DUNE EXCLUSIVE!

FILM CONCEPT ART & INTERVIEWS

15 WAYSTO
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AT SKETCHING FREE!
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PLUS 12 CUSTOM
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THE ART OF

Spice up your vintage sci-fi art using Photoshop

PLUS! Stunning art inspired by the iconic novel

LEARN TO PAINT
DRAMATIC
PORTRAITS THISPACOINTVER
IMAGE!
Harness shadows with
Cynthia Sheppard
ART & ADVICE
STEPHAN MARTINIÈRE'S
Erol Otus ART OF FOUNDATION
PREPARE AN OIL PAINTING
WITH PATRICK J JONES
ILLUSTRATE A D&D-
ISSUE 207 INSPIRED LANDSCAPE

TONY DITERLIZZI'S ART INFLUENCES FEATURING EROL OTUS, MOEBIUS & MORE
 Editor’s letter
Welcome to… EDITOR’S CHOICE Three of my top
picks this month…
32

You can’t avoid our cover art.

Dave Keenan reveals how to
create a vintage fantasy style
painting on page 52 using
Dune as inspiration. The books The art of Dune
and films have caught many From designing the sandworms of Arrakis to the “most
artists’ imaginations, and we expensive costume every made”, it’s movie magic…
meet the pros who love to paint
Arrakis, starting on page 18. 44
Our Dune coverage continues as the design team
behind the new hit movie reveal what it took to
bring Frank Herbert’s book to the big screen.
Being inspired to draw and paint is what spurs us
all on to improve, and it was fantastic to sit down
with famed illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi and discover
the artists that inspired him growing up. It’s all
because Tony was asked to create a new D&D card
in the style of the 1980s, which sent him on a Tony DiTerlizzi’s 1980s inspirations
journey to rediscover the fantasy art that got him From D&D’s Erol Otus to Moebius, the iconic illustrator
drawing. If you grew up on classic D&D art and reveals the artists that inspired him, and why.
modules, turn to page 44 for a trip down memory 60
lane, and then page 72 to learn how Tony created
his new ‘vintage’ D&D art.
Hopefully this issue will inspire you!

Editor
ian.dean@futurenet.com Paint a Dungeons & Dragons-style landscape
Alayna Danner reveals her process for building a
believable world for our fantastic imaginations.

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Contents
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Your art 18 24
10 FXPosé
News and events
18 How Dune shaped a
generation of artists
We learn how the ideas and visuals of the
1984 film have influenced artists.
24 Next-level game art How Dune shaped
Fine artist and gamer Peter Riezebos a generation of artists Next-level game art
combines his passions for a personal project.
32
25 A day in the life of…
Armand Baltazar
This artist is aiming for a better lifestyle.
26 A strong Foundation
How Stephan Martinière helped to define
the look of Apple TV+’s sci-fi series.
28 Artist in Residence
Explore Milivoj Ceran’s studio.
Features
32 The art of Dune
Art director Patrice Vermette on bringing
the iconic book back to the big screen.
40 Sketchbook:
Dariusz Kieliszek
Fantasy’s darker side appeals to this artist.
44 My 1980s inspirations The art of Dune
with Tony DiTerlizzi
The illustrator tells us about his favourite 26 28
80s artists and their influence on him.
Regulars
3 Editor’s letter
6 Resources
7 Next month
8 Print subscriptions
30 Recent editions
31 Letters Artist in Residence:
50 Digital subscriptions A strong Foundation Milivoj Ceran
81 Reviews

4
 Issue 207
40 60 Workshops
52 Create vintage sci-fi art
David Keenan concepts and paints a scene
based on the sci-fi epic Dune.
58 Painter’s Oil brushes
Isis Sousa shares her Oils workflow tips
in Corel Painter 2022.
60 Paint unique environments
Sketchbook: Dariusz Kieliszek Unique environments Alayna Danner creates an epic and
engaging fantasy landscape.
52 66 Find clarity In digital sketches
Discover how to draw loose yet dynamic
drawings, with illustrator Erik Ly.
72 Draw and paint D&D card art
Tony DiTerlizzi reimagines a classic D&D
monster for Magic: the Gathering.
74 Use shadows in your portraits
Build drama in a realistic fantasy portrait,
with the help of Cynthia Sheppard.
92

Vintage sci-fi art

66 72 Prepare your oil painting

Traditional Artist
88 Traditional FXPosé
Discover this month’s selection of the
D&D card art finest traditional art, sent in by you!
74 92 Workshop: Paint a portrait
– Part 1: Prepare
In the first part of a new series Patrick J
Jones takes you into his studio to create an
oil painting, from concept to final art.
98 First Impressions:
Zhuk
Digital sketches Shadows in your portraits Human emotions are explored
in these large canvases…

5
 Resources
Editorial
Editor Ian Dean
ian.dean@futurenet.com
Art Editor Daniel Vincent
Operations Editor Cliff Hope
Contributors

Getting hold of this issue’s resources is easy.

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How to produce better sketches

In his workshop video Erik Ly shows how he considers colour, brush choice, focal points and
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THE PLACE TO SHARE YOUR DIGITAL ART

Jessica Fong
LOCATION: US MEDIA: Photoshop, Clip Studio Paint WEB: jessicafong.mystrikingly.com
Jessica is an illustrator and co-founder of Lonely Egg
Studio. She paints surreal subjects that lurk in our
dreams, and flows between independent, collaborative
and freelance ventures.
1

1 PORCELAIN SNAKE
“‘It slithered, writhed and twisted…
and it was beautiful.’ An exploration in
the idea of the terribly sublime”.

2 COMMUNION
“‘Something vicious this way
comes…’ A spirit caught between the
mortal world. Inspired by the Chinese
tale The Wolf of Zhongshan.”

3 ECHEVERIA
“A character from my Tea &
Succulent series, influenced by the
plants growing over rusted debris.”

4 PACT OF THE SEA

“‘Do you hear the hungry
rumbles of the sea?’ An Eldritch
scene of a mermaid inspecting an
ominous pollutant.”

10 Want to submit your work? Visit ifxm.ag/getinifx

 2

3 4

11
 Scotty Poquerusse
LOCATION: France MEDIA: Photoshop, Procreate, Blender WEB: artstation.com/scottypqrs
“I started to take art seriously in 2015 after I had serious health issues,”
says Scotty. “Drawing and painting is what I love the most in life, and
I always want to discover more.”

1 ANGRY BIRD
“A study to learn more about painting
flesh tones and facial expressions. I like the
3
oppressive framing. The model is ermakana
on Instagram.”

2 DISCO DESIGN
“This character is inspired by Disco
Elysium, a game made by ZA/UM Studio.”

3 COFFEE
“This is a texture
experiment. I tried to be
cartoony, but with a realistic
lighting and colour palette at
the same time.”

4 SPIDER-MAN
“This is a fan art of
Spider-Man. I learned a lot
about texture brushes and
brush economy on this one.”

12 Want to submit your work? Visit ifxm.ag/getinifx

 Jeannette Arroyo
LOCATION: US MEDIA: Procreate WEB: jeannette-arroyo.com
Jeannette’s work varies from character design for animations, illustration
for books and book covers, to graphic novels. She’s always been
influenced by the genre of horror and the supernatural.
1

2 3

1 SHOWGIRLS
“Art for a personal
graphic novel project,
featuring ghosts and
spiritualism in the 1920s.”
2 DINER
“In this painting I
wanted to try and capture
the spooky atmosphere of
a lonely, small-town diner.”
3 STOREFRONT
“An experimental
exploration in light, colour
and saturation for a setting
that’s otherwise average.”

Want to submit your work? Visit ifxm.ag/getinifx 13

 Reza Afshar
LOCATION: Iran MEDIA: Photoshop, Procreate WEB: artstation.com/rezaafshar
Inspired by video games like Prince of Persia and films such as The Lord of
the Rings, Reza has been working as an artist for eight years. Despite leaning
towards science fiction lately, he aims to make his work believable.
1 2

1 DISCOVERY
“An illustration for a
personal series called
Discovery, which is about a
group of astronauts looking
to find alien civilizations.”

2 MAN, BULL, TOWER

“The idea for this came
from an old brick kiln in my
hometown of Hamedan. The
man and the cow are from
ancient cave paintings.”

3 FATHER AND SON

“An illustration from
my steampunk sci-fi series.
I wanted to show a father
and son’s journey to a
futuristic city.”

14 Want to submit your work? Visit ifxm.ag/getinifx

 3

Want to submit your work? Visit ifxm.ag/getinifx 15

 Ashley Mackenzie
LOCATION: Canada MEDIA: Procreate, Photoshop WEB: ashmackenzie.com
Ashley is a freelance artist who primarily works as an editorial and publishing
illustrator. Her clients include Scientific American and The New York Times.
She loves using light and shape to create dynamic compositions.

1 IRON WIDOW
“A wraparound cover
illustration for Iron Widow
1
by Xiran Jay Zhao. I focused
a lot on a dynamic flow that
could carry throughout
the composition.”

adanaC esuoH modnaR niugneP ©

2 CHOCOBO
“A personal piece about
a very brave chocobo from
the Final Fantasy games that
is defending its fallen rider.”

2 3

3 QUANTUM COLLAPSE
“An editorial piece for New Science Magazine about
clouds of quantum possibility. I used various wings to explore
potentiality within the form of a bird.”

16 Want to submit your work? Visit ifxm.ag/getinifx

 Danyon Stephen Street
LOCATION: Australia MEDIA: Photoshop, Sketchbook WEB: artstation.com/baronomega
Danyon is a freelance artist who works for small film companies, game
companies, and as a book illustrator. “I specialise within the realm of
steampunk and fantasy, and aim to sell my art internationally.”

1 WHALE OF GOD
“I’ve always thought that
whales were extremely
1
mystifying and god-like. Here
I imagined them being
powerful enough to fly and
soar through the skies.”

2 HUNTER HUNTED
“I’ve always wanted to
paint my favourite dinosaur,
the Spinosaurus. By creating
this I was also able to add lots
of machinery I love.”

3 FAMILY THROUGH TIME

“These mammoths were
inspired by my favourite
prehistoric animal, the woolly
mammoth. I wanted to make
it show the surreal beauty of
these creatures.”

2 3

Do you want to see your art on these pages? Then email five pieces of your work and a short explanation
about each artwork, along with a photo and a few details about yourself, to fxpose@imaginefx.com

Want to submit your work? Visit ifxm.ag/getinifx 17

ARTIST NEWS, SOFTWARE EVENTS

AT THE CORE OF THE DIGITAL ART COMMUNITY

“In this scene, I wanted the sense of
the characters walking on the brink
of a massive sandstorm,” says
Henrik Sahlström.

18
 PAINTING SETTING DRAW YOUR
TIME FLIES
Discover the lifestyle
THE SCENE
Concept artist Stephan
SWORD
We visit Milivoj Ceran’s
changes that Armand Martinière tells us what studio and marvel
Baltazar has made, it was like to work on over his collection of
which enable him to get Apple TV’s adaptation medieval-themed arms
the most from his day of Issac Asimov’s sci-fi and armour, which he
without working book Foundation, once uses for themed events
through the night. deemed ‘unfilmable’. as well as for reference.
Page 25 Page 26 Page 28

“Here, I wanted to convey that

you were with the Fremen, but
not directly inside the action,”
says Gary Jamroz.

How Dune shaped a

generation of artists
World beating Artists tell Tom May how the intoxicating ideas of the
1965 book and the visionary 1984 film have influenced their art
Back in 1984, a sci-fi movie called
Dune, based on a 1965 novel by
Frank Herbert, was released… to
muted response. It did poorly at the
box office, was damned by critics,
and director David Lynch disowned
it, after being forced into making
savage cuts to shorten it.
And yet 37 years on, as a major
reboot hits the multiplexes, Lynch’s
ambitious creation has been widely
reappraised. You’ll find die-hard fans
everywhere, and many artists see it as
a big influence on their careers.
Alongside the original book, which
offers just enough detail to inspire but
not enough to swamp the imagination.
“Dune has influenced my art, and
the art of many artists,” says Gary
Jamroz, a freelance senior concept “I grew up in a house full of books; around 20,000
artist with Gunzilla Games. “Its of them were sci-fi,” says Simon Goinard.
intricate world building
make it easy to get lost in. have royalty, mysticism, medieval
You have advanced tech. references too.”
You have space. You have
legends and myth. You DESERT POWER
Its most iconic images centre around
desert landscapes, which helped lure
in freelance concept artist
Simon Goinard. “My mind
works with geometry, and
it’s easier to visualise
geometry when you paint
deserts and angular shapes,” he
explains. “This may be why I like Dune
so much.”
“I discovered all the But there’s more to Dune than sand.
classics when I was
12-ish: AE van Vogt,
“The costume design is what really
Isaac Asimov, Arthur C opened my eyes, not only to a
Clarke, Philip K Dick
and Frank Herbert,” possible career opportunity in
says Simon. concept art, but also to the idea of

19
 ImagineNationNews

“After watching Dune, I

changed the focus of my
art and started creating
“I was told to read Dune by my my own worlds, creatures,
godmother Shelley, who was a huge characters,” says Bruno
sci-fi fan,” says Devon Cady-Lee. Gauthier Leblanc.

functional design,” recalls Bruno

Gauthier Leblanc, an art
director at Eidos Montreal.
“The design of the
Freman stillsuit [a full
body suit worn in the
open desert] is a perfect example of
function blending seamlessly with
aesthetics. Every piece of the design
has a purpose; it can be mechanical,
cultural or even personal to the
character, but nothing is done without
a reason. This design philosophy has “Wow, this is really old now!” says
influenced my entire career as a Jordan Lamarre-Wan. of his 2009
concept artist, and what I try to instil artwork. “The idea was to convey the
enormous scale of the worms charging.”
in my team as an art director.”
Then there were those giant
sandworms. “Back then, movies knew The design of the Freman stillsuit is a
how to build tension, without showing
the full creature right away,” enthuses perfect example of function blending
Jordan Lamarre-Wan,
lead concept artist on Star
Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
seamlessly with aesthetics
“In Dune, the sheer size of impactful; it really helped to create a example of what great work can be
the sandworm was so ‘David vs Goliath’ underdog achieved within the boundaries of
relationship. In the same way [in Star creative limitations and film
Wars], the endless Star Destroyer intro production budgets.”
helps to emphasise the size of the Some artists first came to Dune
emperor’s power, and therefore the through other routes than the movie,
protagonist’s challenge.” such as the video games
or the Marvel Comics. For
PRACTICAL APPEAL
“Dune is one of many movies that’s
Devon Cady-Lee, visual
development artist at
left an influence on my art, by Warner Bros.
developing a love for older sci-fi and Entertainment, it was the original
an appreciation for practical sets over books. “This was the first time I found
CG,” Jordan adds. “Dune [1984] has a sci-fi universe with the same depth
“I read the first book in French, and consequently missed the writing style and plenty of great practical sets, props and breadth of the fantasy novels I’d
overall mood,” says Simon of Frank Herbert’s 1965 book. and costumes, and it’s an inspiring been reading,” he recalls. “The way

20
 Artist news, software & events
“Dune has so many strange
concepts it’s hard not to try and
visualise them,” says Devon.
“When I first saw Dune, I was
taken by the exotic other-
worldly nature of the universe,”
says Jordan, describing his
artwork from 2009.
The concept artist on how he
made Dune fan art
Why do you think Dune –
the film and the book –
resonates with artists?
It’s full of themes everyone
likes: there’s always something
in Dune that will resonate with
you at some point. And let’s be
honest: the reason we see so
much concept art based around
‘ancient ruins in desert with
spaceship above’ is basically
because of Dune!
What motivated you to
create Dune-influenced
art of your own?
After re-reading the book and
watching the film for the fourth
time, I started to see a lot of fan
art on the web. Most of this was
sandworms, but not really a
landscape setting with a story.
That prompted me to think:
“How do you make an infinite
view of sand interesting?” So that
was a good challenge.
How did you approach
your project?
I wanted to show this through the
eyes of the Fremen [a group of
humans who consider the planet
of Dune their home]. What it was
to be on the ground; to be
sometimes a simple spectator of
the battle between the planet
(represented by the sandworms)
versus the invaders. And all of this
without giving any focus on a
specified character.
I wanted to show the action, or
maybe the lack of action; the fact
that you’re so far from it and yet
it’s a part of your life. That was my
goal. I tried to stay true to the
book and film, but also not to
make a word-for-word copy. I
believe that homage,
interpretation, fan art, and so on
should be your own personal
vision of the universe created by
someone else.
As well as freelancing for
Gunzilla Games, Gary’s
clients include Wizards of
the Coast and Netflix.
artstation.com/gary
21
 ImagineNationNews
“For the Harkonnen, I looked at Middle Eastern
wardrobes,” says Bruno.
they touch on politics, religion and
culture struck a real chord.”
They proved key to developing
himself as an artist. “Making artwork
based on Dune taught me how to
interpret source material,” Devon says.
“In some ways, the books offered a
huge amount of information, and in
other aspects very little. So I learned
how to adapt book descriptions into
designs, as well as taking liberties with
the material and making inferences.”
INTERNAL ART LIBRARY
Maria Trepalina, a freelance concept
artist working in the games industry,
also discovered Dune through the
novels. “It greatly enriched my
‘internal art library’ that
helps you come up with
complex, thoughtful
images,” she recalls.
“Later I watched the
movie, and was amazed by the
combination of sci-fi and fantasy, and
unusual costume designs. I was
hooked by the elements of mentality,
22
“Usually I draw fan art
because of a desire to express
an emotion or impression,”
says Maria Trepalina.
aesthetics, and designs from the
Middle East, Japan, and China.
“These elements are organically
woven into the design of the
costumes, the environment, and
the traditions shown in the book
and film. Dune shows how the
concept of development can be
applied as an example for creating
designs for other civilisations, and
teaches us to create something new
based on existing ones.”
Making artwork based
on Dune taught me how to
interpret source material
Even if you’ve never seen Dune,
you’ve probably been influenced by it
indirectly, because it shaped so many
other films. “Take Tremors, a movie
that more helped shape my love of
drawing monsters,” says
Henrik Sahlström, a
senior concept artist at
Ubisoft. “The whole
sandworm thing is
blatantly pulled from Dune. Plus, how
much did Sting appearing in Dune
influence or inspire Hellblazer/John
Constantine popping up in DC
Vertigo´s Swamp Thing in 1985?”
All of these artists have been driven
at some point to create their own
Another of Jordan’s Dune-inspired art. “I started
artworks from 2009:
“Dune contributed to
illustrating Dune as a pitch vis test
my love for stories with around 2014, because the IP was a bit
far-away lands and
imagined cultures,” under-represented at the time, and I
he says. thought it deserved more than that,”
 Artist news, software & events
“This is one of the large
colonies carved under
mountains and protected
from the many plagues of
Arrakis,” says Simon.

“Fan art allows you to share

your vision of what you read or
watch with others in the art
community,” says Maria.

“When I first read Dune in 2006,

there was very little fan art based
on the book,” says Devon.

says Simon. “It was also pretty clear “After David Lynch’s film was
broadcasted in France, I fell in love
that most of the art circulating around with the Dune universe,” says Simon.
the internet was based on the film’s
aesthetic, and not representative of
the books’ mood and poetry.”
“My main idea for those small
pictures was to bring back this
particular feeling that rise from
Herbert’s descriptions,” he adds. “The
struggle for life. The bone-crushing
desert wind. The strong female
warriors. The blue and the red.”
For anyone inspired to create their
own Dune art, Gary offers this advice.
“If you want to portray people living in
the desert correctly, you have to take
references of what we have already
have. Study it, understand it, be
curious about it. This will save you in “I wanted to practise painting
the long run. Knowing what you are techniques by my favourite orientalist
designing and why you took those artists, and Dune provided images to
practise with,” says Devon.
choices will make all the difference.”

23
 ImagineNation News
Game art goes to
the Next Next Level
Game on Acclaimed Dutch fine artist and video
gamer Peter Riezebos combines his life-long
passions for a personal project that could be costly…
Artist Peter Riezebos is
doing the unthinkable.
He’s spending a year
unboxing 100 new and
sealed video games from
the 1980s and 1990s. Some are
worth thousands, but the moment he
breaks the seal in the name of art
their value crashes.
But it’s not about the money. Out of
the mayhem will come an art book, a
documentary and new paintings that
explore Peter’s love of video games,
the concept of nostalgia, and how the
design of games has affected his style.
All this falls under the header of the
Next Next Level project.
Peter is an established fine artist
whose work is influenced by Neo-
expressionism traditions, and by his
art heroes Basquiat, Picasso, De
Kooning and Appel. He approaches
his paintings from many angles: he
projects on to the canvas, painting
with “free expressionism and ad hoc
decision making”, but also considers
the layers and how he intends to build
the paint. “You don’t want to have a
24
painting that’s boring to look at. There
has to be some kind of stimulation,
some kind of emotional arousal.”
LEVEL UP
Peter has already created 35 paintings
with more planned, and has a museum
show scheduled for next year in China.
He tells us that painting from
imagination is crucial: “I can look at
the box art from Mario 3, but then I
need to visualise it on canvas and start
painting it. […] That’s a way for me to
foster a certain level of creativity.”
Looking at his Mario painting reveals
the examination of nostalgia the artist
aims for; the background is a scanned
essay the 10-year-old painter wrote
explaining how he wants to be an
artist. “I partially painted Mario on top
of it, similar to what I was doing when I
was in primary school,” he says.
There has to be some kind
of stimulation, some kind of
emotional arousal
The Next Next Level
project is being films for a
documentary and art
installation. Peter will be
exploring the emotion of
nostalgia in his new art.
Peter Riezebos is Peter associates his style with the
exploring the idea bold colours and graphical approach
of nostalgia and the
influence of video
games in his art. Here
of older video games as much as the
interpreting Mario Expressionistic waves of the 1980s, in
combined with a
childhood essay. Germany and New York. “Those were
very primal kinds of expressions the
painter is trying to portray, and I think
there’s a similarity towards video
games, definitely, because in the
beginning you were so limited to what
you could do graphically. So it really
needed to be very primal.”
Peter is half-way through the Next
Next Level, and in 2022 he’ll be
designing characters for a PS5 game.
See more of Peter Riezeboz’s art at
peterriezebos.com and track the Next Next
Level project on Instagram: @peterriezebos.

A day in the life of…
Armand Baltazar
Changing ways This veteran animation artist-turned-
illustrator and writer is busy improving his lifestyle…
“I wake up at six o’clock in the
morning. On many occasions I’ll have
woken up with an idea and gone
pretty much right to the computer
– still in my pyjamas – to paint or
write down the idea before it’s gone.
However, on other days I have
breakfast with my wife and 17-year-
old son, and then get to the computer
at 6:45am. I take my first break at
11:30am and go back to clean up the
kitchen and house, before taking a
short walk and making myself lunch.
After lunch, around 12:30pm, I get
back to work and take another break
around 2:45pm, where I go and work
out at my home gym. Usually, I do
weight-lifting and calisthenics. For
years it was very easy for me to
hunker down at my desk and
compulsively not move or eat, just
paint. But that’s a very sedentary life
and it was having a large impact on
my physical and mental health.
After contracting COVID, I decided
to change my life and I’m currently
In partnership with
Diego, the lead character in
Armand’s book, escapes
from a herd of allosauruses.
down by over 100 pounds. My good A futuristic airship explores
friend and editor Ben Rosenthal an Earth where time has
shared the quote: “Hope is a been restructured, in
Armand’s book Timeless.
discipline,” by Mariame Kaba. I think
of those words daily and strive to live
by them as we move forward.
My next break is around five
o’clock, when I pick up my son from
whatever extracurricular he’s working
on, then I come back and try to get as Concept Art
much done by 7pm as possible. Association is an
Until my lifestyle change six months organisation
committed to
ago, I would go back to work all night, elevating and
but now I spend the rest of the night raising the profile
with my family unless I’m under a of concept artists,
their art and their
major deadline.” involvement in the
Armand is a Filipino artist entertainment
industries. Its
from Chicago who’s been annual Concept
living in California since Art Awards Show
attending ArtCenter College showcases and
recognises
of Design. Before leaving to develop behind-the-scenes
Timeless, his own IP, he worked at Disney, individuals
DreamWorks and Pixar on projects like The working in
entertainment
Prince of Egypt, The Princess and the Frog, concept art.
and Brave. You can see more of Armand’s The cover of Armand’s illustrated children’s book,
conceptart
association.com.
work at timelessarmandbaltazar.com. Timeless: Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic.
25
 ImagineNation News
Stephan Martinière’s rule to succeed in
concept art? “Be a team player. Keeping in
touch with your peers, the production
designer or director after the project is over.”
Creating a strong Foundation
Sci-fantastic Acclaimed illustrator and concept artist Stephan Martinière shares
how he helped to create the iconic sets and spaceships of Apple TV+’s Foundation
Following in the wake of
Dune, Isaac Asimov’s
Foundation is the other
unfilmable book
entertaining audiences
this month. Created for Apple TV+,
renowned concept artist Stephan
Martinière reveals what it took to
bring this million dollar space opera
to the small screen.
Each project, he tells us, begins with
a “conversation” with the directors
and production designer. Stephan
sees his role as facilitating that
concept. “[The] directors and
+VT elppA© segami llA
26
production designer know my work
and are always looking for what I can
bring to complement the vision and
offer unique or compelling ideas. It’s
also about offering concepts that can
trigger new narrative possibilities.”
It’s no secret Foundation has
inspired most sci-fi films and TV,
including Star Wars. Set against this,
and the dearth of sci-fi films being
made, Stephan says, “creating a
Stephan reveals that,
unique visual signature becomes
“I usually build 60 to 80 harder”. Yet for Foundation he looked
per cent in 3D and
finish the concepts to the broader historical and cultural
in Photoshop.” references made in the novels.
One such influence “was to give the
Anacreons a unique tribal look loosely
based on the Polynesian designs”.
Another design influence stemmed
from Apple, which proposed using the
brand’s sleek design, “and try to carry
it in some of the ship looks”.
Elsewhere for the design of the
Trantor Palace, Stephan opted to riff
on modern concrete architecture,
“with a monolithic and geometric
design, characteristics of Brutalism
were some of the main architectural
influences for the palace,” he reveals,
adding: “It was an interesting choice
that felt appropriate and
representative of the empire rigidity.”
SPACE THINGS UP
The choices Stephan makes stem from
a desire to enhance the story; good
concept art, he tells us, comes from a
desire to build narrative. “Take the
Anacreon ship for example,” he says.
“The early concepts were very
aggressive and sleek in their design.
They were cool, but too modern and
didn’t fit the narrative of an ancient,
feudal and warlike society.

Stephan used 3D tools to help visualise
the more intricate designs that feature in
the Foundation universe, like this space
station orbiting the planet Synnax.
Incorporating tribal designs into their
technology helped give the Anacreons
a unique visual signature but also
established the right narrative.
Using tribal design also helped the
artist define the ship’s shape. He says:
“It became clear that using a simpler
and less sophisticated look would
work better, like the front part of the
ship looking like two wooden shields.”
Being up to speed on science and
cultural trends helps create better
It’s about offering concepts
that can trigger new narrative
possibilities…
concept art, says Stephan. “As an
environment artist I need to know
what the trends are in architecture
and technology. As a costume
designer I need to follow what the
fashion industry is doing. As a weapon
or vehicle designer I also need to
know what the newest design trends
or new thinking are. It’s not so much
about believable design [but] more
about using the trends as a
springboard to create unique and
compelling concepts.”
Artist news, software & events
It’s about using trends
as a springboard to
create unique and
compelling concepts,
reveals Stephan.
Creating the crossbow:
“I had to think of a
design that could be
functional if the weapon
was going to be a hand
held practical prop.”
It’s also led to Stephan adopting a
3D approach for “certain designs [that
are] complex or need to be very
precise, like ship design and weapons
or the palace interior”. Stephan says
he used 3D tools for up to 80 per cent
of the work on Foundation, and
finished the visuals in Photoshop. But
that’s what it takes to make the
unfilmable, filmable.
Foundation is streaming now on Apple TV+,
and you can find more of Stephan
Martinière’s work at martiniere.com.
Stephan Martinière on what it
takes to work in the film industry
What makes a good concept?
A good concept can do many
things depending on what that
concept is. The requirements for
an environment might be very
different from a vehicle or a
costume. As a concept artist I try
first to understand the narrative
intent of the concept; what it
needs to convey.
Do you approach a weapon
vehicle, or environment
concept in different ways?
Each concept needs to convey
different things or solve specific
problems, but there’s always a
narrative behind them. An
environment tends to require
more thinking. There is the
composition, the mood,
lighting and the design.
Sometimes there are multiple
narratives in one single shot,
which make it more
challenging. A ship is more
direct but still needs to have all
the proper elements to feel right
and fit the story.
What are the fundamentals
of being a concept artist?
For any aspiring concept artists
it’s important to understand
that concept art is not just about
doing cool art. It’s a demanding
job that requires solid art
foundation and skills to solve
visual problems or offer
solutions. It’s also doing a lot of
research to stay relevant and
come up with unique and
compelling ideas, and to
understand that many of these
ideas will not be used. It’s not
about the most beautiful art
piece, but more about efficient
ways to convey an idea quickly
with rough sketches, photo bash
and quick 3D.
Stephan is a concept artist
who’s worked on the Star Wars
prequels, Guardians of the
Galaxy and Ready Player One.
martiniere.com
27
 ImagineNation Artist in Residence
Milivoj Ceran
Might and magic Ongoing work projects and inspiration from
fantasy and sci-fi exist in balance in this Croatian artist’s studio
My studio is located in
my home. I love to
work in the space
that’s connected to
my family life.
Over the years I’ve collected all
kinds of items that I rely on to create
my art: books, armour, medieval
weapons, skulls, stuffed birds,
collectible toys and statues. Of course,
there are plenty of brushes, paints,
pencils and other tools here, too.
To create my art it’s important for
me to feel like I’m part of some other
28
I’ve been to many medieval tournaments,
and this gauntlet saved my fingers – and my
art career – when I was hit with a sword.
world. I’m inspired by my studio’s
items and collectibles that are far
away from everyday life, and because
of this my library is precious to me.
There are books on Vikings, medieval
arms and armour, ornaments, and
notebooks covering anatomy,
perspective, horses, science fiction,
D&D, historical painters and Old
Masters. There are also a lot of art
books from my heroes like John
Howe, Alan Lee, Frank Frazetta, Brom
and Esad Ribic.´ Everything I need is
here when I need to create new art.
Statues of the Alien
Queen and Alien
Internecivus Raptus.
I emptied two book
shelves to display
them properly!
Working on the Magic: The
Gathering piece Magus of the
Moon. I’m painting details in
acrylic – the final touches
are always fun to do!
The biggest thing to learn was how
to sync my work and family life, so my
kids know that this is where I work.
For children that’s a strange concept,
because usually people go to that
mysterious ‘work’, and return home in
the evening. My wife Marina helps me
with things that aren’t so creative, but
still a part of my business, like packing
original art and prints, writing invoices
and other administrative tasks.
SPLIT WORKING DAY
I complete most of my working hours
during the first part of day (until the
kids get back from school and
I’m inspired by my studio’s
items and collectibles that are
far away from everyday life
 Artist news, software & events
I’ve been a huge fan of The Terminator since I Reproductions of Russian Old This 1:1 scale skull was a gift from my wife Marina I often forget about the nice ideas that pop up
was a kid, so having this on my desk is fantastic! Masters paintings that inspire me for my 40th birthday. I often draw skulls, so in my mind, so putting them in front of me is a
And it also keeps me motivated to work. to paint more epic stuff. having the perfect model is crucial. good way to paint them someday.

I’ve been involved in medieval

re-enactment for 10 years. And for the past
five years I’ve been vice-president of the
Red Srebrnog Zmaja medieval association
Here’s a cupcake mould and cheap (we also make Lord of the Rings projects),
birthday party plates made of cardboard. so I commissioned a blacksmith to forge a
I spray the cupcake moulds in white, so Uruk-hai armour breastplate for me. I wore
I can control the values of diluted colours. it at the premiere of The Hobbit in Zagreb.

kindergarten), but I often work after

they go to sleep. That part of the
evening/night is very peaceful.
When we moved to our new home
back in 2016, my son Jan was three-
and-a-half years old, and my daughter
Leda was eight months old. We were
in the kitchen, and suddenly Marina
asked: “Where is Jan?” (it was too
quiet). I had left my studio room doors
open, and he was happily doodling
something on my newest Magic: The
Gathering art!
Luckily, it was face down. But I left
his doodles on the back of the art, so
when I sold the piece, it was actually
two originals in one!
Milivoj is the illustrator and author of the
Norse Mythology art book. His clients
include Wizards of the Coast, Blizzard
Sideshow Collectibles and Paizo. Discover A bookcase of art books that I’ve
collected over the years (including my
his art at mceran-art.com. own project Norse Mythology art book).

29
 Complete yourcollection!

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Issue 206 Issue 205 Issue 204 Issue 203

December 2021
Cover artist Christophe Young,
November 2021
Joshua Swaby brings Harley
October
Create spontaneous art with
Lauren Brown and Rafael Quinn to life on the cover! Inside
Sarmento bring you insights on there’s Adi Granov’s life lessons,
original character design. We also Terry Dobson’s tutorial on comic
talk to Spider-Verse artist Patrick covers, David Najayama revamps
O’Keefe, concept artist Karla Zorro and Igor Wolski draws in
Ortiz and illustrator Iris Compiet. the ligne claire comic style.
2021
cover artist Ayran Oberto. Plus,
master painter JS Rossbach
shares his advice for perfecting
portraits, learn to paint vintage
fantasy art from 3D scans and
master fish-eye perspective.
September 2021
French artist Moon’s bold cover
art kicks off our illustration issue,
which features workshops on
how to control detail, paint with
shapes and bright colours, and
speed modelling. We also
examine the NFT phenomenon.

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30
 Letters

New works that have

YOUR FEEDBACK & OPINIONS grabbed our attention
Contact the edit an Dea n
mail@imaginefx.com or write to
ImagineFX, Future Publishing, Christophe Young’s cover caused a stir, but ImagineFX
Quay House, The Ambury, has always offered diverse cover themes and artists.
Bath, BA1 1UA, England rung of a high ladder, and digital artists are
Follow us on Twitter: primed to lead the way with usage. If NFT
twitter.com/imaginefx and future cryptocurrencies can help the
Find us on Facebook: planet and our wallets and copyrights, things
facebook.com/imaginefx are looking up.
Share your artwork via #imaginefx:
instagram.com/imaginefxmagazine Cover grrrrl
Nothing says “I’m ready for an
NFT rebuttle apocalypse” like a woman who has
After reading the ImagineFX Letters literally everything she’ll need to
page, I have to agree with some of the survive, but can’t be bothered to wear a Albeniz Rodriguez
opinion expressed: there is really a lot bra (can’t cover the side-boob) or any @albeniz_rodriguez
of misinformation about NFTs and sort of protective clothing. A male
cryptocurrencies in general. equivalent would be in full clothing and
Regarding carbon neutrality and likely a duster to top it off. This is straight
kindness to the planet, WAX (wax.io) is out of poorly drawn women from the
way ahead of the game. It was created by DID YOU MISS 90s comic scene and I am not here for it.
William Quigley, the co-creator ofTether THE PREVIOUS Jennifer Gorman, via Facebook
(the fourth largest cryptocurrency).
WAX was specially created for NFTs. It PACKED Don’t worry –
ISSUE? Ian replies Hi Jennifer, we think you’re
is the greenest cryptocurrency on you can get hold being very hard on Christophe Young here. I
the planet, being carbon neutral. of issue 206 love our cover illustration for issue 206, and
WAX outperforms the NFT-bloated at ifxm.ag/ picking up on the workflow of a seasoned
Ethereum, the No.2 cryptocurrency, in single-ifx. professional like Christophe shouldn’t be
all measurable metrics. WAX comes missed. We treat every cover as a curated
from a branch of cryptocurrencies piece of art, and each has the chance to
labelled as the “Ethereum killers”. represent a different and diverse array of Vashti Harrison
@Stainmore Steel, via email artists and styles – pin-up, comic, animation, @vashtiharrison
manga, illustrative and more. Looking inside
Ian replies Hi Stainmore, thanks for issue 206 you would have discovered training
writing in. As you say, there’s a lot of fog from Lauren Brown, Rafael Sarmento and
around NFTs at the moment. However, some other diverse talents.
of the talk is correct. As you rightly say there Reader Stainmore Steel
is a big fan of alt-coin
are issues with Ethereum while the new range WAX, and believes it Lady killer
of alt-coins coming on stream boast carbon- could deliver
carbon-neutral NFTs in Love Christophe Young’s cover illo from
neutral credentials. It seems we’re on the first years to come. 206! The sense of movement in the pose
gets me motivated to improve my art. I
found the workshop useful too, if
daunting. Time to start improving!
Marie Tapler, via email
Ian replies Hi Marie, the cover art caused
a stir! I enjoy all art and representations, it’s
one of ImagineFX’s strengths. And don’t fear,
we all improve little by little.
Greg Staples
Cover star @gregstaplesart
Greatillo.
Garrick Webster via Facebook If you’ve created art that you want us to
shout about simply tag us on Twitter or
Instagram, and use the hashtag #imaginefx
Ian replies I think you’re biased, Garrick.

31
Feature
DUNE Art director Patrice Vermette
shares what it took to bring
Frank Herbert’s iconic book
back to the to big screen
he spectre of the
infamous Dune
movie that never
was hangs over any
production based
on Frank Herbert’s
iconic novels, but for all the genius of
Alejandro Jodorowsky, Mobius and
even David Lynch, there’s always room
to create something new.
“It was important to have a fresh
look,” says Dune’s production designer
and art director Patrice
Vermette, who says he
rewatched the Lynch
movie and re-read the
books, with a clear idea
32
this iteration would be different. A
timeless, realistic and bold
interpretation, Dune aims to draw on
Frank Herbert’s desire to take us to
places we’ve never been, a universe that
blends science fiction, fantasy, myth
and historical influences.
The other creative elephant in the
room was Star Wars, and nearly every
other sci-fi movie that came after it.
The first Dune book was released in
1965, and set the tone for many space
operas to come. It was crucial for
Patrick that this version steered clear of
resembling a galaxy far, far away. Dune
is a creative chicken and egg, and a
unique puzzle to piece together.
 DUNE
FILTERING INFLUENCES
The Dune concept art team took
inspiration from whales for the
massive sandworms of Arrakis.

SIZE MATTERS
Patrice Vermette designed the city of
Arrakeen and the film’s sets to feel
stark, harsh, hard and overbearing.

DETAILED WORLD-BUILDING
Patrice created a sketchbook of
illustrations and mood boards; this
eventually included pictures of every
set, prop and costume for all
departments to reference.
.devreser sthgir llA .cnI tnemniatretnE .sorB renraW 1202 © segami llA

33
Feature
CALADAN
Patrice designed
the colour palette of
Caladan to be primarily
hazy autumnal greens,
greys and blues, giving
the impression of
constant rain.
HARKONNEN
PROBE SHIP
Each house has its own
unique ship design –
the Harkonnen’s are
insect-like in look.
“It was important for us to have a
fresh visual approach,” says Patrice,
who reveals he’d shown concept art to
his son and asked if it reminded him of
Star Wars or a video game. “We knew
we’d be compared to Star Wars because
Frank Herbert’s books influenced Star
Wars in so many ways, and Star Wars
was an influence on me,” he says.
WORLD BUILDING
Setting this movie apart from anything
that had gone before meant studying
the book and eking out the “clues and
We knew we’d be compared to Star
Wars because Frank Herbert’s books
influenced Star Wars in so many ways
cues” author Frank Herbert offers. It
meant crafting worlds built around
elemental descriptions.
Patrice explains: “On Arrakis the
winds are 150 kilometres an hour, they
can tear metal to shreds […] so if I’m
going create to a big city, I’m not going
to have straight buildings because
you’d want the wind to travel easily
[over them] so I’m going to make
everything angular.”
The film’s production designer
shares how his team has stayed close to
the book’s descriptions of its worlds,
34
CRAFTING THE
COSTUMES
Costume designers Bob Morgan and
Jacqueline West reveal the artistry
behind Dune’s costumes
Working with concept artist Keith
Christensen, veteran costume designer
Bob Morgan explains how the outfits for
Dune underwent many changes, from
concept to prototype, “And we would
kind of hone in on what that feeling was and what
that idea was,” he says, adding insightfully: “A costume
is not an illustration, you can’t wear
an illustration.”
This is the difference between
designing a costume to be worn and a
VFX shot. It’s what makes Bob’s role
so interesting. The concepts he’s
working with exist – they’re tangible
and relatable.
Bob continues: “So when you put it
on and turn somebody around, or
they move in it, and you say,
‘Oh, this could be better or
that’s perfect, you know, and
you do find your way by
meaning the city of Arrakeen is “the distilling all the time, down
largest humankind has ever seen, to that thing, both in colour
which I don’t think we’re seen in the and style, and texture.”
previous movies”. An artist himself, Bob
Comparing filmmaking to being in compares costume creation
a band, Patrice says: “The production
designer is like the bass player, there to
support the story.” His belief is that
good concept art and production
design should be “invisible”. Patrice
takes cues from the script to inform
his design work, but always with the
mantra of “supporting but not
overshadowing the story”.
For building worlds like Dune, it
meant going back to the source
material. Patrice offers the Caladan
people as an example. In the book it’s a
oceanic world, and the ancestral home
of House Atreides. “Their culture, their
economics, is about rice and wine and
soy and fisheries,” details Patrice. “So DAVID IDAHO’S FLIGHT SUIT
A team of costume makers were hired and
you try to put that into the film, and flown to the Budapest set to ensure accuracy.
with the medieval aspect of the ancient
family tradition, and you try to show PAUL ATREIDES’ DRESS UNIFORM
that in the world that you’re building Jacqueline West reveals the Atreides costumes
were inspired by the Romanovs: “They both
in a sense of what you’re designing, so were tragic, romantic dynasties.”
it becomes a real place.”

BARON ARMOR
The Harkonnen armour was “based on insects” says
co-costume designer Jacqueline West.
to distilling form and detail in a
painting. And just like painting, a
costume designer tussles with the
idea of knowing when something is
done. “Well, it kind of lines up in my
head with the image that I’ve seen.”
Bob tells us good costume design
is about discovering the character. In
Dune this means finding the balance
between the competing worlds;
House Atreides, House Harkonnen
and the Fremen of Arrakis dominate
the story.
“Our challenge and our goal was to
make each one unique, to reflect what
the world was, and visually be able to
see in a moment who each were […]
and we did that both in colour and
feel,” reflects Bob. “It is wonderful
when they are so distinctly different.
When you have diametrically opposed
cultures and worlds, it does make it
easier in some ways, and it does make
it more challenging at the same time
because you want to do something
that’s fresh and yet believable and
visually appealing.”
CLOTHES SHOW
Co-costume designer Jacqueline
West worked on the Atreides look.
“I made them a dark
bottle-green because it’s
a green planet. They have
water resources, it’s quite
lush,” she says. “And so
then losing it and losing their dynasty
I used the Romanovs as an example
for the shapes of the costumes.
Dune is a post-computer universe,
and that ensures the designs have a
shaw
DUNE
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
HISTORICAL functional feel. Looking to history and
INFLUENCES
Jacqueline West has a
modern culture the costume concept
artists created outfits that were built
master’s degree in art
history focusing on around function and form. Bob reveals
medieval art. Her love how the team looked at how people
of the era is clear, in
these designs for Lady use wraps in the desert as wearable
Jessica’s entourage. tools; the wraps keep the body cool
and head wraps can be unwound to
create yards of material, used as
ropes, hammocks and backpacks,
for example.
Jacqueline used the romantic vision
of Lawrence of Arabia as inspiration
for when the House Atreides arrive on
Arrakis, but also looked to the Tuareg
people of the Sahara, particularly for
the shape-language and motion of
their clothing.
“I’ve always loved how the Tuaregs
changed shape when they’re riding
their camels or are walking in the
desert. And how instead of having
goggles or something protecting their
eyes, they wrap gauze across their
faces, and with all the wrappings were
just their eyes showing. I thought it’s
so romantic.”
Jacqueline even had vials of sand
shipped from Jordan to colour match
with her designs, and create Tuareg-
blue wraps to cover the stillsuits.
Dune’s iconic stillsuit, while fictional,
also lends itself to science fact in
Bob’s mind. The designer worked
on the TV series From The Earth To
The Moon where he studied how
RABBAN space suits work. The stillsuit, says
HARKONNEN
The exoskeletons of
Bob, has similar principles. “It’s
insects and arachnids something that recycles […] In this era,
informed the
segmented look of the this very timely era where drinkable
Harkonnen costumes . water is disappearing.”
35
Feature
While Dune catches the eye for
its epic scale – cities the size of small
countries, worms as large as towering
skyscrapers – it’s the small details in
the designs that sell believability of
these imagined spaces.
“Like the floors on Caladan,” begins
Patrice, “the texture and the way the
floor tiles are on slightly different
levels… It’s fish scales; it’s designed
to be like fish scales as it’s a part of
their culture.”
MAKING FANTASY REAL
The same approach ensures the more
fantastical elements of a movie can be
brought to life in a believable way. The
idea of the massive worms of Arrakis
are seeded in beautifully designed
murals and teased in the film’s scenery.
By the time these god-like creatures
emerge we believe they exist.
“It’s a build-up,” says Patrice,
explaining: “For people to believe in
the extraordinary you have to first set
them in a tangible and relatable world,
you have to be as precise and detailed
as possible so that people feel at ease
and think, ‘okay, I know where we
are and it’s not too crazy’, and then
step by step you bring in the more
fantastical elements.”
DESERT VIEW
Artist George Hull has described
the spice harvester as “an
intersection of a blast furnace
and a desert scarab”.
36
It helps that VFX can put up on
screen anything an concept artist
imagines. Today Patrice tells us it’s a
“collaborative effort” and refers to
Dune’s VFX supervisor Paul Lambert
as “my brother”. It means as a
production designer and concept artist
Patrice says he needs to think in more
detail. It’s not just about designing a
ship, but considering how it works,
For people to believe in the
extraordinary you have to set
them in a tangible world
ARRAKEEN WALL
The city of Arrakeen is said to be the
largest city in humankind’s history,
and the Dune art team were keen to
bring that scale to the movie.
FLIGHT OF FANCY
“My references were
how “the landing gear [and] wings
deploy”. It’s about considering the next
birds, insects and
helicopters,” says level of detail, “how the weight of a
Patrice. “The design
mutated as we started spaceship affects how it moves [or]
designing the world of how there’s always those additional
the film, which is very
angular and Brutalist.” details that create the sense of realism,
like how sand moves and shifts as a
sandcrawler lifts off.”
THE WORM
“Oh my God,” exclaims Patrice as we
ask how long it took to decide on this
film’s version of the awe-inspiring
sandworms. After many concepts the
team tore up their ideas and went back
to the fundamentals. Patrice explains
how he sat down with the storyboard
artists to plan how these worms would
be introduced, and look on screen.
From this new beginning the team
asked questions: “How does this
creature live? When it moves
underground, how much of the
landscape, because of its sheer size,
how much of the landscape should
move around it?”
And its teeth and mouth… “Does it
really need these teeth? We see it more
like a whale with these filters that draw
out elements in the sand to eat. And
then we look at the past of this
creature, we show how it has broken
and scraped itself on the world; its
 DUNE

LAB ORNITHOPTER PAD

Working with Patrice, concept
artist George Hull and art
director David Doran came up
with the film’s on-point
ornithopter design.

DESERT VIEW
The film has VFX but much of
it was done in camera and on
location in Hungary, Jordan,
Abu Dhabi and Norway.

37
Feature
THE BOOK’S INFLUENCE
Everything in the film is inspired by
nature: the light, the wind, the feel of
the dust. Even these large vehicles
look like giant beasts of burden.
skin is cracked and scarred. And
then we looked at roots and tree
branches [as visual hooks] and this
took us back to Herbert and the
themes around ecology. You add, add,
add and then it builds and becomes
the reality, and what it needs to look
like becomes clear.”
The degree of thought and implied
realism found in modern concept art
for something as simple as a giant
sandworm is incredible. Patrice and
his team went so far as to consider
the worms’ digestive system. He
worked with Weta’s Greg Tozer on
different diaphragms, and studied the
muscles of the throat to create a
believable creature.
STAYCURIOUS
The level of research Patrice goes into
in Dune feeds back to his belief that
good concept artists “have to be
curious”. This can come from all
directions; Patrice says many artists
working in films today have a
background in architecture and design.
Patrice himself bucks the trend with a
grounding in sound design. But the
38
idea is the same: be curious about how
the world works.
“I think it’s mostly about creating
moods that will support the story as
opposed to creating design for design’s
sake,” he continues. Interestingly
Patrice says good concept artists need
to be “psychologists” because when
talking with a director you “need to
I think it’s mostly about
creating moods that will
support the story…
COLOUR THEORY
An early choice was
understand what’s really important
to them so you can translate that
made to never show a
blue sky – on Arrakis, into a visual”.
white skies are harsher. Passion and hard work is important,
as you’d expect, but Patrice says that
you needn’t force yourself to do the
job. “I see my job as playing, I don’t
work,” he laughs. This mindset protects
you from criticism, as ultimately
concept artists are working to visualise
a director’s ideas, and you will
“become discouraged easily” if you
can’t balance your personal passion for
an idea with what the director needs.
“Ultimately, I’m there as a tool for the
director,” says Patrice.
The relationship between Patrice
and Dune’s director Denis Villeneuve
clearly works, because this is the fifth
movie the two have worked together
on. Referencing The End from The
Beatles’ Abbey Road, Patrices says: “in
the end, the love you take is equal to
the love you make. And that’s how it is,
he’s super generous. He gives you room
to make mistakes… and it’s super-
important to make mistakes because
EXTENDED that’s how you refocus.”
WARDROBES
The design team
As Patrice reflects on working with
created 200 core Denis he has one last piece of universal
soldier outfits and
over 1,000 costumes advice: “Don’t try to second guess what
for Dune. people want, just go for it.”
 DUNE
CUT FROM THE
SAME CLOTH
Discover how Jacqueline West had a hand
in developing three key costumes from Dune
GOWN DESIGN
Lady Jessica’s costume for her arrival CULTURE CLASH
“It was a real
on Arrakis has been described as the undertaking, because
“most expensive costume ever made” it required creating
so many futuristic
by Dune’s co-costume designer costumes without
Jacqueline West. Influenced by having the usual
futuristic reference
medieval fashion and the book’s points,” says
Jacqueline.
descriptions, the design features
hundreds of hand-made chain links.
“It really shows her medieval queen
glory on Arrakis,” says Jacqueline, who
explains how costume maker Bryony
Tyrrell worked on the chainmail
throughout the film’s production.
She describes the costume’s
influences: “[These designs] are based
on Balenciaga and how he took
everything from [Diego] Velazquez
and Goya but also medieval paintings.
There’s a simplicity that’s almost
spiritualistic to them.”
LADIES-IN-WAITING FORM FOLLOWS CREATING THE STILLSUIT
“We referenced the spice market in Marrakesh in creating their FUNCTION
“Everything followed The famous stillsuit design needed to
colours, so inevitably they became the spice girls!” jokes Jacqueline. the function of that be tailored to each actor, and every
suit,” says Jacqueline, suit features bespoke details and
explaining it’s why
we see crossways
running tubes and the
talismans hand-picked by the cast to
external codpiece. lend their characters a backstory.
Moulds were made for each actor and
serutciP yradnegeL dna serutciP .sorB renraW fo ysetruoC

each suit took two weeks to build.

The suits were created by concept
artist Keith Christensen, who had
previously worked on Black Panther.
“He was obsessed with the book,”
says Jacqueline West. “The first
drawing that he did of the stillsuit was
perfect. I mean, nailed it.” Another
Marvel regular, José Fernández at
Ironhead Studio, was brought on to
create a prototype of the stillsuit. “I
love that guy,” says Jacqueline.
REVEREND MOTHER STILLSUIT IN ACTION
“Herbert describes the
“For the Bene Gesserit I use the Tarot undersuit as being a
cards because there’s a real mysticism micro-sandwich of
layers of microfibres
in Frank Herbert and I used it for and cotton that pull the
Charlotte Rampling,” explains oxygen out of the air
for the breathing nose,”
Jacqueline West. “I used the High explains Jacqueline.
Priestess in the Tarot cards, and then
I combined a lot of Tarot cards. The
Queen of Wands, the Queen of Cups.”
Jacqueline reveals she really loved
using the Tarot of Marseilles as an AUTHORITY
inspiration, “which has a real medieval
feel. I call this movie ‘mod-eval’,
AND POWER
The Reverend Mother
Mohiam’s costume is
because I really went to medieval art a mix of chess board
and influences to create a world design, Tarot, and a
Greek Orthodox
starting over in the future.” kamilavka headpiece.
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures

39
 PROF
Dariusz Kieliszek
LOCATION: Poland
Dariusz is a concept artist
and illustrator based in
Poznan,´ west Poland. His
work mainly consists of

er side oftor
fantasy characters with a

s – it’s the dark leaning towards dark art. Dariusz’s

monster and character work features

and wisePowliizshardconcept artist and illustra

in board games, comic books, video

n e seren e elves games, RPG games and fantasy books.

Bego ppeals to this

In his free time the artist is developing

fantasy art that a

his first Kickstarter project.
linktr.ee/dkieliszek
BACK
ALLEY
APOTHECARY
“Probably not the best
source for your
medicine…”

SIEGE
MONSTER
“A creature trained to
open those pesky
castle gates.”

CULTPEDDLERS
“I imagined a dark fantasy
version of door-to-door salesman
going around, trying to sell
their dark cult.”

40
Sketchbook Dariusz Kieliszek
You can – or
should –go crazy
with the design
[of shamens]

LIZARDMEN
SHAMAN
“One good thing about
shaman characters is that
you can – or should –
go crazy with
the design.”

TROLL WORKER
“A rare view of a troll doing his
daily chores.”

CURSED
PUMPKIN
“A Japanese-inspired
twist on the classic
Halloween theme.”

41
 [The] three CONFUSED
KNIGHT
heads can’t “A twist on the burning
skull classic, where three

decide on who heads can’t decide on

who moves which
body part.”
moves which
body part

42
 Sketchbook Dariusz Kieliszek

LOVE
DEMON
“A bit of a
different version
of Cupid.”

ARMED
MIMIC
“This creature guards
a rare treasure, so
why not arm it
to the teeth?”

WAND
SKETCHES
“Since wands and
staffs don’t have much
functionality outside
of casting magic for
the most part, it’s
fun to explore
their shapes.”

WEREWOLF
CHIEFTAIN
“Here’s a more sophisticated
werewolf with a penchant
for bladed weapons.”

PIG PRINCE
“A result of a personal
challenge to draw straight with
fineliners without using
an undersketch.”

Do you want to share your sketches with your fellow ImagineFX readers? Send us an email with a
selection of your art, captions for each piece and a photo and bio of yourself to sketchbook@imaginefx.com

43
Interview

INSPIRATIONS
WITH
TONY DITERLIZZI
It was the decade when fantasy art became
part of pop culture. Garrick Webster talks to
illustrator and author Tony DiTerlizzi about his
favourite 80s artists and their influence on him

It didn’t feel like a was asked to draw enabled him to

pivotal moment when reminisce about his childhood in
an art director at Florida playing D&D with his friends.
Wizards of the Coast Unlike your average M:TG card, Hive
contacted illustrator of the Eye Tyrant is presented like a
Tony DiTerlizzi about creating a card 1980s D&D module cover. It actually
for Adventures in Forgotten Realms, feels like a piece of gaming history.
the new Magic: The Gathering set. Not The 1980s was a wonderful decade
at first, anyway. for anyone interested in fantasy and
The set celebrates the mash-up of sci-fi. Comic books and tabletop
M:TG and Dungeons & fantasy games were
Dragons, and Tony worked booming. Epic films, from
on both fantasy games back Alien through to Conan the
in the 1990s. Since then, Barbarian, took fans away to
tsaoC eht fo sdraziW/semaG RST

he’s become a world-leading other worlds. Heavy Metal

author and illustrator
creating his own fantasy
worlds in The Spiderwick
Chronicles and The Search
for WondLa books. The
former has already been
magazine brought us
monthly doses of
otherworldly artwork and
stories. Computer games
and the internet were yet
TURN TOPAGE72 to compete with the
© 0891

adapted into a feature film TO SEE TONY’S CARD imaginations of fantasy-

and the latter will soon ART WORKSHOP obsessed kids. KOBOLD
become a series on Apple TV. Sharing Tony’s excitement This Erol Otus rendering of
Kurtulmak, the kobold god,
Why would he go back to about Hive of the Eye Tyrant, we impressed Tony in the 1980 D&D
illustrating fantasy games? asked him to take us on a journey rulebook Deities & Demigods.
For Tony, it’s all about imagination. through his 1980s inspirations with a
The more he found out about the focus on the artists themselves. For
Forgotten Realms set, the more it him, the decade was all about
tweaked the young artist inside him. discovering and learning from artists
1982 EROL OTUS COPY
An accurate homage to Erol
Otus’s original kobold deity,
As you can see on page 72, the card he who did things a little bit differently… drawn in 1982 by Tony.

44

1 EROL OTUS BROUGHT A STYLE THAT
D&D PLAYERS DIDN’T EXPECT
Fantasy in the 1980s was dominated by
Tolkien-esque imagery, with a look that was
heavily influenced by medieval Europe. This
was evident in D&D, but the game’s founder,
Gary Gygax, regularly confounded
expectations. The young artist Erol Otus
worked in a style that was far from the
accepted norm, and his work on D&D still
resonates today. To him, a wizard didn’t have
to be an old man with a long beard, wearing
grey robes and a pointy hat, and his palettes
were anything but dark and earthen.
“I can only theorise about what inspired
him – perhaps pinball machine art and Day-
Glo posters, things that would have been part
of the everyday environment of a young
artist back in the 1970s,” says Tony.
While others painted orcs, demons and
ogres, Erol designed bizarre monsters that
would become classic D&D beasties like the
Tony DiTerlizzi
UNIQUE INTERPRETATION
US artist Erol Otus brought a totally
different look to D&D, confounding
the conventional view of medieval
monsters and mages.
1981 © TSR Games/Wizards of the Coast
remorhaz and the ankheg. Giant killer bugs,
essentially. During the pandemic, Tony spoke
with Erol and found out that both creatures
were based on his collection of rubber
monsters and gumball machine prizes.
“Embracing childlike and imaginative play
opens up a lot of ideas for an artist,” explains
Tony. “Especially as an adult, where you have
the technical craft to convey those concepts
and ideas through illustrations.”
45
 Interview
FIRE GIANT ACCURATE REPLICATION
Copying David Trampier’s artwork is one of the ways
US artist David Trampier’s fire giant featured in the 1977 Tony honed his skills, before developing his own style.
Monster Manual, as well as other early D&D rulebooks.

It wasn’t really
tattoo style, but it had
a graphic, woodcut
look to it
tsaoC eht fo sdraziW/semaG RST © 7791

2 DAVID TRAMPIER AND

THE MONSTER MANUAL
“In the early ’80s there was a lot of artistic inspiration to
choose from, but Dungeons & Dragons was absolutely
one of the big ones for me,” says Tony. “The art wasn’t as
slick and professional as the Frazetta, Hildebrandt or
Vallejo imagery that dominated back then. D&D had an
abundance of pen and ink drawings, and I thought,
‘Maybe I could draw that!’”
One of Tony’s favourites was David Trampier. His work
featured in numerous D&D modules, especially in the 1977
tsaoC eht fo sdraziW/semaG RST © 7791

Monster Manual. “He did this iconic drawing of a fire giant.

Even by today’s standards, it’s such an amazing piece,”
explains Tony. “He did a great rendition of a goblin, and his
pseudo-dragon is amazing. It’s this tiny dragon looking
out a window, but there is storytelling there. He used PSYONIC CAT
The thick line work of
heavy, thick lines. It wasn’t really tattoo style, but it had a David Trampier’s displacer
graphic, woodcut look to it. My guess is that he was beast made an impact on
Tony early on.
influenced by underground comics.”

46
 Tony DiTerlizzi
4 BRIAN FROUD’S
BORDERLAND BATTLE
Jim Roslof created artwork that felt
ENCHANTING ART
imaginative and accessible to young “If you were to track my growth as a young artist on a
tsaoC eht fo sdraziW/semaG RST © 9791

D&D players, such as this cover art

for the acclaimed adventure module
The Keep on the Borderlands.
OWLBEAR
Internal artwork for The Keep on the
Borderlands featuring Jim’s render of
an owlbear confronting adventurers.
tsaoC eht fo sdraziW/semaG RST © 9791
timeline, I would have been copying D&D art in middle
school, then I would have started copying Brian Froud’s
art books in high school. I was immediately attracted to
his character designs rendered in those rich earth tones,
and was obsessed with his work,” says Tony.
“As far as design goes, his mastery lies in his sense of
caricature and exaggeration in that he could take
something that’s really scary and either inflate it or
deflate its intensity based on how he rendered it. He
might draw a goblin, but it has these ridiculous, tiny eyes
(which are cross-eyed), and a big goofy mouth. It felt
spooky to me, but never dangerous and I craved more.
Artistically, Froud showed that a creepy monster did not
have to be muscular, as often depicted in a Frazetta or
Vallejo painting.”

2015, OWLBEAR
In his own style, Tony revisited the
owlbear in 2015 for his role-playing
games art book, Realms.

GOBLINS & FAIRIES

Brian Froud’s style,
influenced by Arthur
Rackham, made a

3 ARTIST JIM ROSLOF CAPTURED big impact on Tony

in the 1980s.
THE COMPLEXITIES OF COMBAT
Players who turned to page 31 of the 1980 D&D rulebook Deities &
Demigods would have been bowled over by Jim Roslof’s depiction of The
Wild Hunt – terrifying hounds charging in attack formation ahead of their
horned master. The image has stayed with Tony DiTerlizzi to this day.
“He used pen and ink in a sketchy style, and he painted module covers
as well – like 1979’s ubiquitous The Keep on the Borderlands,” says Tony.
“There was a lot of movement in his work. It was very gestural. He had a
clear understanding of the medium and was a notch above some of the
other contributing artists.”
Jim was unafraid of the challenges of drawing combat in confined THE DARK CRYSTAL
The creature design
spaces, as seen in his artwork of a party battling an owlbear on the pages work that Brian Froud
of Keep on the Borderlands – another favourite image on Tony’s list. did on Jim Henson’s
The Dark Crystal
impressed young Tony.

47
Interview

scinortameniC © 3891
5 MOEBIUS CHANGED
THE PARADIGM
The French illustrator and writer Jean Giraud, otherwise known as
Moebius, is another 1980s world builder who Tony greatly admires. “He
was a unique visionary who seemed to know no bounds,” Tony explains.
“He was emboldened to draw just about anything: a Wild West story,
space stories, fantasy stories and weird stories that just existed in some
surreal plane of existence.”
While convention in the world of comics followed on from the likes of
Jack Kirkby and Stan Lee, it was Moebius who Tony gravitated towards.
“His was another world and I wanted to explore every inch of it. I didn’t
always understand what I was reading, but it was effortlessly rendered.
His technical skill was unique and instantly recognisable,” says Tony.

NO PLACE TO HIDE
One of Tony’s favourites is
Don Bluth’s cel art from the 1983
arcade game Dragon’s Lair.

THE SECRETOF NIMH

stsitrA detinU © 2891
This Don Bluth-directed
animation made a big impact
on Tony in the early 1980s.

SCALE OF MOEBIUS
From mythology to
science fiction, Moebius
6 DON BLUTH AND THE
always intrigued Tony with
surreal, expansive vistas. HAND OF THE ARTIST
Striking the right balance of mood between light and
darkness is important when you’re painting an image,
and equally important in how the story and world are
conveyed. Tony grew up watching Disney classics, but
the studio had lost its way in the 80s. For him, it was
former Disney artist Don Bluth who nailed it – tonally
and aesthetically – in the Dragon’s Lair arcade game and
the feature film, The Secret of NIMH.
“I haven’t read Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH in a
long time, so maybe now I’d be more sceptical, but at the
time I felt Bluth captured the weirdness of Nicodemus,
the spooky scene with the great owl, and the humour of
Jeremy the crow. It was so full of life,” says Tony.
He also loves the sketchy quality of the animation and
how you can see the construction lines momentarily,
here and there on cels, echoing Disney’s xerographic
animation process of the 60s and 70s. “It’s not so
polished. You feel the artist’s hand in it,” adds Tony.

I felt Bluth captured the

VISTAS OF WONDLA
This planetscape painted for weirdness of Nicodemus […]
The Search for Wondla demonstrates
a little of Moebius’s influence on the humour of Jeremy the
crow. It was so full of life
Tony and his artwork.

48
 Tony DiTerlizzi
EXTRA FURRY FEET JOUSTING GOBLINS
Tony’s Goblin Warbuggy image was used on a Magic: The Gathering
Bilbo Baggins wasn’t drawn as expected in the card and has touches of the goblins in The Hobbit animated movie.
Rankin and Bass film, The Hobbit, but it worked.

snoitcudorP ssaB/niknaR © 7791

tsaoC eht fo sdraziW ©

7 RANKIN AND BASS THE THE LAST UNICORN
HOBBIT THAT WASN’T The styling of the mage in The Last
Unicorn is another example of the
To this day, Tony loves the style of the characters drawn for magic Rankin and Bass brought.
The Hobbit movie made by Rankin and Bass. Released in
1977, the film enjoyed repeated showings on American
television during the 80s, even though it looked nothing
like the Middle-earth art fantasy fans were used to.
“The features [of the hobbits] border on the grotesque,
but I think they were looking at Arthur Rackham, Edmund
Dulac and maybe Kay Nielsen,” says Tony. “When I watch it,

snoitcudorP ssaB/niknaR © 2891

those dreary watercolour landscapes seem Rackham-
inspired and they have that same linear quality to them.
However, the overall visual language is so cohesive, and
everything interlocks nicely, so the character designs and
landscapes all look like they’re from the same world. That’s
not an easy feat.”

8 RALPH MCQUARRIE AND

MT & dtL mlfisacuL ©

DIRTY STAR WARS

In 2014, Tony wrote and designed Star Wars: The
Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight. The book was
illustrated using original concept art by Ralph McQuarrie.
It’s McQuarrie’s ability to combine global and the specific
concepts that Tony finds so inspiring.
“He was exceptional at conjuring and rendering scenes.
Although he did design creatures, like Chewbacca and
C-3PO, his mastery was taking separate components – as
the world was being visually developed – and compose
them into a single image,” says Tony. “I don’t know who
came up with it – George Lucas, Ralph McQuarrie or one of
the other artists – but the idea of the ships being grungy
EPIC RALPH and timeworn is such an essential aesthetic to Star Wars. Up
MCQUARRIE
For Tony, Ralph to that point, nobody had done that in sci-fi films.”
McQuarrie brought
the full package –
someone capable
of building worlds.
PREPARE FOR THE SEARCH
FOR WONDLA IN 2022
Watch out for the Apple TV/
Skydance animation of The Search
for WondLa, which is expected to
AT-AT AT-ATTACK
The Empire Strikes
appear on our screens in the
autumn of 2022. Based on Tony’s
Back – in 1980 Tony books and artwork, you may detect
found the work of
Ralph McQuarrie hints of his 1980s art influences here,
and George Lucas including Moebius and Brian Froud.
utterly irresistible.

49
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50
 GET YOUR
RESOURCES
See page 6 now!

Workshops assets
are available…
Download each workshop’s resources by turning to
page 6. And if you see the video workshop badge,
you can watch the artist in action, too.

Advice from the world’s best artists

52 60

66 This issue:
52 Create a vintage
sci-fi composition
David Keenan concepts and
paint sci-fi art based on Dune.
58 Make the most
of Painter’s Oil brushes
Isis Sousa shares her Oils
workflow tips in Painter 2022.
60 Paint unique
environments
Alayna Danner creates an epic
and engaging fantasy landscape.
74
66 Find clarity In
digital sketching
How to draw loose yet dynamic
art, with illustrator Erik Ly.
72 Draw and
paint D&D card art
Tony DiTerlizzi reimagines a
classic D&D monster for M:TG.
74 Use shadows
in your portraits
Cynthia Sheppard builds drama
in a realistic fantasy portrait.

51
 Workshops
Photoshop
CREATE A VINTAGE
SCI-FI COMPOSITION
David Keenan details how to concept and paint an illustration with
a classic science fiction aesthetic, based on the world of Dune
Artist In this workshop, I’ll can take a painting or visual to the We’ll also look at how to lead the
PROFILE use classic sci-fi art
elements to construct
next level of refinement, in
producing a narrative that is clear.
viewer’s eye around the image and
keep them engaged in the world you
Dave Keenan a visual narrative in Next, I’ll show you the various build within the painting. Among all
LOCATION: US an image, which uses methods of achieving that narrative those factors, I’ll describe the
David is a senior concept the story of Dune as a theme for my through careful selection and techniques used to paint, draw and
artist and illustrator who
is working in the video
main setting. implementation of composition, manipulate elements to get us the
games and film industry. Initially, I’ll ask you to do a bit of mood and colour. Furthermore, I’ll final image that tells our story the
artstation.com/dkeeno research and familiarise yourself demonstrate just how to evaluate best. Finally, I’ll explore the meaning
with the sci-fi world and the world of each of these steps and what to and reasonings behind making
Dune, if you’re new to the genre. It’s expect from the viewer when certain visual distinctions over
in this research that we’ll find the making your artistic choices within others to create a sense of overall
interesting bits of knowledge that those phases. cohesion in your image.

1 Start sketching
In the initial sketch phase I like to work in black and white values, in order to
more easily establish separation of my background, mid-ground and foreground
elements. In this sketch I create broad and quick strokes to create a bit of visual
energy in the drawing. The initial sketch should do its best to show good
composition and energy so that we build a solid base to move forward with and
hopefully retain within the final image. Take time to arrange your subject and its
surrounding elements in a manner that produces a clear focal point. This
composition was chosen because it’s reminiscent of how vintage sci-fi film posters
and book covers typically laid out their images.
GET YOUR
RESOURCES
See page 6 now!
2 Deciding where to focus
The female figure is the main subject, so I draw in a
supporting cast of elements that lead the viewer’s eye to
the face. The viewer is often initially drawn to faces, so
I present the other elements in a way as to lead them
around the face as well. In addition, faces are one of the
most challenging elements to execute well, so why not
start with the more difficult part of the drawing.

52
In depth Sci-fi composition

53
 Workshops

Colour layer
techniques
Create a colour overlay
layer to quickly block in
colour. Create a new
Layer>Fill layer. Select
your desired colour.
Change your layer blend
mode to Overlay. Create
a Hue/Saturation Layer
and adjust colour
variables until you’re
satisfied with the colour
you wish to achieve.

3 Detailing the facial features Playing with colours

I make sure to draw in the elements on the face that 4 In staying with the Dune theme and a vintage feel,
are going to immediately identify the figure as a Fremen I create a roughed-in colour pass to nail down the range
which is the iconic nose apparatus. Those are the of colours I want for the image. I loosely paint the
narrative beats in an image that need to be sorted as different hues of warm colours and some hot areas to
I move forward. Aside from that, I want to ensure that the emphasis areas of contrast and places I want to focus the
face details are correct in proportion, value and evoke the viewer’s attention to. I use a limited palette in the hope of
stoic emotion that I’m going for. also pushing the Dune theme as much as possible.

5 Blocking in the landmarks

I paint in some visual landmarks that could also connect the viewer with the background and lead them forward to the main subject.
I also create some areas of interest around the face and overall character by adding a pop of red hair and additional rock formations for variety
in the environment. This is the first pass at seeing what sticks and what doesn’t work inside the composition, while furthering its development.

54
 In depth Sci-fi composition

6 Detailing the focal point

I focus back on the face to perform another level of
refinement. I want to make sure it reads in its emotion
and enables the lighting to assist in that. I also rough in
the base material of the suit to ensure its lighting works
well against this overall warm background. It’s at this
stage that I feel the painting has all the elements I need
to work together and meld the visual narrative.
7 Deciding on the details
This is the phase in the process of the image where I begin to render and
figure out the details I want to stay and others that I don’t need. I begin roughing
in more areas like the cloak and foreground colours, to bring in some additional
organic elements to the world I’m building in the painting. The painting seemingly
really takes shape at this point.

RESOURCES

PHOTOSHOP
CUSTOM BRUSHES:
BLOCK BRUSH

A brush used for clouds

and to block in the
sketch a bit.
TEXTURE BRUSH

I often use this brush for

refining details with a
hard edge while leaving
a sense of texture.

8 Telling a story with details HARD EDGE BRUSH

Here I pay most attention to the female figure because this is the main subject. I want to design the suit and
accessories so that they also tell a story. I start painting in line textures for the cloak that are intended to mimic the Used for refining details
ripples and shapes of the desert sands. I make sure that the suit technology is integrated with a similar language and with a hard edge while
reflective of a possible Fremen culture that uses this technology to survive in the desert. I also begin painting in the leaving texture as well.
Good for rendering.
lighting from the sun that aids in driving the viewer’s eye towards our figure and creates a nice mood.

55
 Workshops

9 Painting in background detail

It’s at this point that I begin to pull out all the details of the image. I use my textured brush to implicate rock detail in the shadows and
broken detail in the clouds. I again reinforce the connection between the emerging worm and the lines of the sand and Fremen figures leading
up to our main figure. All the organic lines lead us to the figure – here, I paint in shadows and render out suit details to provide contrast.

Something’s
in the air
Atmospheric
10 Painting the clouds Making it read better
I use another textured brush to work in the shapes 11 This is a quick but impactful step in the process,
perspective is the effect of the clouds. I want them to feel gaseous and dense, where I adjust the overall value of the foreground
the atmosphere has on
the appearance of an much like how the spice that’s mined on Dune has been elements. I create a selection with the Lasso tool and
object as viewed from a portrayed in other media. Painting them this way leads mask out the area I want to bring forward. In this case it’s
distance. Volumetric fog
simulates the interaction
to a more holistic sense of world building in the image the nearest dune and main figure. I then paint in some
of lights with fog, mist or that feels cohesive. I also make sure the atmospheric volumetric fog outside the selection to push back the
other atmospheric gases perspective and volumetric fog help sell distance. These background elements and bring forward the selected
to infer distance and
scale of object or setting.
techniques aid in separating the foreground and area. Within that selected area I also use a Levels
background, and imply depth and scale in the image. Adjustment to darken the values slightly.

56
 In depth Sci-fi composition

12 Making changes to reduce distracting elements

There’s always a constant evaluation of the overall image throughout its creation. It’s at this point in the process when I feel that some of
the background elements are distracting and taking away from the main figure. So I paint in a more organic and less noisy sand dune element
that relieves that visual tangent and tension of the previous rock formations and the character’s hand that’s furthest from the viewer. The clarity
in this part of the image now puts more focus back on the main figure and leads the viewer’s eye more effectively to the character.

13 Focusing on the lighting

Using light blooms and final touches
and rim light around the character to enable the figure to 14 As I finish up, I add some additional lighting effects and bloom around the
I move around the image and paint in fine details
stand away from the background. Lighting plays a huge sun with a Soft Airbrush to add a bit of warmth and brightness. There’s also a hint
role in selling a mood, so this step brings forth all the of warmth in the thin transparent materials of the cloak and hood, to reflect the
elements together in a unified way. The details on the character being grounded inside this environment. These final touches breathe a
character itself receive some attention, too. bit of life into the final image and give an epic feel to the final visual.

57
 Workshop advertorial
Core Skills: Painter 2022 – Part 3
MAKE THE MOST
OF OIL BRUSHES
Isis Sousa discusses Oils, her favourite brush category in Painter 2022,
covers the differences between the sets and shares her workflow tips
Artist Digital art software These brushes have been designed and airbrushes may initially struggle
PROFILE can successfully
mimic traditional
in such a way that you can either use
each tool in isolation or combine
with oil brushes. They can be
difficult to control, and it can be a
Isis Sousa media and Painter is them across categories, thus creating challenge to predict the resulting
LOCATION: Norway well known for its oil your own unique artist’s sets. They’re colours if you don’t have a traditional
Isis is an art director, a brushes. This edition’s streamlined customisable, too – for example, you background or aren’t familiar with
Corel Painter Master
Elite, a Xencelabs Artist
Brush Library contains some can vary the amount of paint loaded traditional theories. But once you
and indie filmmaker. She beautiful oil paint tools, varying in the brush and how it blends with become used to these tools and
also teaches and speaks from loaded and wet to thinner adjacent or underlying colours. understand how they work, then
at CG events.
isissousa.com
washes and drier effects. Recreating Many artists starting out in digital with practice and patience you can
the art of the Renaissance and painting or those who are create produce eye-catching results quickly
GET YOUR
RESOURCES
Impressionism eras is within reach! concept art using more basic brushes and efficiently.
See page 6 now!
Oily, like Sargent, has
a beautiful balance
between traditional
and digital.
Here’s where the five
Oils Brushes Sets
can be found.

Examples of the Fan, Oily Filbert and Flat Tapered brushes – notice their beautiful
signature strokes. Brushes in this Artist’s set tend to produce vibrant colours.

1 First oil brushes set: Artist’s

This is your simple, basic everyday set. There are brushes such as bristles, filbert, flat or round, and some that only have blender functions.
These are fairly close to what you can do with a real brush when painting with oils traditionally, and have more of a wet, loaded look.

58
 Core skills Painter 2022 - Oils
2 Second set: Bravura
This new category is combined with
There are blenders in this set. The
first three brushes are simple, then
the others turn quite messy and fun!
brush dabs and are a bit more expressive.
The tools apply drier techniques in contrast
to the wet look of the Artist’s set. Some of
these brushes are also blenders. If you’re
after something edgier and more digital-
looking for a modern art style, this is it!
Only a couple of brushes
will blend colours, if only
3 Third set: General slightly, like the Oil Dabber.
One of my personal favourites
together with Sargent! This is your
Impressionistic toolset: it has brushes that
are suitable and created for mimicking the
various styles of this period. They’re more This is like stepping into
expressive than the Artist’s set, but more wild, uncharted territory!
They tend to render
classic-looking. They render colour with darker, heavier colours
greater luminosity and vibrancy. and you can use dry
brush strokes that don’t
blend, unlike other sets.

The Impressionist Rake (top) generates different This and the other three brushes with Impressionist
shades and saturation levels from one single colour names are great tools to use on their own or with
value, as shown on the Color Wheel. other brushes. I usually pair up Cover and Detail.

You can achieve a range

of brush strokes with
other tools in this set.

You can always

combine Painter
brushes from any
different sets
or categories.

Imagine a
watercolour stroke
that’s almost dried
on a hot summer
day. That’s the
effect on this set. Here you can see the amazing Sargent Brush
Overall the and the super-cool Serrated Knife.
brushes look
digital rather than
‘real-world’.
A touch of
Turpentine on the
Scrubber brush
stroke, plus a hint
of Erosion. I would
Here the recommend
colours will using these with
have a more brushes of other
opaque look, sets that more Several brushes, in addition to being oily and
once they naturally emulate highly blendable, also have a liquid quality, such
have dried. oil paint. as Clumpy Grainy, Simple or Liquid Sketcher.

4 Fourth set: Real Wet Fifth Set: Sargent

Note that Real Wet doesn’t refer to the loaded and wet quality of 5 This set has great brushes with Oils and Liquid qualities. It’s not
either the Artist’s or Sargent Categories. Here, ‘wet’ refers to ‘watered’ referred to as an oil category because it features a mix of tools that
or washed techniques (this is also the case with other media, such as emulate not only oils but also other media such as ink and charcoal.
watercolours). When using these tools, you can literally see them All brushes here are oily and or/liquid to some extent, ranging from
drying on the surface after each brush stroke. basic to expressive. Have fun experimenting with them!

59
 Workshops

Photoshop
PAINT UNIQUE
ENVIRONMENTS
Illustrator Alayna Danner shares her method of creating an
epic and engaging fantasy landscape using Photoshop
60
 In depth Unique environments
Artist Painting cityscapes or
PROFILE natural environments
can be intimidating,
Alayna Danner but after a couple
LOCATION: US years’ practice it’s
Alayna is a fantasy become my favourite thing to do.
illustrator based in
Seattle. She’s currently
In this workshop I’ll be working
working on Magic: The on creating a new fantasy cityscape
Gathering and Dungeons environment piece from scratch.
& Dragons projects.
alayna.net
I don’t use advanced techniques –
everything is rendered in Photoshop,
GET YOUR
RESOURCES
exclusively using the Brush tool and
different layer modes. You can use
See page 6 now! any version of Photoshop to follow
along with this workshop, or likely
any real 2D drawing program of
your choice, provided that the
software enables you to use layers
and you have a pressure-sensitive
tablet to hand.
I use an old-school technique for
creating perspective lines to define
architecture, by using a horizon line
and vanishing points. I’ll explain
how to achieve perspective
guidelines in Photoshop and how
it can help make your piece look
more convincing.
I start from a simple inspiring
concept and noodle on it, adjusting
and evolving as I draw. I try not to
stay married to any sort of look or
feel until I’m happy with how the
piece is going. If you don’t like how
something looks then don’t sweat
it – just erase or draw over it and
keep evolving. Try working this way
to not feel burdened by needing
perfect thumbnails, colour schemes
or compositions.
If you’re having trouble coming
up with new ideas for a fantasy
environment, go back to your
original idea as it can help inform
new directions to pursue in your
piece. My idea was “city of water
mages” and you can check out how
I got to this final piece!
61
 Workshops

2 Reference, reference, reference

1 Create a fun idea
My concept for this piece is “a city of water mages”. How would that look?
Who would live there and how would that influence the architecture? I don’t create
multiple thumbnail ideas, I just do one image that I continually erase and rework
until I like it. This just looks like a bunch of scribbles in the beginning.
Grab photos of architecture, landscapes, concept
art and paintings you enjoy, and throw them all in a
folder. They don’t have to look like what you want to
draw, just what inspires you. Here are a couple of
example photos that I use, which I took myself. Overall,
I gather up about 30 different pieces of reference.

RESOURCES

PHOTOSHOP
CUSTOM BRUSHES:
HARD ELLIPTICAL

This is an offshoot of
Hard Round. I like to use
this for detailing trees
and other textured areas.
TEXTURE BRUSH 1

Use this basic texture

brush when you’re
starting to define rocky
or grassy areas.
LEAVES

A simple leaf brush for

roughly defining trees. I
then use a basic Round to
erase obvious patterns.
BLENDING BRUSH
WITH TEXTURE

This brush is great for

blending in areas if you 3 Keep sketching to refine your vision
Look at your reference and just imagine what a fun environment would be. Discard ideas that don’t work and try
don’t want to just use the
Hard Round brush.
to focus on what is working for you. Different reference can help you decide what direction you want to take your
buildings in. Maybe you want a more sci-fi look, or perhaps you want the city to appear more medieval?

62
 In depth Unique environments

4 Keep planning and changing

Keep changing it up if you don’t like the overall
look. I change my sketch several times as I go. I prefer this
to doing several sketches – just evolving one to a point
where I’m happy with it. I add giant trees and foliage
(that will later be taken out), but trying new things can
help you make a really fun piece.
5 Evaluate your colour palette
Does the palette evoke what you’d like? Colours and light in both the
background and foreground are important for what you want to say. I didn’t like
the cloudy sky and light blue mountains so I rework the colours of the background
to be a more colourful. I think that helps make the piece a little more engaging; the
sun is now definitely hitting the foreground and illuminating it.

Horizon line

Parallel lines warp to

the horizon line

6 Flip your canvas horizontally
This helps you to get a fresh perspective! You may
see where awkward gaps in your composition are, or
where buildings may be leaning oddly. Adjust, erase and
redraw until you start to feel your city taking shape. It’s
around this point where I’m finally starting to like the
direction this piece is going. To get a straight line, hold
down Shift while you draw your brushstroke. It’s very
helpful for vertical lines on a building.
7 Perspective lines
Once you have a solid start, you
can build perspective lines so your
buildings look like they exist on the
same plane. Make a new group and one
new layer, and draw a horizon line. The
line should be where the horizon of the
earth meets the sky. Then drop in a
series of parallel lines on a new separate
layer. These lines will form your
vanishing lines to the horizon line.
On the parallel lines layer, use the
Transform>Distort tool to pinch your
parallel lines to meet on your horizon
line. These pinched lines now form a
set of vanishing lines to give you an
idea of where to ground your buildings
Now you can draw your buildings
along these lines and they’ll look like
they fit in the environment. I do this
several times to get a bunch of different
vanishing points to work with.

63
 Workshops

8 Details and different shapes bring your piece to life

What makes your city interesting? Since my city is water based, my buildings are organic and flow together. I try to imagine what the
different areas of the city are. Where do people live? Where is the government and what do those buildings look like? How about schools?

BEFORE

AFTER

9 Keep defining all over
This is the most time-consuming part – just keep rendering out details.
I continue rendering on the right side and middle section of the city. You must lay
that foundation! Toggle your perspective lines on and off often; locking them
helps to avoid accidentally drawing on the perspective lines layers. If you need any
inspiration, just keep imagining how your society functions and how to render it.
10 Symmetrical buildings
Buildings are usually symmetrical. There isn’t
much symmetry in this city, but there is a little in some
places. A shortcut for rendering symmetry (if the building
is directly facing the viewer, not at an angle) is to render
one side and then select it and duplicate it on a new layer.
Flip the new layer horizontally, and then you can drag
the new layer to the reflected area and paint it in to fit.

64

11 Don’t forget the background
It’s easy to get lost in the minor details and forget
the big picture. Remember to zoom out and make sure
your city looks like it exists in the world. This is my
favourite part – I can spend forever working on little
details. The city is starting to take shape. I render the
buildings and turn on the guidelines occasionally to
make sure no lines are too wonky.
13 Almost there…
I flip the canvas horizontally again. I like the
flipped version better and will be using that as the final
orientation. I finally work on the foreground. This is
where reference of pine trees in my neighbourhood
becomes useful. Use foliage brushes sparingly: they
serve as a good base, but be sure to create new details in
the foliage with the Hard Round and Hard Elliptical
brushes afterwards, so that the foliage doesn’t look like a
patterned stamp.
In depth Unique environments
12 Add shadow and light
Shadow helps define the depth of the buildings and where they are in space,
while adding extra light makes it easier to pop out your focal points. I add these by
creating two new groups on top of the layers I have so far (which is about 100
layers). The shadow group comprises some low-opacity Multiply layers and
Normal layers (at 25 per cent Opacity), and the Lighting group is a mixture of
100 per cent Overlay and Soft Light layers. Play around with different types of
Layer Effects and colours – you may end up with a really great effect!
14 Ask for critiques and make final changes
I asked artist friends for feedback (thank you Aaron Miller and Julian Kok!).
Having fresh eyes on a piece can really help. They advise to add fog to differentiate
the foreground trees and rework the foreground. I add a stream in the foreground
to help lead the viewer into the piece instead of falling off the edge of the world. For
fog, use a Hard Brush Round and soften it as much as possible using Shift+[, with
light opacity, around five per cent or so, and build it up slowly. Then erase the edges
of it using the same softened Hard Round brush, around 10 per cent Opacity.
65
 Workshops
Artist insight
FIND CLARITY IN
DIGITAL SKETCHING
Erik Ly covers colour, brush choice, focal points and more as he
explains his sketching approach to create loose yet dynamic drawings
Artist It’s funny – back in my However, I find myself coming how important having a strong
PROFILE youth I was given the
nickname “Sketchy”
back around and enjoying just how
fun a little chaotic sketching can be.
presence and following is.
Creating fast but eye-catching
Erik Ly by my friends, Originally, this sketching style images that I could share almost
LOCATION: US
because of how developed due to sheer necessity. every day became the goal. Please
Erik specialises in surreal often I drew and how scratchy my The pacing of social media, keep in mind that I don’t always
illustrations, character drawings were. But as I grew up, especially Instagram, is so rapid and draw like this! Most of the time,
art and animal drawings.
eriklyart.com I distanced myself from the difficult to keep up with. It feels like if I slow down to create polished
GET YOUR
RESOURCES
scribbling boy that I once was.
Now in my professional work, my
illustrations are clean and my line-
you don’t post constantly, you can
easily become stagnant with growth.
I only mention all of this because I’m
and detailed illustrations.
However sometimes, you just
wanna get some fast and messy
See page 6 now! work is smooth. a freelance illustrator and I recognise sketching done.

USE THE RIGHT BRUS QUANTITY WILL

The golden question for artists is
what kind of brush they use, and my
1 ACCEPT YOUR MISTAKES personal favourite is a simple Hard
Sketching is a low-stake scenario, so try Round brush. It truly is nothing
not to stress too much about drawing. fancy, but I suppose there’s beauty
It’s okay to make mistakes in the in the sheer simplicity of it. When
beginning. Embrace it and try not to doing quick sketches, I set the
worry about the details. The main goal Opacity and Flow of the Round
when doing initial rough sketches is to jot brush to 100 per cent and zero Pen
down your wild ideas and then build Pressure so it acts almost like a
upon them afterwards. It can look like a marker. I love detailing things, but
Rorschach test, but as long as it makes keeping the brush simple in this
sense to you, you’re doing the right thing. manner takes away the desire to
start rendering when sketching.
U ITY
When starting a sketch, be sure to
draw quickly and confidently. Gloss
over mistakes and don’t spend too
much time erasing. If you’re not
happy with the way your drawing is
going, just start a new layer to build
something fresh or iterate again.
Through this process, something will
eventually click and you’ll know
when things feel right. A lot of the
time you may not know what you
want to draw until it’s directly in front
of your eyeballs.

66
 Artist insight Digitalsketches

TART CLEAN,
TA OO
After some sketching, ideally you
create something that you want to
push further. At this point I’d create a
new layer while also lowering the
Opacity of the previous one, so you
can easily draw on top of it. It’s
important to stay loose and to not
stiffen up when starting a “cleaner”
drawing. Strengthen the design and
the shapes you already put forth. In
the past I often strayed too far from
the sketch and became unhappy
with the drawing. You chose to move
forward with your sketch for a
reason, so don’t disregard it too
much when fleshing it out.

LEARN TO LOVE UNDO

Now, I did say that these drawings
are supposed to be quick – be sure
not to waste a lot of time muddling
around with something you’re
4 DON’T LIFT THE PEN unhappy with. If you’re drawing on
When doing some of my digital sketches, there are good chunks of top of the sketch you liked and it just
time where I don’t raise my hand and the tip of the pen stays planted isn’t working out, don’t hesitate to
on the screen. I like to keep my arm moving in little swivels. While it undo. Only you can know if
does create some visual clutter, I also feel that this approach can create something is working for you or not.
a lot of happy accidents when drawing. It helps me to be less stiff and There’s a fine line between undoing
to just go with the flow of the drawing. For example, a large part of this enough and undoing too much.
samurai sketch was done without lifting my arm off the drawing tablet. Trust your instincts and stop yourself
when it’s not working out.

67
 Workshops

IMPLY DETAILS
You need to be smart with where you spend time. If you focus
on detailing everything, things can become overly cluttered
quickly. You can see that this elephant warrior has a lot of
implied details. The lines on the elephant’s core wrap around
its form. Although this is rather simplistic, it gives you a good
idea of what the armour can look like with just a few strokes of
the pen. There are also scribbles on the deltoid armour pieces
and in the elbows, implying some kind of sigil or crest. All of
these “details” are conveyed with minimal work.

If you focus on detailing

everything, things can become
overly cluttered quickly

8 LIMIT YOUR COLOUR PALETTE

Digital media gives access to every colour out there.
While this is truly amazing, I think limiting yourself to
a few key colours is actually a better strategy. Using
a limited colour palette helps an sketch feel
cohesive. Using too many colours can sometimes
create a sense of messiness and a lack of focus.
I would say to stick with between one and three
primary colours initially. Afterwards, you can dive
between the values of each tone when detailing.

E BOLD WITH COLOUR

I truly believe that colour is the most important piece of the puzzle when
creating eye-catching art. I’ve done a few “tests” on social media. When
posting a drawing with no colour, versus the same drawing with added
colours, the latter will always get a stronger reception. So if it vibes with your
artistic vision: be bright, be bold. It also doesn’t hurt to get inspiration from
photos or other artists’ colour palettes.

68

10 EXECUTE A SKETCH IN ONE HOUR
Setting a time limit can improve creativity while helping you to stay focused on the task in hand
A Go with the flow
I initially draw a character on the
ground by himself, then add a sword and
the slayer holding the sword afterward.
One thing flows into another, and ideas
pop up during your process while working.
It’s okay to start drawing without a precise
idea – just flow with it!
Artist insight Digitalsketches
B Only draw the essentials
Armour is great for speed drawings C Use striking colours
Bold and stylised colours are
because everything is so easily identifiable important for a striking image. I decide to
in a few strokes. I’m only drawing what is make most of the background red. I choose
necessary here. The hands are rough as a light source and add enough details in
well as many other things, but at a quick the background so that it looks like a battle
glance you get enough information to see took place in a damaged building. The rest
what’s going on. is for the viewer to imagine.
MPHASISE AREAS OF IMPORTANCE
I’ve been talking a lot about efficiency and not getting stuck
detailing, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t detail anything
at all. In my foo dog sketch, there’s a lot more work done on
the face of the golden creature. As we go back further, we can
see the details trail off. I wanted the eye to bounce between
the lion and the girl it’s guarding. It was a conscious decision
to make the creature’s eyes and the girl’s jacket the brightest
colours in this picture; they are the focal points.
XPERIMENT WITH CURVE
There are many times when I’m stumped with colours and it
just isn’t hitting right for me. My go-to adjustment is
Photoshop’s Curve tool. I use it to change values in colours,
but you can also experiment to get some crazy combos.
Sometimes you don’t know what you want until you see it.
69
 Workshops
13 POSING YOUR CHARACTERS
When drawing characters, try to capture them in
poses that look natural, rather than stiff. They
should always be doing something, even if that
something is small, as long as it fits their character.
They could be lifting an arm and reaching for a
weapon, or just walking forward. In this drawing,
the assassin has one hand on his mask and another
carrying the head of a victim; you just know he’s
dangerous and not to be messed with.

When drawing
characters, try to
capture them in poses
that look natural,
rather than stiff
70
 Artist insight Digitalsketches
14 MAKE USE OF
REFERENCES
When doing rough
sketches, I tend to skip
using references, just to
see what my mind can
come up with on its own.
However, once I start
cleaning up my drawings I
always bring in references.
They’re useful and give
you clarity whenever
needed. When it comes to
designing characters
though, I’d say don’t
overuse them. Pull from
multiple sources to try and
keep things fresh. If you
have something specific in
mind, posing for your own
photos or enlisting the help
of a friend can be super
useful as well!

BREAK UP YOUR DESIGN
This applies to design as a whole, but for this specifically I’m going to focus
on this samurai-knight hybrid. Real knights were usually decked out in all-
plate armour (I’m generalising here, of course). Having the same material
across the entire design tends to dull the mind, coming off very samey at
some point. The cloth elements across the chest and waist help break up the
monotony. It keeps the design visually interesting to look at.
HE BEAUTY OF IT A
Taking this scribbly approach to my sketches led me to adopt
a new style for certain personal illustrations. I enjoy using wild
lines to create a surreal, abstract image that still captures the
human form. It’s all in good fun, and I wouldn’t have found this
approach without experimenting how I could quickly create
more quality content. So try new things, enjoy the process,
and you never know what kind of art you’ll produce.

71
 Workshops
Traditional skills & Photoshop
DRAW AND
PAINT D&D
CARD ART
Tony DiTerlizzi returns to
Magic: the Gathering after a
decade to render a classic D&D
monster for a new generation
Artist I haven’t created new
PROFILE artwork for Wizards of
the Coast in over a
Tony DiTerlizzi decade but when art
LOCATION: US director Tom Jenkot,
Tony is an award- invited me to be a part of an
winning and best-selling
author and illustrator,
upcoming Dungeons & Dragons-
as well as film and based Magic the Gathering deck I
television producer, who knew it was a project I could not turn
has been creating books
for children for over
down – especially since the card’s
20 years. design would be in the totally
diterlizzi.com awesome style of the adventure
modules from the 1980s. Girls just wanna 
I’ve refined my artistic process over have fun
the years and like to think that I’m Unlike the 1980s there are more
women playing D&D today,
technically better than I was when I including my wife and daughter, so
last contributed to Magic, so this was I design this strong female
character with them in mind (right
a fun opportunity to see how I’d down to the battle scars on her
render one of my favourite subjects arms). I reference softball and
after a prolonged absence. tennis players for the pose and
physique of this bad-ass barbarian.
CAPTURE A MOMENT
My years of illustrating children’s
books informed how I approached
PENCIL
this image – with regard to How I create…
HIVE OF THE
Sepia Prismacolor pencil
GOUACHE composition, movement, lighting,
palette and so on – but unlike books,
EYE TYRANT
Holbein Acryla gouache
PAPER
I had to capture a classic moment of
“Man versus Monster” in a single

 Planning the attack
Strathmore 500 Series
Bristol Paper, four-ply, image that could be easily read in a
plate finish
MASKING FLUID
printed image less than 6cm wide. I
kept in mind that the most successful 1 After numerous
Royal Talens liquid illustrations for Magic tend to be explorations in pencil and paper,
masking film more graphic than representational. I settle on my composition and
BRUSHES In the intervening years I’ve also scan my sketch into the computer
Royal & Langnickel
Golden Taklon synthetic
adopted the technique of enhancing so I can determine the tonal
brushes my gouache art using Photoshop. values and colour. I prefer doing
After all, the game is called Magic… this step in Photoshop because
SOFTWARE
Photoshop 2021 so what better way to convey that of its ease and versatility.
than with some digital wizardry?

72
 In depth D&D card art

Lethal laser rays
This classic D&D monster boasts
a deadly attack of lethal rays,
which emit from its many
eyestalks. The ray beams provide
an opportunity to add a
spectrum of colour to the
otherwise earth-toned painting.
Each beam is rendered in
Photoshop and tweaked using
the Motion Blur filter.

Fog machine
I compose the elements of the
image as if it were a scene in a
film so, for atmosphere, I add a
mist to the background via
Photoshop. I also use a Gaussian
Blur to help push the elements of
the setting further back and
enable the figures to pop.

Back to the future
My composition is inspired by the first illustration
of the Beholder, done for the Greyhawk
supplementary rule book, published in 1975.
Although this monster’s design has evolved over
the years it is still, essentially, an evil eye. The
original barbarian’s scale armour and winged helm
are pinched as well.

 
4  I’mTreasure awaits
   
honoured to be among
2 Follow the map 3  Every
The battle begins the artists invited to create a card
tsaoC eht fo sdraziW 1202 ©

I enlarge and trace my sketch on to Bristol painting has challenges. However, for this deck. To see my final art
paper. Then I render the final drawing. I keep my extensive preparatory studies help minimise placed in the retro-adventure
reference material handy so that I understand the problem solving and enable me to simply enjoy module design would have
objects and elements I’ll soon be painting. the painting process. impressed young 1980s Tony.

73
 Workshops
Photoshop
USE SHADOWS IN
YOUR PORTRAITS
Cynthia Sheppard applies strong cast and core shadow shapes
to define form and create drama in a realistic fantasy portrait
Artist One of my favourite Hurwitz as a model to demonstrate image and trying to recreate the
PROFILE ways to study the head
and portrait is drawing
some key techniques of lighting and
rendering a dramatic portrait. The
image faithfully, rather than
abstracting, caricaturing (as we
Cynthia or painting the same primary aim is to set up light sources might do with a cartoon), collaging,
Sheppard face from observation that create interesting shadow shapes or tracing an image. Observational
LOCATION: US
using different lighting schemes. It’s across his face. These create depth drawing is one of many ways to
Cynthia is a freelance fascinating how different a person and interest, and make it easier to create a portrait, but I swear by it as
illustrator creating
character-driven art, an can look depending on how they’re measure between the facial features the best method of building a visual
art educator, and former lit and how much it affects the mood and stay true to the model’s likeness. vocabulary. Observation reinforces
senior art director for
Magic: the Gathering.
of an illustration when we change Before beginning your own and builds on all other areas of
ifxm.ag/c-sheppard how much (or how little) of a face is portrait using the methods in this drawing study.
in shadow. workshop, it’s good to be familiar With all this in mind, it’s time to
In this workshop, I’ve borrowed with observational drawing – that is, summon a friend, grab some lights
my friend and fellow artist Lake looking at a live model or reference and follow along!

GET YOUR
RESOURCES
See page 6 now!

1 Get your lighting and model set up

My first step is getting the model situated and lit properly. I experiment with several setups using two studio lights with umbrellas, but
you don’t need special or expensive equipment to light a model. Try using cool or neutral-coloured bulbs, turning off household lamps, and
blocking out ambient window light with blackout curtains or cardboard. To help with the latter, I typically shoot reference in the evening when
there’s no ambient light coming in through my windows.

74
In depth Shadowsin portraits

75
 Workshops
A B C

2 Identify key shadow types

Cast shadows create dark areas on another surface (A). Core shadows are where two light sources meet in the middle (B), forming a
darker area or line. Form shadows appear on the side of an object facing away from the light (C) and have a softer gradient or blended edge.

SINGLE-SOURCE, TOP TWO SOURCES, EACH SIDE

STRONG CAST SHADOW SHAPES STRONG CORE SHAPES

3 Experiment with different lighting

The types of shadows and the visual landmarks they create across the face will change dramatically depending on how many light sources
there are, and how they’re positioned. A direct spotlight overhead is one of my go-to tools to create drama. Two lights from opposite sides
reduces the appearance of cast shadows, but can create an interesting core shadow.

76
 In depth Shadowsin portraits

4 Avoid too few shadows

When starting out, it’s common to gravitate toward
fashion photos, makeup adverts and other highly edited
sources as practice reference, but be careful with these
5 Beware of too many shadows
because they often don’t include well-defined shadows. Perhaps even more confusing than looking at a model without many
Any photo where the purpose is making the model look shadows is one with too many! Using three or more direct light sources can
“flawless” can result in portraits that look flat or are more confuse the shapes within the face, because cast shadows will begin facing different
difficult to draw from observation. directions and overlap each other, and form shadows will be obscured by light.

RESOURCES

PHOTOSHOP
CUSTOM BRUSH:
CYNTHIA SHEPPARD
CHALKISH

This custom brush

simulates a chalky

6 Find landmarks using core shadows

After roughing in a basic outline, I draw the core shadow. The darkest area where the two light sources meet falls
texture, while
maintaining more
traditional Photoshop
around the cheeks and chin area, and I represent that using a line. I do this first because it begins to neatly divide the Pen Pressure and
Opacity control.
face and gives me a starting point from which to measure.

77
 Workshops
EYE SYMBOL VERSUS SHADOW SHAPE

7 Identify landmarks with cast shadows

Using the core shadow line as a measuring point, I begin roughly laying in
the dark cast shadows with a large brush. I’m not concerned about individual
features or likeness at this stage. Instead, I focus on the overall shape of the darkest
shadows, and where the hardest edges are, such as under the nose and eye sockets.
Take note: the closer and more direct the light source is in relation to the face, the
harder the edges of its cast shadows will appear.
8 Employ shape-first thinking
Strong shadows help us think about areas of the
form as shapes rather than named objects, like “the eye”
or “the mouth.” When we name objects, it’s easy to stop
looking at the blobs of light and darkness in front of us
and begin recalling what an eye or mouth looks like.

10 Refine form shadow edges

Now I look at the more subtle mid-tones and “fill
9 Define outer edges
At this step I’m roughing in the background with a large brush. I find the
in” the rest of the portrait by blending the softer edges of
form shadows. I’ll also pay attention to where the
negative space around the model and define the edges of the hair. Using something highlights on the face are and rough those in using
besides a flat background can make it easier to find those shapes. In addition, look lighter values of grey. At this stage the portrait should
for places where the model casts a shadow on to the backdrop. start to look like your model.

78
 In depth Shadowsin portraits

11 Begin mapping out features

The foundation is complete! Now I’m looking at
how the eyelids, nose and lips cast their own shadows.
12 Detail the facial features
Because the planes of the face are broken up by shadows, I focus on smaller face details, like the curvature of the lips, eyelashes and
it’s much easier to see where the individual features of the placement of the iris. While I was learning I misunderstood the nostrils as black
face need to go, than if I tried to plop an eye in the right holes with hard edges all around. However, nostrils have almost exclusively softer
spot in a blank oval. form shadows, with one hard edge where the tip of the nose overlaps the nostril.

13 Refine the ears

Add the finishing touches
but the steps are the same as the rest of this process, only 14 The last steps are smoothing out form shadows and adding finer detail, but
Ears can seem like a complicated maze of shadows,
more subtle and at a smaller scale. Like the nostrils, the it’s important not to over-blend! It’s easy at this stage to zoom in and lose the big
hardest edges here aren’t created by cast shadows, but by picture by smoothing everything too much, but the form will keep its depth and
the well-lit tragus being in front of the dark ear canal. volume if the edges of the cast shadows, head and hair stay intact.

79
 Artist’s
Choice Award
Art resources with a five-star
rating receives the ImagineFX
Artist’s Choice award!

The latest art resources are put to

the test by the ImagineFX team…
PRODUCTS
ON TEST
4

HARDWARE
XP-Pen Artist Pro 1
With supposedly revolutionary pen
technology, does the Artist Pro 16 live up
to its name – and stand up to its rivals?
VIDEO GAME
Kena: Bridge of Spi
Artists from the worlds of animation and
VFX have made the leap to video game
design, and created a highly enjoyable title.
BOOKS How to Be a Childr n’s
85 Crimson k Illustrator
Enjoy this collection of stylised Gothic How to fulfil your ambitions of bringing a
artwork by illustrator Abigail Larson. picture book to life through your art.

RATINGS EXPLAINED Magnificent Great Good Poor Atrocious

81
 Reviews
XP-Pen Artist Pro 16
DRAWN TO IT Boasting revolutionary pen technology, does the new
Artist Pro 16 live up to its name and stand up to the competition?
Price £450 Company XP-Pen Web storexppen.co.uk
T
his may look like a
revamped Innovator 16,
but XP-Pen’s latest tablet
boasts improved stylus
technology, with the inclusion of the
interesting-sounding X3 Smart Chip,
and a higher colour gamut than its
predecessors. This offers what the
manufacturer calls a true-to-life
drawing experience. Let’s see if it
lives up to the billing…
The XP-Pen Artist Pro 16 has a
clean look and is fully laminated with a
subtly textured anti-glare film. While
this mirrors the XP-Pen Innovator 16 in
design features, the work area is
slightly smaller at 15.4 inches whereas
the latter is 15.6 inches.
Display resolution is the same at
1080p, a standard high enough to
work with little to no pixelation, but
the colour gamut – its ability to
replicate colour accurately – is
significantly higher at 99 per cent
Even if you lightly drag the nib across
your canvas exerting almost no pressure
at all, marks will still show up
82
Adobe RGB, compared to the
Innovator 16’s 92 per cent.
When we finally got the thing
working (the pen just would not
calibrate, and it kept shutting down)
we found it to be a surprisingly good
experience. The display’s glass is so
close to the LCD screen beneath it
that there is no discernible gap to
speak of, leaving the impression that
you’re drawing directly on to the
image displayed. This is close to the
experience of drawing on an iPad.
Apart from the initial calibration
issue, we have no complaints with the
drawing action. It’s smooth,
responsive and accurate, and we soon
got lost in the image-making process,
which is what it’s all about really.
MIGHTY PEN
Behind the user experience is that X3
Smart chip. While the pen looks
similar to some of XP-Pen’s many
neP-PX © shpargotohP
Eight customisable keys
enable you to put essential
software shortcuts right
at your fingertips – literally.
The stylus features new
tech that enables you
other styluses, the tech inside ensures
to make marks with just the resulting action feels new. XP-Pen
the lightest of touches
on the screen.
purports a “10-fold increase‘ in
sensitivity, resulting in a mere three
grams needed for the activation
force.” That means even if you lightly
drag the nib across your canvas
exerting almost no pressure at all,
marks will still show up, as they would
with a real pencil. Although there are
the standard 8,192 levels of pressure
sensitivity, the lightness of touch to
produce soft lines that taper with
pressure is impressive.
The tablet has a stylish metal casing
front and back. At just 9mm thin it’s a

Your creative setup may need a
few adjustments to accommodate
the unwieldy 3-in-1 cable.
The dial has a
rotating outer
surround, while
the inner area is
touch-sensitive.
neat product. The customisable dual
dials and eight shortcut buttons are
the same as the XP-Pen’s Innovator 16.
The buttons are nicely dampened and
have a great feel to them – as does the
dual dial, the inside of which is touch
capable. As you’d expect with a ‘Pro’
upgrade, everything with the Artist
Pro 16 feels a little more tactile and
better made.
The back is just plain with no rubber
feet, which isn’t ideal for resting on the
desk. It’s better to use a stand,
although no stand is included in the
box. XP-Pen sells them separately on
its website. The Innovator 16 came
with a relatively cheap stand at least.
But it’s a strange ommission to put up
with, as is the bundle of cables: a
USB-C to a three-lead HDMI, USB-A,
and power adapter seems a bit
unnecessary and messy.
The nicest surprise in quality is the
pen case, complete with nine spare
nibs, and a very handy small circular
nib remover. We’re not sure how
helpful it is having nine identical nibs
because the laminated work area’s
‘tooth’ isn’t that prominent and the nib
would probably last quite a while
without wearing down. Overall
though, the design and build justify
the ‘Pro’ designation.
CHOOSE YOUR OWN
At £450 the Artist Pro 16 is priced the
same as its Innovator predecessor.
The qualities of the Pro 16 should steer
you in its direction. It has a better
build quality, a slightly better drawing
experience and higher colour gamut.
The XP-PEN Artist Pro 16 looks and
feels the part, even if it doesn’t come
with a stand and has a mess of wires. A
complex installation process doesn’t
make the best first impression, but
persevere: you’ll benefit from an
excellent drawing experience.
Art toolsHardware
Consider Apple and Huion’s
tablets, and Paperlike’s add-on
Huion Kamvas 24
This series of tablets have great
screens, good response times
and are a joy to use. The most
expensive generation of Huion
tablets to date, they’re still more
affordable than their equivalent,
the Wacom Cintiq Pro 24.
Paperlike
Paperlike is a well-made texture
enhancement for artists who
work on a glossy iPad screen. It
The Artist Pro 16
doesn’t come with a
makes the iPad even better as a
stand – if you want one drawing tool and Paperlike has a
you’ll need to shell out
an extra £40.
nice texture and feels durable,
offering good value.
Apple iPad 10.2-inch
Web apple.com
Price From £320
Features
n15.4-inch screen
n1080p full HD
resolution
n99% Adobe RGB,
94% NTSC, 133% sRGB
colour gamut The iPad 10.2-inch (9th Gen) is a
nEight customisable
shortcut keys strong competitor to the iPad Air
nBattery-free X3 Elite thanks to smart new additions,
Plus stylus
n8,192 pressure levels but it would be a huge quality-of-
nOne USB-C port life upgrade if it had the Apple
Rating Pencil 2. Yet as a budget drawing
★★★★ tablet, nothing else matches it.
83
 Reviews
Kena can use her
collected Rot spirits to A core team of 15
move objects, help artists, engineers and
solve puzzles and act designers created
as combat tools. Kena: Bridge of Spirits.

This bull isn’t part of

the scenery – as Kena,
you need to work out
how to set it free.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits

THINK BIG Artists from the worlds of animation and VFX have made
the leap to video game design, and created a highly enjoyable title
Format PS5, PC Publisher Ember Lab Developer Ember Lab Price $24.50 Web emberlab.com

S
een simply as a gaming title,
Ember Lab’s debut on
PlayStation 5 is a
throwback to the days of
classic Rare and the kind of action-
adventures that went out of fashion
with the GameCube. However, in
many ways this is a release that
shows us the future.
Made by a small team of artists,
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is an example
of a boutique game that shows you
don’t need a team of hundreds (the
core team is 15 strong) to release a
visually stunning and engaging game
on modern consoles.
It’s helped that developer Ember
Lab has pivoted from being a VFX and
animation studio to video game
The western take on
Japanese and South East
Asian culture appeals…
84
developer. The brains behind Kena,
brothers Mike and Josh Grier, have a
background in animated commercials,
and tellingly this was the first game to
be shown at Tribeca Film Festival.
COLOURFUL FANTASY WORLD
Stylistically, the game shares a Pixar-
like bright and clean look. Leaning into The Rot are the game’s breakout stars, with their
character design showcasing Ember Lab’s
a Bali influence, Kena manages to find animation background.
its own visual style too. The western
take on Japanese and South East 60fps and the film-quality cinematics
Asian culture appeals and offers a at 24fps. But it’s a small niggle.
unique and colourful fantasy world. Gameplay is simple. Kena uses tools
There’s a strong connection to Bali to reach and explore areas of her
– voice actress Dewa Ayu Dewi world, while enrolling the adorable Rot
Larassanti also performs with Balinese spirits to use in combat and puzzle
ensemble group Gamelan Çudamani. solving. Again, perhaps a result of a
Perhaps acknowledging the small team knowing where to spend
developer’s size, the art team was its time, Kena relies on tried-and-
bolstered by Vietnamese animation tested ideas framed by charming
studio Sparx, and concept art from
ImagineFX contributor Kun Vic. This
visuals that manages to escape the
style over substance trap.
does mean there’s a disparity between
the game running at a silky smooth RATING ★★★★
 Inspiration Video games and books
Crimson
RED LETTER DAY Make yourself comfortable in a high-backed chair
by the fire and enjoy this collection of stylised Gothic artwork
Author Abigail Larson Publisher Caurette Price £40 Web caurette.com Available Now

F
ans of US illustrator and up a full page, enabling the reader to
character designer Abigail fully explore Abigail’s art.
Larson will be pleased. Abigail cites Arthur Rackham and
Her distinctive art has Pre-Raphaelite artist John William
been collected in a 248-page Waterhouse as two key influences, and
hardback, which makes a strong this is borne out in a chapter that
early impression with its matt black features her early work from 2009 to
cover and metallic red imagery. 2013. It’s interesting to see roots of the
Monsters, spirits and the darker side artist’s crisp lines and focused colour
of fairy tales feature in the artist’s palette taking hold here, even if the
work, which is often described as results are slightly looser. Another
‘romantic Gothic’. Each painting takes chapter gathers a selection of Abigail’s
sketches. She describes the rough
lines as “little ghosts on the paper” –
an apt phrase that’s in keeping with
the rest of the book.
This is a beautifully produced
collection that, while light on insights
Abigail Larson’s sketch
for the eventual cover
from the artist, is full of her gorgeous
of issue eight of the dark art.
comic Penny Dreadful,
published by Titan
Comics in late 2017. RATING ★★★★ Dashing Demons features Abigail’s take on a suave
and sophisticated-looking Hellboy.

How to Be a Children’s Book Illustrator

PAGE TURNER Do you harbour aspirations of bringing a picture book
to life through your art, for younger readers to enjoy? Then read on...
Editor Philippa Barker Publisher 3dtotal Publishing Price £30 Web 3dtotal.com Available Now

H
ow to Be a Children’s Book Alternate poses and
expressions for
Illustrator aims to make Florence the Talking
your picture book artwork Carrot, as drawn by US
illustrator Kyle Beckett.
stand out on the shelves.
For the first 40 pages of the book,
children’s illustrator Ruth Hammond
covers a range of points you’ll need to
consider when tackling a picture book
project. Illustrating such books is often
seen as a straightforward assignment.
Yet Ruth reveals there are many
factors that will influence your creative
approach. These include recognising In the second portion of the book,
your audience, maintaining the eight artists illustrate stories aimed at
narrative, and ensuring that the child children aged two to eight years. Each
(and parent) stays interested. illustrator then explains their process:
Ruth’s text is accompanied by character design, page layout, mood
artwork that helps to drive the point and more are covered in detail.
Canadian illustrator
Kate Pellerin, also
home. Whether it’s a child brushing If you see yourself as the next Dr.
known as Poopikat, their teeth or subtle visuals that hint at Seuss, then this book is a must-read.
reveals how she makes a character’s imminent adventure, her
her character work
within any environment. paintings expertly back up her advice. RATING ★★★★
85
 LEARN FROM THE EXPERTS AND
BECOME A BETTER ARTIST TODAY
Whether you’re a budding creator or a seasoned pro, ImagineFX Art School has
something to offer every artist, from improving your doodles and generating
new ideas to painting skylines, sketching animals and drawing fight scenes.

ON SALE
NOW

Ordering is easy. Go online at:

Or get it from selected supermarkets & newsagents
 GET YOUR
RESOURCES
See page 6 now!

TraditionalArtist
Workshopsassetsareavailable…
If you see the video workshop badge then you can watch the artist
in action. Turn to page 6 to see how you can get hold of the video.

Inspiration and advice from the best pro artists

92 98

This issue:
88 TraditionalFXPosé
Discover this month’s selection
of the finest traditional art,
88 which has been sent in by you!
92 Workshop:Painta
portrait–Part1:Prepare
Patrick J Jones takes you into his
studio to create an oil painting,
from concept to final art.
98 FirstImpressions:
Zhuk
Human emotions are explored
in these large canvases…
87
 Traditional Artist FXPosé
1

SHOWCASING THE FINEST TRADITIONAL ARTISTS

John DePianto
LOCATION: US MEDIA: Watercolour, colour pencils WEB: johndrawing.com
John brings to life enigmatic characters and stories.
While freelancing on a variety of work projects, he
also teaches illustration and visual arts.
2

1 JAZZ TREE-O
“An illustration of a jazz band that has been
trapped inside a tree by a curse.”
2 SKY DRAGON
“Combining a dragon with a forest
setting enabled me to enjoy spending time
3 TRAVELER
“A vignette illustration that shows a
sorcerer embarking on a journey along with
playing with line-work and crosshatching.” his slow but trusty turtle steed.

88 Want to submit your work? Visit ifxm.ag/getinifx

 Inspirational art
3

Want to submit your work? Visit ifxm.ag/getinifx 89

 Traditional Artist FXPosé
Heather A Laurence
LOCATION: US MEDIA: Ink, watercolours, pencils, acrylics WEB: heatheralaurence.com
Heather is an illustrator of the fantastic, whimsical and ominous. “I create
ink and watercolour windows into other worlds and characters.” Her work
has been featured in Infected By Art Volumes 7 and 9.

1 FOREST
“The young hero creeping through the
forest has no understanding of the dangers
2 HEDGE WITCH
“A wild witch fashions a potion over her
campfire. Who are the spirits in the forest
2
that lie before him.” around her?”

3 SERVANTS’ HANDS
“In the fairy tale, The White Cat, the
prince arrives at the enchanted castle, and
is waited upon by a vast number of
disembodied hands.

4 SIRENS’ SNACK
“A sacrifice to hungry sea gods is
accepted by sirens beneath the murky
depths of the pier.”

90 Want to submit your work? Visit ifxm.ag/getinifx

 Inspirational art
4

Want to submit your work? Visit ifxm.ag/getinifx 91

 Traditional Artist Workshop
PAINT A PORTRAIT –
PART 1: PREPARE
In the first instalment of his three-part series PATRICK J JONES takes you
E
into his studio to create an oil painting, from concept to final art
verything begins with a
simple mark. I paint with
lush, traditional oils on
canvas, and by the end of
this three-part series I’ll
have created a fantasy oil painting.
Painting methods have barely
changed since the days of Leonardo
and Michelangelo, and that also
applies to the principle of
preliminary drawings to get the
creative ideas flowing, which is what
we’ll explore in this instalment.
The first thing I do before starting
a painting is to conceive of it. This
may seem obvious, but many
beginner artists simply start
painting, hoping for inspiration to
strike during the process. Although
this can be done, and it’s a
wonderfully, inspiring and romantic,
it almost always ends in abandoned
work. Even in the hands of the most
brilliant accomplished artist this
is still often the case. To ensure the
best chance of success I start as
scientists do, by experimenting on
a smaller scale.
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Pencil Photoshop
MATERIALS Working small doesn’t mean small complicated part of mark-making,
CHARCOAL TOOLS
ideas. On the contrary, it’s the chance which is creating black-and-white
n General’s Soft to let our minds soar because we’re concepts, or comps as they’re known
Charcoal pencil not caught up in detail; instead we in the business. In this case they’re
n Pitt Charcoal pencil see the big picture, which is much simply pencil sketches on paper
n General’s more important. exploring basic shapes, ideas and
themes. This can be done anywhere:
Compressed Charcoal
sticks TRADITIONAL AND DIGITAL TOOLS
Although the process during the
in a café, sitting under a tree or
during a train ride. There are fewer
MISCELLANEOUS
n Paper stumps painting stage is old-world, the artistic outlets more readily to hand
n Tissue beginnings need not be. In this than pencil and paper.
n Kneadable eraser month’s workshop I’ll work with From these humble settings and
n Newsprint traditional pencil techniques to get materials we can begin our
n Photoshop my ideas down and use digital adventure in creativity, enlarging our
n Oils techniques to work out the values, ideas, growing them into colour
n Canvas colour and lighting. ideas and then more refined
Another reason why it’s important sketches, before the final majestic oil
to create small drawings is that I’ll be painting takes place in the studio.
working with a model, and need to Okay, let’s get brainstorming!
position and light her to match the Patrick is the author of the
concept. Working with models and bestselling books, The
lighting is an expensive business and Anatomy of Style, The Sci-fi
costs by the hour, but working & Fantasy Techniques of
everything out beforehand with Patrick J. Jones and Oil Painting
GET YOUR
RESOURCES
pencil and paper saves time, money Masterclass. He also teaches figure
and needless frustration. drawing classes online via his webstore,
See page 6 now! Working on the basis of simple to Proko.com and CGMA. You can see more
complex, I begin with the least of his work at pjartworks.com.
 In depth Fantasy portrait - Part 1
1 Time well spent
Let’s have a look at a recent unpublished artwork. Before
starting a painting I always do a colour rough such as this. My studio
artist friends used to raise their eyebrows thinking I was wasting time,
when in fact I was saving time that would be wasted trying to work
out colour choices and value choices during the oil painting.
2 A glimpse into the future
Here’s the final oil painting derived from those early colour
marks. If we squint our eyes and look at both at once it’s clear to see
there’s not much difference between both when reduced to basic
shapes. That’s what makes these early explorations so exciting – we
get a glimpse into the future!
3 A creative start
Starting can be daunting when we’re
aware of the task ahead. To overcome artist’s
block I start with doodles. I’ve been spending
quality time recently with a small bunch of
artists online with Steve Houston, and have
embraced his ‘little wins’ idea. Small drawings
with no pressure to finish them is an easy and
amazing creative start.
4 The need to explore
I begin with the concept of a warrior
and a serpent. The gestural flow of the snake
as it reaches up to strike creates a nice
composition. I could go with this straight
off the bat and begin working on detailed
preliminary sketches, but from experience
I know there are usually better ideas and I want
to explore them.
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5 Experiment with stamp-sized comps

With creative juices flowing I reach for a simple scrap of paper and jot down some comps. These are small – not much bigger than a
postage stamp – and therein lies their strength. All I need are blocky shapes; everything else I can delineate with notes. I write, ‘TITO’ when I
feel I’m on the right path: This Is The One!

6 Use Photoshop for volume and depth

The computer is at hand and I reach for Photoshop to do my
black-and-white comps. Although, for me, working digitally isn’t as
fast as traditional pencil for black-and-white comps, it’s still fast and
I block in some rough value marks to find volume and depth. At this
vague point she could be either a queen or a mermaid.
7 Build up a backstory
I commit to a title: The Martian Queen. With a title and a blurry
image I have a basic concept to begin my oils on canvas. At this point
I think of a backstory: how would a queen of Mars hold herself? What
is her demeanour, and most importantly, what does she want?

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 In depth Fantasy portrait - Part 1

8 Clarifying character beats and accessories

With this colour comp I clarify further my future painting. As a queen she needs silk finery and golden jewellery, she will hold her head
up high and luxuriate in a grand manner wherever goes. She is supremely confident, ruling Mars one million years before humans evolve on
Earth. With this backstory in place I create an indoor palace setting.

9 Developing grand surroundings

I feel that the lockdown has affected my lack of commitment
to a confined indoor setting and decide take the scene outside into
the vastness of Mars. I consider the queen lying on a plinth in her
outdoor courtyard. The pinky hues of the Martian atmosphere
introduce a grander scale to the background.
10 Taking advantage of the digital workflow
The advantage of working digitally means I can copy the
original comp and paint on top of it. I’m happy with the pose so all I
need to do now is play around with the composition and background.
I introduce the moons of Mars to create a grander scale.

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11 Searching for a warrior king

With Mars’s low gravity I imagine the Queen can leap great heights. Here she’s settled on rocks like a graceful bird. I’m still considering
what she wants and I believe it to be love. She’s searching for a warrior king and this helps me to further think of her emotional bearing.

12 Developing scale and flow

I felt the previous comp looked too much like a native
American. I decide to change the hairstyle and also consider the
compositional idea of clouds surrounding the figure. I drop the silk
robe downward to create more gesture, and soften the blocky forms,
then introduce birds for scale and flow.
13 A compositional faux pas
I push the gesture further and continue the flow through the
body and into the hair. At this stage I believe this is the one, but on
returning from a break I realise the composition has tied the hair and
the flowing dress to each corner of the frame like clothes pegs on a
line, and I abandon the composition.

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 In depth Fantasy portrait - Part 1

14 Use shadow to introduce a dark metaphor

I un-peg the gown from the bottom right corner and add a moon to frame the Queen’s face, which I place in shadow to create a mood
of mystery and longing. Will she find her warrior king? The shadow suggest she may never find him. This strengthens the emotional themes.

15 Everything I need for the next painting stage

With most comps we usually end with the one that works best. This could be because it’s the newest. I set it aside to be sure. Coming
back with a fresh eye I feel it has the right balance, the right scale – everything I need to hire a model for the next workshop. TITO!

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 Traditional Artist Interview
First Impressions
Human emotions are
explored in these
large canvases…
How did your
childhood
influence you?
I grew up in a family
of artists – my
grandfather, Igor Zhuk, was an
outstanding artist of the Soviet era,
and my mother, Anastasia Zhuk,
inherited this art and developed it
by devoting her entire life to
painting. Coming from a family
with generations of artists and being
constantly surrounded by creativity
and talent, made me approach my
career choice with careful
consideration and I made a
conscious decision to become an
artist. I’m developing my signature
art style by interpreting the
techniques of The Classical Art
School through my contemporary
view of them.
How would you describe your
approach to art?
My creative production revolves
around classic figurative painting,
presented in a contemporary
manner. In my paints I show my
vision of truth through my style of
art. I try to give the spectator the
opportunity to feel that there is a
light in every situation.
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LEVITATION
“The feeling of flying is one of
the most desired human feelings.
But if you look around, you can
find it everywhere even without
having wings on your back.”
I felt sad to say goodbye to
one of my works. It reminded
me of a child leaving home
SPIRITUAL FREEDOM
“We all want to be free in our
thoughts, actions and attitudes.
Being in nature and merging
with it – is the moment when
everything fades into the
background. And then we can
gain true freedom by
understanding and accepting
ourselves for who we are.”
Zhuk
Have you had a burning idea?
I had a dream when I was a child; in
that dream I saw an enormous
canvas depicting a huge vortex of
birds. Through constant self-
improvement, I realised recently
that I’m ready to depict this
challenging artwork. I’ve been
painting it for a few years now and I things. Don’t stop creating and
hope to finish it soon and be able to dreaming no matter what and
convey the effect that struck me
deeply once in my dream
How has the industry changed?
The industry of art is now very
digitized, which in my opinion is
very good, since it gives an
opportunity for any artist out there
in the world to present their art to
an audience. I believe that the NFT
sphere with its appearance has
changed the industry of art forever
– it will never be the same again,
and I think this is amazing.
Is making a living from art
everything you hoped it would be?
I believe artists can provide for
themselves and have everything
required for comfortable life. But it
depends a lot on constant self-
improvement and promoting your
works in art communities. I think
this is very important, especially in
our unique time of digital
technology.
Tell us about your first paid
commission, how did it work out?
I sold my work for the first time at
my first exhibition, but despite the
paid commission, I felt very sad
because I had to say goodbye to one
of my works. It reminded me of a
child leaving home. But eventually
I’ve outgrown this fact, and now I
think differently: as the creator I
give the canvas new life by passing it
to its new owner.
What’s the last piece you finished?
My last work is called Spiritual
freedom. I can say that every year
my art becomes more mature in
comparison to my earlyworks,
which makes me very happy. I hope
that throughout my career I will
be able to see the constant
transformation of all my works.
Do you have any advice for artists?
Don’t get distracted by daily trifles,
focus only on the most important
always be yourself. Hard work and
desire always lead to results.
Zhuk is a traditonal artist who is now
experimenting with digital techniques and
NFTs. You can find her work and process
at instagram.com/zhuk.live.