Digital Painting

CGN: What are the major tools and methods that you use in your painting?

“I primarily use Photoshop and Painter for my digital illustrations and concept work. In a pinch, I do occasionally use Maya to block out the basic structure of an image but I tend to prefer to draw everything from scratch. Lately, with my concept work, I've been keeping my Photoshop and Painter images within one or two layers. I found that I was abusing the layers in both Painter and Photoshop and this would ultimately slow down my creative process. So I try to keep everything as bare bones as possible now, recreating the traditional single canvas feel.““My production work, either for games or film, can have multiple layers and the amount and complexity is usually dictated by the specific project. I have just a few brushes I love in both digital illustration packages and have tons of custom brushes and nozzles.““With my traditional oils ands acrylics I generally work on half tone gessoed illustration board. On the illustration board, I recreate a refined value study of my thumbnail sketch with 9H-7H pencil and a white charcoal pencil. Once the value drawing is complete I begin painting a series of glazes over the drawing, slowly getting more opacity as I go.“

The origin of the character in Winds of Change (above) comes from a story I've been working on for quite some time. She represents the idea or concept of change; she is actually a visual metaphor for what human beings feel when harsh change is thrust upon us. Eventually we must shed our old skin in order to be reborn and start new. Click to enlarge

Inspirations and Influences

CGN: What is the source of your inspiration? Are these visions completely sourced from your mind?

“Inspiration comes from so many places, really. I'm inspired by so many different artists these days. I am blown away by the sheer craftsmanship of guys like Dusso, Craig Mullins, Ryan Church and many of the other leading concept artists right now. I look at some of these guys' work and am amazed at how accurately they are able to depict imagery in such a short period of time. I'm influenced by some of the masters of contemporary fantasy and symbolism like, Michael Whelan, Scott Gustafson, Kinuko Craft, Daniel Merriam and Gil Bruvel. The latter two names I mentioned are purely fine artists and make their living solely from selling their paintings. I admire the successful fine artist for their sheer will to create and undying artistic individuality.“

“Mostly though, I find that my imagination works faster than I can paint. And this is the major inspiration for my work. The creativity tends to come in bursts; sometimes I'll get a bunch of ideas all at once and be forced to stay up late trying to sketch them all out. Earlier in my career, I wouldn't always take the time to sketch out all the ideas I'd have at odd hours… Sadly these would be lost forever. Now I've developed a good habit of getting as many of my painting ideas sketched out as I possibly can, regardless of what time it is or where I am. It does create some interesting life situations; thankfully I have an understanding boss and girlfriend. The truth is you never know if the drawing you didn't sketch could one day have been your greatest piece, the one that changes your career. So, I say try and sketch 'em all!“

CGN: You have said that you try to evoke an emotional response in the viewers of your work. How does this imperative influence your work?

“With most of my personal work I do try to create some sort of emotional response within the viewer. Some of my work is highly personal for me and many times an extension of my subconscious. I'm intrigued at the idea of creating an environment or worlds that don't exist or have never been seen before. Most of my personal concept paintings have a spiritual aspect to them and many are connected to each other. For example, a path in one image might lead to a location in another image. I've also been experimenting with conveying human emotion through visual metaphors. The Dreaming tree , Winds of Change , and Dreamcoat all represent an emotion or specific life experience. These characters are all inhabitants of some of my environment concept paintings. It's intriguing for me to think of the environments and characters in separate images having a direct and unique connection to each other.“

CGN: What are some examples of emotions your works convey? Where do your own emotions come into play with your work?

Dreamcoat (above) is an emotive piece dealing with the subject of dreams/nightmares. For some reason what goes on our head while we're asleep just fascinates me. Creating imagery that is a symbol for what dreams represents allows for unlimited experimentation. Click to enlarge

Nightmare Factory (below) is the darker side of the Dreaming Tree. I thought it would be fun to think of our nightmares not as something we control but more something that is produced by an ancient factory. Click to enlarge

“The funny thing about the more emotion-driven images I paint is that I rarely have a preconceived notion of the image before I begin. They all follow what I like to call the 'stream of consciousness' technique. This is similar to creative writing where the writer simply allows the words to flow on the basis of a single emotion or idea. Translating this to my work, I basically sit down and begin painting, usually when I'm feeling a passionate about a specific situation in my life. Sometimes the imagery will change multiple times before I settle on anything concrete; I simply let the shapes and motion of the line do the talking. As the painting develops there's usually a moment of clarity where I suddenly see the image for what it truly is. However, and this is the most interesting, There have been times I've done a painting and haven't seen the influence or real meaning until some time has past. It is amazing how honest an artist's work can be, so honest that sometimes they don't even see it themselves.“

Dreaming Tree (below). Click to enlarge