Editor’s letter

Welcome to… EDITOR’S CHOICE Three of my top

picks this month…

32

We all have our heroes as

artists, our favourite worlds and
universes that have been built,
the characters that inhabit
them, and the monsters that
roam them. We also have our Inside a comfortable Long Island workspace
Explore Greg Manchess’ cosy studio, including art that
inspirations, be that music, has been to the International Space Station and back.
movies or an artist whose work
touches us in some way. 58
All those things come into play when we talk
about fan art, which isn’t simply the recreation of
someone else’s work. It’s an exploration of our love
for those artists, characters and places, or of a style
that has left a mark on us.
This month we put our focus on fan art, starting
with RaidesArt’s beautifully rendered homage to
Studio Ghibli film Howl’s Moving Castle, based on
the book of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones. Create a stylised fan art portrait
We also look at how working on fan art can boost RaidesArt reveals how she made her rendition of the
your skills and career, and offer more practical eponymous title character from Howl’s Moving Castle.
advice throughout our tutorial section, which
includes a wonderful step-by-step guide showing
70
you how to create your own version of the classic
grass-type Pokémon Venusaur in Photoshop.
I hope you enjoy the issue!

Editor Develop a detailed Pokémon

[email protected] Follow along with Juan Diego León’s in-depth process
for painting a stylised piece of Venusaur fan art.

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Your art 10 24
10 FXPosé
A round-up of digital art submitted by
you, featuring our Artist of the Month
Piyathip Unadirekkul, Vincent Coviello,
Kristen Wang, Anna Havaska Sváb, Nadia
Höllwarth and Joanne Tang.

22 The Rookies
Myat Hein Khant infuses Burmese culture
into a painting for their own story.

News and events

24 How fan art can
How fan art can level up
level up your prospects
FXPosé your prospects
Artists tell us why creating fan art has
developed skills and led to opportunities.
42
30 A day in the life of…
Zachary Berger
The creature specialist talks about his
work on Avatar and shares advice.

32 Artist in Residence:
Greg Manchess
Inspirations from Earth and beyond
in the freelance artist’s cosy workspace.

38 ImagineFX Art Challenge

Check out our pick of the best entries
from our first reader art challenge.

Features
The art of Marcel Mosqi
42 The art of Marcel Mosqi
We speak to the artist about his start in
video games and the joy of watercolours. 32 50
50 Sketchbook:
Richard Anderson
Mechs, monkeys and majestic warriors
are explored by the concept art director.

Regulars
6 Next month
8 Subscriptions
Artist in Residence: Sketchbook:
37 Letters
Greg Manchess Richard Anderson
40 Recent editions

4
 Issue 240

66 70
Workshops
58 Create a stylised
fan art portrait
Cover star RaidesArt shares her rendition
of classic Studio Ghibli character Howl.

64 Blob and draw

unique figures
Get experimenting with comic artist Rob
‘SketchCraft’ Duenas’ fun technique.
Make engaging Spider-Man art Develop a detailed Venusaur
66 Learn how to make
engaging Spider-Man art
58 Uzuri explains how she grabs the viewer’s
attention with her Peter B. Parker tribute.

70 Develop a detailed Venusaur

Grass-type fan art blossoms as Juan Diego
León shares the process for his homage.

76 Lend technique
and personality
Learn how Julian del Rey crafts brand
new characters using basic shapes.

78 Colour your shadows

Charlie Pickard explores the world of
shadows to get the best from your art.

84 Start with a simple sketch

There’s corgi chaos in Brock Grossman’s
barking mad futuristic battle scene.

Traditional Artist
88 Traditional FXPosé
The finest traditional art, sent in by you!
Create a stylised fan art portrait
92 Paint a stylish artbook cover
Moon offers pro insight on the finer
78 92 details of his latest leading character.

96 First Impressions:
Iryna Khymych
The Ukrainian artist explores the early
influences behind her stunning artwork.

Colour your shadows

GET YOUR
84 RESOURCES

1 Go to the website
Type this into your browser’s address bar.
https://ifxm.ag/howl

Start with a simple sketch Paint a stylish artbook cover

2 Click the download link
Find your files ready for download.

3 Download what you need…

Save the files or watch the videos.

5
 Next month

Editorial
Editor Rob Redman [email protected]
Art Editor Daniel Vincent

PERFECT YOUR
Production Editor Henry Burridge
Contributors
Dominic Carter, Zachary Berger, Greg Manchess, Richard

PORTRAIT SKILLS
Anderson, RaidesArt, Rob Duenas, Uzuri, Juan Diego León,
Julian del Rey, Charlie Pickard, Brock Grossman, Moon, Iryna
Khymych, Gary Stuckey
Advertising
Media packs are available on request
Chief Revenue Officer Zack Sullivan

Artist Brooks Kim shows you how to UK Group Commercial Director Clare Dove
Advertising Director Matt Johnston
[email protected], 01225 442244

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9
THE PLACE TO SHARE YOUR DIGITAL ART

10
 Piyathip Unadirekkul
LOCATION: Singapore MEDIA: Procreate WEB: www.instagram.com/piyathip.art

Creating is Piyathip’s hobby, and has helped her process difficult emotions.
She enjoys using environment and atmosphere to set the mood of a scene,
and draws inspiration from nature, abandoned places and her dreams.

1 HOPE
“This painting depicts the
passage of time through
difficult phases in life.”

2 NATURE TAKES OVER

“This painting was my
attempt at creating a serene
environment through the
juxtaposition of natural and
human-made structures.”

3 JUST ANOTHER
WEEKDAY
“This digital painting shows
an abandoned office scene.
It’s about seeing beauty in
the mundane.”

Want to submit your work? Visit http://ifxm.ag/getinifx 11

Vincent Coviello
LOCATION: US MEDIA: Photoshop WEB: www.instagram.com/vincentcoviello

Vincent is a concept artist and illustrator with a passion for creating new worlds and
the creatures and characters that inhabit them. Most of the artworks pictured here
come from his personal bestiary, which he titled Creature Compendium.

2
1 NOCTURNAL FAIRIES
“Fairies are typically associated with
the time between dusk and dawn. However,
2 ROCK CRAB DRAKES
“Rock Crab Drakes are smaller sea
dragons that are highly adaptable and can
there are also a number of nocturnal species. be found populating rocky coastlines, deep
These fairies tend to be highly elusive.” sea caves, or coral beds.”

3 CLOVER FAIRY
“The clover has long been associated
with magic and is highly prized. While the
plant has magical properties, it’s the
Clover Fairy that’s much sought after.”

4 MERMAIDS
“Mermaids are part of a vast net of
aquatic humanoids. Merfolk possess the
unique ‘false face’ adaptation, believed to
have evolved as a defence mechanism.”

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

 4

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

 2
Kristen Wang
LOCATION: US MEDIA: Procreate, Photoshop WEB: https://kris10wang.com

Kristen is a vis dev artist and illustrator who draws inspiration from
fashion, mid-century interior design and impressionist painters. She
aims to imbue her work with a similar use of colour and expression.

1
1 STANLEY’S OASIS
“Making the best out
of a Disneyland queue by
painting from life. I loved the
juxtaposition of a cloudy day
and how the warm lighting
bounces off the rocks.”

2 GOLDEN HOUR IN
CENTRAL, HONG KONG
“This captures the sunset
glow of the Central District in
Hong Kong and its iconic
historical buildings.”

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

4

3 IN SHARK WATERS
“Imagining what lives
below within kelp forests.”

4 TURTLE DUCK POND

“Illustration piece for the
StreetsOfZine’s Avatar: The
Last Airbender edition. This
is how I imagined the Fire
Nation palace grounds under
Fire Lord Zuko’s reign.”

15
 Anna Havaska Sváb
LOCATION: Hungary MEDIA: Procreate WEB: https://svanha.carrd.co

While working as a concept artist, Anna started taking on daily drawing

challenges for fun in 2017. She likes drawing fantasy characters and scenes
from books, and her sketches revolve around emotions and strong feelings.

1 2

3
1 LADY KNIGHT
“One of my favourite subjects
is women in armour. Be it poetic
or just as a striking change of
the narrative, they are always
interesting for me.”

2 LEAVE HIM ALONE

“A small twist to the well-
known story about saving a
princess from a dragon.”

3 WITCHER FAN ART

“This piece is fan art for The
Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf
movie about Vesemir. I love all
tragic love stories, and this one
was heartbreaking.”

4 SOMETHING THERE
“I like to use story dice to
come up with small narratives for
my daily drawings. I let everyone
else fill in the details.”

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

 4

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

 2
Nadia Höllwarth
LOCATION: Sweden MEDIA: Photoshop, Blender WEB: https://nadelblaum.artstation.com

Nadia studied fine arts before embarking on a freelance career. Her

style is a fusion of children’s book illustration and concept art. “I love
exploring whimsical designs that are connected to my daily life.”

1
1 CAT ARENA
“I took the challenge to
design a concept that would
fit with the style of the online
game Teamfight Tactics. I
learned a lot about ratios,
rendering and low contrast
for games. Hopefully no cats
will get injured!”

18 Want to submit your work? Visit http://ifxm.ag/getinifx

 4

2 THE ADMIRER
“Influenced by Zelda, I wanted to
capture that feeling of adventure with the
3 WORK WITH GHOSTS
“How do you depict intrusive thoughts?
By changing them into cute monsters of
4 VEGGIE DRAMA
“Kids dressed as vegetables has always
been an amusing thought to me. This is a play
story of an ancient civilisation through its course! However, in some way we’re never about veggies and their water consumption.
ruins and this gigantic statue.” alone in front of our canvases.” Strawberry and avocado will inevitably clash.”

Want to submit your work? Visit http://ifxm.ag/getinifx 19

 Joanne Tang
LOCATION: US MEDIA: Photoshop, Procreate WEB: www.joannetangart.com

Joanne is a freelance illustrator who draws inspiration from her everyday

life. She always tries to highlight a sense of colour and light in her work,
which is influenced by impressionist artists and film photography.

1
1 CHINATOWN CAR SHOW
“I saw this cute little car at
the San Francisco Chinatown
Car Show. I liked the contrast
seen between the graffiti
elements on the ground and
the vintage car.”

2 STUDIO CORNER
“This was a quick study
of my fashion designer
friend’s studio. I attempted
to simplify the brushstrokes
and textures in this piece.”

3 MELBOURNE
CITYSCAPE
“This piece was a view I saw
while living in Melbourne.
The goal was to use simple
graphic shapes to illustrate a
complex scene.”

4 SAN FRANCISCO
DOWNTOWN
“This piece was a study of
downtown San Francisco. I
tried to use colour variations
to push the sense of space
in the painting.”

2 3

20 Want to submit your work? Visit http://ifxm.ag/getinifx

 4

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 [email protected]

Want to submit your work? Visit http://ifxm.ag/getinifx 21

 The Rookies is a platform
to help digital artists
get discovered without
having to compete
with professionals for
attention. You’ll get to
the front page of those
sites one day, but for now,
we’ve got your back and
want to help turn your
passion for creative media
into a successful career.

WWW.THEROOKIES.CO

The Departure
YEAR CREATED: 2023 MEDIA: Photoshop

“This painting was done during my time under Drew

Hartel’s mentorship, and created for my own story The Boy
and The Rain God. I made this piece in order to have a solid
portfolio project, and to showcase my Burmese culture,
which is pretty under-represented in mainstream media.”

22
 The Rookies

Artist
PROFILE
Myat Hein Khant
LOCATION: Singapore
Myat Hein Khant is a visdev artist
born in Myanmar. He dropped out
of university to follow his passion
for art and began taking online
classes, before later moving to Singapore and
developing his portfolio while learning under
the mentorship of Drew Hartel.
www.therookies.co/u/MHK

23
ARTIST NEWS, SOFTWARE EVENTS

AT THE CORE OF THE DIGITAL ART COMMUNITY

This Invincible fan art by

Léo is a great example
of creating a sample of
an existing IP to get the
attention of companies.

Fan art like this Call of Duty piece

is very personal for Jeleynai. “I’ve
never been able to force myself Pernille’s Rapunzel strikes a perfect
to create art for things I wasn’t balance between the source material,
passionate about.” reimaginings, and her own take.

How creating fan art can

level up your prospects
Fans united Creators tell Dominic Carter how fan art has improved don’t they? Although heroes and
their skills, attracted clients, and introduced them to new audiences mythologies evolve with time, our will
to pay homage remains constant.”
A love of pop culture is also a
There’s more to drawing fan art than opportunists. In fact, fan art is now motivator for the Disney
showing some love for your favourite arguably a medium itself with its own and DreamWorks artist
subject. When shared properly, fan unique benefits, and one that gives Pernille Ørum, whose
art tributes can grab the attention of creators an opportunity to flex their portfolio features plenty
studios and expand your profile with artistic muscles with the help of some of fan art. “When I come
like-minded audiences. That’s not to familiar iconography. across something that I like, I’m
mention the fact that it’s a fun way always itching to put my own creative
to keep yourself sharp. Nostalgia and love for a
character, such as this
PASSION PROJECTS spin on it,” she says.
This is a far cry from how fan art Au Ra from the Final For Marvel and DC artist “Drawing is my way of expressing
used to be perceived. No longer is it Fantasy universe, help Toni Infante, this elevation my admiration for stories, characters,
Kassian decide what
seen as the preserve of amateurs or subjects they draw. of fan art’s status is a or universes I’m passionate about. It’s
natural step. Like many such a fun and engaging way for me
artists, he sees himself as to share my interpretation with others
a product of pop culture, with his work who share my interests.”
having been shaped by the comics he Speaking of shared interest, fan
read and the shows that he watched artist Kassian believes
while growing up. that it can open up a lot
“I think pop art itself included of doors, even for artists
elements akin to fan art; for example, who don’t have much
Warhol’s iconic paintings of Marilyn experience or a large
Monroe,” he says. “Historical artworks following on social media. “Whenever
of religious scenes also share some I post a new drawing, I get several
similarities with contemporary fan art, emails and direct messages from

24
 A DAY IN THE CREATING IN A INCREDIBLE
LIFE OF… COSY STUDIO READER ART
Creature concept artist Greg Manchess gives We pick out our top
Zachary Berger talks unique insight on his 10 artworks from the
about the importance studio, introducing us fantastic entries you
of looking after yourself to dinosaur friends and submitted for our first
to get the most from his artistic process, plus Art Challenge, with
the career that you’re sharing momentos that the prompt Mystical
passionate about. have been to space. Meets Machines.
Page 30 Page 32 Page 38

Although heroes
and mythologies can
evolve with time, our
will to pay homage
remains constant

Toni thinks his fan art, such as this

piece for Hyrule Champions: Age
of Calamity, succeeds because he
knows the material so well he can
sneak in lots of Easter eggs.

25
 ImagineNation News

Kirby is one of the many computer game characters

drawn by Toni that go down a storm on social media.

people who are interested in

commissioning me,” they reveal. “I’ve
also been approached by small indie
studios offering me either illustrator
roles or freelance collaborations on a
couple of occasions.
“By creating fan art, you can tap Illustrations like this one of Hawke
Flynn from the From Blood and
into huge fandoms that share your Ash book series have got Jeleynai
obsessions, and if they like your style, noticed by fellow fans and the
publishing community.
you’ll have a solid and supportive
community cheering you on before
you know it, especially when drawing Léo has a “candid love” art as well. What better way to catch the nicest and most rewarding ways
for characters such as
characters from popular franchises. Spawn, but his fan art is the eye of Marvel than by showcasing to share the joy something gives you
always something of a
It’s not just the fans but developers, personal take on them.
their own characters?” with others, and connect with like-
voice actors, and other industry However, a word of warning amid minded people.”
professionals that often appreciate all this promise of quick For Gearbox Software storyboard
growth comes from the artist Léo Chiola, these

My fan art led me to where concept artist Jeleynai. “It

does come as a bit of a
external pressures and
expectations are tuned
I am now professionally, and double-edged sword,”
she says. “Being known for one thing
out somewhat. “I don’t
really do fan art with an
I built my art career on it or one specific fandom can come with audience in mind, in the first place it’s
expectations from an audience that selfishly for me,” he explains.
fan art. It’s quite motivating when a there will be more to come. “But if I’m being totally honest,
concept artist or illustrator you admire “At times this can make it difficult it is indeed helping me to grow my
likes or leaves a nice comment on to expand in different directions as an audience. With so many people now
your post, not to mention that it can artist. That being said, it’s also one of posting online and showing their
help you build connections.”
Kassian enjoys playing

CATCHING THE EYE with colours and poses

of characters, such as
As for Toni, his fan art has resulted the Hrothgar from Final
Fantasy, to make them
in commissions from the IP owners fit into their style.
themselves, leading to him illustrating
iconic characters such as Spider-Man
officially. “Without realising it back
then, my work always had a nice
balance between the original designs
and my own style,” he says. “This
seems to resonate with companies
seeking fresh takes.
“My fan art led me to where I am
now professionally, and I built my art
career upon it. Of course, I often
Pieces like this drawing of Grifter from Wildcats is
encourage my students to create fan one of the ways in which Léo builds his portfolio.

26
Artist news, software & events

Frozen’s Elsa is one of many

INDUSTRY INSIGHT
Disney princesses that are a
staple of Pernille’s portfolio. SOURCE OF
OPPORTUNITY
Pernille Ørum talks us
through her fan art journey

Has fan art ever directly led to

receiving any opportunities
or commissions?
While working as a character
designer for a gaming company, I
used to frequently post versions
of fan art online. This helped me
gain recognition and eventually
led to me freelancing for some
overseas companies. Although I
also create original artwork, I
particularly enjoy interpreting
characters I love and sharing
them with people who have
similar interests.

Has creating fan art developed

your audience?
Yes, I experienced this especially
at the beginning of my online art
journey, when I started posting
my artwork. Not only did it
attract an audience that was
interested in my art, but it also
helped me create a community
of people who shared similar
interests to me. Whenever a new
movie comes out that I’m excited
to watch, I enjoy creating some
artwork to celebrate it. If others
are as excited as I am, then my
artwork will reach them.

Has fan art refined your skills

as an artist?
I started creating fan art when
I was a kid, and it has played a
significant role in my growth as
an artist. At the age of four, I
aspired to be an animator, and
would often draw multiple
renditions of Ariel and other
characters from animation to
improve my art skills. Initially, I
was copying those drawings, but
gradually, I began to create my
own versions. I’ve continued
drawing fan art, and even now,
I always try to do it as much as I
possibly can.

Danish illustrator Pernille is

the creator of DC Super Hero
Girls and has worked on the
Hit-Girl comic series.
www.pernilleoe.dk

27
 ImagineNation News

Cinderella from the

original 1950 Disney
movie fits Pernille’s
style as perfectly as
a glass slipper.

God of War is one of the many

video game franchises to be given
the Toni Infante treatment.

work, fan art can be an excellent and approaches, and some of these
Sometimes Kassian draws
way for artists to get discovered by an characters like League of are just part of my own style now,” he
Legends’ Syndra because
unexpected audience.” they identify with them.
says. “I’ve experimented with textures,
line-art, flat colours and realism before
ARTISTIC ADVANCEMENT mixing it into the style I currently have,
Fan art isn’t all about getting noticed which continues to evolve over time.”
though. As Jeleynai highlights, all that As for Léo, he approaches fan art as
work will pay off one way or another. an opportunity to continue improving
“Anything that can get you drawing and challenge himself artistically. “The
and keep you happy will be beneficial good thing is that you don’t really
for any artist’s growth,” she says. have to think about the design, so you
“For me personally, I’ve developed can focus on trying new and exciting
a lot more confidence in my sketching poses or experiment with any type of
from all the silly drawings I made and shape,” he reveals. “It can also be a
posted ‘just for fun’. I never expected great opportunity to try new tools and
so many people to connect with my techniques you would be too afraid to
sketches, but it was helpful for me to try with a design of your own!”
be less precious about showing my Kassian, meanwhile, says a passion
unrefined work. It just ended up for fan art results in high expectations.
getting me to draw a ton more!” “It works as a catalyst for growth as an
It’s a sentiment Toni can empathise artist and motivates me to explore
with. “Fan art has pushed me to new methods to get the exact vision I
explore various styles, techniques, have in my head,” they add. “It inspires
me to continuously study other artists,
overcome any obstacles, and strive to
Fan art can be a make the piece as good as possible.”

great opportunity COPYRIGHT CONCERNS

to try new tools There is one thing to be wary of when
it comes to fan art though, and that’s
and techniques the thorny topic of copyright. While all

28
 Artist news, software & events

Fan art like this piece of Xiao

from Genshin Impact gives
Kassian a chance to thank the
professional artists behind
video game characters.

Pernille’s Barbie fan art takes its cues from the recent
big-screen adaptation of the Mattel icon.

Fjord from D&D. Jeleynai says fan art can help

artists connect with new audiences quicker.

of our contributors have managed to pays off for creating fan art. “For me,
avoid getting stung, they all underline making fan art is always a fun way to
how important it is to be careful. ease into or out of work, or even as an
“I’ve never personally run into any opportunity to sketch characters from
issues,” says Jeleynai. “I’ve always a new series that I might have recently
tried my best to do research on the watched,” she says. “At the moment
policy and stance of any IPs when it I’m watching Yellowstone, and as I’ve
came to selling prints of fan art, and I always been fond of the western-style
do generally tend to be on the more fashion, it’s actually proved inspiring
conservative side when it comes to for my artwork.
making any money from any fan art “It’s essential to note that creating
that I’ve created.” fan art doesn’t grant you ownership Final Fantasy VII’s Aerith
is among the many video
Pernille agrees that taking a more of the characters, which means that game characters that have
cautious approach is where it actually commercialising it isn’t permitted.” shaped Toni’s artistic style.

29
 ImagineNation News
©2023 20th Century Studios

This design took hundreds of

iterations and nearly a year to
finally get right.

A day in the life of…

Zachary Berger
Respect yourself The creature designer on why it’s vital for concept
artists to take care of themselves, and his work on the Avatar films A signed poster from Avatar: The Way of Water
takes pride of place in Zachary’s workspace.

“I wake up at 7.30am, work out, and production designer wants. So there’s same thing every single day: a tofu
start my work at 9.30am, checking in a lot of Zoom wrangling. wrap. It’s like how Christopher Nolan
with my supervising art director to My job has been expanding into an wears the same thing every day; it’s
see where we’re at. I’m working a lot overseer role. I never want to stop Concept Art one less decision we have to make.
Association is an
with our franchise partners as they’re making art. I watch Dylan Cole, the organisation I work until around 7pm. My wife
expanding into games and theme production designer on Avatar, make committed to and I cook. I was doing personal art
elevating and
parks, and we’re like quality control. time to create art for the movie, even after dinner, but this year I’ve gotten
raising the profile
I’ll also check in with another as he has his eye on all departments of concept artists, more involved with guild meetings,
department called The Lab in the at all times. He’s been a good mentor. their art and their trying to sound the alarm on AI. My
involvement in the
virtual production pipeline, to make Lunch is around 12.30pm. Everyone entertainment
wife and I try to have a conversation
sure that they’re doing what the makes fun of me because I make the industries. Its before bed, often when the deep stuff
annual Concept
comes up, then sleep around 11pm.
Art Awards Show
showcases and My advice for people entering the
recognises field is to respect your body. I’ve had
behind-the-scenes
individuals
friends who’ve injured themselves
working in because they don’t, and they’re out of
entertainment commission for months. I want to be
concept art.
conceptart doing this for as long as I can – I love
association.com. it! So it’s a matter of allowing myself
to be able to continue, and part of
that is taking care of myself in both
the physical and mental space.”
Zachary considers himself
lucky to have been working
on Avatar during tumultuous
years in the industry. He also
lists his time on Spectral for Netflix and
Zachary at work on his Kong: Skull Island for Warner Bros. as
latest design project in
his home studio. career highlights. www.artofzachary.com

30
 In partnership with

©2023 20th Century Studios

© 20th Century Fox/Marvel Entertainment

Payakan was easily the most complex and

difficult creature design to crack in Avatar:
The Way of Water. The final design was a
collaboration between many talented artists.

One of the final designs

for Ben Grimm, AKA
The Thing, for the 2015
Fantastic Four movie.

The near-final ghost-hunting suit design for

the 2016 Netflix movie Spectral. The production
designer and director were trying to go for a bit
of a badass Ghostbusters vibe.

This year I’ve gotten more

involved in guild meetings,
sounding the alarm on AI

©2023 20th Century Studios

A collaborative piece with

Imery Watson of the near-final My first assignment on Avatar:
Spectral design. This was part The Way of Water was to design
© Netflix

of a massive presentation that a Pandoran great white shark for

helped get the movie greenlit. James Cameron. No pressure!

31
 ImagineNation Artist in Residence

This is an original J.C.

Leyendecker preliminary
painting study. It keeps
me humble and inspired
to paint from the heart.

Greg
Manchess
Cosy comfort The artist
opens up his Long Island
studio space packed full
of inspirational goodies

My studio is in a small
island house built in
1940, with no room for
easels or even large
wall space. But the
back end is full of windows, and I
love working in the light.
I have to block direct sunlight with
a piece of cardboard, but on overcast
days the light is just right. I can look
out across a farm field and a bank of
trees filled with squirrels, chipmunks,
and a variety of bird life. You know
when the hawks come through as
every creature freezes in place, and
then they all scatter.

The ubiquitous stack

of books for research on
assignments, writing, and
the sciences, especially about
neuroscience, performance
and the myth of talent, and
simply for the joy of reading.
An interior illustration of Chooka Frood’s house Hold a book in your hands, and
created for The Demolished Man. the world reveals its mysteries!

32
 Artist news, software & events

A tiny metal diving helmet. I’ve done a

series of paintings of all sorts of helmets
and this keeps me thinking about other
subjects I’d love to turn into a series, or
perhaps novels. Helmets mean that an
adventure awaits. A row of animal
sculptures to draw
from, predominantly
dinosaurs. I’ve been
a fan since a small
child, like basically
every other kid!

A partial stack of my journals. I’ve

kept work diaries my entire career.
Every job, every painting I’ve ever
A biplane model that keeps done over the decades, every day
inspiring me to refine my next of my adult life, with notes and
novel, which is about gryphon highlights about my professional
pilots struggling to maintain their life, and sometimes personal life.
way of life against a greater enemy Some of that will go into my
that’s out to eradicate them. And forthcoming book about painting.
of course for the love of biplanes.

A small copy of the polar bear sculpture in

the Musée d’Orsay by François Pompon.
Such life in that piece! It helped me keep the
characters of the polar bears alive in my
widescreen novel, Above the Timberline.

33
 ImagineNation Artist in Residence

Just a few of the originals I have from

other illustrators. On the left is one of the
first covers for Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left
Hand of Darkness, which I loved as a kid. The
right-hand painting is a study by John Berkey
for a sci-fi cover; loose, gorgeous brushwork!
The middle painting was made by the late
Sandy Kossin, a phenomenal illustrator who
lived a few miles from where I work now.

I have my lamps for painting at

night, and a drafting table that can
My studio isn’t perfect, Painting is a very personal, expressive
endeavour of laying down pigment.
handle my larger canvases. Artists
generally only paint in certain sections
but I’ve learned that what’s Aren’t we supposed to be breaking
rules and being creative anyway?
at a time anyway, so I can roll the important is the comfort Once you’ve gotten some simple
canvas back and forth across the table basics down for how to go about it,
to accommodate. I like to work flat on I paint primarily using oils on then build your own method!
a hard surface, at a gentle tilt. I stand pre-primed linen, and lately polyester. It’s the image that communicates,
to paint like one might at an easel, but I can store loads of paintings in one no matter how it’s created. Worry less,
the angle is much easier on my neck, drawer because I don’t use stretcher paint more. My studio is like that: feel
and I can see large parts of the bars, as I don’t like the bounce of a it first. It’s not perfect, but I’ve learned
painting all at once. stretched canvas. You only need that what’s important is the comfort;
stretchers to prime the fabric you’re Scandinavians call it ‘hygge’. You’ll
going to work on. Don’t think that you paint better if you’re comfortable, but
have to keep it on the stretchers. Once it doesn’t have to be big or perfect.
it’s dry, you can take it off. That way, Being forced into a space that I like
when shipping to get them scanned, I to dream in allows me to think bigger,
roll the paintings image side out and to push ideas larger than the space
insert them in a thick tube. It’s really around me. It helps me remember to
fast and very protective. make images and attempt things on
a grand scale.
WORRY LESS, PAINT MORE Greg has freelanced for over 45 years,
I’ve learned through long years of primarily oil painting, and won national
experience that there’s no ‘right way’ awards for his work in movies, publishing,
Mac’s Men, an interior to paint. Sure, there are efficient ways, comics, and more. This year, he’s set to be
illustration for a special but it’s not like we’re supposed to inducted into the Society of Illustrators
edition of Frozen Hell.
follow someone else’s rules about it. Hall of Fame. www.manchess.com

34
 Artist news, software & events

In with my stacks of brushes are drum sticks, though

one is missing. I’m an old drummer from way back in
high school. When I’m really flying in a painting, I’m
listening to music and air-drumming with my
brushes, slinging paint everywhere.

Mission patches I continue to design for the NASA Dragon capsule crews that
go to the International Space Station. I’m currently working on the Artemis crew
patch for the next Moon mission. The patch on the right, Crew 7, is the current
crew, while the Crew 1 patch has actually been to the space station and back!

An interior illustration for a special

edition of Frozen Hell, which was
the source material for The Thing.

Copies of my
widescreen novel
Above the Timberline,
which is based on one
painting I did for a
how-to video about my
work. It was written
over five years and
contains 124 paintings.

Old phones and

old typewriters. I like
seeing the history of
technology in objects
around me, and being
reminded of how far
we’ve come, and how
far we have to go. This
keeps me dreaming.

Flight Line, a personal

piece for a new novel
I’m working on.

35
 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

 Letters

New works that have

YOUR FEEDBACK & OPINIONS grabbed our attention
Contact the editor, Rob Redman,
on [email protected] or write
to ImagineFX, Future Publishing,
Quay House, The Ambury,
Bath, BA1 1UA, England
Follow us on X:
x.com/imaginefx
Gaëlle Seguillon showed us how to incorporate 3D
Find us on Facebook: elements in jaw-dropping fantasy art last issue.
facebook.com/imaginefx
Share your artwork via #imaginefx: There be dragons!
instagram.com/imaginefxmagazine Hello ImagineFX, I’m an artist from
Brazil and I try to include lots of tools to
make my work easier and more varied, haintbone
so it was really helpful to see the tutorial @haintbone
from Gaëlle Seguillon in last month’s
issue. I’m no expert when it comes to 3D
software, but I can see the benefits of
using it and her advice was so useful for
me. Please cover more of this and other
similar tools in the future.
Vítor, via email

Rob replies Thanks for getting in touch

Vítor! I’m so pleased that Gaëlle’s great
workshop has helped you out. I couldn’t
agree more that keeping a broad suite of
tools and skills can be a real boon for an
artist. As long as your fundamental skills
Flying fantasy Aquatic life took to the
air in our interview with
are looked after, it doesn’t really matter
Hi Rob. Having been a fan of his for so Grégory Fromenteau. what tools you use, whether it's brushes
long I was grinning like a kid in a sweet and paints or 3D and virtual reality, so
shop when I saw you’d featured Grégory we’ll definitely be covering some of these
Fromenteau last month. I love odd options in our upcoming issues. Harry Conway
fantasy art, especially when there are @harry_conway_
things flying that wouldn’t normally be, Spectacular vehicles illustration
and he’s a real genius at that kind of art. Just a short note to say thank you and
I’d love to see some of my other congrats. The last issue was great! That
favourites too. Maybe you could get tutorial on drawing science fiction
Stephen Tappin in to do something? vehicles was just what I needed, as I’ve
Eddie, via email been struggling to know how I should
approach things like the lenses on lights,
Rob replies Great to hear from you and and John’s explanation has really helped
wonderful to read that you enjoyed our big me nail it. Thanks again!
interview! Grégory really is a master of his Barti, via email
craft and I totally get your love for flying
fantasy art. I’m rather fond of that myself Rob replies Hi Barti. It’s great to hear
and a have a few favourites of my own from you and to know that John’s tutorial
that I’d love to get in the mag, like Ian was of use. We always strive to help artists
McQue. I’ve long been a fan of Stephen DID YOU MISS improve their skills and being able to call
Tappin. His work is stunning and always THE PREVIOUS on such talent is a great way to do it. Keep Angelika Rasmus
manages to inspire me to work harder at PACKED ISSUE? your eyes peeled for more in future issues, @angelikarasmus
Don’t worry –
my own art. I think you’re right and that you can get hold or keep an eye later in this one for training
he'd be a fantastic addition to an upcoming of issue 239 on all sorts of topics, from the theory If you’ve created art that you want us to
issue. Watch this space and we'll see if behind colouring your shadows to painting shout about simply tag us on X or Instagram,
at ifxm.ag/ and use the hashtag #imaginefx
we can get him in! single-ifx. a Pokémon fan art piece.

37
 ImagineNation News

Celebrating your art Discover our favourite entries

as ImagineFX readers let their imaginations loose

Back in March we launched our first

ever ImagineFX Art Challenge – and
you didn’t disappoint!
We received a range of artwork for
our Mystical Meets Machines theme,
ranging from delicious digital pieces Murielle and Karin Regenass www.tiktok.com/@regenassart
to gorgeous traditional work. The IFX
team loved seeing the variety of ways
you interpreted our prompt and had a
tough time picking our favourites.
A big thanks goes to our passionate
community for your incredible entries
and making our first Art Challenge a
success. We can’t wait to see where
your creativity takes you next!

Simone Perlina Jessica Lund

www.instagram.com/simo__world www.instagram.com/jessamyart Kate Becker www.instagram.com/katebecker.art

Challenge accepted Keep an eye on our social media channels for all the latest ImagineFX Art Challenge
details and you could see your art in a future issue! Visit page 3 for all our social channels

38
 Artist news, software & events

Ruth Lamich www.instagram.com/ruthlamich

Mat Sadler https://matsadler.com Michelle Tolo www.artstation.com/michelletolo

Anna Meshchanova www.instagram.com/anna_meshchanova John Walters www.instagram.com/jwalters.infinity

39
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Paint, just like our stunning cover vibrant cover from our star artist artist and author Tony DiTerlizzi. techniques for creating Procreate
art. We chat about getting into Julio Cesar. Blizzard’s Airi Pan DC artist Liam Sharp also talks portraits. Plus, we discover what
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41
Interview

THE ART OF

42
 Marcel Mosqi
UNEVENLY MATCHED
Marcel shows what happens
when you have a height
advantage but don’t play in
the same weight category.

How did you get started as

an artist, and what path has
your career taken?
Dominic Carter talks to rench artist Marcel
After a year or two of art school where
I wasn’t doing great, I started working
the artist about how he Mosqi is keeping in a small animation studio founded
started working in video things old school with his
watercolour illustrations in
by other young, motivated people. We
were very inexperienced at the time so
games and why he loves an increasingly digital world. it didn’t last, but that was a wonderful

painting in watercolours We caught up with him to

learn about how he broke
experience. From this point I became a
freelancer and struggled a lot to find
into creating paintings for video work for a few years, until I started
games, why he loves to work with working regularly as a letterer for a
unpredictable mediums, and the French manga publisher. I’d wanted to
reasons he’s thankful that the NFT be a manga artist for a long time, so I
craze has died down. did some manga fanzines in the

43
Chained Echoes – Steam Trading Card. Developer : Matthias Linda, Publisher : Deck13
Interview
CHAINED ECHOES SKY ATTACK
This trading card illustration of Glenn An A3 commission for
is one of four pieces Marcel made Billy Sky where Marcel
based on the Chained Echoes game. tried out a dramatic sky.

early 2000s, a webcomic called but it’s something I still have to think
Spunch Comics with friends in 2012, about actively when drawing, and I
and sent multiple manga projects to always have to go back to my sketches
publishers over the years. to add in more.
I began to focus more on illustration The way I use colour has changed a
after discovering watercolours in 2018 lot since I switched from digital to
and started working on personal watercolours. It immediately felt a lot
commissions. But as I was gradually
filling my social media pages with
watercolour works, I received more
The feeling of painting in as an external opinion about your
artwork is always useful. We used to
and more professional illustration or
design requests for video games, board
watercolours is great, the way post drawings on forums in the early
2000s to get feedback, but now there
games, tabletop role-playing games, or the brush slides on paper are so many more possibilities to
animation projects. communicate online, and that’s a
As I wanted to work on games, I more comfortable. Finding the right good thing for artists.
focused my portfolio and online posts tools is very important, whether they
in that direction. Now I work mostly are digital or traditional. In my case it What attracts you to creating work
on video games via indie developers or kind of made different things from my using watercolours?
video game publishers, doing key art, past experiences click together. FOREST FIGHT The feeling of painting with
Creating this combative
character concept art, and sometimes Influence and feedback from fellow fantasy scene took watercolours is great, the way the
background concept art. artists and others on the internet are Marcel longer than he brush slides on the paper thanks to
expected to complete.
obviously another important aspect, “I never learn.” the water, and how the colours mix
How has your art developed, and together is quite unique and relaxing.
what has driven those changes? Also, when I realised that there were
When I was making fanzines and waterproof Indian inks and I could use
webcomics I had to draw fast, which I my good old G-pen again, I quit
never really succeeded in doing. I working exclusively on the computer.
always tried to focus on broad shapes There are more practical reasons
and kept details very light so I didn’t too; it just seems easier to me. To my
have to spend too much time drawing surprise, it made more sense to me to
my characters or backgrounds. As I find the right nuance by mixing the
began to work more on illustrations, I colours and water together on a palette
gradually added detail to characters, rather than with a colour wheel in a
piece of software. And even if you can’t
Artist control exactly what watercolour paint

PROFILE will do on the paper – and that’s part

of the point of using it – paradoxically
Marcel Mosqi I feel more in control.
LOCATION: France As for the fact that you can’t undo
FAVOURITE ARTISTS: Tatsuya Yoshikawa,
Yuzo Takada, Akihiko Yoshida, Mateusz
anything, that’s a difficulty but also a
Urbanowicz, Kinu Nishimura, Hidari good thing for me. If I can use an
MEDIA: Watercolour undo button and colour sliders I’ll
WEB: www.artstation.com/mosqi
spam them all day, lose a lot of time

44
 Marcel Mosqi

DESIGN ILLUSTRATIONS
FOR GAME PROJECTS
Marcel explains the four key things that artists should
keep in mind when creating artwork for video games
Composition: Focus on the main Art direction: Illustrations need to be
point of the illustration and don’t try in line with the game’s art direction by
to use too many ideas. The simpler respecting the main colour choices,
the message is, the easier people will plus its vibe and design. People need
be able to understand it just by to remember it alongside other things
looking at the picture. they’ve seen about the game such as
trailers, screenshots and key art.
Organisation: Elements should be
organised and layered depending on Format: A game’s main key art is
their importance. Aside from the often required to fit different formats
game’s logo or title there’s no text to such as Steam’s store page, box art,
explain things, so you have to lay it all and even more vertical formats. This
out to communicate the strengths can be a real puzzle that requires a lot
and what it’s about. of sketching to figure out a solution. MAQNA MOCKUP
This concept cover art piece for the fantasy role-paying game MaQna
features Marcel’s original character, Sofia.

MAQNA BACKGROUND
This challenging piece saw Marcel
make a video game background
with watercolours.

concerned, they’re just speculation was quite a lot of work, so I didn’t

material. It’s funny how something want to make one by myself. I also
that was supposed to authenticate the never thought a publisher would like
creator/owner of an artwork led to so to publish an artbook that wasn’t any
many art thefts, as anyone can take way related to any known franchise or
any JPEG from anyone and then make made by a famous artist.
it their own NFT. But Spanish publisher Ominiky
I think the NFT craze was only Ediciones proposed making one with
supported by people who just wanted my past artworks, and to take care of
to create value out of nothing and earn the distribution. That went very well
and won’t leave anything to chance, PUMPKIN PALS a lot of money through speculation or and I’m glad I had the opportunity.
which is a pretty fun thing. This Halloween- scams. It doesn’t have much to do with Going through all of these old
themed witch and
her costumed canine art, and it looks like it’s over now. drawings made me realise that I don’t
On Instagram you say no to NFTs. were a welcome have as much time as I once did to
return to working
How come, and do you think the on cold-pressed Last year you put together an work on my own personal stuff, which
watercolour paper.
NFT craze has passed? artbook. What made you want to is partly a good thing. I also noticed a
NFTs were advertised to artists as a create it, and what did you learn few technical changes, like the fact I
way to certificate their ownership of from looking over your work? use more pigment in my colours now
their artworks and earn royalties on Actually, I didn’t really want to make than I used to, and that I’ve improved
each sale, but it doesn’t look like that an artbook to begin with. I’d made a my anatomy work a little, but lost a bit
was the point or even what NFTs are self-published one with a collective I of the spontaneity and dynamism
good at. As far as artworks are was part of a few years ago and that along the way.

45
Interview

46
Marcel Mosqi

MAQNA CITY BACKGROUND

The streets and shops in Marcel’s
MaQna background are bursting
with hidden details and bustling
character moments.

47
Interview
QUEST MASTER
Marcel sketched the details for this
drawing digitally before finishing it
up in his traditional watercolours.

Quest Master. Developer: Skydevilpalm, Julian Creutz, publisher: Apogee Entertainment

Do you ever suffer from burnout? afternoon for it, as it takes time to set ANGRY BIRD
If so, how do you deal with it? up. I like to have natural light, and I Instagram users can watch
Marcel’s step-by-step process
I think I came very close once or twice, feel it’s better to have long painting for this piece on his reels.
and I couldn’t work or do anything for sessions for the efficiency and colour
two or three weeks. I’m not sure how coherence. But that’s more chaotic and
to deal with it, but if I’m not too depends a lot on work and life stuff.
depressed I’ll just try to do something
that differs from my daily routine, Of all the work you’ve created so far,
something new and not work-related, what are you most proud of?
plus I try to avoid any kind of pressure There’s no specific illustration I’m
and to relax. The most efficient way to most proud of, but what I really want

I’d recommend trying out different

techniques to find the mediums that
you enjoy, and don’t get bored
avoid burnout, for me, is to take to do is to convey a feeling or tell a
vacations from time to time, but that’s story with an illustration, character or
always difficult as a freelancer. background. I don’t always have a
clear idea of what I want to do from
Can you talk us through your the beginning. It often starts with a
average working day? vague impression or a feeling, then I
In the morning I’ll usually work on try to find the best way to represent it.
sketches for ongoing and new works, I feel like I succeed when I manage to
and I also take care of emails, invoices, express it, or when someone makes an
quotes and administrative matters, illustration theirs, not by making an
which is part of freelancing. If I have NFT out of it, but by interpreting it
painting to do, then I usually take the and relating to it in their own way.

48
 Marcel Mosqi

Moonstone Island. Developer: Studio Supersoft, publisher: Raw Fury

CREATING DYNAMIC POSTER
ARTWORK IN WATERCOLOUR
Marcel explains how he made this piece for Metroidvania game
Astalon: Tears of the Earth, made by Jon Lepage and Matt Kap
This is a poster illustration that needed to I tend to think about colours beforehand
show the three main characters dynamically. and make sure I know where I’m going
I was allowed to change the designs a little before I start painting, as correction is often
to make them closer to my style, so I added impossible with watercolours. To save time,
in ornaments and more details to the I first paint all the similar colours in one area.
character in the foreground to make them This allows me to prepare my palette with
the centre of attention. I also made the cape these kinds of colours and creates a sense of
of the wizard go behind him to stand out consistency in terms of tones. Here I painted
more thanks to the colour contrast. Then I the warm colours first, especially the yellows
lightened the background colour around and golds. Because they are surrounded by
the characters so they pop more due to the blues, they could have easily turned into a
saturation and contrast difference. bad green if I didn’t do this.
MOONSTONE ISLAND
Key art for Moonstone Island, a cute open-world
deckbuilding life-sim from Studio Supersoft.

What’s next for you? Do you have

any exciting projects coming up, or
are there other areas of art you’d
like to explore?
I love working in the video game
industry and there are things I’d like
to do more of, such as being more
involved in the artistic direction of a
small game, and working more closely
on the development side with a small
team who have the same tastes.
In my free time I’ve worked on a
couple of mock-ups and concept art
pieces in order to make watercolour
backgrounds for video games, such
as SaGa Frontier 2 on the original
PlayStation console, which impressed
me so much as a child because of the
hand-painted backgrounds. There are
many different possibilities and I’m
working on finding an idea or a project
that would benefit from the use of
watercolour backgrounds.

What advice would you give to

aspiring artists hoping to follow in
your footsteps?
Maybe don’t be like me; instead find
and go to a good art school if you can.
Astalon. Developer: LABS Works Publisher: DANGEN Entertainment

Keep being curious and search for

great and different artists in various
styles and study them, because the
more you know the ‘vocabulary’ and
possibilities, you’ll be able to integrate
them into your own art.
In a similar vein, I’d recommend
trying out different techniques to find
the mediums that you like, and don’t
get bored. We need to practise a lot to
improve, so try to keep having fun
ASTALON POSTER drawing and don’t pressure yourself,
An alternate poster for Astalon, a
cool pixel-art Metroidvania game to avoid suffering from burnout or
from Jon Lepage and Matt Kap.
becoming frustrated.

49
 Artist
PROFILE
Richard Anderson
LOCATION: England

rd
Richard is a senior artist

ch a
and concept art director in

Ri
entertainment. For over
20 years he has worked on
numerous big-name video
games including Arkham Knight, films

n
such as The Creator, and many more

rs o
projects for the likes of Marvel Studios,

And e
Universal Pictures and Riot Games.
www.artstation.com/flaptrapsart

tor
th e co n ce pt art direc NUTS 2 BUTTS,
s,
n to f uturistic mech sk etch ing choices MARTIAL MONKEY,
fashio stylistic AND TWISTED TEMPLE
From iconic t his inf luences and
talks abou
“Daily sketches I created for Inktober 2022.
I collaborated with co-workers to come up
with inspiring subjects or phrases for each
day’s sketch. This exercise is beneficial for
artists, especially those who are new to
the creative industry. It’s a great
challenge to see where your
imagination can take you
with just a single word
or phrase.”

50
 Sketchbook Richard Anderson
SYD
MEAD MECH
“This is a robot that belongs
to a series I’ve created. It’s heavily
inspired by Syd Mead, one of my
all-time favourite artists. I love
mimicking the marker style from the
80s and find a lot of inspiration from
that era. I drew it using my custom
brushes that I’ve made to
look like markers.”

I love to mimic
the marker style
from the 80s, and
find inspiration
from that era

NEW YEAR’S EVE

“I draw a lot of inspiration from classic
illustrators. One favourite genre is fashion
illustration, as I’m fascinated by how these artists
can convey so much in minimal brushstrokes. Here,
I aimed to emulate this style using broad,
continuous strokes for basic shapes,
and finer strokes for intricate
details.”

CONTROL
YOUR FLOW
“I have an idea for my robot
series to implement a control
testing station. In this design, I’m
prioritising form over function,
striving to create a cohesive
flow while avoiding 90-degree
angles. As you can see, I’m
being precise about
the direction of my
brushstrokes.”

51
 I prefer to use broad,
precise strokes to give form,
and play with textures to
describe materials

IDEAS
FROM ODD PLACES
“I’ve always had a fascination with
creating and designing castles. To come
up with unique ideas and shapes, I take
inspiration from common or unusual sources
such as photos of half-built B-29 bombers in
factories. I then break down these shapes into
basic forms and let my imagination take over.
Sometimes I begin with a fantasy concept, but if
it doesn’t come together, I switch to a sci-fi
setting to see if it works better. I try to
remain flexible with my ideas and let the
primary shapes guide me before
adding my own personal touch
with medium and small
details.”

52
 Sketchbook Richard Anderson

BUYERS AND SELLERS

“I have a vivid imagination of nomadic creatures inspired
by various references. Unlike castles, I like to take photos of
characters and regular things, and try to add a mystical touch. These
two have normal, possibly attractive eyes, but as you examine more
closely, you’ll notice something uncomfortable or threatening;
it’s as if they want to mutilate each other. I use broad and
precise strokes to give form, and play with
textures to describe materials.”

3D PRINTER
“An idea for a machine to 3D print
robot parts inspired by classic industrial
design aesthetics. The drawing techniques used
were similar to those for drawing with a marker.
The goal for the design of this machine was to
maintain a balance of large, medium and small
shapes while being intentional about all
marker stroke directions.”

BOTS
AND FLOW
“These are robot
design concepts that I
created taking inspiration
from the classic golden age of
illustration. Utilising knowledge
of industrial design, I aimed to
create a concept that flows
smoothly throughout the edges
while keeping sharp angles in
precise areas. These designs
were created using brushes I
made to imitate the classic
Prismacolor markers that
were the industry standard
in industrial design
from the 70s to
the 90s.”

53
 INKTOBER 2023
“I compiled a list of my favourite comics
and characters to draw in my own style.
Here are a few of my favourites! Clockwise
from top-left: Nightcrawler, Conan the
Barbarian, Wolverine, Rocket
Raccoon, Punk Rock Jesus,
and Spawn.”

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 [email protected]

54
 Sketchbook Richard Anderson

SWORD PLAY
“I enjoy playing with digital
tools and creating new brushes.
Some of my experiments are
successful, others aren’t, but when I
do find a tool that works, it’s so
satisfying! Creating new brushes
inspires me to draw more and more.
These two sketches started as a
result of me playing around in
Photoshop, experimenting with
new brushes and seeing
what kind of visuals I
could create.”

Some of my experiments
are successful, others aren’t,
but when I find a tool that
I STILL works, it’s so satisfying
DRAW ARMY MEN
“Sometimes I find it funny that I
still get excited about drawing an army
man or a ninja, even at the age of 42. Despite
growing up, my artistic interests haven’t
changed much since I was seven years old. As
for my work process, I like to start by thinking big
and creating large shapes with broad strokes.
Then I move on to medium-sized shapes,
where I can experiment with different
brushstrokes and line styles. Finally, I focus
on small details, such as highlights and
sharp lines that help convey the
overall image to the viewer
in one glance.”

55
 GET IMAGINEFX
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DIGITAL!
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56
 GET YOUR
RESOURCES
See page 5 now!

Workshop assets
are available…
Download your resources by turning to
page 5. And if you see the video workshop badge,
you can watch the artist in action, too.

Advice from the world’s best artists

58 64 This issue:
58 Create a stylised
fan art portrait
Find out the process behind our
Howl’s Moving Castle cover art
from pro illustrator RaidesArt.

64 Blob and draw

unique figures
Have a go at Rob ‘SketchCraft’
Duenas’ fun technique for
creating snazzy artwork.
66 66 Make engaging
Spider-Man art
Uzuri uses Procreate to paint a
standout homage to Spider-Verse
favourite Peter B. Parker.

70 Build detailed
Venusaur fan art
Expert insight on the workflow
Juan Diego León followed to
create his stylised Pokémon.

76 Lend technique
and personality
Julian del Rey starts off with
70 78 simple shapes as he develops a
brand new character.

78 Learn to colour
your shadows
Get an introduction to creating
powerful shadows in your art
with Charlie Pickard’s guide.

84 Start with a
simple sketch
Brock Grossman draws a small
but ferocious commando corgi
with a mechanical sidekick.

57
 Workshops

ArtRage Vitae
CREATE A STYLISED
FAN ART PORTRAIT
Illustrator RaidesArt pays tribute to much-loved Studio Ghibli
film Howl’s Moving Castle with a semi-realistic portrait piece

Artist This tutorial is based We’ll go over some key concepts order to follow my workflow, you
PROFILE on my own rendition
of Howl from classic
that are an integral part of my own
workflow, such as the choice of
should be familiar with the settings
and brushes of your drawing app of
RaidesArt Studio Ghibli movie colours and using layer blend modes. choice. Knowledge of blend modes
LOCATION: Germany
Howl’s Moving Castle. Along with that, I’ll give you tips into and how to set them up in your
Raide is an illustrator My main aim was for a semi-realistic how I create the illusion of depth in software will also be important.
with a focus on semi-
realism, portraiture and
recreation of the character that keeps my pieces, as well as insight on my This tutorial is for the more
lighting in her artwork. his features recognisable. general thoughts throughout the experienced artists out there, so I
Her twin sister Leffie is Rendering, lighting and texture creative process. won’t be explaining the basics of
also an artist.
https://bit.ly/3U24cAy
will be the focus of this workshop. Even though I used ArtRage Vitae, facial anatomy, colour theory and so
Over the next few pages, I’ll guide the techniques described here can be on. Instead, I’ll focus more on the
you through the process behind my applied in any drawing software. I rendering aspects, and which tricks I
portrait from the first sketch to the used the standard brushes available apply to quickly achieve a crisp and
finished illustration. by default in the program, and in semi-realistic result.

Sketch the proportions

2 The key to stylisation is to push the proportions to
fit my style, while not swaying too far away from the
Draw out your blueprint original design. In order to accomplish that, I loaded up
1I always find it easier to create an illustration if I have a general reference that the thumbnail and reference images of the character into
I can use as a guide. This is why I enjoy creating a quick thumbnail sketch, with ArtRage and used them as a guide to create the sketch. I
which I can explore the composition, colours and lighting of a piece. While I don’t blended the general proportions of the character with my
necessarily stick to that sketch throughout, it’s helpful for me to have a general idea style, which meant making the eyes more realistic and
of what the finished illustration could look like. the nose larger than the original.

58
In depth Stylised fan art

59
 Workshops

Block in initial versions of the feathers

3 Using the Freehand Selection tool in ArtRage, I outlined the silhouette of each individual feather. I wanted them to be layered on top of
each other to increase the sense of depth within the painting. In order to create this effect, I made multiple layers that each had numerous
feathers, with all of the feathers on each individual layer the same distance from the viewer.

Shade the feathers

5 For this piece I decided to work on the feathers first
Pick the colours since they were an integral part of the portrait. I started
4 I used relatively muted, almost grey and middle-toned colours as a base. I did by adding texture to the top layer of feathers, and used
this because I knew I wanted to add brighter and slightly more saturated lighting the Oil Brush and a dark blue to add individual diagonal
later on. In general, duller colours paired with saturated colours make them appear strokes across them, indicating their fine surface. I also
even more vibrant and rich. I used the Paint Roller tool and slightly varied the hue highlighted the parts of the feathers that face the light
and tone to create more depth in the feathers as well. source with a more saturated, lighter blue.

60
 In depth Stylised fan art

Switch to the face

6 After working on the feathers for a little while, I
decided to shift my focus and began rendering the face
by adding very fine, soft shading. I colour-picked the skin Add more volume
tone, and shifted the tone and hue to a slightly darker, 7 I enjoy layering the shading in multiple smaller steps, increasingly adding
saturated and reddish colour. I used that colour to apply a depth to the overall face each time. To achieve this effect I created multiple layers,
little depth underneath the nose, along the cheeks, under each set to the Multiply blend mode. A light reddish colour in the shadows added
the eyebrows, and along the chin. warmth to those regions, while I mostly used the Airbrush for smooth transitions.

BEFORE AFTER

Cast a shadow to bring additional depth

8 In order to create more depth, I decided to add a cast shadow of the feathers along the character’s cheeks. The displacement between the
shadow and the feathers established the distance between them. To get that shadow effect, I duplicated the feathers, locked their transparency,
and filled the silhouette with a dark red colour. I then set the layer to the Multiply blend mode to darken the region.

61
 Workshops

Change of direction 10 Paint the gem

The green gem is a small yet important detail in the
9 After a break, I noticed that the overall direction of the composition tilted painting. An object appears shiny when bright highlights
towards the left. I decided to break that direction to establish a closer connection are paired with dark shadows, so I used a dark blue for
with the viewer by making the character look directly at them. I made sure to paint the shading and a light blue for the highlight. As well as
the edits of the eye on a layer above the original, so that I could easily switch back that, I brought in a saturated mid-toned green between
and forth between the two versions. the shadows to make the gem glow.

Re-use assets to speed up the process

11 I like to re-use certain elements when I’m working on time-sensitive projects, or when I quickly want to test something out. I saved some
time during the rendering process of this piece by using the feathers I’d previously painted, but with duplicating, repositioning and rotating
them. Afterwards, I made sure to edit them individually to prevent them from looking copied and pasted.

62
 In depth Stylised fan art

12 Continue rendering
At this point, I continued painting and refining the
feathers. I applied the same techniques I’d previously 13 Additional details
To round the painting off, I decided to include more texture and details.
mentioned and made sure to add finer strokes of blue I added a sparkly texture throughout different regions of the piece with the Glitter
along the highlighted regions. I also added variation to Tube. In the settings panel, I also adjusted the Multicolour value to 16% to create
the feathers by erasing small sections, which made them some variation within the tones and hues of the glitter itself. Doing this makes
appear rougher and thus livelier. the effect appear richer and less flat.

14 Implementing feedback
After spending some time rendering Howl, I noticed that the
piece overall felt a little cool. I asked for feedback from my sister Leffie, 15 Final colour edits
After a few hours’ rendering, I was happy with the result and
who thought adding Calcifer might improve the piece. I implemented decided to edit the colours. The piece felt a little too dark overall, so I
her feedback and painted the character in the bottom-right corner, added more contrast and brightness. I also slightly upped magenta in
and added Calcifer’s glow at the very end of the process. the shadow regions, and added warmth to the highlights in GIMP.

63
 Workshops

Artist
PROFILE
Rob
‘SketchCraft’
Duenas
LOCATION: US

Rob is a full-time concept

artist and cartoonist. He’s
currently drawing Spawn
Kills Every Spawn for
Todd McFarlane, and has
previously worked on
platformer games Crash
Bandicoot 4: It’s About
Time and the Spyro
Reignited Trilogy.
https://bit.ly/4cU4zp7

64
Tech Focus Drawing techniques

Technique focus
BLOB AND DRAW
UNIQUE FIGURES
Rob ‘SketchCraft’ Duenas introduces us to his fun
technique for creating attention-grabbing artwork

“I always thought that Power

Rangers would be killer as an
animated show, so I designed
them as such in Photoshop,
with diamond-shaped brushes
for lines and chalk brushes for colour.
I work with the ‘blob and draw’ technique.
You start off by ‘blobbing’ in the character
pose in full silhouette, then layer on the figure
lines over the blobs in order to give them some
structure. Next, it’s time to dress them up, so
blob some clothes over the figures, then dive
straight back in and draw over the blobs with
more lines to refine those details.
Once you have everything in the right place,
dim the lights, lower the opacity, and draw
over the full figure with your final lines. And
that’s how the magic happens, folks.”

65
 Workshops

Procreate
MAKE ENGAGING
SPIDER-MAN ART
Uzuri breaks down how she illustrates an attention-grabbing
character portrait with colour, brushstrokes and expression

Some of my favourite portrait that achieved this pose on a determined expression, which
Artist
PROFILE artworks to create are
subjects inspired by
vertical digital canvas. It wouldn’t
show most of his arms but needed to
allowed me to avoid creating a static
pose and face.
Uzuri characters in animated remain dynamic. My final task was to elevate the
LOCATION: US films and TV. Because I used most of the canvas’s limited finished line work with rendering,
Uzuri is a freelance artist of that, I wanted to tackle illustrating space by tilting him to convey that light and shadows, bright colours,
focusing on character- a portrait of Peter B. Parker from the he’s leaning forward. By having him and noticeable brushstrokes. This
driven art with strong
colours and dynamic
gorgeously animated Spider-Verse also look at the viewer, it creates helps to increase the energy of the
brushstrokes. She has films, paying homage to the moment engagement and becomes a focal portrait, while utilising the brilliant
worked with Dark Horse, he pulled his mask over his face. point for the rest of the illustration. A colours and stunning rendering
Topps and more.
www.uzuriart.com
This was a great starting point. The slight smirk with narrowed eyes and that’s become a trademark look for
challenge was to create an engaging furrowed eyebrows also gives him a the Spider-Verse films.

How I create… GET YOUR

RESOURCES
A PERFECT PETER B. PARKER See page 5 now!

Build the base Create contrast Focus on the character

1 I start by drawing mostly finished line
2 As the background and suit are
3 I begin colour grading and make final,
work on its own layer. Inspired by traditional almost the same colour, I made most of the more engaging changes. A yellow overlay
techniques, I made a red layer beneath my shadows and light sources red-hued. This complements the existing colours, and I
line work to mimic an underpainting. This draws attention to his face as it’s a different frame the piece with more blue at the top.
helps the brushes blend more efficiently colour. For more contrast, the blue is largely To make him the focus, I add a solid yellow
and creates more tones when I paint. flat with limited shading and lighting. outline that matches his skin.

66
In depth Engaging artwork

67
 Workshops
ENTICE THE VIEWER
Lighting colours
The primary light reflecting on Peter is red, which
can be seen framing his face, ears and forehead,
and under his nose and arm. However, I made the
light source on Peter’s fingers purple to convey the
brightness of the blue present in the artwork, and to
make them more distinguishable.

Brush selection
To make the artwork more interesting
visually, I used two different brushes
for the rendering stage. The Coloring/
Rendering Brush was used for Peter’s
face and much of his suit, while Round
Touch was used to highlight the web
designs and eye outline on his suit, as
well as the blue on both the top and
bottom of the artwork.

Eye details
To make his eyes more
lifelike and distinguish
them from the shadows
around the area, I added
RESOURCES in small blue, red and
yellow details to his
pupils and bottom lid.
It creates an effect that
not only matches the
existing colours, but also
PROCREATE makes his expression
CUSTOM BRUSHES: that much more intense
LINEWORK PEN while achieving contrast
from the shadows.

My go-to pen for

sketching and inking,
each stroke conforms to
the pen’s weight.

COLOR/RENDERING

This brush colours and

blends simultaneously to
create visible strokes and
a painterly effect.

ROUND TOUCH
Sharpened layers Palette purpose
Once the artwork was finalised, it was This piece heavily relies on three primary
important to provide more separation colours: red, blue and yellow. To prevent
from the solid colours and brushstrokes them from clashing, each has a purpose:
used to render his face and much of the yellow in the centre is the focal point, red
This one can be used to shading and lighting. To do this, the surrounds yellow and serves as a light
cross-hatch, apply small painted layers were sharpened by 100 per source, and blue frames the piece. This also
details, and fill in large cent, which helped to make the individual draws the viewer’s attention to Peter’s facial
areas with colour. paintstrokes more visible. expression and eyes.

68
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 Workshops

Photoshop
DEVELOP DETAILED
VENUSAUR FAN ART
Follow along as Juan Diego León paints a beautiful Pokémon
and shares his expert advice on using realistic lighting effects

Artist Every time I start to explored expressions are all elements all my illustrations. I discovered it
PROFILE create a new Pokémon
illustration, I always
that I love to use in my work.
In this case, I’ll show you the
little by little, adding in different
processes as I worked on various new
Juan Diego like to transform them process used to illustrate Venusaur, projects. You can learn from playing
León with my own personal from the idea and references all the with 3D or 2D tools, so always try to
LOCATION: Peru
style. Bright, vivid colours, dynamic way to the colours, lighting and post- add new skills that can help you
Juan is a storyteller, art silhouettes, and unique or little- production. This is my workflow for improve your illustrations.
director and vis dev
artist. He has worked on
films and game projects
AdobeStock/Alberto Masnovo

since 2008, and recently

teamed up with Disney,
including creating art for
TCG Lorcana. Outside of
work, Juan likes creating
colourful characters and
making fan art.
www.jotadeart.com

74
PHOTOSHOP
CUSTOM BRUSH
DOWNLOAD
AdobeStock/Chansom Pantip
AdobeStock/200509313

PHOTOSHOP
CUSTOM BRUSHES:
JOTADÉ BRUSH SET
Set up your Photoshop canvas
1 and collect necessary references
Get started by creating your canvas. In my case, I like
to work at 5,000 x 5,000px at 300 DPI. This way, I can Create design sketches
ensure that I have a good resolution to my illustration, 2 After listing the most important characteristics
and if I want to print them or use them for social media, of your subject, explore with some sketches to see what
I can always show my art at a high resolution. When pose would best represent the character, in addition to
planning out my pieces, I use PureRef, which you can giving you a different and original view that perhaps
download online for free. It’s a useful tool that allows you hasn’t been explored much before. I try to make the pose
To download a selection
to collect and check all the visual references you might dynamic, always in movement, and give the character a
of Juan’s Photoshop need for a project. You also can add text, and keep the cool facial expression. This part is difficult, which is why
brushes for free, visit program above all other windows while you work to it’s important to take your time experimenting with your
https://bit.ly/4aSHjGk
keep track of your inspiration as you go. sketch as you search for something that looks great.

70
In depth Detailed fan art

71
 Workshops

Apply local colours

Keep your silhouette balanced 4 The next step is to add the local colours. Look at
3 I always like to use the Lasso tool to create the edges of the character, and your references and try to pick out the most neutral
at the same time start to see what the silhouette would look like. Try to make colours in the character. Using the Lasso tool, you can
something that’s balanced, with complex silhouettes in some parts, and a more select different areas and add the spot colours under the
simple look in others to help you balance the interesting parts of the character. By guidance of your sketch. Another good tip is to always try
creating a clear silhouette, it’s also going to be easier to read the movement and and check over the greyscales, which will enable you to
posing of the character, as well as where they’re looking. better see the contrast in your colours.

Light layer Shadow layer

Mask in lighting effects

6 Following on from the previous step, to add the
shadows, I create a mask on the shadow copy (B) and
Create light and shadow copies begin to paint the parts where the light would fall, while
5After finishing with the local colours, we can move on to the lighting and thinking of my character as a volumetric object. This way
shadow process. What I usually do is mix all the base colours of my character and I only worry about the position of lighting and shadows
make two extra copies. On one version, let’s call it version A, I add more light using and don’t have to think about the colours. Using this
the Color Levels and Balance, and usually add a warmer tone in general. Then for method, I can also reveal the illuminated version of my
version B, I use the same technique to darken it and move towards cold colours. At character (A) and quickly create the illusion of light.
the end, I’m left with three versions of my character: the original with neutral When you’ve done this, take your time to polish the
colours, the illuminated version (A) and the shadow version (B). shadows and light in a more detailed way.

72
 In depth Detailed fan art

Start rendering
7 Create a layer on top and begin painting, mixing
the colours, making the transitions smoother, adding in Add an ambient occlusion layer
details, and rendering your character. This part is where I 8 When I finish with the rendering, I add a layer of ambient occlusion. I do this
usually spend more time, because you have to be aware by creating a completely white layer and lowering the opacity to be able to see the
not only about light, but also the materials of what you’re limits of my character and reinforce the volumes, lighting and shadow areas using
painting. In this case, we have Venusaur’s skin, leaves, that ambient occlusion. This is a technique used more in 3D rendering, but the
flowers and vines, and every element has its own ambient occlusion can reinforce the volumetrics of your character and painting in
material reflections, roughness and so on. general. I recommend you investigate this, as it’s a very cool addition!

Expand the details with another rendering pass

9 Let’s take a second pass at the rendering. In this part of the illustration, we can take care of the small details such as the shine on the leaves
and the skin, and how the materials react to light. For this, we can guide ourselves from our references again. I’d suggest you have a decent
image search to find a whole lot of references, as this is the best way to work when you’re rendering. You can also try out different brushes for
different effects, as sometimes they can create a great final texture on the character.

73
 Workshops

10 Use subsurface scattering on the leaves

Whenever you paint organic characters, you should look out for a way to add subsurface scattering for the skin, or in this case the leaves,
petals and plants in general, which should have this effect. Take a look at how this works in real life and try to apply it to your character. This is
also a good way to show the viewer how the light can affect the character in a more realistic or stylised way, depending on what you’re after.

74
 In depth Detailed fan art

Complement the character with a surface, shadows and detail

11 When the character itself is ready, it’s great to add details to their surroundings that complement the illustration. I’ll usually add in a
surface under their feet, along with plants or other elements that can provide colour to accompany the storytelling.

12 Adjust in post-production
When you’ve got all the elements just the way
you want them, you can make post-production tweaks.
Typically, I’ll add a general colour correction, as well as
the Color Dodge or Hard Light blend modes, which will
often improve the highlights in a fire, rim lights, the sky, 13 Apply final filters
When I’m finishing up with my illustrations, I’ll generally make a copy of
and sometimes the bounce colour of the floor. These everything and then apply the High Pass filter, before using the Soft Light blend
tools can help you to create a strong general atmosphere mode. With these effects, we can highlight the finer details of the illustration much
within the illustration, and can also blend the character’s better, which will make the image appear sharper in general. However, one extra
colours, background and any additional elements tip I’d recommend here is that you lower the opacity so that the overall effect is
together in a more natural way. more subtle and not so pronounced.

75
 Workshops

Technique focus
LEND TECHNIQUE
AND PERSONALITY
How Julian del Rey began developing
his characters using stylised shapes

“I’ve liked superheroes ever

Artist since I was little, and I’ve
PROFILE always been fascinated by
Julian del Rey fantasy, and of course by
LOCATION: Spain
Dungeons & Dragons. My
Julian is a conceptual idea with this piece was to combine these
artist, visual developer two passions into a single identity. Added
and art director based in
Spain. He has worked on
to this is my obsession with expressing
video games for over 10 myself through forms.
years for companies like After many years perfecting my line
Blizzard and Riot Games.
https://bit.ly/3VPcVbu work technique, it seemed like a good
time to take the stylisation of my shapes
further in order to develop greater
personality for my characters. I then
rendered each part of the character
with warm shadows, cold lights
and layer adjustments to
harmonise the colours.”

76
Tech Focus Develop personality

77
 Workshops

DID
YOU MISS
PART S 1-5y?
ge 40 to bu
See pa
and
issues 235-239
l of Ch arlie’s
read al
expe rt tips!

78
 Artist insight Shadow colours

Artist insight
PART 6: COLOUR
YOUR SHADOWS
Charlie Pickard shares his expert tips for creating powerful
shadows with colour, including perfecting your skin tones

Artist Shadows are one of powerful tool for controlling the knowledge of how shadows work, we
PROFILE the most underrated
areas of an image by
mood of our work and truly placing
a character into an environment.
can improve our depictions of them
and access some of the strength of
Charlie students. The first Much of this over-insistence on expression contained within.
Pickard mistake often made is black can be traced back to the one However, shadows are also often a
LOCATION: England
an over-insistence on creating dull, overriding idea many people have source of confusion, and the level of
Charlie is a classically black shadows. However, shadows about shadows: that they are dark. variety can feel quite overwhelming
trained fine artist and
illustrator who works, are often some of the most exciting Our artworks will always be an at times. Adding to this, there are a
exhibits and teaches out and chromatic parts of an image. If expression of our knowledge of a few slightly inaccurate ideas floating
of his studio in London.
handled properly, they can be a subject, so if we can improve our around that confuse the topic, and
https://bit.ly/3R3Dcz3
many students give up on trying to
If we can improve our knowledge understand shadows.
The following are a few ideas and
about how shadows work, we can strategies that I’ve found accurate,

improve our depictions of them but also simple enough to easily be

understood and applied.

1 PICTURE THE MOON defined as the area the light space, we only see the light
The first element we need to can’t reach, so it makes sense shape as it catches the sun.
engage with is the idea that the that in this simple setup they This was how many traditional
shadow in its simplest form has would be perfectly dark. schools of painting encouraged
no colour or value at all. It’s If we want to see evidence of artists to look at nature, and the
perfectly black if only an object this kind of lighting in nature, strong separation of shadows
and a light source are present we need only look to the moon. and lights are key to creating
and nothing else. The shadow is With the perfect darkness of any believable scene.

79
 Workshops

2 SHADOW VALUES REQUIRE

AN AMBIENT LIGHT SOURCE
Now, you might be wondering, I just said
that creating overly black shadows was a
common error for beginner artists, but I
just described how the first thing we know
about them is that they are black in an ideal
scenario. So how can this be an error?
The answer to this lies in realising that
while these black shadows are absolutely
how lighting works in the abyss of space, Light background
we don’t exist in space. Objects on earth Lights to shadows – 1/2 down to black
always exist within an environment. This
environment reflects the light thrown onto
it, and this environmental and ambient light
is the real reason for the shadow colours
that we perceive.
You can see in the example images here
that the relative values of the shadows
change depending on the environment I
place the objects in, rather than the main
light source. This is a vital consideration for
us. The light doesn’t create the shadow, the
environment does.
Midtone background
The value changes may initially seem a
Lights to shadows – 1/3 down to black
little random as you look at these different
scenarios. However, we can note a few
things, the first being that the darker the
background is, the darker our shadows will
be, and vice versa.
You may notice, though, that each object
also has it’s own value shadow, so how do
we keep those consistent? The best way
that I’ve found to control this in imagery is
through the ratio between the lights, the
shadows and absolute black. Whatever this
ratio is should remain constant within the
scene. If we can manage that, we’ll have Dark background
taken a big step towards creating realistic Lights to shadows – 1/5 down to black
shadows in our artwork.

3 PAY ATTENTION TO THE RATIO

To give you an example of how this works in practice, let’s
take a look at a painting I created that had a lot of moving
parts and various local colours going on.
As you can see in the black and white version of the image,
the secret to the whole piece remaining consistent, even
through all of the complex values, lies in maintaining this ratio.
For this image, I knew each object was going to shift halfway
towards black as it moved from the light and into the shadow.
Try it yourself; it’s surprising how well it works.

Shadows are made visible

by ambient light, so it makes
sense that their colours also
follow the environment
80
 Artist insight Shadow colours

4 THE WARM LIGHT AND For our first examples this idea
COOL SHADOWS MYTH holds up quite well. We observe this
As we move past the pure value warm light/cool shadow relationship
relationships of objects and into the quite cleanly. However, in the
exciting world of the colours of our examples underneath this concept
shadows, I want to dispel a common doesn’t exactly hold up in the same
idea that I don’t think quite holds up. way. We observe that I can use the
There’s an idea that warm light = same warm light source and create a
cool shadows and cool light = warm scenario where there are warmer
shadows. Let’s examine that. As you shadows instead. Similarly, within the
can see below, on one side of this cold lighting scenario, I can create
image I’ve placed two objects in a cooler shadows.
range of lighting conditions, one Clearly this idea isn’t the full story,
white ball and one skin-tone colour so what’s actually going on? And
block under consistent warm and what ideas can we actually rely on
cool lighting conditions. to predict these colours?

Warm light Cool light 5 SHADOW COLOURS FOLLOW

ENVIRONMENTAL COLOURS
One thing we might have noticed in
the previous example is that to change
this shadow-colour relationship, I simply
changed the background colour. Here
lies the simple secret to control shadows.
As we already said, shadows are made
visible by ambient light, so it makes sense
their colours also follow the environment.
Warm light – cool shadows Cool light – warm shadows It seems obvious an object can only
Obeys rule Obeys rule express the colours of the light source
acting on it. Since the ambient light is the
Warm light Cool light only light acting on the object, it makes
sense the shadows’ colours can only be a
result of the colours of the environmental
lighting, as in the examples above. Note
that in all the coloured environments, the
shadows are always close to this
environmental ‘home’ colour,
So next time you’re depicting shadows,
look first at the environment surrounding
them. That will be the first clue to what
Warm light – Warmer shadows Cool light – Colder shadows colour you should start with.
Breaks rule Breaks rule

6 GIVE IT A GO IN
YOUR OWN WORK
This understanding of the shadows
as being a direct result of the
background colour is one of the
most powerful tools we can use in
our own paintings. It’s one of the
real secrets to sitting a subject
inside an environment believably
and can go a long way to creating
a realistic atmospheric effect.
Try it out for yourself. Start your
image with your background colour
and every shadow you add, start
them out as the colour of the
background and then deviate from
that starting colour. This can be an
effective way to gain a sense of
harmony in your colour choices.

81
 Workshops

7 COLOURED LIGHT SOURCES

We’ve learned so far that shadows are
primarily caused by the light sources of
the environment, leading us to a natural
and important question: how do coloured
light sources actually affect objects? There
are noteworthy surprises here best seen
when we take a subject to extreme
conditions. Here I’ve photographed four
cubes in red, blue, green and a skin tone.
Let’s see what happens when we take this Red light
setup through extreme lighting scenarios. Red and low chroma skin expressed
What we’d expect from our knowledge
of colour mixing is that if we throw a
strong red light on a blue object, we’d
perceive a purple colour on the object.
But when we actually do this in our setup,
we see this isn’t the case as the blue
object becomes black instead.
In fact the only objects that aren’t black
in these extreme lights are those that are
the colour of the light source itself. This
leads us to an important relationship in
coloured light sources. Lights mixing with
objects is a subtractive relationship and Blue light
the objects can only display the colour Blue and low chroma skin expressed
thrown on them. As blue paint has no red
component, it can’t display red and
appears black, and so on.
We can see the skin tone retains its
brightness in every light and shifts all over
the place in colour. As it’s a low chroma
colour and this is a mix of multiple colours,
it can shift wherever it needs to within the
colour space. We can truly see here how
much colour potential there is in skin! This
is one major reason skin tones can never
be said to be one specific colour, as it’s Green light
highly dependent on the lighting and will Green and low chroma skin expressed
shift dramatically all over the colour wheel.

Balanced white light

All colours equally expressed

82
 Artist insight Shadow colours

8 USING WARM AND proportions. Due to this, we can

COOL LIGHT SOURCES observe that all the colours are
Obviously those more chromatically represented in all the different
strong light sources are uncommon lighting scenarios. All that changes
in natural environments, so let’s look are which colours are emphasised.
at a setup you might encounter, a In the cool light, colder colours like
balanced white light against a warm the blue dominate strongly and the
and a cool light source, and see its warmer hues, like the skin and the
effect on the colours we perceive. red, are duller and darker. Under the
As you can see above, I’ve kept warmer lighting the opposite effect
the white light source in the bottom happens. In fact, the skin in this
half of each square to compare how lighting is positively chromatic! This 9 CHROMA WILL COMPOUND
the colours change. Both of these difference is more a matter of WITH EACH NEW BOUNCE
kinds of light contain all the colours emphasis, but it has some effects One way this strongly affects shadows
in the spectrum, just in different on the shadows we’ll perceive. is how the low chroma colours in the
environment will compound in colour
when affecting similarly coloured objects.
We can see that here, as the environment
is a warm grey – which creates a warm
light source for the shadow – and the
skin cube is also a warm grey, the colours
will add together to make a much more
powerfully chromatic orange colour
within the shadow.
Just compare it to the shadow created
on the white ball, and note how much
Balanced white light
All colours equally expressed
more intense the chroma is. This can lead
to some surprisingly coloured shadows
where you might not expect them on
otherwise grey objects.

Cool light
Warm colour and warm skin duller – cool colours expressed strongly

Warm light
Warm colour and warm skin expressed strongly – cool colours 10 A POWERFUL EFFECT FOR SKIN
expressed duller and darker One place we see this effect quite strongly is skin tones. Often
the skin will become its own light source for reflected lights
and this creates this compounding effect. The light comes in
white, is made into the warm grey skin tone and then bounces
ARTISTS’ MASTER SERIES: back into the shadow, creating an intense high chroma colour.
COLOR & LIGHT This is one of my favourite effects for creating vibrant colour
This article is an excerpt from the Artists’ Master Series book in skin tones. Look out for it next time you’re painting a model
that Charlie wrote in partnership with 3dtotal Publishing. In and you may be surprised by how much strong colour you can
the book he delves into this and many more topics in greater
get out of it. As always, this advice will only mean something
detail, with in-depth tutorials from other artists featured. To
carry on learning, check it out at https://bit.ly/4837PM9.
to you once you get to grips with it in your own artwork, so try
it out for yourself. Happy painting!

83
 Workshops

84
Tech Focus Initial sketches

Technique focus
START WITH A
SIMPLE SKETCH
Brock Grossman explains how he developed
a commando corgi from initial rough drawings

Artist “The inspiration for this piece

PROFILE was the contrast between a
small animal character and the
Brock large robotic companion that
Grossman aids it in battle. The inclusion of
LOCATION: Canada
the large rocket launcher was funny to me too,
Brock is a concept artist like it was almost too big for the dog and he
and illustrator based in
Vancouver, working in could barely hold it. The dog’s design is based
the video game industry. on a corgi, as I really like the breed and think
He previously studied
their small stature fits perfectly with the idea
illustration at Savannah
College of Art and and contrast I was aiming for. One good tip I’d
Design, and freelanced recommend for creating illustrations like this
for major companies.
https://bit.ly/4aIWqlG
is starting out very simple with rough sketches
to nail down your idea.”

85
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Traditional Artist
Inspiration and advice from the best pro artists

92 96

This issue:
88
88 Traditional FXPosé
Discover this month’s selection
of the finest traditional art,
which has been sent in by you!

92 Paint a stylish
artbook cover
Get all the details from Moon on
his 365 Squares vol. 3 cover art.

96 First Impressions:
Iryna Khymych
Lord of the Rings inspirations
and the joy of life as an artist.

87
 Traditional Artist FXPosé

SHOWCASING THE FINEST TRADITIONAL ARTISTS

Sarah Stone
LOCATION: US MEDIA: Watercolour, ink WEB: www.sysparkle.com

Sarah creates magical, character-driven illustrations

using watercolour. Her dreamy, atmospheric works
draw heavily from mythological themes and contain
undercurrents of dark fantasy.

1 SOFT TOUCH
“This piece was inspired by
medieval framed illustrations in
2 CAROUSEL
“Carousel was the first
large-scale watercolour painting
2

illuminated manuscripts, and my I made. I’ve always been inspired

love for pastels and candy floss.” by Victorian circus imagery.”

3 INNER TORMENT
“While I enjoy the playful
fantasy of my other works, I do
4 JADE
“A large mermaid with Art
Nouveau-inspired designs in the
like to include a contrast with corners. Her colouring and name
unsettling themes, which can evoke the symbolic nature of the
be both subtle and overt.” eponymous stone.”

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

 Inspirational art

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

 Traditional Artist FXPosé

June Leeloo
LOCATION: France MEDIA: Watercolours, gold leaf, pencils, Indian ink, clay WEB: www.instagram.com/juneleeloo

June is a painter, sculptor and poet who mostly works with galleries and
makes books. Her work is dreamlike and whimsical, and has been described
as a new generation of fairy tale art, inviting viewers into a peaceful haven.

1 THE ARIES
“This painting is part of a series based on
the zodiac signs. The zodiac is a theme that
2 HADES AND PERSEPHONE
“In 2017, for Inktober, I developed a
whole story about the myth of Hades and
2

I’ve painted several times; I absolutely love Persephone, but with a twist. People liked it
the mythology behind each sign.” so much that I made a book of it.”

3 THE SUN
“This is a painting I made for an
upcoming tarot deck. I naturally paint with
greens and blues, but in this one I enjoyed
exploring a warmer palette.”

4 THE VIRGO
“Another painting from the zodiac
series. I like to create dreamlike, whimsical
atmospheres. Nature, seasons, myths and
literature are things that inspire me a lot.”

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

 Inspirational art

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

 Traditional Artist Workshops

Watercolour
PAINT A STYLISH
ARTBOOK COVER
Find out how MOON builds the star character to feature on the
front of the latest volume in his gorgeous 365 Squares series

T
his image was created is always tricky, as it’s supposed to ink and watercolour – like 99 per
for the cover of my latest represent the spirit of the book as a cent of my creations. With this kind
published artbook, 365 whole. After multiple attempts, I of composition, I experiment a lot,
Squares vol. 3. The series finally chose this design, which is especially with the initial sketch. I
is a challenge I set for composed of several elements that primarily seek out a visual balance
myself that consists of drawing every can be found in the 365 different before moving on to the next steps of
day for a year on a square piece of illustrations in the book: a female inking and colouring, at which point
paper. I completed this challenge for character, skulls, masks, ornaments, I can’t go back.
the third time from January through vegetation, bird heads, and a colour Moon is an artist, illustrator, painter and
December last year. scheme characteristic of my work. graffiti artist. He mainly publishes his
If you’ve ever created books, you This illustration was entirely done work through artbooks and social media.
know that deciding on a cover design using traditional techniques – Indian www.instagram.com/moon_mxtr

Step-by-step: Create a delicate character

1 INITIAL SKETCH
I start off with the graphite sketch. This
stage is where I’m really looking out for the
2 ADD THE INK
In my creative process, the next step is
inking. I blur my graphite lines with a soft
3 PLACE SHADOWS
In this particular drawing, I started by
applying a first layer of watercolour to
right pose, the balance of my shapes, and eraser, then, with a fine-nib pen and Indian place my shadows. Sometimes I start with
the overall intention. I do my research on ink, I trace directly over my preliminary the colour first and then add the shadows
the same paper, drawing, erasing and sketch. I’ll more or less faithfully follow my afterwards. I used a purple mixed with blue
starting over until I’m satisfied. This stage initial drawing, but will also remove or add that overlays well with the colour layer that
can take more or less time depending on elements. This is the last moment at which I will come after. Watercolour allows for easy
the inspirations I have. can still change details. work with the transparency of colours.

92
Artist insight Stylish cover art

93
 Traditional Artist Workshops
In-depth: Developing the details Playful hair
My characters often have
significant masses of hair,
and I enjoy incorporating
elements into them. It’s a

Hatching game for me to create

structures of wood and
Once the colours have been
ropes. It’s about finding
applied, I’ll come back to
balance, the right tension
strengthen the shadows, but
in the ropes, and allows
this time with my nib pen and
for adding ornaments.
cross-hatching. This is a way to
rework the transition between
my initial inking and the
watercolour colouring part. It
also allows me to introduce
texture in a different way.

Backdrop
Since my characters are
rich in colour and graphic
elements, I often use
abstract backgrounds.
All the colour work on
the character is done in
wet watercolour on dry
paper because I need to
know how my colour will
diffuse. For backgrounds
Triangular build it’s different; I work on
wet paper to achieve this
As this is the cover of the third
book in my 365 Squares series, blended look to contrast
I wanted to reference the with the character.
number three without it being
too obvious. I opted for a
triangular construction that
guides the eye’s journey from
the character’s face to the
skull in her right hand, then to
the masks beside her other
hand, and so on.

MATERIALS
PAINT AND INK
Lefranc Bourgeois
Indian Ink
Colouring White Nights
When I work on this type of
watercolours
illustration, I really enjoy using
many different colours. I find BRUSHES AND PENS
that it works well on rather Acrylic brushes
white backgrounds. Generally,
I decide on one or two main
no. 6 and 10
colour areas and then play White gel pen
around with warm contrasts to Conté Atome 1423
have more impact and clarity pen nib
for each element.

94
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95
 Traditional Artist Interview

First Impressions
Iryna Khymych
The artist talks
fantasy inspirations
and industry life

Where did you grow

up and how has this
influenced your art?
Until I was 14 years
old I grew up in a
small town in western Ukraine
called Irshava. I’ve been creating art
since second grade and have always
been fascinated with the human
figure and portraiture. I remember
art teachers telling me that I needed
to know how to draw and paint
other things besides people.
However, my real love of fantasy
art wasn’t born until I watched The
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship
of the Ring in 2002 and discovered
Donato Giancola’s work. It was
there and then that I knew what I
wanted to paint for the rest of my
life: fantasy art.

What, outside of art, has most

influenced your work throughout
the years?
Nature and architecture. I bring my
camera with me everywhere I go
and have thousands of pictures that
I’ve photographed of beautiful skies,
incredible golden-hour lighting,
moss, the shadow between two
marble walls, water fountains and
leaves. I try to look at the world with
the wonder of a child and get
inspired by the smallest of things.
ANNA DREAMING
My inspiration for this piece,
created in oils on board, came
from Monet’s Haystacks series.
Is there a painting that you saw in
your formative years that changed
everything? What was it? I saw this glowing white figure Everything and more! Every day I
Oh my gosh, yes! It was Donato being carried by these men and a get up and I get to do what I love.
Giancola’s Elegy for Darkness: The knight holding her feet; it’s just so How could this life not be the best?
Lady Shalott. I was breathless when exquisite! To this day it remains one
of my favourite pieces of his and it How has the art industry changed
I look at the world with was the painting where my love of
all things glowing came from.
for the better since you’ve been
working in it?
the wonder of a child and get Is making a living as an artist all
You know, it’s really hard right now
to see the good in the art industry
inspired by the small things you thought it would be? with the rise of AI art. It seems

96
Iryna Khymych

DAWN
I feel a real connection to this
piece. It’s a depiction of Eos,
the Greek goddess of the dawn.

97
 Traditional Artist Interview

like we, the artists, have to

always fight and prove that our I love the fact that today you
skills are worthy of being paid for.
That being said, I do love the have so many resources if you
fact that today you have so many
resources if you want to become want to become an artist
an artist. You have instructional
videos, SmArt School, Schoolism
and New Masters Academy just to
name just a few. This has made
becoming an artist much more
accessible, and just browsing on
Instagram today I’m amazed by
these teens who draw or paint way
better than me when I was their age.

What advice would you give to

your younger self to help you
along the way?
Be patient and practise a lot. I tell
this to people who reach out to me
for advice all the time. You may not
see the improvement, but I promise
you that if you practise and are
consistent with it, it will pay off.
PHOENIX RESTING
Inspired by Flaming June from
Tell us about your first paid the 19th-century artist Sir Frederic
Leighton. Created with oil on linen.
commission, does it stand as a
representation of your talent?
My first commission was actually What’s the last piece you finished? two, and you can’t help but see how
with Tor Publishing and it was for How do the two differ? you have grown.
their promotion of V.E. Schwab’s The last piece I finished is actually I highly recommend this exercise
The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue, for a group art show with the for artists who think they aren’t
which is a book that I loved. It was WOW x WOW Gallery called Anna improving. My edges, my values and
absolutely perfect for me, because it Dreaming and, honestly, looking at my handling of the medium have
combined my passions for both Addie and Anna, I’ve come such a significantly improved. Thank you
reading and painting. On top of long way. Sometimes it’s hard to see to my mentor Howard Lyon!
that, it was such an honour to be progress, but then questions like TESSA IN SPRING
The awakening of nature and
included in a project with one of the this make you look and evaluate its fleetingness was the subject
What character or scene that
best authors out there. your past work and compare the for this oil on paper piece. you’ve painted do you most
identify with?
VIN I would say Dawn. I love painting
My take on Vin, the lead character Greek goddesses and this one just
from Brandon Sanderson’s epic
fantasy Mistborn trilogy. spoke to my soul. After all, without
dawn things wouldn’t glow!

What’s your next step in either

art or life?
I’d like to concentrate on loosening
up my brushwork, on more value
control, and on creating a better
narrative in my pieces. That’s easier
said than done! But I have no doubt
that with the help of my mentor,
Howard, I’ll be able to achieve all
of my goals.
Ukrainian-born artist Iryna now lives
in New York. She works as a freelance
illustrator and is passionate about
combining art and literature when
painting strong characters and all things
glowing. To see more of Iryna’s artwork,
head to www.irynakhymych.com.

98
9000 9021