Invisible Cities

Who’s Who?
Igor Staritsin
Igor Staritsin is a Concept
artist, Matte Painter and
Environment artist working in
the film and video game
industries. With over 40 films
under his belt, some
recognisable names include
Godzilla, Destiny, Black
Panther and Game Of Thrones.
Igor initially worked for
Disney in 2008, rapidly
gaining success within the
industry ever since.
With a background in
traditional art and career
involving digital painting and
3D Modelling, Igor has gained
a set of powerful artistic tools
helping to visualise any idea
with any medium.
Igor captures ‘epic’ scenes filled with immense structures and dramatic conflicts. The idea of ‘concept’ is
pushed to its limits. An extremely admirable skill of the artist is his ability to surf through different digital
styles, from photographic realism to paint-on-canvas effects. Igor frequently incorporates blue and purple
hues in order to compliment his mature and dark themes, but can completely flip this around by
occasionally promoting scenes of vibrant yellows and greens depicting beautiful utopian worlds.
Staritsin’s large volume of industry-level work showcases his mastered eye for architecture, creating unusual
but convincing structures that amplify a scene and can suggest the era or universe of an image. His excellent
use of lighting is brave and unique. Igor isn’t afraid to illuminate his imagery artificially, creating logical and
functional lights whilst considering the clarification of further designs amongst a composition.
Personally, I love artists who are able to infuse current day concepts with dramatic futurism and supernatural elements. Igor’s above
artwork is a great example of this; as viewers, we recognise the characters’ coat as current fashion, a sense of familiarity. This contrasts
with the creature, the focal point of the image, along with its restraining container. The use of strobe lighting gives this piece retro
characteristics, the image is bursting with atmosphere from the blue reflections and dramatic shadows. This piece’s unusual aspect ratio
suggests that it’s been plucked from a high-budget, cinematic epic.
Igor has also shown his
ability to capture culture
from the real world. This
landscape suggest a
European descent,
supported by
environmental factors,
clothing and the use of
horses. Igor has skilfully
aged the painting by
damaging the boarder
with rusty browns, and
deforming the details of
the image. The clarity and
vibrance of the water
suggests a hot climate,
which is supported by
each character wearing a
hat and limited layers.
A very realistic scene
which could’ve come
directly from life or a
photograph, showing the
flexibility Igor is able to
effortlessly switch
between with his work.
I decided to research into Igor
Staritsin because of his structural
designs and its implementation into
complex scenes. Many structures
visualised in Igor's work have never
existed in real life, but are sewn into
a picture in such a way that looks
fluent, natural and therefore
believable. I aspire to achieve similar
outcomes within my own practices,
including my Armilla visual
interpretations.
By reflecting on Igor’s work among
many other skilled architectural
concept designers, I hope to gain a
mental catalogue of shapes and their
interactions with light, in order to
form effective city compositions of
my own.