forgotten that he caused the fire, he unleashed his rage on anything in his path. In his wake, peace will slumber, and the world shall know wrath. The sheer number of heads in this artwork called for perseverance. Enjoying the process makes it easier, including the breaks in between. Remember that pacing is king.” Artist PROFILE Patrick Gañas LOCATION: Philippines Patrick is an illustrator and concept artist with a penchant for creature design. When he’s not drawing, Patrick enjoys playing League of Legends and has fun…