Concept Art, Digital & Matte Painting Magazine

Issue 059 November 2010

Interview
Ignacio Bazan Lazcano

Articles
Sketchbook of Blackvolta

The Gallery
Serge Birault, Steve Sampson &
Yap Jia Xing plus more!

Look for this button inside

• Free! Custom Brushes

Painting Creatures From Folklore

Min Yum shows us how to paint his deceivingly peaceful looking Siren in
the third part of our Creatures from Folklore series.

Portraiture
Mike Lim (Daarken) kicks off our new Portraiture series with a fantastic
self portrait.

Concept Art for Games

Craig Sellars continues our epic Concept art for Games tutorial series
by showing us how to paint vehicles for our game.

Custom Brushes for Sci-Fi

Ioan Dumitrescu continues our Custom Brushes for Sci-Fi tutorial.
wseries.
 Contents
Editorial 001
Contents
November will always be Concept Art, Digital & Matte Painting Magazine
Issue 059 November 2010

Interview
“Whatever we take from
the environment should be
replaced or something new
What’s in this month?
Ignacio Bazan Lazcano added in a positive way to
balance everything out.”

known for its fireworks

Ignacio Bazan Lazcano
“WhenArticles
it is time to draw

008
or paint I put on music
Sketchbook of Blackvolta

to helpThe
myGallery
creativity; the
music choice isSteve
Serge Birault, dictated
Sampson &
by what idea or subject I
Yap Jia Xing plus more!

Concept Art, Digital & Matte Painting Magazine have to illustrate”

Issue 059 November 2010
and explosive excitement, Freelance Illustrator and Artist
Interview Look for this button inside

Ignacio Bazan Lazcano

well the November issue 018 Adrian Smith

• Free! Custom Brushes
Articles Painting Creatures From Folklore
Sketchbook of Blackvolta Min Yum shows us how to paint his deceivingly peaceful looking Siren in
the third part of our Creatures from Folklore series.
“Perspective accuracy
The Gallery
Serge Birault, Steve Sampson &
of 2dArtist is no exception. in 3D or any other Portraiture
theoretical tool is just
Mike Lim (Daarken) kicks off our new Portraiture series with a fantastic
a shortcut to create self
theportrait. Share One Planet Competition
Yap Jia Xing plus more! necessary illusions to sell
any 2D fantasy art”Concept Art for Games
Craig Sellars continues our epic Concept art for Games tutorial series

Sketchbook
by showing us how to paint vehicles for our game.

024 Custom Brushes for Sci-Fi

Ioan Dumitrescu continues our Custom Brushes for Sci-Fi tutorial.
wseries.

We will start by having

Look for this button inside
magazines
on many
occasions,
and been
he likes
a great source
to balance
of

his time
The Sketchbook of Blackvolta
d in our and how
he has feature CG industry
Share One planet is a global art competition organizedwed artist asthe necessity to takehis
to promote more job inofthe
first care the earth and its inhabitants. In this interview the

a quick overview of this us a bit about

intervie
month’s
thisdesigner o tells

The Gallery
organizers catch up withwithposter Adrian SmithLazcan
who talks about the necessity to care for the earth and the process in creating his work.
familiar
you will be Ignacio Bazan
Many of tutorials.
amazing fun!
us with his and having
• Free! Custom Brushes
046
advice for al painting
, tradition
digital painting
between

Painting Creatures From Folklore

Min Yum shows us how to paint his deceivingly peaceful looking Siren in month’s interview which is
the third part of our Creatures from Folklore series.
10 of the Best 2D Artworks
Portraiture with the amazing Ignacio
Concept Art For Games
Mike Lim (Daarken) kicks off our new Portraiture series with a fantastic
056
self portrait.
“When you have a live

Concept Art for Games Bazan Lazcano. Ignacio This month’s sketchbook brings us something
artist but of a whole art studio! Black Volta
subject you can see exactly
how the light interacts with
a little different, as it is not just the work of
work as a close team to create great concepts;
the planes of their face”
one
This monthonewe feature:

Craig Sellars continues our epic Concept art for Games tutorial series artist does the sketching, another will play

Accessories by Craig Sellars

with it and refine it, a third will add color...
I thinkIvan
Kashubo you
will agree that it will be really interesting to

by showing us how to paint vehicles for our game.

look into their processes!Serge Birault

Othniel King

is a regular contributor
Gediminas Pranckevicius
Tiago da Silva
Rafael Nascimento

Custom Brushes for Sci-Fi

Portraiture
Steve Sampson
Branko Bistrovic

Ioan Dumitrescu continues our Custom Brushes for Sci-Fi tutorial.

066
Yap Jia Xing

wseries.
Keun-ju Kim

to the magazine, and I

Male by Mike Lim (Daarken)
am sure many of you have been blown away by some of his fantastic
images, but in this month’s issue we go a step further and learn a 078 Creatures From Folklore
little about the man behind the art. Ignacio has had a really interesting
Concept art for computer games is a fascinating field and an industry that a lot of aspiring digital artists would love to be involved with. This
tutorial series has been written by some of the biggest and best names in the gaming industry, who will guide us through the way they would
tackle the three main areas where concept work is required: environments, characters and accessories. The artists involved in this series have
Portraits are one of the most commonly tackled subjects in all forms of art, but also one of the most common that we see
created a games brief themselves and are free to create their own vision of the description. They will reflect on the steps they choose to take
go horribly wrong. In this series our talented artists will be showing us how to use a photo reference to paint an accurate
Siren by Min Yum
from the point of receiving the brief up until they have created a completed concept for their required section.
portrait without being tempted to do a paintover. We don’t stop there though; we also venture into the specialized field

Custom Brushes For Sci-Fi

of caricatures. Caricatures are a tricky subject to deal with, but there are ways that you can use your photo reference to
Chapter 5: Accessories | Craig Sellars
make them easier and this series gives us an insight into this process.

route into the CG industry, even to the extent that his first job involved 084
Chapter 01 | Male | Mike Lim (Daarken)

creating concepts with crayons on paper! – Free Brushes

“I spent a lot of time trying
to find the correct path and
almost everything evolved
Underwater City by Ioan Dumitrescu
in separate pieces”

090 Custom brushes are not only a great way to increase the speed at which a painting can be completed, but can also create an effect that would
otherwise be impossible. They can be used in many different types of scene, but many would argue that they become most useful when
Intro creating
Text a space scene. In space many items need replicating or reproducing in vast quantities, which can be difficult, but custom brushes can
make this process much easier and simpler. In this series the artists involved will be showing you how to create brushes to improve your scene
and how to use them to the best effect.
“Wasp Woman Returns”
Many of you will bee familiar with this month’s Making Of artist Project Overview by Gediminas Pranckevičius
Chapter 01: Asteroid Belt | July 2010 Chapter 04: Underground Corridor | October 2010
Fantasy plays a huge part in digital art. It influences thousands of Chapter 1: September Issue | Goblin | Andrei Pervukhin
Chapter 02: Egyptian Sci - Fi Scene | August 2010 Chapter 05: Sci-Fi Ruins | November 2010
artists from around the world and has become a large part of the film Chapter 2: This Issue | Fairy | Nykolai Aleksander
Chapter 03: Night-Time Sci-Fi City Battle | September 2010 Chapter 06: Underwater City | December 2010
and gaming industry. So much of what we see within this genre is Chapter 3: November Issue – Free Brushes
59 | Siren | Min Yum
drawn from fairy tales and folklore. In this tutorial series our artists will
Chapter 4: December Issue 60 | Ogre | Richard Tilbury
be showing us how to research creatures from folklore and use this
Chapter 5: January Issue 61 | Troll | Simon Dominic Brewer
gathered information to create an original and accurate depiction of

Gediminas Pranckevičius (that isn’t a spelling error, but a very bad

“Portrait of Nathan”
these fantasy characters.

095
With the release of 3DTotal’s book, Digital
Art Masters: Volume 5, we have some ex-
clusive chapters for you...

This is more than just an artwork book.

joke!). There was a real buzz (really I have to stop!) in our forums about
Not only does it feature full-colour, full-
page images, but each artist has given a

Digital Art Masters: Volume 5 – Free Chapter

detailed description, in their own words,
of the creation process behind each piece
of published artwork. And they’ve done it
especially for this book!

his amazing image Wasp Woman Returns, so we thought we would get

About us
This month we feature:

“Portrait of

100
Nathan”
by Jason Seiler

him to show us how he created it. 3D was used heavily as a base to

may have seen
this great Gediminas
Pranckevičius
image in the

used to create
July issue of

this quirky image.

2DArtist.
Gediminas
e.
3DTotal.com Ltd Information & Contacts
Some of you into the processes and perspectiv
a sneak peek show depth
really well to

create a scene in perfect perspective and Gediminas shows us how he Well in this
issue we get

uses a 3D base
to create a
lot of his scene
which works

used this base to create an image with a real sting in it.

Editor Layout Content Sub-Editors
Simon Morse Layla Khani Simon Morse Simon Morse
Matt Lewis Tom Greenway Jo Hargreaves
This month’s cover image is by a really great artist, who is constantly
Lead Designer Richard Tilbury
churning out great image after great image at the moment Min Yum. Chris Perrins Marketing Chris Perrins
Jo Hargreaves Jo Hargreaves
Min continues our Painting Creatures form Folklore series by dealing
with a Siren. The final image is a real treat, and Min does a great job creating vehicles to navigate the harsh terrain of the volatile prison planet,
with the tutorial to, so this is a must read! and sets the ball rolling with a prison transport vehicle.

This month we have a brand new series which gets off to a brilliant Custom Brushes for Sci-Fi moves from the realms of space to an
start, Portraiture. Creating portraits is a common subject in any form underwater environment this month as Ioan Dumitrescu shows us how to
of art so we thought we would show you how to paint a portrait from a create brushes for an underwater sci-fi scene. Ioan has been a busy guy
Photograph, without doing a paintover. The one and only Daarken kicks this month as he has been working hard to set up Behind the Iron Curtain,
off the series with a fantastic self portrait, and shows us how to tweak an but he still found time to share some great tips with us!
image to ensure you have the correct shape, without having to re-paint
anything. This issue is brimming with great work and this is no exception in the
galleries and Sketchbook. Concept art group Blakvolta show us some of
Our Concept Art for Games series has been a real master class in their sketches, and the gallery features work from Serge Birault, Branko
concept art so far, so as we move onto accessories we thought we Bistrovic, Kashubo Ivan and Keun–ju Kim.
would invite another big hitter in the field of concept art to show us
through to the end of the series. Craig Sellars takes on the task of This is a real fire cracker of an issue!

www.2dartistmag.com page 2 Issue 059 November 2010

 Get the most out of your

Magazine!
If you’re having problems viewing the double-page spreads that we
Concept Art, Digital & Matte Painting Magazine
Issue 059 November 2010 feature in this magazine, follow this handy little guide on how to set
Interview up your PDF reader!
Ignacio Bazan Lazcano

Articles
Sketchbook of Blackvolta

The Gallery
Serge Birault, Steve Sampson &
Yap Jia Xing plus more!

Look for this button inside

• Free! Custom Brushes

Painting Creatures From Folklore

Min Yum shows us how to paint his deceivingly peaceful looking Siren in
the third part of our Creatures from Folklore series.

Portraiture
Mike Lim (Daarken) kicks off our new Portraiture series with a fantastic
self portrait.

Concept Art for Games

Craig Sellars continues our epic Concept art for Games tutorial series
by showing us how to paint vehicles for our game.

Custom Brushes for Sci-Fi

Ioan Dumitrescu continues our Custom Brushes for Sci-Fi tutorial.
wseries.

Setting up your PDF reader

For optimum viewing of the magazine it is recommended that you have
the latest Acrobat Reader installed.
You can download it for free here: DOWNLOAD!

To view the many double-page spreads featured in 2DArtist magazine,

you can set the reader to display ‘two-up’, which will show double-
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1. Open the magazine in Reader;

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3. Select Two-up Continuous, making sure that Show Cover

Page is also selected.

 Contributors
Ignacio
Bazan Lazcano
Lives in the beautiful city of
Buenos Aires where he has
been working for four years
in the games industry as an
illustrator and concept artist. He currently works
for TimeGate Studios where his tasks include
developing the aesthetics of the game right from the
Contributing Artists very beginning. In the future he’d like for Argentina
Every month many artists around the world contribute to 3DCreative and to become well-known for its artistic talent, where he
2DArtist magazines. Here you can find out a bit more about them! can learn – and teach – amongst the best.
If you would like to be a part of 3DCreative or 2DArtist magazine, please http://www.ignaciobazanart.com/
contact: simon@3dtotal.com i.bazanlazcano@gmail.com

Mike Gediminas
Lim (Daarken) Pranckevicius
After graduating from the Born in Panevėžys, Northern
Academy of Art University in Lithuania Gediminas lived
San Francisco with a BFA in with his family until he had
traditional illustration, Daarken completed his studies at
began his career by freelancing with several game high school. Being highly interested in fresco art
companies such as Wizards of the Coast, Fantasy Gediminas left his family behind to study fresco
Flight Games, Widescreen Games, Digital Extremes, studies at the Vilnius Academy of Art. Gediminas
and Upperdeck. He also taught a digital illustration spent 6 years studying intensively but it paid off as
workshop at the Academy until 2007, when he he now works freelance.
moved to Virginia.
http://daarken.com/ http://www.gedomenas.com/
daarkenart@daarken.com gediminaspr@gmail.com

Craig
Sellars
Craig Sellars is a freelance
Illustrator and Concept
Designer living in Canada. After
studying Industrial Design and
Classical Animation, Craig worked as a traditional
Layout Artist at Walt Disney and then transitioned
to do digital work in the Games industry. As a
freelance artist, Craig has worked internationally with Would You Like To Contribute To
numerous companies in the Games, Toy and Film 3DCreative Or 2DArtist Magazines?
industries. We are always looking for tutorial artists, gallery submissions, potential
http://www.greensocksart.com/ interviewees, ‘making of’ writers, and more. For more information, please
sellarsart@hotmail.com send a link to your work to: simon@3dtotal.com

www.2dartistmag.com page 4 Issue 059 November 2010

Contributors
Ioan Blackvolta
Dumitrescu Black Volta was created
Ioan Dumitrescu is a 20 year after the team worked
old architecture student and a on a TGC franchise called “Myth & Legends”. They
self-taught concept designer. quickly realized that working together and sharing
He loves drawing the things their experiences was a better way to improve their
he imagines in his head and trying to convey a story skills. So they created a company and Black Volta
to the viewer through them. He is currently working was born.
freelance.

http://jonone.cgsociety.org/gallery/661127/ http://www.blackvolta.com/
jononespo@yahoo.com bkvolta@gmail.com

www.2dartistmag.com page 5 Issue 059 November 2010

 VFS animation & ViSual eFFectS alumni creditS include 9 Mike Dharney, Animator 2012 Jamie Bowers,
Texture Artist | Zeke Norton, Previsualization Supervisor | Anuj Patil, Senior Technical Director | Christine Peterson,
Digital Compositor 50 cent: Blood on the Sand (VG) Giorgio Bertolone, Creature Technical Director aliens in the
attic Rex Ahn, Pre-Visualization Lead | Craig Calvert, CG Supervisor | Julianna Kolakis, Character Designer | Ben
Sanders, Supervising Animator | Rommel Shamoun, Compositor | Noel Wright, Digital Compositor | Adam Yaniv,
Animation Supervisor alvin & the chipmunks: the Squeakuel Nicholas Augello, Technical Animator | Christopher
Downs, Technical Animator | Amy Lu, Animator | Adam Yaniv, Animation Supervisor amelia Armando Velazquez,
Digital Compositor | Clement Yip, Animator america’s army 3 (VG) Matthew Turner, Artist angels & demons Craig
Calvert, Pre-Visualization Artist | Jessica Wan, Lead Rotoscope Artist | Noel Wright, Digital Compositor armored Riley
Benard, Digital Compositor | Yuta Shimizu, Visual Effects Artist astro Boy Andreas Hikel, Layout Artist | Kim Ooi,
Animation Director avatar Michael Cozens, Lead Animator | Tamir Diab, Technical Director | Aaron Gilman, Character
Animator | Alfredo Luzardo, Layout Technical Director | Ben Sanders, Animator the Beatles: rock Band (VG) Mike
Krentz, UI Artist Brütal legend (VG) Marke Pedersen, Senior Artist case 39 Riley Benard, Digital Compositor | Craig
Calvert, CG Supervisor | Matthias Lowry, Visual Effects | Fion Mok, Matchmove Artist | Teh-wei Yeh, Matchmove Artist
cirque du Freak: the Vampire’s assistant Nicholas Augello, Technical Animator | Julianna Kolakis, Character
Designer | Ai Saimoto, Lighting Lead cloudy with a chance of meatballs Andrew Lawson, Animator | Arun Ram-Mohan,
Senior Color and Lighting Technical Director coraline Brian Demoskoff, Animator a christmas carol Kirk Chantraine,
Motion Capture Technical Director | Joel Pennington, Motion Capture Technical Director | Shraga Weiss, Character Modeler
Brent Wong, Character Modeler district 9 Neill Blomkamp, Director/Co-Writer | Jelmer Boskma, Modeler | Robert Bourgeault,
Lighting Lead | Freddy Chavez, Visual Effects Compositor | Dominic Cheung, Lighting Technical Director | Paul Copeland,
Visual Effects Artist | Anthony Di Ninno, Animator | Brian Harder, Creature Rigger | Bernhard Huber, Effects Animator | Brett
Ineson, Motion Capture Supervisor | Steve Johnston, Render Wrangler | Patrick Kalyn, Animator | Bernhard Kimbacher, Visual
Effects Data Coordinator/Compositor | Julianna Kolakis, Creature Texture Painter | Adam Marisett, Visual Effects Artist | Nikolai
Michaleski, Compositor | Brendon Morfitt, Digital Artist | Fernando Pazos, Animator | Dan Prentice, Visual Effects Artist | Mike
Rhone, Visual Effects Artist | Cesar Rodriguez Bautista, Digital Paint & Roto Artist | Cynthia Rodriguez del Castillo, Digital Paint
& Roto Artist | Marc Roth, Visual Effects Artist | Derek Stevenson, Matchmove Lead | James Stewart, Creature Supervisor | Richard
Sur, Lighting Technical Director | Anna Tonrungroj, Digital Compositor | Shawn Walsh, Visual Effects Executive Producer | Joey
Wilson, Modeler/Texturer | Samson Wong, Matchmove Artist drag me to Hell Thomas Schelesny, Visual Effects Supervisor
dragon age: origins (VG) Bobby Bath, Character/Creature Artist | Ryan Lim, Lead Creature Character Artist | Herbert Lowis,
Artist | Brian Sum, Concept Artist | Nathan Zufelt, Cinematic Animator escape from Planet earth Giorgio Bertolone, Creature
Technical Director | Anthony Di Ninno, Layout Artist | Craig George, Head of Story | Gary Hendry, Layout Artist | Nicholas Smolyn,
Layout Artist eureka Anuj Patil, Lead Compositor | Mike Rhone, Visual Effects Artist Fast & Furious Ben Dishart, Texture Artist
Armando Velazquez, Digital Compositor the Final destination David Yabu, Animator G-Force John Iskandar, Lighting and Compositing
TD | Ken Kaiser, Animator | Hyun Chul Jung, Animator | Andrew Lawson, Animator | Phan Wiantrakoon, Animator Ghostbusters: the Video
Game (VG) Giorgio Bertolone, Creature Technical Director | Winston Fan, Compositor | Harry Liu, Junior Motion Capture Editor | Jessica Mih,
Modeler | Maya Zuckerman, Visual Effects Artist Gi Joe: the rise of cobra Jelmer Boskma, Modeler | Patrick Conaty, Digital Compositor | Ben
Dishart, Texture Supervisor | Aruna Inversin, Digital Compositor | Julianna Kolakis, Concept Artist/Modeler | Sean Lewkiw, Visual Effects Artist | Tom
Piedmont, Digital Artist | Jeremy Stewart, Senior Animator | Jeff Tetzlaff, Lead Modeler | Jessica Wan, Lead Rotoscope Artist Grey Gardens Armando
Velazquez, Digital Compositor Halo 3: odSt (VG) Bartek Kujbida, Cinematic Animator Harper’s island Steve J. McLeod, Digital Compositor Harry
Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Harry Mukhopadhyay, Lead Effects Technical Director | Pietro Ponti, TD Generalist | Gia Sadhwani, Digital Effects
Artist | Kieran Tether, Digital Artist | Teh-wei Yeh, Lighting TD ice age: dawn of the dinosaurs Scott Lemmer, Animator | Thom Roberts, Animator | Brent
Wong, Modeler invictus Christopher Ahrens, Lighting Lead | Geoffrey Hancock, Visual Effects Supervisor | Sean Lewkiw, Digital Effects Supervisor | Jason
McKeeman, Lead Technical Animator | Farhad Mohasseb, Compositor | Michelle Skrzyniarz, Matchmove Artist | Jose Yapor, Animator Killzone 2 (VG)
Andrea Arghinenti, Technical Artist King of the Hill Michael Loya, Director Knowing Tim Rowlandson, Rigging Technical Director | Richard Sur,
Lighting Technical Director land of the lost Nicholas Augello, Massive Technical Director | Tony Etienne, Lighting Supervisor | Amy Lu, Character
Animator law abiding citizen Freddy Chavez, Compositor | Veronica Marino, Compositor | James McPhail, Effects Animator | Jacob Curtis Miller,
Matchmover | Jay Randall, Visual Effects Supervisor | Derek Stevenson, Matchmover | Shawn Walsh, Visual Effects Executive Producer the
league of Super evil Daphne De Jesus, Compositor | Barry Karnowski, Animation Supervisor the lord of the rings: conquest (VG)
Michelle Lam, Lead Character Artist the lovely Bones Michael Cozens, Previs Animator monsters vs. aliens Jiyoung Lee, Texture Artist
night at the museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Rex Ahn, Previsualization Lead | Nicholas Augello, Technical Animator | Christopher
Downs, Technical Animator | Joshua Herrig, Lead Lighter | Zeke Norton, Previsualization Supervisor | Ai Saimoto, Lighting Lead | Ben
Sanders, Supervising Animator | Derek Stevenson, Previsualization Artist | Joey Wilson, Previsualization Artist | Adam Yaniv, Animation
Supervisor orphan Francisco Moncayo Moreno, Digital Artist | Shawn Walsh, Visual Effects Executive Producer Paul Blart: mall cop
Riley Benard, Digital Compositor Planet 51 Sandro di Segni, Senior Effects TD | Jorge Kirschner Torres, Modeler | Gianfranco Valle, Effects
Animator Prototype (VG) Harry Ahn, Lead Cinematics Animator | Bobby Bath, Lead Character Artist Punch-out!! (VG) Nelson Garcia,
Concept Artist Pushing daisies Scott Dewis, Visual Effects red Faction: Guerrilla (VG) Dilber Mann, Project Manager resident evil 5
(VG) Jacob Palmer, Animator rock Band unplugged (VG) Mike Krentz, Artist Sanctuary Julie Bergman, Animator | Mladen Miholjcic,
Visual Effects Artist Shorts David Yabu, Animator Sorority row Mike Rhone, Visual Effects Artist Star trek Aruna Inversin, Digital
Compositor | Tom Piedmont, Digital Plate Restoration | Kieran Tether, Digital Artist | Teh-wei Yeh, Digital Artist Stargate universe
Daphne De Jesus, Digital Compositor | Julianna Kolakis, Character Designer | Daniel Osaki, Lead 3D Modeler | Anna Tonrungroj, Digital
Compositor Supernatural, Daphne De Jesus, Digital Compositor Surrogates Anthony Di Ninno, Animator | Joshua Herrig, Lighting
Artist/Look Dev Artist | Matthias Lowry, Digital Compositor | Laurie Powers, Compositor | Teh-wei Yeh, Digital Artist tales of monkey
island (VG) Jason Findley, Character Artist terminator Salvation Geeta Basantani, Digital Matte Painter | Teh-wei Yeh, Lighting
Technical Director transformers: revenge of the Fallen Allen Holbrook, Animator | Aruna Inversin, Compositor | Stephen King,
Animator | Henri Tan, Creature Technical Director | Kieran Tether, Digital Artist | Teh-wei Yeh, Digital Artist the twilight Saga:
new moon Dominic Cheung, Lighting Technical Director uncharted 2: among thieves (VG) Mike Yosh, Lead Animator

underworld: rise of the lycans Pearl Hsu, 3D Artist | Lon Molnar, Visual Effects Production Executive up Bill Watral, Visual
Effects Artist Warhammer 40,000: dawn of War ii (VG) Ian Cumming, Senior Artist | Allan Dilks, Artist | Nathan Hocken, Lead
Animator | Christine Hubbard, Artist | Claire Roberts, Artist | Jefferson Takahashi, Artist Watchmen Ori Ben-Shabat, Compositor
Jelmer Boskma, Previs Modeler | Freddy Chavez, Compositor | Dominic Cheung, 3D Artist | Ben Dishart, Texture Artist | Ty Duperron,
Modeler | Pearl Hsu, 3D Artist | Bernhard Kimbacher, Digital Artist | Sean Lewkiw, Technical Head of 3D | Matthias Lowry, Digital
Compositor | James McPhail, Digital Effects Artist | Jacob Curtis Miller, Digital Artist | Lon Molnar, Visual Effects Supervisor | Harry
Mukhopadhyay, Lead Effects TD | Cynthia Rodriguez del Castillo, Digital Artist | Derek Stevenson, Matchmove Artist | Shawn Walsh,
Visual Effects Supervisor | Samson Wong, Compositor Wheelman (VG) Laura Gorrie, Senior Animator Whiteout Armando Velazquez,
Digital Compositor | Clement Yip, Animator Wolfenstein (VG) Jason Martin, Modeler X-men origins: Wolverine Geeta Basantani,
Digital Matte Painter | Rommel Shamoun, Compositor | Jeremy Stewart, Previs Artist Zombieland Mike Rhone, Visual Effects Artist
VFS student work by thiago martins
 ! tion
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Su
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BL loa
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IL l Do
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DV

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“When it is time to draw
or paint I put on music
to help my creativity; the
music choice is dictated
by what idea or subject I
have to illustrate”

rce of
reat sou
s , a n d been a g
occasio n me
on many nce his ti
g a z in e s h e lik e s to bala
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tured in dustry an
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wed art his firs
’s intervie bit about
r w it h th is month
a z c a n o tells us a
e familia nacio Ba
zan L
you will b torials. Ig
Many of a z in g tu fun!
r us with
his am d having
advice fo io n a l p a inting an
dit
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digital pa
between
Ignacio Bazan Lazcano Interview
Interview with Ignacio Bazan
Lazcano
Hi Nacho, I feel like we have known each other
for a while now as we have worked together so
many times, but for those who don’t know you
can you tell us a little about yourself and how
you got into the CG industry?
My name is Ignacio Bazán Lazcano and I live
in Argentina. I have been working as a concept
artist in the video game industry for five years.

My first contact with the world of digital art was

just by chance. Thirteen years ago, a friend of
mine told me that someone was looking for a copies. I felt very proud to have been able to After having obtained a university degree in
sketcher for a PC game. It was a “no money- do the drawings (scenery, backgrounds and so Publicity in 2005, I soon realized that being a
at-all” project, but we had dreams and wanted forth), using crayons! At that point I was neither publicist didn’t suit me at all. I didn’t know what
to make them reality. The PC game was finally a professional sketcher nor did I have any idea to do or where to go. I had been drawing since
finished and we could eventually sell some about computers and digital art. childhood, but it was still just a hobby.

www.2dartistmag.com page 9 Issue 059 November 2010

 Interview Ignacio Bazan Lazcano
I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to
turn my hobby into a career when I was hired
by a small company dedicated to video game
development. At that time I had not had the
chance to buy my own personal computer, so I
didn’t have any idea about using a computer to
create art and did everything in the traditional
way instead. Step by step I became accustomed
to the way the industry worked.

Nowadays I work as a Freelance illustrator,

and develop concept art for AAA video games.
I have experience in advertising media,
animation, pixelart, etc. I’ve worked for several
companies, such as Gameloft, Global Fun,
Sarabasa, and lately for Timegate. As for the
future, I really want to be able to learn from the
best artists of the world.

What are the opportunities like for a digital

painter in Argentina? Do you find that you do a
lot of work for foreign clients? Do you ever think
of moving nearer to the huge projects?
In Argentina, lamentably, there are neither many
opportunities for concept artists, nor any chance
for other kinds of artists to work. My country has
a high level of education and a very rich cultural
history, nevertheless, many Argentine artists
who have excelled because of their artistic talent
have had to work abroad to win professional
recognition. I think that in my country we haven’t
yet learnt the worth of this kind of talent; if an
artist hasn’t been recognized abroad first then
he won’t be recognized.

Argentina is a contradictory country. While

everybody can study art, once you have been
trained there are no working opportunities
available to earn enough money to live well
and meet your basic needs. Sometimes artists
accept underpaid work to earn their living.

My income comes mostly from foreign clients.

They appreciate my work and give me an
opportunity to reach a professional level. My
dream is to work for a foreign company and to
be taught by the best artists in the world, then to

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Ignacio Bazan Lazcano Interview

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 Interview Ignacio Bazan Lazcano
bring all this experience back to my country and
work very hard to teach other artists also, and
let Argentina be placed at the top, among the
best countries to work in.

It seems like your route into the industry was

a peculiar one. What advice would you give
someone who had the ambition to be a concept
artist?
I would say that the best thing to do is to work
on any project you like, regardless of the
payment you get for it. The most important thing
is to have a good portfolio. Nobody will hire you
if you only have one drawing to display. The
point is to work on anything you can (comics,
cartoons, etc). Exhibit your drawings in blogs,
Facebook, Photolog, Deviantart anything. The Better work will come with effort; it’s like going is large and constantly growing, and as a
world has to see what you are doing. Someone, upstairs, step by step, climbing up from one job consequence needs qualified people. One can
sometime, is going to find you. to another. Luckily the entertainment’s industry be a concept artist for advertising, movies, video
games, etc. There’s a lot of work to do.

I understand that you are a fan of music and you

list drums as one of your interests, do you play?
Also do you find that choosing the right music to
listen to whilst painting influences your art and
your mood?
I have always loved music and yes, I play
drums. I like the drums a lot! I have been a
drummer for twelve years, performing with
several local rock bands. Nowadays, it is only
a hobby, because I realized that I love drawing
and painting more.

When it is time to draw or paint I put on music to

help my creativity; the music choice is dictated
by what idea or subject I have to illustrate.
Generally I prefer British music; I love English
rock bands, especially Queen, Supergrass, Blur,
Morrisey, Artic Monkeys etc.

I am always amazed at the speed at which you

manage to create breathtaking artwork. How
long, on average, does a painting take you?
And do you find you spend your whole time
painting??
It is true that I work at high speed. This is
because I know many exercises that help

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ideas come quickly. Generally I find backgrounds and
scenes fairly easy, and I also like science fiction characters
very much. They are solid pictures that with simple bold
volumes and a pair of geometric lines become modern or
technological. The most difficult thing for me is gestures
or facial expression and action or battle episodes,
where human figures are generally in
foreshortening or perspective.

Speed is the output of hard practice.

I draw eleven hours a day: in the
morning I attend art classes at the
university, where I do my best to improve
my expressivity. From Mondays to Friday
I dedicate eight hours a day to freelance
works. Of course that work is not the
only thing I do! Thus, during weekends
I take walks with my girlfriend or go to
the cinema with her, meet friends, or
sometimes I travel to nearby places, and
so forth.

I notice that you also paint traditionally

- how much time do you get to spend on
these kind of projects? And a really hard
question: which do you prefer, digital or
traditional?
I try to make a picture per month,
but sometimes it is difficult to find a
gap of spare time in my daily work
to do it. What’s good with digital art
is that it is fast and cheap. Not long ago time
seemed to go more slowly, people were not
in a hurry. Art work was sent by post office in
parcels. On the contrary, today, everything
 Interview Ignacio Bazan Lazcano
has to be done now! Clients want thousands of
options, and all of them have to be made in 3D.
As I always say, digital art is another means to
hasten artistic production. I usually recommend
understanding traditional painting first and only
then, move on to digital.

If I could choose, I’d choose traditional painting.

The great difference between traditional painting
and digital art is that in traditional you can see
the artist’s brush strokes, textures, volumes
and energy, whereas with digital it is similar
to printed pictures, with smooth surfaces.
Nevertheless, I like digital art because it is
speedy and lets you get high quality results.

When I write my tutorials (which I like doing the thank God that I am ignorant about many things, shapes, objects, anything that captures your

most) I try to convey to readers the idea that the and this gives me a personal goal to keep attention, and enjoy yourself a lot while doing

same picture could be done using a traditional on enjoying myself in this wonderful world of it! One cannot go through life as if you were a

technique. For this reason I usually don’t speak drawing and painting. horse with blinders pulling a cart, always looking

much about the program I have used. On the to the road and not having any idea about

other hand I always try to ensure that everybody You mention that you are a fan of teaching as what’s happening either side of it. If we are keen

realizes how I’ve created the image. This way well as learning. What do you think are the most observers of everything we’ll be able to develop

people are not tied down to a unique tool, and important aspects of painting to understand as a high level of sensitivity that will make the

can learn that things can be made in more an artist? difference when it’s time to draw or paint. Life is

than one way. You may have noticed that I Your question is very difficult for me to answer. not long enough to learn everything you need. I

like teaching very much, as well as learning of I think that to be a good artist you must always think that the learning process never ends.

course, because the learning path never ends. I look at everything and analyze the colors,

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Ignacio Bazan Lazcano Interview

How do the subjects of your paintings differ from my work, I realize that in nearly all my drawings paint traditionally, whenever I can do it, I need to
traditional to digital? Do you ever find that you there are several characters. I‘ve always liked make something different from my daily work.
are painting a traditional subject in Photoshop or to draw details and stories in the same scene.
a sci-fi battle on a canvas? But when I paint on a canvas, I don’t know If you could work on any kind of project what
It is obvious that what I like most is to paint why but I’d rather paint “quiet” things, such us would it be?
action scenes that take place with science a landscape or a portrait. Perhaps the answer I would really enjoy working on the pre-
fiction or medieval characters. When looking at would be that because I have nearly no time to production of a science fiction or fantasy movie,

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 Interview Ignacio Bazan Lazcano

such as Avatar, Ironman, Star Wars, Lord of the effort someday I shall be among the greatest learn a bit about the guy that keeps writing those
Rings, etc. That would need new worlds and artists, I already see me there. excellent tutorials. When you make it to the top
characters to be created. I feel that it must be and work on those huge movies don’t forget us
unbelievable to see the result of one’s creations What’s your ultimate ambition for the future? at 3DTotal!
on the wide screen. My ultimate ambition is to work on something Thank so much for giving me this opportunity
great! And to learn from people that have to express and show my art in this beautiful
I know that I have a long and very difficult road been working in this industry for many years, magazine. I know that showing my art in this
to walk. But I also know that with patience and either on video games or Hollywood movies. space will give me the opportunity to work and
Obviously, this is an elusive goal. I have to complete my dreams, and when I take this
keep trying again and again until I’ll get it. One chance I will remember this magazine. It was a
has to compete against thousands of artists, all great interview. I enjoyed to talk with you. I see
over the world, with great skills and that have you in the next tutorial!
perhaps got their university degree in places
where companies visit universities to invite Ignacio Bazan Lazcano
students to work for them. I know that if I get the For more work by this artist please visit:
opportunity I’ll be able to do great things. http://www.ignaciobazanart.com/
Or contact them at:
Well thanks for letting us interview you. I am i.bazanlazcano@gmail.com
sure that a lot of our readers would have liked to Interviewed by: Simon Morse

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Ignacio Bazan Lazcano Interview

www.2dartistmag.com page 17 Issue 059 November 2010

 “Whatever we take from
the environment should be
replaced or something new
added in a positive way to
balance everything out.”

Share One planet is a global art competition organized to promote the necessity to take more care of the earth and its inhabitants. In this interview the
organizers catch up with poster designer Adrian Smith who talks about the necessity to care for the earth and the process in creating his work.
Adrian Smith Interview
Interview with Adrian Smith
With in all those endangered species which
“Share One Planet” competition focuses on, why
you picked Yangtze Alligator for your poster?
And how the image takes shape in your mind?
The great reptiles of our rivers, jungles and
forests have always appealed to me. The larger
reptiles such as the ‘yangtse alligator’ are very
much kings of there species. Beautifully elegant
as they cruise through the water and terrifyingly
vicious when tackling its prey and then caring
and tender when bringing up its young.

What are you trying to tell viewers through this

poster?
Firstly I’m trying to convey the beauty of these
animals while hinting at the life and lifestyle of
these great lizards. Hopefully I’ve managed to
put across a quiet moment in the day of a parent
alligator.

In the poster we find unusual perspective. The

adult alligator, the dragon head and the baby
alligators locate in three distinctive levels. Why
you apply such design?
My original plan was to have it so the first
thing that attracted the viewer’s eye would
be the young alligators in the foreground.

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 Interview Adrian Smith
This would show the hope that is still there
for these endangered animals. Then the eye
would hopefully carry up to the half seen parent
alligator showing the animal in its prime. Lastly
I wanted the old statue/carving to both show,
firstly the passing of time and also to show
that throughout the centuries these animals
have been respected by the common man.
The rising water level is to show how we must
be more careful in how we treat our shared
environments.

When dealing with traditional fine art, details

comes from observing actual subjects in nature.
When it comes to fantasy arts, sometimes
the artist is building something doesn’t exist.
How do you achieve believable detail in this
instance?
I suppose my approach to fantasy art is to take
something in reality and twist and stretch the
idea in my mind and then put that onto paper.
Then we have an object or scene or character
that is strange and unearthly on first site but
then we see similarities or hints of things in our
real world. This helps sell the fantastical idea to
the viewer. I suppose I have done the opposite
with the ‘yangtse alligator’ illustration as I have
shown a placid scene with the alligator and

young but then added the fantastical looking in where we build our homes and factories.
Chinese dragon statue/carving. Whatever we take from the environment should
be replaced or something new added in a
Is this poster your first creation with positive way to balance everything out.
environmental protection theme? What’s your
idea of “eco-friendly”? For you what’s the ideal
living environment for human? Share One Planet Competition
Ideally I think it would be best if we could live For more information about the Share One
in harmony as much as possible. We should Planet competition please visit:
use our great minds around the world to do http://www.shareoneplanet.org/en/index.aspx
more with cleaner energy and take more care

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Adrian Smith Interview

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“Perspective accuracy
in 3D or any other
theoretical tool is just
a shortcut to create the
necessary illusions to sell
any 2D fantasy art”

This month’s sketchbook brings us some

thing a little different, as it is not just the work
of one
artist but of a whole art studio! Black Volta
work as a close team to create great conce
pts; one
artist does the sketching, another will play
with it and refine it, a third will add color...
I think you
will agree that it will be really interesting to
look into their processes!
Blackvolta Sketchbook
SKETCHBOOK OF Blackvolta
We love to sketch and have always found it a valuable tool for speeding up the creative process. A lot of the work we do at the Blackvolta Studio is
done by a few members of the team. We love to see what we end up with.

In all the drawings there is an important technique or tool used to enhance the believability of the concept. For example in the image called
“Strange Beauty” we apply a perspective system that allows us to calculate exactly where the viewer’s eye is looking (Fig.01 – 1x) and calculate
perspective points in a graphical way. But the main aim of this process was to portray a sense of greatness in the main character in opposition to
the guys in the background. It also makes it seem as if the viewer is in the scene.

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 Sketchbook Blackvolta

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Blackvolta Sketchbook

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 Sketchbook Blackvolta

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Blackvolta Sketchbook
In the image called “No Way Out” the colorist started with
the concept (Fig.02 – 02e). That simple sketch set out
the idea for the final drawing, and from there it was just a
process of discussions and adaptations. In this particular
case we went over the lines in the beginning, but later
asked ourselves, what if we model the structure of the
character in 3D and just use it as an accurate reference?
That process went a little bad because we modeled and
rigged a 3D skeleton and tried to trace it, but the figures
looked so rigid and strange that we quit that path. So
we went back to basics and did the sketch without any
perspective reference or 3D, just plain gestural drawing and
we think it works better. In the final drawing the composition
is a central ellipse, and that creates the perpetual sense
of movement guiding the eye around this central form and
allowing us to narrate all the actions on the scene.

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Having learnt about this 3D technique, we cut the uses to a minimum. “Below the Bridge” we created a 3D box wireframe render and started
Trying to create a balance between 3D and 2D has been interesting sketching on it, then with the final sketch we create a 3D scene and
and useful though, and has crept into our workflow. In the image drew the characters on it (Fig.03 – 03f).
Blackvolta Sketchbook

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 Sketchbook Blackvolta
We are trying to absorb this 3D technique into our process but with 3D or any other theoretical tool is just a shortcut to create the necessary
more sensitivity than accuracy, because in the end the feeling of the illusions to sell any 2D fantasy art (Fig.04 – 26).
work is what connects it with the audience. Perspective accuracy in

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Blackvolta Sketchbook

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 Sketchbook Blackvolta

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 Sketchbook Blackvolta
However we’re always exploring other
ways to get a better result. Such as analog
media, whether ink, oil pastels, oils etc.

Blackvolta
For more information please visit:
http://www.blackvolta.com/
Or contact them at:
bkvolta@gmail.com

www.2dartistmag.com page 44 Issue 059 November 2010

G ET P E R S O N A L
This month we feature:
Kashubo Ivan
Serge Birault
Othniel King
Gediminas Pranckevicius
Tiago da Silva
Rafael Nascimento
Steve Sampson
Branko Bistrovic
Yap Jia Xing
Keun-ju Kim
The Gallery 10 of the Best send us your images! | simon@3dtotal.com

Climate Changes 3
Tiago da Silva
http://grafik.deviantart.com/
tmds77@gmail.com
Docking on P66
Othniel King
(Above)
http://www.othnielking.com
king.othniel@gmail.com
(Below)

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 send us your images! | simon@3dtotal.com 10 of the Best The Gallery

Pre-Loader City 2
Kashubo Ivan
ivankash.art@gmail.com

www.2dartistmag.com page 48 Issue 059 November 2010

The Gallery 10 of the Best send us your images! | simon@3dtotal.com

www.2dartistmag.com page 49 Issue 059 November 2010

 send us your images! | simon@3dtotal.com 10 of the Best The Gallery
My Little Friend
Gediminas Pranckevicius
http://www.gedomenas.com/
gediminaspr@gmail.com
(Left)

Mermaids Anguish
Branko Bistrovic
http://www.brushdreams.com/brankosfurnace.swf
bisvic@gmail.com
(Below)

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Battle Princess
Keun-ju Kim
http://rabbiteyes.net/index.html
skipio-hanibal@hanmail.net
 send us your images! | simon@3dtotal.com 10 of the Best The Gallery
Fluffy pup
Yap Jia Xing
angusyap@hotmail.com
(Left)

Abducted
Rafael Nascimento
http://rafaelnascimentoart.blogspot.com
rafaelp.nascimento@hotmail.com
(Below)

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The Gallery 10 of the Best send us your images! | simon@3dtotal.com

Stone Fish
Steve Sampson
http://www.thedarkinker.com/
contact@thedarkinker.com

www.2dartistmag.com page 53 Issue 059 November 2010

 Alien Tako Sashimi
Serge Birault
http://www.sergebirault.fr/sb/index.php
serge.birault@hotmail.fr
Concept art for computer games is a fascinating field and an industry that a lot of aspiring digital artists would love to be involved with. This
tutorial series has been written by some of the biggest and best names in the gaming industry, who will guide us through the way they would
tackle the three main areas where concept work is required: environments, characters and accessories. The artists involved in this series have
created a games brief themselves and are free to create their own vision of the description. They will reflect on the steps they choose to take
from the point of receiving the brief up until they have created a completed concept for their required section.

Chapter 5: Accessories | Craig Sellars

 Game type: First person shooter The environment: The setting is dark and cold. The planet is basically a
Genre: Sci-Fi Year: 2300 giant rock. There is no lush foliage or vast bodies of water. Instead there
are pits of oil and sludge. The terrain has large, jagged rock formations
The setting is Earth and the prison planet, Asturia. 90% of the game is jutting out sporadically throughout the landscape. The sky is constantly
on Asturia. filled with flashes of green lightning, which brings on poisonous rain storms.

Plot summary: Lex Crane, a former police officer, is now the chief of There is a giant prison facility that has been placed on the planet to house
security at Skye Global, the largest manufacturer of pharmaceuticals the galaxy’s most violent and evil criminal element. Escape is rarely ever
on the planet. Lex discovers something about the company he works attempted because of the sheer fact that outside the walls survival is not
for that he shouldn’t have, and this starts a chain reaction that causes possible. The extremely harsh climate, along with the predatory dangers
him to be wrongly accused for the murder of his family and a local that exist on the planet, make it so that the prisoners would rather stay
politician. He is sentenced to life imprisonment on the prison planet of confined to prison. At least there is food, shelter, warmth etc., inside the
Asturia. On the prison planet he is constantly targeted by the criminals jail.
that he put there all those years ago, along with an unknown enemy
within the prison walls hired by Skye Global. Lex was framed by Skye Prisoners are forced to work as part of their sentence. The labor camps
Global’s CEO, Lance Shepherd, and Shepherd is now trying to have him are set up throughout the perimeter surrounding the prison. They are
killed in a place where nobody will miss him or even realize he’s dead. forced to mine for the oil that exists deep within the surface of the planet.
Lex is trying to escape from the prison and return to Earth, where he’s Along with these intensely laborious tasks of digging and mining, the
convinced he can find the evidence to clear his name. Along the way he prisoners are also constantly expanding the facility to house yet more
forms unexpected alliances and is disappointed by shocking betrayals. prisoners.
 Chapter 5: Accessories Concept Art for Games
Concept Art for Games:
Part 5 - Accessories
Software used: Photoshop

For my first chapter in this project I want to

design a drop ship or prisoner transport for the
prison planet Asturia.

When I set out to design anything for a game

the first thing I consider is how whatever I am
required to design can help tell the story and
add to the mood.

In this case I’m setting out to design a transport

vehicle solely used to ferry highly dangerous When sketching out initial ideas for something of this design I feel it’s a little too bird-like or
prisoners to and from the remote planet’s like this, I would usually use a blue pencil then elegant to be a heavy old prison transport.
surface. I want the vehicle to feel heavy and markers and a tech pen for cleaning it up, but
a bit clunky - sort of utilitarian where form I have increasingly started to use Photoshop With this rough sketch I go for a more traditional
follows function (that is to say that the ship’s for the sketch process as well as the finished rectangular box shape, in the spirit of classic
construction is dictated purely by the mechanical pieces since it is so efficient and versatile. shuttles like in Star Trek (Fig.02). However to
requirements, with no thought to making it make this shuttle look more utilitarian, I add
aesthetically pleasing). I decide it’s important I’m trying to design something that is heavy yet large, oversized engines to the sides, expose
to emphasize how inhospitable the planet’s feels fast with a lot of control surfaces (Fig.01). mechanical details along the underside and add
environment is so I want the vehicle to look run There is a lot of potential for moving parts, some less prominent control surfaces for added
down, as if flying in Asturia’s atmosphere has constantly adjusting as the ship flies through movement. Whilst I like the heavy feel of this
taken its toll on the ship. the turbulent atmosphere. While I like the idea design, I think it lacks an distinct silhouette.

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Concept Art for Games Chapter 5: Accessories

For my third sketch, I try to create a fuselage since they are so dangerous, the prisoners are of what I think is a portable bridge. I really like
shape that’s more like a tugboat or transport kept in the bowels of the ship and as far away the aggressive and unconventional shape so I
boat with a prominent control room/cockpit from the crew as possible. Also, the fact that incorporate this into the design, thinking these
up front for maximum visibility in turbulent they are kind of hanging on the bottom of the large forward projecting shapes could be control
atmospheres (Fig.03). At this point I realize ship like cargo, reflects how little concern the surfaces that regulate the descent of the ship
that this boat theme provides an opportunity to crew has for the prisoner’s lives. as it both flies and falls through the turbulent
incorporate more “story” into my design, and I atmosphere (implausible from an engineering
place the compartment that the prisoners ride While looking through references of heavy standpoint, but sometimes it’s about creating
in at the bottom of the vessel. The idea is that military machinery and I come across an image interest above all else). I finish this idea off with
a heavy array of engines retrofitted to the sides.

At this point it’s time to review my three

sketches. Fig.03 is the direction I decide to take
as it fills all of my design goals.

To start out, I sketch my design on a blank

canvas (Fig.04). At this point I am carefully
choosing an angle that gives the most dynamic
view of the vehicle. Sometimes, I’ll do this step
by creating a simple 3D block model so I can
rotate around to get the best angle.

Next, I place a background wash of color behind

the sketch (Fig.05). This is to represent the sky

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 Chapter 5: Accessories Concept Art for Games
and color of the planet’s atmosphere, but more
importantly it is the key color for my painting
and the base into which I will paint. I create this
“wash” by layering in a couple of non-descript
sections of a sky photo, then adding solid color
overlays on top and adjusting the transparency
so I have some color variety and texture.

Next I start layering in textural images as

overlay layers (Fig.06). These are made up
of photos of metal and rusty surfaces etc and
provide me not so much with detail, but with
local color that I can use to start painting and
defining the vehicle. At this point I alter the color
and value of the sky to make the vehicle stand
out more against the background.

Even during the final illustration stage I am

always altering things as I work out what looks
best and here I adjust the overall color again
(Fig.07). At this point I am mainly drawing into
the image and establishing the lighting on the
vessel, all to help define the surface planes.
I am also starting to think about detail a little
and, when looking in my reference folder, I
find a photo of a big iron collar fitting on an old
industrial pipe. I paste that into my image for the
front opening on the cylindrical engine body. I
often do this early on not just to provide detail
for a specific area, but I find it encourages me to
push forward in defining other things as quickly
as possible

I continue to draw into the ship, conscious of

preserving areas of blank or empty surface to
compliment the areas with large amounts of
detail and “busy-ness” (Fig.08). I always try

to make sure I am keeping in mind the purpose of my design within the

story. So at this point I add and define a metal framework surrounding the
prisoner compartment at the bottom of the vessel. This is a retractable
cage which surrounds the prisoner compartment and visually emphasizes
the dangerous nature of the characters locked inside.

At this point I am adjusting the values as I go, refining the shadows so

they aren’t too dark and tweaking the color of the light (Fig.09). I also
focus on the engine area. The two distinctly different engine housings

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Concept Art for Games Chapter 5: Accessories

sandwiched on top of each other feel a little too transport train and more in keeping with my color and add background flecks and streaks to
clumsy, so I paint out the top housing and imply theme (Fig.10). It seems that the wings feel a better imply a sense of motion in the final image.
the mechanics of the upper wing base which is little too flimsy even for my fictional design, so I
now visible. incorporate some heavy struts that anchor them This finished illustration would then be
to the main fuselage and support the overhead presented to the Art Director and other
I also feel at this point that the nose of the wings. stakeholders on the projects. If approved, front,
fuselage is a little too organic for my clunky side, top and bottom elevation drawings would
spaceship design so I shave it down a little to At this stage I am nearing the end, and I work be generated for modelers to work from. This
be more boxy, then add a glass canopy for over the whole vehicle adding some details and type of color illustration is often pivotal in getting
the cockpit that is more evocative of an old removing others. I continue to tweak the overall an idea approved, as it portrays the concept

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 Chapter 5: Accessories Concept Art for Games

in a dynamic yet descriptive way that allows

everyone to get the feel of the potential final
design (Fig.11).

Craig Sellars
For more from this artist visit:
http://www.greensocksart.com/
Or contact them at:
sellarsart@hotmail.com

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Concept Art for Games Chapter 5: Accessories

www.2dartistmag.com page 63 Issue 059 November 2010

 PMS COLORED

116 U

404 U

modo is for artists

3D image created in modo by Luxology. Credit: Gelmi

3D image For more
created information,
in modo visit
by Luxology. modo3D.com
Credit: Gelmi

TM
 “When you have a live
subject you can see exactly
how the light interacts with
the planes of their face”

Portraits are one of the most commonly tackled subjects in all forms of art, but also one of the most common that we see
go horribly wrong. In this series our talented artists will be showing us how to use a photo reference to paint an accurate
portrait without being tempted to do a paintover. We don’t stop there though; we also venture into the specialized field
of caricatures. Caricatures are a tricky subject to deal with, but there are ways that you can use your photo reference to
make them easier and this series gives us an insight into this process.

Chapter 01 | Male | Mike Lim (Daarken)

Portraiture Chapter 01: Male

shadow shapes on their face, so if you are using face and for the shadows I can just block in
Portraiture - Chapter 01: a camera be sure to turn the flash off. The last large shadow shapes. Since I am doing this
Male thing you want is a subject that is all blown out. digitally I can just open my reference in
Software used: Photoshop Photoshop and paint next to it. I would avoid
Finding willing subjects to sit for you or allow color picking from the photo because you want

Gathering Reference you to take their photo can be tricky sometimes, to train your eye to see colors, plus color picking

The first thing I do when painting a portrait is but you always have yourself available as a from photos can be deceiving because if you

to gather my reference. Even for concept work model. May I also suggest that you leave self- zoom in really close on a photo you can see

I try and find some type of reference, be it portraits out of your portfolio and only use them that there are many other colors that you can’t

costume ideas, texture swatches, inspiration for for practice. The last thing a client wants to see see zoomed out. You may also want to change

the color palette, just anything that will get my when looking through your portfolio is your face some of the colors, depending on what you are

mind rolling. Getting the right type of reference staring back at them! going for in terms of mood and style.

is extremely important if your goal is to paint

someone’s likeness. You may think you know The Line Drawing The trick to painting a likeness is all in the

what someone looks like, but do you know every In a previous tutorial I explained how to paint a structure of the face. The little details aren’t

nuance well enough to paint them from your male portrait from memory using large shapes as important as the overall head shape and

memory? Most likely not. I suggest painting from and silhouettes, but in this tutorial I am going structure. If you can get someone’s brow right,

life when at all possible. Painting from a photo to start off using line. In school they taught us or their eye socket shape right, you are well

can flatten out the forms and cause distortion how to paint portraits in oil by first laying out all on your way to painting a good likeness. If you

from the lens. When you have a live subject of the major landmarks in line. If I were doing squint your eyes you can focus more on the

you can see exactly how the light interacts with this in oils I would first draw out the structure large shapes instead of the details.

the planes of their face. That being said, I am using burnt umber that was thinned out with
going to paint my portrait from a photo! Make turpentine. I only really need to worry about When I look at my photo, I am looking for the

sure that your subject has some interesting drawing in the details for the light side of the large shadow areas and the shape they create

www.2dartistmag.com page 67 Issue 059 November 2010

 Chapter 01: Male Portraiture
(Fig.01). Typically when I start drawing a 3/4
view I will start with the brow of the far eye and
work my way up the forehead. I can then come
down and block in the large shadow shape
for the eye socket and the large shadow area
under the cheek on the left side of the face (the
viewer’s right side). There is a large area of
shadow under the nose, so I can knock that out
in a few large strokes as well.

Right now I am using a rectangular Chalk brush

at 100% Opacity. The way I change my Opacity
is by how hard I press on the tablet. To do this
go to Window > Brushes and make sure to click
the box next to Other Dynamics. Under other
dynamics make sure you have Opacity Jitter set
to Pen Pressure. I like using the Chalk brush
because it has a little bit of texture and it acts eye (Fig.02). If you noticed, I am just blocking in There are also some general rules that you
more like an actual paint brush, allowing you to the large overall shape and not all of the details should be aware of when painting a face.
knock in the various planes. When I say “planes” inside the shape. Like the eyes, I don’t have the Generally there is one eye width between the
I mean direction changes in the form. eyeball detailed out or the iris, only the general eyes; the corner of the eye starts at the edge of
outside shape. Try to be as accurate as possible the wing of the nostril; the corners of the mouth
Once I have the large shadow shapes in place when painting these shapes. Really look at the line up to the middle of the eye, and so on.
I can go in and start blocking in the details, like model and try to understand what the forms are These are good rules, but they are not always
the shape of the nostril and the shape of the doing. true. I know from painting previous self-portraits

www.2dartistmag.com page 68 Issue 059 November 2010

Portraiture Chapter 01: Male

that my eyes are actually 1.5 eye widths

apart. Also, be sure to check the angles of the
individual features (Fig.03). Hold your pencil
up and measure the angle of the eyes, or the
angle of the mouth. Don’t worry too much if your
painting doesn’t look exactly like your subject,
it will come together as you begin to add color
and value.

Tricks of the Trade

Working digitally has a lot of perks that you
should be sure to take advantage of. The Undo
button is your friend, although some might
beg to differ. Some argue that having an Undo
button so readily available causes artists to wrapping around the form as much as I had find it by going to Edit > Copy Merged. Now,
become lazy or it might cause them to lose their hoped, so using the Warp tool to wrap them with your selection still selected, hit Paste (Ctrl +
edge. Sure, not being able to undo causes a around the form a little more is a quick and easy V for PCs or Command + V for Macs). This will
person to become more vigilant in their choices solution. Don’t think that this is a perfect solution paste all of the merged layers into a new layer
and their drawing/painting ability, but it all comes though; you can only warp something so much that you can modify. Using the Move tool I can
down to the end result. Is your illustration better until it starts to look weird. move my ear down. If you just want to make
because you were a purist and never erased minor changes use the arrow keys to move your
anything, or is your illustration stronger because Once you have things close to where you want selection.
you recognized your errors and you corrected them, you can go in and fix your mistakes
them? I am sure that subject will be debated manually. My ear is a little too high compared Behold! Color!
until the end of time. to the photo (Fig.05). Since I have my drawing The single most asked question I receive is how
on several different layers, I need to find a way do I add color to a black and white painting. First
There are also several tools that will allow you to to move them. Doing a Copy Merged will merge of all I would like to dispel the belief that adding
fix your mistakes without having to repaint large all of the visible layers in your selection and spit color in Photoshop is achieved by a simple click
areas. The Warp tool allows you to warp areas them out in one nice, happy layer. Just select of a button. Sure you can add color using a
by pushing and pulling dots that are situated in the area you want to move with the Marquee color layer or an overlay layer, but chances are
a 3x3 grid, almost as if you were modifying a tool and then hit Ctrl + Shift + C, for PCs, or it won’t look very good. Usually I start by adding
3D object (Fig.04). Some of my features aren’t Command + Shift + C, for Macs. You can also color through the use of a color or overlay

www.2dartistmag.com page 69 Issue 059 November 2010

 Chapter 01: Male Portraiture

layer, but then I build the color up using several wanted the face to pop, so I decide to make This will bring up a number of choices, but we
different layer modes, color balance, and levels the background more blue/green. You’ll notice are going to select Color Balance. The great
(Fig.06 – 07). Once that is achieved you have that I’m using the background color to carve thing about adjustment layers is that they don’t
a good starting point, but not an ending point. in on the face. As I paint I do a lot of push and actually change your painting, so if you don’t like
After you have the base colors established you pull with the paint, the same way I would if I the changes you can just delete them and your
will need to go in and paint opaquely on top was using oils. The shirt and neck aren’t as painting will be back to normal.
of everything the old fashioned way (Fig.08). important, so I make the background get darker
I throw down big specular highlights on the towards the bottom in order to pull the focus to Chip Away
forehead just so that I can gauge my value the face. The face is a little on the green side, The basic structure and color palette has been
range and make sure that my other lights aren’t so I want to change that by using an adjustment established, so all we need to do now is to refine
brighter than that highlight. I’ll go in later and layer (Fig.10–11). On your layer palette click on the painting, one step at a time (Fig.12). Using
make it even brighter as well as push the darks the half black half white circle near the bottom. the Liquify tool and the Warp tool I can pull the
so that my painting pops a little more.

In the reference picture you can see a lot of

bluish light on the left side of the photo. That
light is coming from the computer monitor. After
playing around with adding the blue light in the
painting, I decide against it and go with a more
traditional look. If you are using a reference
don’t be a slave to the reference, know when to
deviate or when to stick to the reference.

Right now I am trying to stay pretty loose with

my brush strokes. I won’t add little details until
the very end. I also stay zoomed out so that I
can see the entire painting. This allows me to
see how each element relates to another and
also helps me avoid getting bogged down in
the details. Since the face already has a lot of
yellows and oranges, I didn’t want to keep the
background a brownish color (Fig.09). I really

www.2dartistmag.com page 70 Issue 059 November 2010

Portraiture Chapter 01: Male
eye sockets and nose out a little bit since they
seem like they are pinched in a little too much.
I also rotate the ear counter clockwise and the
mouth clockwise. For the facial hair I use a
Speckle brush instead of painting in each hair by
hand. Don’t go too overboard with specialized
brushes because they can end up looking “too
digital” or they can make repeating patterns.
Usually I will add facial hair on a separate layer
so that I can go back in and erase out parts that
repeat too much.

Flipping your image often will help you

recognize your errors more easily and give you
a new perspective on your painting (Fig.13).
Taking regular breaks can also give your eyes My image is also looking a little fuzzy, so I think you like. Comparing my painting to the reference
a rest so that when you come back you can see I will sharpen it up a little. Make sure that you I can tell that the angle of the cheeks is wrong.
things that need to be fixed. I have mine bound have your entire image on one layer. If you The angle of the bottom of the nose is a little off
to Command + F. To make your own shortcut don’t, just select the entire canvas by hitting too.
you can go to Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts. Click Ctrl + A (or Command + A) and then do a Copy
the arrow next to image and then scroll down to Merged (Ctrl + Shift + C or Command + Shift + Most of the time I only use the default Round
Rotate Canvas > Flip Canvas Horizontal. You C) and Paste (Ctrl + V or Command + V). Now brush, so sometimes my paintings can look a
can then enter your own shortcut and hit Accept go to Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask. You can little “digital” and clean. Whenever possible I try
and then Ok. play with the settings until you get something to use custom brushes to add in little hints of

www.2dartistmag.com page 71 Issue 059 November 2010

 Chapter 01: Male Portraiture

texture here and there (Fig.14 – 15). You can also add texture
overlays over the entire image. Grab a texture you like and add
a new layer. Paste that texture into the new layer so that it fills
the entire canvas. Next change the Layer Mode to Soft Light and
drop the Opacity down to 30%. You don’t want to overdo the
texture because it will defeat the purpose and make your painting
look fake. My value range isn’t quite what I want, so I add a Color
Dodge layer and paint into it using a dark gray. Using a neutral
color will preserve the colors of your painting. Also, don’t pick a
gray that is too light, otherwise you will blow out your painting.

The Liquify tool is an awesome tool that will let you change
your painting quickly without having to repaint anything. It is a
great tool for concept artists that need to make changes quickly
(Fig.16 – 17). Select the area you want to change and then go
to Filter > Liquify. The far eye is too small, so instead of using
the Transform tool I can use the Liquify tool to make a more
seamless change. Once you hit Liquify there will be a number
of new icons on the left side of the screen. The one we want is
the fifth one down. It will allow you to increase the size of things.
Once I have that selected I can change the brush size using the
Brush Size option to the right. All I have to do is tap down on my
tablet to increase the size of the eye. Once I have the changes I
want I just click Ok.

www.2dartistmag.com page 72 Issue 059 November 2010

Portraiture Chapter 01: Male
Make it Fat
After coming back to the image I can see
that the face and neck look way too skinny
compared to the reference (Fig.18). In order to
“fatten” up the face I flatten the image, select
everything, and then hit Ctrl + T (Command + T)
to transform it. I then pull the side handle bar out
and boom, instant fatness added. For the neck
I just paint it in the old fashioned way and add
in a little bit of a bluish rim light on the back of
the neck. Another important aspect of painting
a portrait is knowing when to exaggerate or pull
back certain features. If you were painting an
upper class woman, you might want to make
her look a little more elegant by lengthening her
neck. Again, it just depends on what you are

trying achieve with your painting. I guess that

sometimes when working on a self-portrait you
feel the need to cheat a little and take off a few
pounds or edit out some wrinkles. Don’t fall into
the trap, make it fat!

Poke a Stick in it
The hardest part is knowing when you are done.
If you feel that you’ve accomplished everything
that you set out to do and you are happy with
the result, don’t stop, because you still have 5%
more to go. Step away again and come back to
it later. I can almost guarantee that you will find
something you will want to fix or change when
you come back to it. When I came back to mine
I noticed that the mouth was too far forward and
the colors were not where I wanted them to be.
I added more blues, reds and purples since the
skin tones were still a little too yellow/green. I
only put two hours into this painting, but I felt
that it was in a place that I felt comfortable with
calling it finished (Fig.19 – 20).

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and learned a

thing or two about painting portraits. Thanks!

www.2dartistmag.com page 73 Issue 059 November 2010

Mike Lim (Daarken) Chapter 01: Male Portraiture
For more from this artist visit:
http://daarken.com/
Or contact them at:
daarkenart@daarken.com

www.2dartistmag.com page 74 Issue 059 November 2010

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 Interviews
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Articles
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Tutorials
Concept art for Games
Chapter 6: Accessories

NEW!!! Portraiture
Chapter 2: Female Caricature

NEW!!! Painting Creatures From Folklore

Chapter 4: Ogre

Custom Brushes For Sci-Fi

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Fantasy plays a huge part in digital art. It influences thousands of Chapter 1: September Issue 57 | Goblin | Andrei Pervukhin
artists from around the world and has become a large part of the film Chapter 2: October Issue 58 | Fairy | Nykolai Aleksander
and gaming industry. So much of what we see within this genre is Chapter 3: This Issue | Siren | Min Yum
drawn from fairy tales and folklore. In this tutorial series our artists will
Chapter 4: Next Issue | Ogre | Richard Tilbury
be showing us how to research creatures from folklore and use this
Chapter 5: January Issue 61 | Troll | Simon Dominic Brewer
gathered information to create an original and accurate depiction of
these fantasy characters.
Painting Creatures From Folklore Chapter 3: Siren
Painting Creatures From
Folklore: Chapter 03 - Siren
Software used: Photoshop

Introduction
I sometimes start a picture without a strong idea
in mind, especially with subjects I haven’t dealt
with before, and it quickly leads to a research
session for a small collection of reference
images. Because of this my process usually
begins with research. I think it’s important to
prepare right at the start rather than late in the
day as it can save so much time and trouble
later on. Good research can also lead to ideas
and inspiration as well as help you get all the
facts right about your subject matter. It turns
out that my initial ideas about sirens were
slightly incorrect when I began my research.
I’ve always pictured them more like monsters,
ready for battle but they were usually described
as a beautiful seductive bird-like women or like
mermaids luring men to the sea.

In this workshop I am going to share my process

of creating a painting from sketch to the finished
piece, as well as share some of the tips and
methods I frequently use in Photoshop.

Sketch for me. I cleaned up the sketch a little here with

I started by roughly sketching out some ideas some minor anatomy details and took a mental
as small thumbnails. When doing thumbnails note of how the background would be painted
I usually try to arrange the elements whilst (Fig.02).
focussing on composition. I also avoid focusing
on details at this stage; I just roughly put down Blocking in
the ideas and see if they work visually (Fig.01). Using some big textured brushes, I blocked in
some background colors. There’s something
Refining sketch about using strong contrasting colors that adds
I decided to go for the mermaid look for my to a piece of art and this is no exception. I
Siren. I like to try something new with every went for orange and blue. I was feeling a bit
piece of artwork I do, and since I’ve never drawn adventurous and went with a very bold orange,
a mermaid creature this was an obvious choice hoping I could offset this with cool lighting on the

www.2dartistmag.com page 79 Issue 059 November 2010

 Chapter 3: Siren Painting Creatures From Folklore
character against the warm orange background
(Fig.03).

Defining the figure

I next established the lighting. I tried to keep it
subtle by using a slight spotlight from top left.
I also adjusted her skin tone to help her stand
out from the background. At this stage I also
roughed out the overall form of the figure and
the rock (Fig.04).

Rendering
With all the elements in the right places, the
rendering begins. This process is probably
the most time consuming part. I usually start
with the focal point, in this case the figure. My
workspace in Photoshop usually consists of two
document windows. One zoomed out at around
25% and the other with a close up view so that I
can work on the details and check how it works
overall in the other window. Digital painting has
the advantage of being able to zoom in, but
also at the same time it can lead to overworking
an area which may lead to inconsistency
throughout the image. Opening up another
window can be done by going to Windows >
Arrange > New Window for xxxx.psd (Fig.05).

Adding details
I started adding the details and worked on the
features like her face. I tend to avoid using
textured brushes at this stage as they don’t give
you finer controls. Blending with a low Opacity
brush can often lead to muted colors as you are
painting over semi transparent colors over and

over again. It’s good to select the original color shadow starts, shown here with a red arrow
again once in a while to bring back the original (Fig.07). This area is darkest because of the
colors. Another method I use is Overlay brush reflected/diffuse lighting in the shadow region.
blending modes to put back some of those One thing I do tend to do is accentuate this area
vibrant colors that were lost during the blending with more saturated colors, usually from the
(Fig.06). warm colors in the surrounding environment.
This works really well with rounded forms but
Rendering Form also with edge of the shadows. A soft edged
If you’ve tried rendering a simple sphere or brush with Overlay Blending mode does the job
cylinder, you may have heard of the term “core well (Fig.07).
shadow”. This refers to the region where the

www.2dartistmag.com page 80 Issue 059 November 2010

Painting Creatures From Folklore Chapter 3: Siren
Tidying up periodically flip the canvas when I’m working
After many hours working on the image the to see if anything looks odd. One of the things
painting was almost done. I added more detail I focused on was the fact that I wanted to keep
and a warm orange outline around the figure the background simple and not conflicting with
to help differentiate her from the background. I the main focal point of the image (Fig.08).
looked out for any inconsistent brush strokes
which can happen when working on a detailed Corrections
image. I also got rid of unnecessary details There were couple of things in the image that
especially in the background texture. Flipping didn’t seem quite right. The head of the figure
the canvas horizontally is a simple and easy seemed a little too small and the tail felt a bit
method to check for any obvious mistakes; I unnatural. A quick adjustment of the head fixed

the proportion issue, but the tail needed a bit

more work, particularly with the way it rested
on the rock. Also it needed more highlights to
suggest a shiny texture (Fig.09).

Finishing up
After adding the final touches and a couple
of colour adjustment layers, the painting is
wrapped up. I am satisfied with the overall
feel of the image and the fact that I haven’t
completely lost all of the bold colours I begun
with (Fig.10).

Min Yum
For more from this artist visit:
http://www.minart.net/
Or contact them at:
minyum@gmail.com

www.2dartistmag.com page 81 Issue 059 November 2010

 Chapter 3: Siren Painting Creatures From Folklore

www.2dartistmag.com page 82 Issue 059 November 2010

3DTotal presents the new issue of 3dcreative
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 Custom brushes are not only a great way to increase the speed at which a painting can be completed, but can also create an effect that would
otherwise be impossible. They can be used in many different types of scene, but many would argue that they become most useful when
Intro creating
Text a space scene. In space many items need replicating or reproducing in vast quantities, which can be difficult, but custom brushes can
make this process much easier and simpler. In this series the artists involved will be showing you how to create brushes to improve your scene
and how to use them to the best effect.

Chapter 01: Asteroid Belt | July 2010 Chapter 04: Underground Corridor | October 2010
Chapter 02: Egyptian Sci - Fi Scene | August 2010 Chapter 05: Underwater City | November 2010
Chapter 03: Night-Time Sci-Fi City Battle | September 2010 Chapter 06: Sci-Fi Ruins | December 2010
– Free Brushe Images
Custom Brushes For Sci-Fi Chapter 5: Underwater City
Custom Brushes For Sci-Fi
Chapter 5 - Underwater City
Software used: Photoshop

Hi guys, in this tutorial I will take you through

the steps I took when making an underwater
environment with the help of some custom
brushes that I’ll explain how to create along the
way.

When I did this image I woke up to early in the

morning and I already had a pretty clear idea
of how I wanted the final image to look. My first
steps usually differ from image to image but
as this was the first drawing of the day I did a
quick loose line drawing to establish a rough
composition (Fig.01).

I knew I wanted the underwater scene to have

a remote control unit, a couple of divers and a
main ship on the surface. They would be diving
into a cool environment surrounded by all kind
of weird rock formations.

So the next step was adding values. I chose to

do it directly in color as there wouldn’t be much
color in a piece such as this anyway. The blues
and greens of the water would be all over almost
the whole image. For the submersible I chose
a simple white and yellow scheme. I still wasn’t
sure about the rock formations but I knew I
wanted some cool shapes that I could have fish
swim around, and have all sorts of vegetation
and corals hanging and growing from (Fig.02).

Once I had the basic color scheme and values

settled I removed the line drawing and started to
refine my shapes (Fig.03).

I really wanted to avoid overworking this image,

as water scenes do tend to blur out and loose a
lot of detail. The noise, sediments, and lack of
light all affect how much you can see.

I added in a quick picture of a seaside shore I could have a foreground element that sets the other rock structures. I picked up a textured
took this summer and start painting over it so I submersible in place, and gives depth to the brush and tried to emulate a dirty, full-of-spots

www.2dartistmag.com page 85 Issue 059 November 2010

 Chapter 5: Underwater City Custom Brushes For Sci-Fi
kinda look, and added a bit of contrast between
the heavy shapes and thin ones. I then started
to flesh out the sub (Fig.04). Because of the
rocks I was planning and the organic shapes
around them, I added some lights to the sub
just so it can see ahead as it goes deeper, and
in the middle a camera to record its journey
(Fig.05).

I then refined the rocks in the mid-ground and

foreground to keep the image heading in the
right direction. I added a bit more of the same
photo texture to the mid-ground rock formations
and another hole in the left foreground structure,
just to give it even more depth and contrast.

At this point the environment was pretty much

so done so it was time to add some life and
a bit more dynamic movement to the scene
with the help from our good friend: the custom
brush. I’m not a big fan of creating my own
brushes although I do have a couple that I like
to use regularly. For this piece first things first,
I needed a fish brush that could emulate fish
swimming around.

I opened a new file, and started drawing

different kinds of fish. I took a short walk down
memory lane and remembered all the discovery
programs I had seen, and picked out a few
formations that could work in this scene.

First I drew some fish that weren’t going

anywhere soon - they were just admiring the
view (Fig.06). Next were fish swimming around
in a hurry - huge packs of fish swimming like
crazy around rocks and coral (Fig.07). Finally I
knew I wanted a type of Mackerel-like fish and a
thinner fish that would look good when I painted knew I wanted to change the Scattering, Shape Custom brushes are all about fiddling and trial
them in a big row in huge numbers (Fig.08). I Dynamics and maybe Color Dynamics settings. and error until they fit your needs. Especially in
tried to vary the size and shapes of the fish so I changed Shape Dynamics so rotation would the ones that are trying to replicate something
that even if they were tiled there would still be a follow the direction I painted. I also changed from real life! When you’re happy with a brush
difference. Size Jitter to a higher value, around 60. I wanted and its settings, you can go ahead and right
the fish to keep tight together in a mass, like click on the Brush menu and go to New Brush
I then took each layer individually, went to Edit > they do in real life, so I lowered the Scatter Preset. That creates a new brush from your
Define New Brush Preset, opened up my brush amount and increased the count a little more to modified one and also keeps the rough version
menu and started playing with the settings. I achieve this effect. in case you want to modify it later.

www.2dartistmag.com page 86 Issue 059 November 2010

Custom Brushes For Sci-Fi Chapter 5: Underwater City
Now it was time to populate (Fig.09). I knew I
wanted the fish to go around the rock columns,
and near rocks, like they were hiding from the
sub. But I also wanted some to be surprised
by it so I put them into the light as a secondary
focal point. I just locked the transparent pixels
in the layer menu (Ctrl + click works as well)
and started painting over them to give them a
bit of shine and texture, trying to treat them as a
group. Now the image was coming alive!

I knew that beside these I wanted some

underwater vegetation which would be a good
ground for fish to play or hide in. So it was time
to draw the kelps and seaweed that was going
to be growing on to the rocks.

I followed the same process to create this kelp

and seaweed custom brush. I opened a new file
and started a few kelp leaves on a new layer.
After some experiments I noticed that if I drew
too many leaves the tiling was becoming more
obvious, so I narrowed it down to only a few. I
then made the brush and started playing with a straight line, so it looks more like they are The ship was looking a bit small so I enlarged it

its dynamics, changing Size Jitter to 60, Angle floating and their roots are keeping them on the and made a trail behind its main propellers. The

Jitter to direction, adding a small amount of rock. I also erased some parts out and painted right foreground rock looked a little too clean so

Scatter and a big count, and making a little color some new leaves in where it seemed to boring, I added a few pieces of coral using my shaky

dynamic change to the Hue and Brightness but nothing big. The brushes did their job well. hand (Fig.12).

Jitter. I actually created two versions of this

brush so I could have a bit more variety in the I also punctured the right foreground just to get So everything was pretty much in place at this

environment (Fig.10 – 11). a glimpse at a coral in the background. I then point. Just one thing was missing: the bubbles
focused a little on the divers, refining their edges from the divers, sub and random fish. I went

Next I started adding a few columns of kelp and silhouettes and then added a cable that into my brush files and painted some rough

rising to the surface. I tried not to put them in powers the sub from the mother ship. spots to mimic bubbles and then went back
into Photoshop. With a few adjustments in the
Scatter and Shape dynamics I added some
bubbles to the scene.

Now all that was left was the final tweaks, a

little more light hitting the fish and some color
dodge on the top of the water where the sun is
hitting right next to the mother ship. I also added
a noise filter for some subtle texture and it was
done (Fig.13)!

I hope you guys enjoyed this underwater

environment. Of course the way I create the

www.2dartistmag.com page 87 Issue 059 November 2010

custom brushes doesn’t have to be your Chapter 5: Underwater City Custom Brushes For Sci-Fi
way. For other projects I may do it differently
but for this they did their job pretty well.

Thanks for reading!

Ioan Dumitrescu
For more from this artist visit:
http://jonone.cgsociety.org/gallery/661127/
Or contact them at:
jononespo@yahoo.com

– Free Brushe Images

www.2dartistmag.com page 88 Issue 059 November 2010

Custom Brushes For Sci-Fi Chapter 5: Underwater City

www.2dartistmag.com page 89 Issue 059 November 2010

 “I spent a lot of time trying
to find the correct path and
– Free Brushes almost everything evolved
in separate pieces”

Artist.
ly issue of 2D
či us im age in the Ju
Prancke vi Gediminas
th is gr ea t Gediminas te th is qu irky image.
seen used to cr ea
u may have processes
Some of yo k pe ek into the ctive really
well.
su e w e ge t a sn ea
s de pt h and perspe
Well in this
is which show
of his scene
ba se to create a lot
uses a 3D
Wasp Woman Returns Making Of
Making Of Wasp Woman
Returns
Software used: Photoshop and 3D Max

Hello to those who are staring at the monitor at

the moment. It’s a beautiful day outside right?
Before we start why don’t we go out and enjoy
the sun, puffy clouds or even little stars in the
sky (if its night outside I’d recommend staying
at home).

I just came back inside and will do my best to

provide some useful and interesting information
about my image “The Wasp Woman Returns”.
This painting was produced for the CGSociety
competition XXV – B-Movie. I was really
intrigued by the theme as I was working for a
cinema at the time and was greatly interested
in movie posters. Posters from this kind of film
are really impressive, colorful, and bright, and
usually have very interesting composition. They
are also often quite a lot of fun even when they
should be horrible and scary.

To make it slightly easier for myself I didn’t

create my own film title, instead I found an old
poster on the internet and tried to inspire myself
with it without deviating from the style of the
period. First of all a few little sketches were
done to make the composition different to the
way it was in the original piece (Fig.01). I used
3ds Max to create realistic perspective in the
background and help me create the New York

street and buildings. I also used 3D planes to

construct the road and added boxes instead of
all small details (Fig.02). In Photoshop I then
painted some simple small windows (Fig.03) as

www.2dartistmag.com page 91 Issue 059 November 2010

 Making Of Wasp Woman Returns

a material that can be added and applied to the skyscrapers, shops and
houses (Fig.04).

I then created what were soon to be characters. I put them in place

according to the rules of Divine Proportion (Fig.05). Next I rendered an
Ambient Occlusion map for the windows (Fig.06) and then the coloring
started. Mainly I used the Lasso and Gradient tools to apply the color.

After completing this step I started working on the main attraction: the
wasp woman. With the Pen tool in Photoshop I carefully traced a photo

www.2dartistmag.com page 92 Issue 059 November 2010

Wasp Woman Returns Making Of

reference of the face and made a selection and

filled it with color (Ctrl + Delete). Then, little by
little with the help of the Pen tool and a Soft
Round brush, I painted out the shadows and
added some highlights (Fig.07). The legs of
the wasp woman, the cars and the frightened

victims were all done using exactly the same One other thing is that I had a lot of fun making
workflow. a custom brush for the body and hair of the
wasp, I have given this away with the tutorial
Even though I tried to work in the right order, (Fig.09 –10).
this was quite a big experiment for me, and I
spent a lot of time trying to find the correct path. Gediminas Pranckevicius
Almost everything evolved in separate pieces. For more from this artist visit:
It is also worth mentioning about first building, http://www.gedomenas.com/
the one on the right in Fig.08. As it looked quite Or contact them at:
good and the painting around it was also painted gediminaspr@gmail.com
quite well, I decided to create a more detailed
model of it in Max. I found a photo reference of
a building and created a 3D model. When I had
done that I rendered an Ambient Occlusion map
and painted it in Photoshop. – Free Brushes
www.2dartistmag.com page 93 Issue 059 November 2010
 Making Of Wasp Woman Returns

www.2dartistmag.com page 94 Issue 059 November 2010

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The following shots of the “Portrait of Nathan” book pages are featured here in full-resolution and can be read by zooming in...
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 About us 3DTotal

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amongst our growing number of products for CG
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