The Approach

This is a personal piece I've been working on for a while. Initially the shift to focus more on fantasy work came from myself feeling like i lacked confidence and the ability to. I had never really tried to do fantasy before, but all of my peers and co workers had all experimented with the genre. Eytan Zana, Robby Johnson, Aaron Limonick, Maciej Kuciara, Sebastian Gromman, Nick Gindraux, and Alex Neonakis are all really influential members of my art/friend group, and I was always really inspired by the fantasy images they have made and continue to produce.

Scale was another element i wanted to get more proficient in illustrating. I had the opportunity to work on a fantasy film pitch a few years back, and i felt like i struggled to find a good approach and process to making those kinds of images. This image specifically became a testing ground for myself as i challenged the scope and detail of the image i was creating. In reality, i could have continued to paint on this image for another year, adding more and more details, re working and re working. but with the close of my professional project, i felt the need to finish it and close this chapter of creative exploration.

moving forward I plan on challenging myself further, and pursuing more matte painting techniques and methods to create believable worlds.