CGChosen No05 Environments August2007

CG CHOSEN | issues 5 | August 2007
environments
FEATURED
IN THIS ISSUE
MAKING of’s Chosen Artists
The Jungle - by Radoslav Zilinsky Bechira Sorin
Down The River Arend - by Christian Hecker Sergey Musin
Long Jorney Home - by Nathaniel West Phil Mcdarby
Toni Bratincevic
2D GALLERY 3D GALLERY
Christian Hecker Eugenio Garcia
Dan Blomberg Geofrey White INTERVIEW
Frederic St-Arnaud Jason Godbey with digital artist
Gerardo de Gerardo Michel Lanoie Joshua Caez
Nathaniel West Radoslav Zilinsky
Raluca Iosifescu
Valentin Petrov
CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

issues 5 | August
INTERVIEWS with digital artists

Content
Joshua Caez
MAKING of’s
The Jungle - by Radoslav Zilinsky
Down The River Arend - by Christian Hecker
Long Jorney Home - by Nathaniel West
Chosen Artists
Bechira Sorin
Sergey Musin
Phil Mcdarby
Toni Bratincevic
2D GALLERY page 4 page 9

Christian Hecker
Dan Blomberg 3D GALLERY
Frederic St-Arnaud Eugenio Garcia
Gerardo de Gerardo Geofrey White
Nathaniel West Jason Godbey
Raluca Iosifescu Michel Lanoie
Valentin Petrov Radoslav Zilinsky
page 15
page 27 page 33
page 21
page 37 page 40
page
CG Chosen magazine | August 2007
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Artists
Chosen Environment Artist

Bechira Sorin
“I’m always looking for self improvement and I’m willing to ex-periment
new possibilities of expressing myself trough any visual process.”
Currently working as a leader (Art Director) of a small team of graphic
designers, supervising project workflow from concept to finish. Respon-
sible of maintaining the required standards of the projects. Developing
visual identities, graphic interfaces for web and multimedia presenta-
tions, motion graphics and various prints.X3 Studios
http://www.bechira.sorin.upcnet.ro http://bechira.cgsociety.org/gallery/
page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

Bechira Sorin
Deep Jungle Artists
Description: It is a beautiful theme and wanted to give the feeling of a lost

civilisation lost into a dense jungle...the reintegration in nature.
Done in: photoshop, image manipulation and digital painting.

Bechira Sorin
Lost World Artists
Description: Mattepaint done for “The Lost World” contest. Wanted to give
it the feel of an lost kingdom, a place where many nations live together
peacefully.

Bechira Sorin
London National Museum Artists
Description: My digital mattepainting in the NHM Challenge on CgTalk

from may. First I had to clean the provided plate, the make the set exten-
sion and finally to make the mattepinting. The main ideea was to show a
desolated place after many years...

Bechira Sorin
The return Artists
Description: Wanted to give a feeling of freedom in a deserted like land-

scape in wich is depicted a very big labirynth.
Done in: The base labirynth model was done in 3d studio max and post-
production in adobe photoshop.

Artists

Sergey Musin
Sergey Musin is 22 years old. He lives in Moscow, Russia. Works with many russian CG studios
and publishers and he have been working for some video projects and films. Generally it’s
mattepainting and sketches. Generaly Sergey uses Photoshop to create Matte paintings and
sketches, and Vue (e-onsoftware). AIso he uses Maya for camera projection for Matte painting
and After Effects.
concept art, hoping to find work as a more creative head.
http://www.samfx.com samfxi@gmail.com

Sergey Musin
Admiral Kolchak Artists
Description: This picture is a sketche for feature film “The Admiral Kol-
chak” which about adventure of Russian admiral Alexander Kolchak in
time 1900 - 1920 (WW I included).
Done in: I used Photoshop and painter, and photo refs (civil human and
soldiers) which I made special for this movie.
10 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

Sergey Musin
Admiral Kolchak - Frozen Cars Artists
Description: This is another sketche for feature film “The Admiral Kol-
chak”.
Done in: I used Photoshop and painter, and photo refs (civil human and
soldiers) which I made special for this movie.

Sergey Musin
Down Artists
Description: Matte painting from “Tower” series. In this picture be showing

cityscape in the near future.
Done in: I used Photoshop. Original size is 5k wide.

Sergey Musin
Gods City Artists
Description: This is my personal matte painting. I had created it for one

challenge.
Done in: I used Photoshop. Original size 5k wide.

Sergey Musin
Sky City Artists
Description: It’s one of my last matte paintings.. for personal works.

Be important show discriminate between Upper City and Lower City.
Done in: I created this in Photoshop and about work 3 days.. Original size
is 7000 pix width.

Artists

Phil Mcdarby
“ I’m 32 and living in Dublin, Ireland with my wife and new baby daugh-
ter. I’ve been working in digital media for about 8 years now, beginning
at Segasoft where I was responsible for web and interface design for
various online gaming sites. I spent three years at MediaLab Europe,
with the MindGames group, designing, modelling and animating en-
vironments and characters for 3D biometric games, composing all the
music and creating the sound effects. In 2004, two colleagues and I set up Vyro Games, where
I look after all the graphics and music for our cross-platform applications, as well as the hard-
ware/product design.
I have soundtracked a couple of short films, and my music has been used in documentaries
and advertisments. My hobbies include 3D modelling and digital painting, freelance illustra-
tion, wandering through forests, reading, composing, collecting/watching movies.”
http://www.vyro-games.com/phil/site philmcdarby@yahoo.com

Phil McDarby
Exiles Return Artists
Description: This image went through a few programs on its way

to being finished - Maya for the trees, zBrush for the pods, Bryce
for a water/reflection render, tons of Photoshop painting and tex-
turing, plus the use of a few royalty free stock photos (the monk
and boat are seperate shots, composited and heavily painted).
Done in: ZBrush, Maya, Bryce and Photoshop.

Phil McDarby
Imagine Artists
Description: The first image from a Childhood tryptich. Basically

a mix of Photoshop painting and photo collage (the boy is an
over paint using this reference). With this one I wanted to try and
capture the idea of Imagination!
Done in: Photoshop

Phil McDarby
Wonder Artists
Description: I was trying to capture a sense a won-

der and magic from a child’s point of view - I think a
lot of people lose touch with that side of themselves
as they get older, and you have to fight to keep it - I
know it is in abundance at this site.
Done in: Photoshop, Wacom Tablet and lots of stock

photo reference

Phil McDarby
Magic Artists
Description: This is the third of a ‘Childhood’ trilogy.

The bike, dog and girl are seperate manips from sxc.hu (will post a
montage strip when I get a chance), and there is a huge amount
of painting and lighting around them. Other watchful presences
were also painted.
Done in: Photoshop

Phil McDarby
The Gift Artists
Done in: Maya, Bryce and Photoshop.

Artists
Toni Bratincevic
“I was born in 1997 in Split, Croatia, a small country in eastern Europe. My journey
with 3D graphics begun at 1996 when I got in touch with 3D Studio 2. Before that
time I was mostly focused on 2D graphics, creating some design and graphics
solutions with CorelDRAW and Photoshop. After a few months of using 3D Studio,
my fascination with 3D graphics grow which at the end lead me to where I am
now, a 3D artist with full time job. After about two years of using 3DStudio, I de-
cided to check out a little freeware renderer called POVRay which at that time
had neat raytracing engine which usually produced more pleasant images than
3DS. I decided to give it a shoot, and after few years of using POVRay I made a lot of pictures with it. Most
of them still can be found at my gallery at webpage. A big amount of the work from that time was done
for IRTC competition. But, somewhere around 2001 I got my first full time job at vfx company called Vizije
and I had to turn the page, forget everything I know about POVRay and start to use professional software
called Maya. I have been in touch with Maya few times before, but it was mostly for exploration purposes.
Almost all of our work in company are based on commercials but from time to time we do some visual ef-
fects for movies. I have been working for Vizije forlast three years, but my plan has changed and I intend
to go to work abroad or become a freelancer.”
http://www.interstation3d.com toni@interstation3d.com

Toni Bratincevic
Balance Artists
Description: The blue - which arises from overexposed light and fades away
represents the life itself ... the cruel and cold story of it ... the way it is. The
light around the corner is the begining, the creation, but ... the main part of
the image is the human whose memories of that past times are very different
from what they truly were in real life. The memories are warm ... they burn in
his mind ... they are the main mechanism which gives meaning to his life.
And everytime he finds himself loosing faith in that cold and cruel world,
he comes to the fireplace, a source of his existance, takes one of the warm
events from the past, and rises a memory of it ...
Done in: The image is made as a beta testing for the new render for Maya,
the finalRender. It was rendered in passes and composed in Fusion where it

Toni Bratincevic
Experiment Chamber Artists
Description: Because I am buliding my showreel, I go through all projects

from the past and remodel them to look better.. and this was one of that
revisited pictures.
The idea was to create a hallway with chamber which was used to conduct
all kind of experiments by some mad scientist.
Done in: Modelling/Rendering was done in Maya/Mentalray. Postprocessing

in Digital Fusion. Hope you like it...

Toni Bratincevic
It Was You Artists
Description: To my wife...
At the time I was 4 something happened to me that I could not understand...
at that old abadoned house where I played all the time. First the moment of
silence spread through the sorrounding. Then I felt like someone is watching
me, and calling ... and in the split of second the time stoped and the light
burned beside me. But I wasn’t scared, I didn’t think that it was a monster, like
from the stories I heard all the time. I only knew that this vision was meant for
me, it apeared by intention. As the time faded away and I got older I nearly
forgot about that moment, until I met and fell in love with you. Now, I know
that it wasn’t just a light and memory, it was the birth of my soulmate, it was
a message from above that someone else came to the world, someone that
will complete the meaning of my life.
Done in: The image was rendered in Maxwell with heavy postprocessing in
Photoshop. It took me few weeks to finish it ... working in my spare time.

Toni Bratincevic
Slow Decay Artists
Description: This image was inspired by the animated movie Ghost In The
Shell. The idea of dark dirty poluted future was the main point of this picture.
It shows the real future of human’s world. One old man said: “I didn’t see the
sun since the time I was young. The blue sky. Where is it now? Does it still
shine above this eternal fog? I hope to see it on my last day. I hope that my
spirit would have eyes once I fly away, so I can feel it once again. My blue
sky, I dream of you every day.”
Done in: Digital Fusion, Maya, mental ray, Photoshop

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CG CHOSEN Making
ArtistsOf
Environments
The Jungle by Radoslav Zilinsky

I was born in 1983 in Slovakia.Nowdays, Im studing architecture at the Universtiy with its UVs layout and texture. Keep in mind
of technology - faculty of civil engeneering in Bratislava. 4. year of study. The to always reuse as much of the texture as
school is just a space to learn 3d graphics and it is nowmore like a hobby for me. possible. As you can see the number 2 on
Like I say, Im not learning 3dgraphics beside school, but learn to school beside the following picture, the beams are all the
3d graphics. In short, Im a technical personwith an artistic piece of soul.
same texture(they are not very visible under
the whached roof that will go over them),
http://radoxist.com rado83@gmail.com
but they are rotated 90° around their X asis
to lower the tailing.
Beginning Now I don`t want to bore you with say-
I don`t agree with the step process like 1.
ing something that was said thousand of
times(1.concept, 2.reference files 3.model- modeling 2. unwraping(mapping) 3.textur-
Hi, I`m Radoslav “radoxist” Zilisnky and I`m
ing 4.lightning etc). BUT I want to focus on ing etc, because it is very creative proccess
about to describe some techniques that
some specific parts that I will find interesting and cannot be cut into steps. Sometimes
I have used in creating the jungle scene
to you. And as I know from myself, Im always I remodel some parts of the model after I
which i have done in 3dsmax 9. I just want
looking on the pistures, so I will try to talk as have done the texture, change the UV lay-
to clarify that, there are many Making ofs
little as I can, and showing the pictures as out etc.
that would show you the process od creat-
ing picture. I have write also one by myself many as I can :)
For example, on the following picture, the
- http://radoxist.com/Making_of_it_comes_
First I want to show you the detail of object part marked as 1 was firstly just flat 5 sided
a_time_of_death.html

CG CHOSEN Making Of
Environments
polygon, after I have textured this part,

I thought that it will be best to have this
bamboo modeled, so it would better react
to lighning. Don`t forget to use Presrve UVs
feature in editable poly, so you can move
the edges without destorting the UVs. Obvi-
ously it is not perfect in all situations, but you
have to practise with it, and it will became
your good friend:)
There you can see also the texture. So what

can I say interesting about it. Yes there is
one trick that I have used for the wood,
that I have matched the color of the wood
to the color of the bambbo so they fit to-
gether nicely. I have used a tool in Photo-
shop “Match color”(with some levels ad-
justments) located in Image - Adjustments
- Match color. You can choose also a layer

CG CHOSEN The Jungle
by Radoslav Zilinsky Making Of
Environments
from the same PSD file. Sometimes it works

great, sometimes not, but it is worth try:) in
this case it worked great.
I needed a ROPE texture for this jungle, but I

didn`t find any on net so I have done one by
myself. I thought I can share it with you. It is
fully tileable:) Enjoy. There is a color, normal
map and result on the model.
Just one thing, don`t forget that, when you

are making a rope from spline or the most
prcedural objects like loft, lathe etc, that
they are already mapped! The mapping
should be just scaled in one direction in the
unwrap modifier to make it correct.
On the next picture, there is the same build-

ing but burned. Nothing really interesting
except it look:). Just cuting, deforming, de-
structing. Its great tool for this kind of defor-
mig in new polyboost 3 a it calls Polyshift. But
one thing I want to point out, the hanging
thatch. I will explain to you how I done it, but
on the hanging vagetation in jungle...
Lets start
1 First, we make the hanging vegetation
texture from some moss texture. Just eras-
ing with tablet. Make some different shapes 2

Environments
which will be possible to split by vertical and

horizontal lines, like it is on my texture on the
next picture.
2 Then map it onto the simple plane.
3 Cut it into two pieces, so it became two

strips. Then connect the longer(horizontal)
egdes of the two strips as many times as the
number of pieces of hanging vegetation on
the texture in each row. 3 4
4 Then move the edges in between the

pieces of vegetation with preserve UVs
turned on(it works absolutely perfect with
pernedicular edges like this).
1
5 Cut it again as you see on the picture.
6 Apply a bend modifier to polygons as you 5 6

can see on the piture.
7 Then you can detach the parts into

separate pieces,
8 or combine them into compositions

or groups.
So you have nearly ulimited combina-
tions of this kind of vegetation just from
one texture :)
7 8 What can I tell actually about the jungle

itself. For example I have done 3 differ-
end LOD from the main kinds of veg-
etations like palms. So as the distance
fades I copied the lower res models of
vegetation. You can see 3 LOD of the
main palm on next picture.
Than I copied the LODs all around in instance mode as it is possible, I made also some varia-
tions with bend scale and deform. It is also important to group the vegetations into small
compositions. They never grow just alone. Example on the next picture (see the next page).

Environments
At the far end of the scene I have made the two circular objects with
texture of a jungle (tileable) as you can see on the following picture.
I have used 3 typpes of objects on the

ground. Grass, stones and little branches.
About the creation of the grass follow my tu-
torial on my site, [link - http://radoxist.com/
grass_tutorial.html] it an older one, but still
you wil get the process, except that I have
scattered all objects with a great script that
is called Advanced painter to have them
exactly where I wanted. You can find it on
the [link - www.scripspot.com]
And here are some screenshot from the

jungle:)

Environments
So as I see I absolutly ruined my promise of not to talk so much, but

hope that you will forgive me :D ..
I`d like to talk about the postprocess, but I have lost the PSD file,
shame on me:( I but one interesting thing I want to point out. The
volume light was done with the z-depth pass but NOT with the clas-
sic one, because thereis one problem with opacity. The classic z-
depth pass counts only with GEOMETRY, which is critical if you have
many objects with opacity as I do. But there is a solution. A special
material.
We will describe this on the next example, the grass scene with
opacity. The special material is quite simple - a standard material
with self-illumination on 100%, put the opacity map from objects
which has it, into the coresponding opacity slot oterwise leave it
unused and the most important - put the faloff map into the diffuse
slot. The falloff type in this map shoud be set to Distance blend.
Finally just set the near and far dis-

tance so it fits you scene and hit
render :) 1. There is acctuall ren-
der of the grass. 2. Classic z-depth
pass, see like it counts only with
geometry, absolutly useless 3. Fog
pass made with a special material.
4. Composite of 1 and 3(just put 3
over 1 as a screen blending mode
in PS, colorize bit, and adjust with
levels).
Sometimes it takes little time to

1 2 rework the opacity materials to
this material, but it is worth donig
I think:)
So I hope this making of helps you

a bit. Don`t hesitate to write me
an email if you have some inteli-
gent question, or just say what you
think. And don`t forget to visit my
website http://www.radoxist.com
and have a look at my newest
trailer that is not yet on my site -
http://www.radoxist.com/down-
load/chronology/chronology_
3 4 high.mov

CG CHOSEN Making
ArtistsOf
Environments
Down The River Arend

by Christian “ Tigaer ” Hecker
It must have been around 1999 when I started to fiddle around with image edit- my own technique. The results of that pro-
ing programs. I always was interested in how these things work and what is
cess are pictures like the one I want to write
possible to do. Soon I found Photoshop and tried to understand how everything
works with it. The upcoming years I spent learning the tools and how to use them
about in this article.
efficiently. Took a peek into Screen and Print design. Learned basics. 2003-2004
I started to look into 3d with help of a program called ‘Terragen’. The program Now I hope you will have an interesting
was good in rendering basic landscapes where I later could apply details in read… lets get it on…
Photoshop. Over the last few years I concentrated on digital painting. Especially
digital matte painting techniques fitted very well into my own technique. So I
took what I needed and merged it with my own way to work. For now I left Ter-
ragen and work with Photos and Painting only. It’s fun and I’m still learning…
The Beginning
http://www.tigaer-design.com tigaers_claw@tigaer-design.com
This picture started as a just for fun project I
completely did with Photoshop. There was
Introduction In the past I worked a lot with a program nothing planned and that is why I did not
called ‘Terragen’, back then when I started do concept sketches for this painting. Most
Hello ladies and gentlemen. Before I start to to really explore environment-based art. I of my paintings evolve while I directly work
write about how the picture was created, rendered out a base terrain and took that on them. So at first I was looking for a photo
I would like to write something about the into Photoshop to add details. Nowadays I plate in my archive. A photo that brings up
technique I am working with to create such settled with photography plates and rarely ideas while I directly look at it.
pictures. Because the way I create my work go for 3d base renders.
is slightly different to the work process of My first intention for this painting was a fu-
other artists. Everything you see in my paint- Over the last 2 years I focussed on digital turistic setup. So I approached the idea
ings is self-taught. I did not visit art schools painting and matte painting techniques. with some futuristic looking elements. May-
or worked in a studio surrounded by people The Internet offers a lot of material that helps be even a big ship floating in that valley. I
that can give you instruction, inspiration or you to learn different techniques. I com- wanted something with bridges and added
help you to understand what you are actu- bined all the different elements, I learned some later. But at first I had to create a ba-
ally trying to do. from the tutorials I found on the net, with sic environment that suited my ideas.

by Christian “Tigaer” Hecker Making
ArtistsOf
Environments
Stage 1 – The Environment

With the basic photo plate in front of me
(Image 1) I started to think about what I
could add to the scene.
I looked through my photo archive and

found a nice picture with a nice forest part
that could be useful for the right side of my
painting and added it. I also added some
rough river element to the picture since I
wanted water in the scene. Then needed
something eye-catching in the centred left
area of the scene. That is how the ‘peak’
(Image2) came into play.
1
The peak was created entirely through

painting and manipulation since I had no
good plate for that element. With these mid
distant elements added I moved on to the
right side of the scene.
On the right I was searching my photo ar-

chive again. I was looking for some moun-
tain covered with forest. Something that
would fit into the painting nicely without to
invest too much work into the implementa-
tion process. Luckily I found something and
added it to the right part of the scene. I im-
mediately had much more depth once I
had this element added to the painting.
Stage 2 – The Futuristic Ap-

proach
With the basic environmental elements
added to the scene I was able to start with
adding the actual ideas I had in mind. I
knew I wanted something sitting on that
peak. I started to paint in rough ideas for
buildings and the bridges I had in mind.
2 Later on I added some perspective lines to
help me out. As you can see in the Image 3

added to this walkthrough everything was
just added to give me an idea about how it
all could look and could work. So there was
not too much time invested into it in the be-
ginning.

ArtistsOf
Environments
The first thing I reworked was the valley

area. I also changed the lighting and
atmosphere a bit to a hazy, light foggy,
environment. For the valley I wanted
more detail coming out of that forest.
So I added a rock ledge and made it sit
in there properly. A lot of painting went
into that bit to make lighting fit right. I
also added waterfalls to that area later.
Not to mention the fortress structure on
top of It.*6
4
Stage 7 – A Fortress,
Waterfalls And A Lonely
Stage 3 – Atmosphere nicely. Also added a small flyer on the lower
right hovering above the water.
I invested some more time into detailing out
the structures or removed parts that did not Stage 5 – Foreground Details
work too well (Image 4) and thought about
adding a space cruiser to the scene. But I needed some elements in the foreground
first I had to risk a look on the atmosphere to get the composition and depth together
I wanted in the scene, before I did think somehow. I scribbled in some foliage and
more specific about the spaceship detail. I bushes… usual stuff you can find on a river
must say that atmospheres in my paintings shore. Also added a tree on the far right to
evolve while I work on the pictures. It can help out with the compositional framing of
change several times. Being flexible, when the scene. (Image 5)
it comes to atmospheres, seems very impor- 6
tant to me. So what I did in our scene was All that kind of concluded the futuristic
just a first approach on how the final atmo- approach. After I added these elements I
sphere could look like. I work with lots of ad- found out that I was not too happy with the
justment layers to keep alive the flexibility I way the painting evolved into. I left it a few
love so much. days.
Stage 4 – Futuristic Details Stage 6 – A Different Ap-

With the basic atmosphere setup added to proach
the scene I could concentrate on details
I had in mind for the structures I added to After I removed the futuristic elements, struc-
the painting earlier. I also added that space tures and ships I thought a nature-based
cruiser I had in mind. The idea was it to have picture would be nice too. Something with-
a ship floating in that valley. Something that out any sign of intelligent life. And that was
translates the depth and scale of the scene the way I was going then.
6
5 6

ArtistsOf
Environments
Boat
Once again I had to revise my actual path for the
painting. The ‘nature only’ approach seemed to be
a bit empty. There was definitely something missing.
That was the point when I started to think about
adding a fortress kind of element to the picture.
When I found the right spot for a fortress I began to

fiddle around with the idea. I placed it on top of the
rocky ledge I just implemented in the last step. That
also was the point when I decided to completely go
into a fantasy direction. So I added some waterfalls
into that area too. The waterfalls really helped to
6 6
fill this part of the painting and also added I needed for the painting. more extra life to the scene. The last thing
a typical fantasy feel to the whole image. I reviewed were the foreground elements.
Then I added some waterfalls on the front
left side of the picture to suggest some
Stage 8 – Final Touch Ups I added some more subtle detail to the
foreground as well as the tree on the right.
depth throughout the scene. Suggested a small footbridge for the boat…
And Thoughts with a leaning fishing rod and a bucket. (Im-
age 8) The small details are the things that
Right from the beginning I wanted a boat The last things I do when finishing up a proj-
really keep me busy.
on the river. But I added it rather late in ect like that one is to review all important
the making process. I wanted something areas of the painting. Our project here
The final thing I did was to tweak the colours
that really transfers the scale of the scene started as a just for fun thing and ended like
of the overall image to a desired tone.
(similar to the space cruiser element) we are a big project. I reviewed the fortress area
looking here. And a boat with a guy who for details as well as the waterfalls and at-
is fishing would add more life and a lot of
scale. The boat really got me the last detail
mosphere. I also added some birds flying Voila… Done.
around (Image 7)… that really added some
Even if this picture was done with help of
digital matte painting techniques I was not
going for a photorealistic look. I just wanted
something that looks nice and has a neat
atmosphere going on. The title came from
the Belgariad and Malloreon books of Da-
vid Eddings which I really like. Since the
scene we see here could easily be right out
of the books.
I hope this walkthrough gave you an inter-

esting read.
Thank you.
Christian ‘Tigaer’ Hecker
7 8

CG CHOSEN Making Of
Environments
Long Jorney Home by Nathaniel West

Nathaniel West is a versatile, visionary conceptual designer and illustrator who brings a wealth of experience to not only the world
of design, but to each and every client he works with. His amazing ability to create stories around comprehensive architectural
spaces and bringing to life outstanding conceptual design, is what his clients love about him. So it’s only natural that Nathaniel
brings his talents, along with a critical eye for detail, leadership, teamwork and energy to all creative aspects of each project--
from its initial conceptual ideation, to final design details.
In the entertainment industry, Nathaniel has become an integral part of designing, illustrating and art directing many exciting
projects all around the world, which include themed entertainment, films as well as video games. Nathaniel has extensive knowl-
edge of real world spatial design and master planning, and contributes to the design of architectural spaces with the sole focus of
connecting visitors to those spaces through storytelling, massing, ornamentation and flow. Nathaniel continues to create rich and
compelling paintings with amazing colors and lighting—bringing each project to life.
Nathaniel holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Art Center College of Design. He currently resides in Los Angeles and is
a freelance designer and illustrator.
http://www.nathanielwest.net/ nathaniel@nathanielwest.net
Concept
For this piece, I knew that I wanted to begin with a moody and fog-
gy forest…almost menacing but serene. When I begin a painting, I
first gather up inspirational photos and reference images to focus my
thoughts and to pick and chose what elements I want to capture.
After this process, I begin with a rough grayscale sketch. I’m not
as concerned at this point with details or textures, but mostly with
the composition and graphic quality of the values. It is important
to group your values and simply them in order to make the picture
read from far away. This grouping also makes paintings much more
1 dynamic and dramatic, and in the end, much stronger visually. This

CG CHOSEN Long Jorney Home
Environments
process can take anywhere from ten

minutes, to a few hours, as you work out
the puzzle in your head.
The next step is to begin laying some

color over the value study. I usually
pick one main color and glaze it across
the piece to get a feel for the palette
I’m committing to. I then begin to in-
troduce some subtle variations to that
color to designate different materials
within the painting. As the painting pro-
gressed, I drew in a silhouetted figure
on a horse, and thus a story began to
develop within the piece. (Image 2)
For the trees, I wanted to make my life

easier and more organized, so I made 2
a flat silhouette of a tree to incorporate
into the piece. This process was pains-
takingly slow, and had to be painted
branch by branch, but in the end it
saved lots of time. Once I had a base
to work with, I was able to make ad-
ditional trees by varying the branches
and shapes of the trunks. (Image 3)
At this point the piece is really begin-

ning to come together. The trees are
laid in on separate layers, which allows
me to adjust them as I see fit. I then be-
gin to add textures into the foreground
and begin tightening up certain areas.
(Image 4) I’ve also made the figure on
the horse into a flat graphic silhouette 3 4

CG CHOSEN Long Jorney Home
Environments
on a separate layer. I turn ‘preserve trans-

parency’ on, and it lets me begin to detail
the forms without losing the overall shape.
At this point the figure has been detailed

in, and the surrounding landscaping is in-
dicated. I continue to add additional tex-
tures to certain areas, and begin to look
at the piece as a whole to see if there are
any areas that need to be emphasized of
knocked back to keep the focus on the fig-
ure. (Image 5)
I decided to introduce some tension into

the painting by adding some figures hiding
in the brush. They act as a second and third
read, and allude to an ambush about to
happen. I’m careful not to detail and high- 5
light them too much so that they don’t be-

gin to draw too much focus from my main
element, the figure on the horse. Once all is
completed, I brighten or darken areas, add
any additional highlights, and I’m done.
(Image 6)
6 6

Interview
Joshua Caez
inter view with
“I am a matte painter currently working at Buck TV in Los Angeles. I have
had the honor to work along many great artists in advertising, television,
and film. I love creating new worlds, and luckily I have found a career
that allows me to do that.”
http://joshcaez.cgsociety.org joshcaez@gmail.com

CG CHOSEN Joshua Caez
with Interview
Artists
Environments
Tell us a little bit about yourself

please.
I have been working as a freelance digital il-
lustrator and matte painter for the past three
years. Growing up I always had in interest
in art, especially for realism. My parents al-
ways encouraged me to paint and draw.
And having the chance to do these things
professionally has been awesome. Plus my
folks love the free art they get to hang on
the wall.
Do you have any artistic educa-

tion?
Yes, definitely. A teacher of mine back in
high school after learning I was going to
study CG for the next four years told me
to learn traditional art first. That advice has
helped me quite a bit. I received a B.S. in
Character Animation with an emphasis in
2D and 3D environments at SAU School of
Visual Art and Design. Learning graphite’s,
oil, acrylics, water color, has influenced the
way I work digitally. You can implement the that I couldn’t see myself doing anything There are so many CG artists that have influ-
old school with the new school in so many else. My first commissioned project was a enced me it’s not even funny. So I think I’ll
ways; it’s worth paying that little extra in stu- digital painting, and I loved the flexibility of just focus on contemporary matte painters
dent loans to learn it:) the medium. The clients have evolved and for now. Being a huge Star Wars fan I would
they have certain expectations, so being read about the artists that were working on
How had you got involved in CG? involved in CG has been well worth it. Plus the prequels. I came across Yanick Des-
ctrl-z rocks! seault, and I was simply amazed by his work.
For me to get involved in CG was a very nat- The more research I would do on matte
ural choice. I would see the work that digi- painting the more I came across Yanick and
tal artists were creating, and the CG that What CG artists influenced your art Dylan Cole, Chris Thunig, Alp Altiner Chris
more and more movies were implement- Stoski, etc… These matte painters and many
career most of all? Why? more have been an incredible influence to
ing, and it was and still is so cutting edge,

with Interview
Artists
Environments
me, and I believe it is because of the tradi- of image compositing and painting, while
tional characteristics of environment paint- other work is created from scratch. My goal ments, etc. I use Autodesk Maya for all
ing they have kept evident in CG. is to always have good communication with 3D elements and projections for 2.5D
the client, and make sure they are happy shots. But I’ll use Corel Painter many
times to achieve a more traditional
Do you work painting? Tell us about with the work. Like any business, you want
painterly look. And for highly detailed
to maintain a good client base.
your work please. modeling and texturing I love to use
Pixologic ZBrush.
I wake up most weekdays, hey sometimes What software do you use and
even weekends with the intensions of us- why?
ing a Wacom tablet. I’ve worn my poor Do you have some special
pen down. I have a wide variety of clients On a day to day basis I would say I use Ado- painting techniques?
ranging from advertising to film. What all be Photoshop the most. The reason for that
jobs have in common is that they all require is because of the versatility of the program; I can’t say I have a special technique,
painting. Some of the work is a combination the custom brushes, the variety of adjust- but I do like to finalize the painting all at
the same time. I create custom brush-
es at times, and I use the history brush
way more than I’ve seen others use it. I
like to work with many layers incase of
changes, and I like to have a series of
adjustments layers that I can easily ma-
nipulate at any point during the paint-
ing process.
Have you tried CG painting by

other techniques than Matte-
Painting?
Definitely, it all depends on the project.
I love painting environments more than
anything, but I’ve had the opportunity
to work on children’s book illustration,
wildlife illustration, character design
you name it. Every project carries cer-
tain techniques that are unique to the
illustrations style, but the principles I fol-
low are similar in all my work.

with Interview
Artists
Environments
Your artwork “Canyon Town” is

very interesting and even a little bit
strange. What is the sense of it? Is
there any story behind the process
of artwork creation?
Most of the time with my work I go through
a process which defines the color palette,
the composition, the mood, and other as-
pects of the matte before detailing it. Other
times I experiment, and see how the image
evolves. With “Canyon Town” I did a little bit
of both, but I wanted to have a contrast of
elements. The sky itself is stormy and violent,
but the city is peaceful. You’re not sure if
everything is ok, or the people in the hot air
balloon better haul butt back to land. That I
guess I leave it up to the viewer to decide:)
What are you planning to do in the

near future? What is your target or a
best place to be in CG?
My plans are to continue learning from all
the amazing artists that are out there. I tru-
ly love what I do, and as long as I have a
chance to paint, whether it be digitally or
traditionally, I’m happy. The best place to
be in CG is in a studio where the artist is truly
respected, but so far I’ve had a good expe-
rience being a digital matte painter.
What advice can you give to start-

ing CG painters?
For those starting out in matte painting: “Say
no to photo collages without a good con-
cept to rely on.” Try to better your painting
skills first by whichever means available. Than
use photos to realize the matte. Look at the
work of the countless masters; you can learn
so much by simply observing their paintings.
And always save your work and have back-
ups! I learned that the hard way:)

Your advertise here
contact: sales@3dm3.com
Gallery
Gallery
3D Environments

CG CHOSEN Eugenio Garcia
http://artecnl.carbonmade.com Gallery
Environments
Guanajuato
Description: This is my first work of the year, inspired

by a trip to Guanajuato Mexico, I did this image,
it’s an alley of that Old Mexican Cit. If you can, you
must visit it. It took 5 days to complete it.
Done in: basically worked on it in lightwave 3d and

then did the textures and final composition in pho-
toshop cs with a wacom tablet.

CG CHOSEN Geofrey White
http://www.cgitsu.com Gallery
Environments
Abandoned Cathedral
Description: My inspiration for this piece was the

cathedrals of the middle ages. To give the image
something unusual I made the cathedral dark and
hellish which contrasts to the uplifting feel of most
cathedrals. For a little extra level of detail I added
some vines and dead grass to the for-ground.

CG CHOSEN Jason Godbey
http://www.jg-art.com Gallery
Environments
Siena
Description: “Siena” was inspired by a photograph one of my friends

sent to me. The final image turned out quite differently than the origi-
nal photograph. This is the case for most of my work. Even when I’m
inspired by a specific place I always like to be creative and add my
own touch to the final image. I added more plants and trees to the
scene which really makes it come alive. Most of the plants and trees
are Xfrog models. “The Cage” was made without any specific refer-
ences. It was the first image I made where I tried to consciously put
more meaning into it by adding symbolic meaning to the objects.
The objects represent certain actions of a society that surround an
individual and the reaction of the individual affected. I’m currently
writing an essay to explain this further which I hope to post on my
website soon.
Done in: I used 3ds Max to model and Vray to render in both images.
For the most part the modeling was quite simple.

CG CHOSEN Jason Godbey
http://www.jg-art.com Gallery
Environments
The Cage
Description: The staircase and cages in “The Cage” turned out to be a

little more time consuming though. By far, most of my time was spent
texturing the images. There are a lot of things to texture to begin with,
but I also like to mix a lot of textures together and I usually experiment
a lot before I settle on something I like. For these images I mainly used
dirt maps with the Blend function in 3ds Max to mix my textures. The
lighting was simple. Just a direct light for the sun and one Vray light be-
hind the camera for some ambient light. The actual render itself rarely
turns out to be satisfying as far as the overall lighting is concerned. So,
I usually go into Photoshop and add some contrast, color correction,
and a bloom effect to give it the finishing touches.
Done in: 3D Studio Max, Photoshop.

CG CHOSEN Michel Lanoie
kingpoby@hotmail.com Gallery
Environments
Kingpoby’s Ruins
Description: This is my view of a destroyed world, and I called it Kingpoby’s

ruins. It was done for a 3D school project.
Everything is modeled low-poly because I had to make an environment

that would in theory work in a 3D game.
I used normal map to bake high-resolution objects onto low-resolution ob-

jects. That way I was able to save on polygons. So the final scene counts
265 000 triangles, that makes 135 000 polygons.
Done in: 3ds max, Combustion, Photoshop.

CG CHOSEN Radoslav Zilinsky
http://radoxist.com Gallery
Environments
It Comes a Time of Death
Description: “Countless hords of conquerors are

approaching. It seems that Gaborn will have to of-
fer alliance to Raj Athen, the same man who killed
his father.”
This is from a fantasy book series - Runelords. I like it
very much, so I was insipired by this book.
Done in: 3ds max, Photoshop, VRay.

Environments
Jungle
Description: I wanted to make an complex environment, so the jungle

came to my mind. If you want to see higer resolution, follow this link -
http://www.radoxist.com/download/my_works/stills/jungle_hires.jpg.
It was completly done in 3ds max, rendered in mental ray. The figures are
just for pushing the idea a bit, posed in 3dsmax and redrawn in PS.
Done in: 3ds max, mental ray, Photoshop

Environments
Matte
Description: I wanted to do some matte painting of another future planet

in galaxy far far away I have modeled a terrain and buildings in 3dsmax
as a base models for matte painting, than I exported the terrain into the
Vue 5 infinite a made forest there. All the other things are made in pho-
toshop.
Done in: 3ds max, Photoshop, VRay, Vue.

Gallery
Gallery
2D Environments

CG CHOSEN Christian Hecker
http://www.tigaer-design.com Gallery
Environments
Artificial
Description: This pictures is a personal

milestone for me. It is rather old now. It
showed me what I’m able to do with my
work and imagination. I literally worked
my … off for that picture. Everytime I see
the picture I can’t believe I did it. When
I had this one finished I knew that I’m on
the best way to become a professional in
that area of environment design.
Astounding
Description: This piece was done with

help of a Terragen render. I manipulated
the render and added a lot of elements
to give more life to the scene. The sun-
swirl effect was created with help of an
fractal program called Apophysis. The
matte painting work of Dylan Cole for The
Chronicles Of Riddick were the inspiration
for that.

Environments
Long Way Home
Description: This picture was done for a competi-

tion in an online community. I teamed up with a
fellow photographer. He gave me a photo plate I
could work with and I started to on the painting. I
chose the title because of the work process I had
to go through for the painting. It took me a while
to find a satisfying approach on the painting. As al-
ways I worked out the picture on print size. Lots of
nice details are first visible on a big print size.
Trilith
Description: When I did this picture I haven’t had

done a lot of ‘daylight’ based pieces before. Be-
cause of that I decided to go for a daylight scene.
I also wanted to do a nature only scene again. I
worked a lot with photo material I captured in the
alps to get me some nice feeling of depth. I also
added these otherworldly looking mountain peaks
to give the impression that we are definitely not on
earth here. I personally really like this one.

Environments
Nightshade Vale
Description: This piece actually was planned to

become a fantasy book cover. Unfortunately it did
not. I took the opportunity here to work with brushes
a lot. More or less successful I got the look I some-
how wanted. The path we see in front of the pic
was added very late in the process of making this
picture.

Environments
Path To Heaven
Description: The painting we see here was a com-

mission for a poster. It took me a while to find the
right approach for this one. The theme was ‘some-
thing heavenly’. I did not want to go for the usual
stuff we have in heaven based artworks. Not sure if
I succeeded with my endeavours but I think it defi-
nitely looks special.

CG CHOSEN Dan Blomberg
http://www.danblomberg.com Gallery
Environments
Iron Grip - The Invasion
Description: Promotional illustration for Iron Grip: The Oppression by Isotx

inc.
Done in: Photoshop.

CG CHOSEN Frederic St-Arnaud
http://www.starno.net Gallery
Environments
The Decline of Babel Myth
Description: personnal matte-painting that I did during Christmas holiday.

I took some photos with my digital camera on top of the empire state
building in New York City last summer while I was at SIGGRAPH 2006 Bos-
ton, there is only 4-5 hours of driving between.

CG CHOSEN Gerardo de Gerardo
http://www.degerardo.com Gallery
Environments
Ice Enviroment
Description: It is a combination of 2D/3D but here is

maybe... cca... 70% of painting so I put it here to the
2D section. I used 3ds max, Zbrush for some models,
details, perspective and camera projection. Photo-
shop for the textures, after painting, colour correc-
tion and final matte-painting. I try to use a good old
lava enviroments and colour so all is on this style.
Lava City
Description: I did this my latest work in 3ds max

(models of rosks, ground and noise lava), Zbrush (de-
tails on rocks, ground) and Photoshop for the matte-
painting and painting some details. I hope, that you
like it. But still it is matte-painting

CG CHOSEN Gerardo de Gerardo
http://www.degerardo.com Gallery
Environments
Silent Cementry
Description: Professional work for the movie. Now I

can publish it. Thanx to the Blue Arts Ent. company.
This matte is without posproduction/effects. It is the
final matte and with fog, dynamic lights/shadows is
really cool later I send the link-after the movie will
be 100% finished. I know it is a very similar as Dylan
Cole work, but my client wanted the same colour-
palette and style of cementery. So I did a sketch
and after approval I did this matte.
Forgotten Passage
Description: Dear friends, I have finished my latest

work. Matte-painting. Original size is 4k. I used only
Photoshop for the speed painting, painting, details
and etc.

CG CHOSEN Nathaniel West
http://www.nathanielwest.net/ Gallery
Environments
The Control Room
Description: This image is of an old run down wa-

ter station. I incorporated bits of art nouveau and
french ironwork into the piece to give the heavy
machinery and piping an ornate and whimisical
feel. The machine in the center is a sort of reactor
or core, that counter plays the environment with it’s
more futuristic shape.
The Discovery
Description: This is a depiction of one our hero dis-
covering a key artifact, which has been tampered
with before he had arrived. Notice the overturned
chairs and bullet holes on the wall...someone has
beaten him to an element inside the object on the
right. And for a little extra touch, the painting of the
two men above is meant to look as though they’re
watching the story unfold.

CG CHOSEN Nathaniel West
Environments
Scarcely Sustained by Air and by Dreams
Description: I did this piece for an upcoming film

project in the works. It’s a Chinese inspired temple
where the heroes must go to discover a hidden
treasure that will help them on their quest. I played
with an Art Nouveau style for the entrance, as I think
it’s adds an interesting difference. The green glass
also attracts the eye as a compliment to the red in
the piece.
Sleep, Sleep Cat of the Night
Description: This is a depiction of a futuristic Chinese and Nouveau inspired street...somewhat old and
gritty, and also other-worldly. On the far right is a lone cat...the only life in the piece. Next to it is an old
altar, with an offering of oranges that also compliment the blue tile behind them.

CG CHOSEN Raluca Iosifescu
Environments
Raven Land
Description: After the hate is gone, ravens is all that is left. It was made using
photoshop 7 and a Wacom tablet.

CG CHOSEN Rich Nosworthy
http://www.richnosworthy.com Gallery
Environments
Lost Island
Lost Island - Sketch

CG CHOSEN Valentin Petrov
http://thyn.cgsociety.org Gallery
Environments
Hijo del Aquila
Description: Young warrior is on his “spiritual search-

ing”. While following his way trough the ancient
empire he reaches - La ciudad del dios - The city
of God. I was influentced by “Apocalipto” and the
music of James Horner. Photoshop CS with Wacom
Tablet.
In Dream
Description: Fairy place with many heroes. This is what`s

happening when playing “Heroes” too much :)

CG CHOSEN Valentin Petrov
http://thyn.cgsociety.org Gallery
Environments
Hijo del Aquila
Description: Some realy amazing pictures of Tasma-

nia inspired me. Photoshop CS with Wacom Tablet.

CG CHOSEN Thanks!
characters
Thank You Special Thanks

For supporting our magazine by For providing exclusive materials and
Your outstanding artworks: patience during our collaboration.
This issue exsists because of your kind
Dan Blomberg support:
http://www.danblomberg.com
RasselTassel@hotmail.com
Christian Hecker
Eugenio García Villarreal http://www.tigaer-design.com
http://artecnl.carbonmade.com/ tigaers_claw@tigaer-design.com
artecnl@hotmail.com
Frederic St-Arnaud Joshua Caez
www.starno.net http://joshcaez.cgsociety.org
Geoffrey White joshcaez@gmail.com
www.cgitsu.com
Gwhite206@charter.net Nathaniel West
Gerardo de Gerard http://www.nathanielwest.net/
http://www.degerardo.com nathaniel@nathanielwest.net
gerardo_de@yahoo.co.uk
Jason Godbey Radoslav Zilinsky
http://radoxist.com
http://www.jg-art.com
rado83@gmail.com
jasongodbey07@gmail.com
Phil McDarby
http://www.vyro-games.com/phil/site
philmcdarby@yahoo.com
Raluca Iosifescu
http://www.iramelanox.go.ro/
iramelanox@gmail.com
Rich Nosworthy
http://www.richnosworthy.com
richnosworthy@gmail.com
Sergey Musin
http://www.samfx.com
samfxi@gmail.com
Sorin Delius Bechira
http://www.bechira.sorin.upcnet.ro/
bechira.sorin@gmail.com
Toni Bratincevic
http://www.interstation3d.com
toni@interstation3d.com Sincerely yours,
Valentin Petrov Gleb Kobzar (SpWaR)
http://thyn.cgsociety.org
Sergey Gusiy (Stryker)
69 page CG Chosen magazine | July 2007

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CG CHOSEN | issues 5 | August 2007

CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

INTERVIEWS with digital artists

2D GALLERY page 4 page 9

Chosen Environment Artist

 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

Description: It is a beautiful theme and wanted to give the feeling of a lost

Done in: photoshop, image manipulation and digital painting.

 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

Done in: photoshop, image manipulation and digital painting.

 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

Description: My digital mattepainting in the NHM Challenge on CgTalk

Done in: photoshop, image manipulation and digital painting.

 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

Description: Wanted to give a feeling of freedom in a deserted like land-

 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

Chosen Environment Artist

 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

10 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

11 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

Description: Matte painting from “Tower” series. In this picture be showing

Done in: I used Photoshop. Original size is 5k wide.

12 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

Description: This is my personal matte painting. I had created it for one

Done in: I used Photoshop. Original size 5k wide.

13 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

Description: It’s one of my last matte paintings.. for personal works.

14 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

Chosen Environment Artist

15 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

Description: This image went through a few programs on its way

Done in: ZBrush, Maya, Bryce and Photoshop.

16 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

Description: The first image from a Childhood tryptich. Basically

Done in: Photoshop

17 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

Description: I was trying to capture a sense a won-

Done in: Photoshop, Wacom Tablet and lots of stock

18 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

Description: This is the third of a ‘Childhood’ trilogy.

Done in: Photoshop

19 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

Done in: Maya, Bryce and Photoshop.

20 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

21 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

22 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

Description: Because I am buliding my showreel, I go through all projects

Done in: Modelling/Rendering was done in Maya/Mentalray. Postprocessing

23 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

24 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

Done in: Digital Fusion, Maya, mental ray, Photoshop

25 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

Check it: http://www.2textured.com

The Jungle by Radoslav Zilinsky

27 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

polygon, after I have textured this part,

There you can see also the texture. So what

28 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

from the same PSD file. Sometimes it works

I needed a ROPE texture for this jungle, but I

Just one thing, don`t forget that, when you

On the next picture, there is the same build-

29 page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

which will be possible to split by vertical and

page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007

page CG Chosen magazine | August 2007