CGAddict | George Patsouras Blog

Environments

2012-01-24T08:37:00.002-05:00

Some environment work created for a client. These two were a blast to paint, I really want to expand my portfolio in terms of showing environments, so this was a welcome change for me.

Of Thieves and Elves

2012-01-24T08:33:00.002-05:00

This is a the book cover illustration for A.P. Stephen's "Of Thieves and Elves". I was asked to paint something in the style of Batman: Arkham City, so this image was painted pretty much entirely in grayscale. I haven't painted exclusively with grayscale for years, so this was a nice change of pace, and really forced me to concentrate more on values and lighting as opposed to color.

Sin City Hold'Em - Thanksgiving Promotional Art

2011-11-24T10:04:00.005-05:00

I was recently commissioned to paint some promo art for a Thanksgiving themed SinCityHold'Em, mostly portraits. Always enjoy painting portraits, so these we're a blast to work on. I tried many different color themes as well for this set to really make them stand out, so that was a challenge in itself, but I'm quite happy with the results.

The Twelve Apostles

2011-11-03T12:36:00.005-04:00

I was recently commissioned to paint The Twelve Apostles, and I immediately jumped at the opportunity to do so. I always wanted to paint an illustration that was religious themed, so I put a lot of thought and care into this project. The illustration was very challenging and time consuming, I must admit; Never before have I painted an illustration featuring such a large cast of characters, but I was up for the challenge.

This painting will be featured in an upcoming publication as well titled "The Vested World", and will be available sometime of March of next year.

Sin City Hold'Em - Character Art

2011-09-11T09:36:00.006-04:00

I created a ton of character artwork for Sin City Hold'Em, and I'll be slowly unveiling more and more of them throughout the coming weeks. Below are some of those illustrations; Keep checking back as I'll be adding more and more illustrations.

Sin City Hold'Em - Environments

2011-08-30T18:50:00.007-04:00

With Sin City Hold'Em launched, I can begin to show some of the work I've completed. Below are the many environments featured in the game. These we're a lot of fun to work on, as I had a lot of freedom in this set. I managed to sneek in some previous paintings I've done on one of the rooms as well :)

Sin City Hold'Em

2011-08-27T03:02:00.005-04:00

I'm very excited to announce that Sin City Hold'Em has finally been launched on Facebook! I'm very proud of the artwork I created for the game and am very pleased to finally be able to show some it. I'll be posting a ton more updates throughout the week with additional work I've created for the game as well. I had a blast with this project, and was honored to work with some incredibly talented people as well. Feel free to play the game over at facebook to get a sneak peek at the environments I painted as well, and have fun!

:: Play Sin City Hold'Em ::

Valren

2011-08-03T13:41:00.003-04:00

This is the first book cover illustration for the 'Valren' series by Kerry Castorano. This image was a lot of fun to paint, but also very challenging. This marks the first time I tackled a scene set at night, with a much greater emphasis on the environment than any of my previous pieces. I'm quite satisfied with how it turned out overall, and I'll definitely apply what I learned from environment painting for my future works as well.

The Vampire's Glare

2011-07-03T22:12:00.004-04:00

This image was illustrated for Dusk: A Vampire's Tale (coming this Winter on Facebook). I wanted to do a different take on a Vampire, something a bit more exotique looking so I chose a golden theme for the image. The skin tones we're a lot of fun to work on as well, as they came out pretty much exactly how I envisioned them. I wanted to preserve the golden color theme, so I made sure not to keep the skin to light or desaturated, which I feel makes for a richer painting.

Demon Talker

2011-06-22T08:36:00.003-04:00

This is the book cover illustration I recently completed for SM Blooding's "Demons Are Jackasses: A Demon Talker Novel". I always wanted to paint an exorcism scene (I'm a huge fan of horror films, most especially "The Exorcist") so I was more than happy to jump to the opportunity to do so. Needless to say, I had an absolute blast painting this. The expression on the possessed figure was particularly very fun to paint, I admit. The most challenging aspect of this painting was the priest; Initially I painted him as a bishop, but it didn't fit well with the scene so I chose something a bit more casual, which fit quite well I must say.

Establish Confidence

2011-06-20T22:29:00.003-04:00

One of the many paintings I created for a card game publisher. The card itself is much smaller than the size you see here, so I was careful not to go too crazy with the detailing. I was going for a very sci-fi feel with this one, something similar to 'Blade Runner' in terms of stylization. The figures in the image represents three close friends as well, hopefully I got that point across!

Fighter

2011-05-29T16:55:00.002-04:00

This image as painted as a cover for a card game series. I wanted this image to feel intense, so I used fairly warm colors for the palette. The pose of the firefighter is much more dynamic than my usual figures, so that was very fun to tackle. I painted a ton of firefighters for a previous project as well, so I had a very solid understanding of the subject matter which helped the painting process go by very smoothly, thankfully.

Portraits / Avatars

2011-04-18T16:05:00.010-04:00

Below are some of the many avatars I completed for various Facebook games. The paintings themselves will be used for fairly small avatars, so I didn't play up the details here (the images will be used for roughly 1/4 the size of how they appear here). Overall I had a blast with these imagesas portraits are always fun to paint!

Enviornment Studies

2011-04-17T08:48:00.003-04:00

In an attempt to improve my technique on painting environments, I've been doing many studies on perspective, from photos, movie stills, etc. which is really helping me out in that regard. Below are some of these studies:

More Speedpaintings and Studies

2011-02-24T16:13:00.005-05:00

Statue Study

Movie Still Study

Movie Still Study

Speedpaints and Studies

2011-02-23T19:14:00.003-05:00

Been doing a lot of speedpainting lately, concentrating more on environments. First image is a photo study, the rest are studies of various movie stills.

Jeire Kleros

2011-02-11T13:02:00.003-05:00

This was a commissioned piece, in which I was asked to illustrate a warrior within a Medieval type setting. I was given a lot of freedom for this one, which made this project a great deal of fun. I'm focusing much more on environments now with my latest paintings, so I spent quite some time on them. The detailing was a lot of fun to do in particular, especially for the grass and rocks. I'm very happy with the horse as well, I haven't drawn or painted a horse in years so this was a welcome challenge as well.

Speedpaints and Studies

2011-01-27T12:16:00.003-05:00

(Skull Study)

Movie Still Study

Mileena

2011-01-25T09:23:00.003-05:00

Mileena from the 'Mortal Kombat' video games, which I'm a huge fan of. I wanted to paint something simple but very dynamic, so I chose to paint the character with her mask off, revealing the gruesome face it conceals. I spent a lot of time on the texture and detail work here, aiming for a hyper realistic look. I'm very happy with how it turned out I must admit, pretty much exactly how I envisioned it which is happening more and more often as I continue to progress.

Three Generations

2010-12-27T00:41:00.005-05:00

A commissioned piece; I was asked to paint a family portrait based upon some character concepts the client provided. I wanted the feel of the image to be quite iconic, so I placed them in a setting that would help highlight this. The environment was easily the most challenging aspect of the image, but it was a lot of fun bringing it to life. I also worked at an insanely high resolution for this piece, which allowed me to get a rich, detailed look. The only downside was that it took much longer to finish than the norm, but it was well worth it.

Close Ups:

Orlon Cray

2010-12-25T12:23:00.000-05:00

This was a commission I recently completed. I had a lot of freedom in this one - I was asked to paint a pail villain wielding a sword with a kilod on his ear; The rest was up to my imagination. I also took the time to focus a lot more on the environment, which I feel has been lacking with my recent paintings. I spent quite some time on it, but the effort was well worth it.

Tattoo

2010-12-10T17:54:00.004-05:00

This is a book cover illustration I illustrated for a novel titled 'Fiends'. The painting depicts one of the novel's villains named 'Tattoo', a twisted psychopath who excises tattoos from his victims. I wanted this image to be very dark, borderline disturbing even, so I made sure I spent quite some time conveying this theme. Lots of time was spent spent on the details, specifically for the skin, which was a lot of fun to paint.

Speedpaints - Bouguereau studies

2010-12-03T22:33:00.003-05:00

I recently found some time to complete a couple of Bouguereau studies, and learned a great deal as always, especially in regards to how to handle colors and skin tones.

Angel

2010-10-21T09:18:00.003-04:00

Portrait of an Angel. Had a lot of fun with this painting, and was going for a much softer look than my usual work, which I feel worked well for an image like this. I'm very happy with the colors as well, turned out pretty much exactly how I wanted in that regard.

Skin Tone Practice

2010-10-20T01:52:00.008-04:00

This painting was completed in a couple of hours, and was mostly done to practice painting skin tones. I decided to use colors than I normally shy away from with this one, and learned a lot about how colors work in the process. I'll definitely be doing more exercises like this, as they're very beneficial for me - both for skin tones as well as how to handle faces/portraits in general.

Aqua

2010-08-28T15:20:00.002-04:00

Wanted to paint another underwater scene with this one, as it's always a lot of fun. I referenced the figure from my friend Diego's gallery (http://www.flickr.com/photos/diegofraustro), who's an amazing photographer. Learned a lot about how colors and skin tones work with this piece as well.

Dusk: Emo/Goth Vampire

2010-08-20T06:15:00.003-04:00

Another illustration completed for 'Dusk'. I spent a lot of time on the background here, which was difficult because the deadline was very tight, but it was a fun challenge. The skin tone was very challenging as well, and I ended up repainting some of the tones several times until I got it right - Vampire skin is a lot more difficult to paint than one might think. I also created a ton of brushes for the foliage here which sped up the painting process severely.

Speedpaints and Studies.

2010-08-19T15:14:00.004-04:00

Been keeping up with my studies, although it's a bit difficult to manage both studying and handling commercial work at the same time, but I can't really complain. It's a welcome challenge :) Here are some speedpaints, some were done in 30 minutes, others up to 1 hour. First two are from photo reference, last one is from imagination. I seem to be progressing a lot by doing these speed paintings, so I'll definitely try to get at least one done each day.

Dusk - Classic Vampire

2010-08-17T11:54:00.002-04:00

Another painting completed for Dusk - http://www.dusk-game.com . I was asked to depict a very classical looking older vampire with this piece.

Speedpaints - Face Studies

2010-08-14T10:32:00.005-04:00

I've been drawing and painting faces all month, doing intense anatomy studies from Loomis to Hogarth. Here are some speedpaints: Approximately 1-2 hour each image. First 2 are done from imagination, last one are photo studies.

(Megan Foxx, Ledger/Joker, Marylin Manroe, and Angelina Jolie)

The Awakening

2010-08-12T20:40:00.004-04:00

I had the concept of painting a statue coming to life for a while now, although I haven't had the opportunity to paint it until recently. The painting turned out pretty much exactly as how I envisioned it from the get go, which I find is happening more often as I progress with my paintings... it's a welcome change, so I'm not complaining! This was painted around 3 or 4 evenings.

Fotia

2010-08-11T07:47:00.004-04:00

I haven't painted a personal pieces in what seemed like ages, and I haven't found the opportunity to do so until recently. This piece was very challenging and fun - I wanted this image to be very lively and saturated, so I chose very warm tones primarlily, complemented by much cooler colors to help the figure pop. This concept of this image was very much inspired by Boris Vallejo, whose works I'm always studying. A 'Making Of' feature will be posted soon as well.

Nosferatu

2010-08-01T22:11:00.003-04:00

Portrait of the classic vampire. Going for a more stylized look this time around - I'm also going to paint a more human and elegant version shortly as well. As always, this was done on a fairly tight deadline, but I'm satisfied with the results. Official website for the game can be viewed here.

Dusk - Dapper Dressed Vampire

2010-07-30T15:23:00.002-04:00

Another image completed for Dusk: A Vampire's Tale. This one's a bit different than the norm, as the environment is placed in a more natural setting - Vampire's hit the clubs, too. This image was done on a fairly tight deadline as well, so it's not as refined as my usual pieces, but I'm happy with how it turned out regardless.

Speedpaint: Statue Study

2010-07-30T09:32:00.002-04:00

Yep, another one. Learning a lot on how the face works with these studies so I'll probably do a few more. I captured the progress as well, video will be up later today. Approximately 1 hour of work.

Prints of My Work Finally Available!

2010-07-24T13:56:00.004-04:00

For only $20.00 each, you can purchase a poster print of one of my pieces in high quality format. Please follow this link if you would like to make a purchase and support me. Any purhase is always greatly appreciated :)

Speedpaint: Athena Bust

2010-07-20T07:56:00.003-04:00

Photo study of an Athena statue bust, approximately 1 hour. I also recorded the process in full screen, will upload it shortly as well.

Your Sponsor

2010-07-20T02:20:00.003-04:00

This was painted for Dusk - A Vampire's Tale; This character will serve as a guide for the in-game tutorials of the game. Never painted a punk-rocker before, so this was a bit challenging and very rewarding. Be sure to check out the official website for the game here.

The Clockwork Man 2 Available For Pre-Order!

2010-07-16T11:38:00.003-04:00

I'm proud to announce that The Clockwork Man 2 is available for Pre-Order!

After 14 months in the making, The Clockwork Man 2 is around the corner, soon to be released for both the PC and Mac in what we feel is the best edition ever to appear in the Casual Games scene! We call it the “Ultimate Edition”

Check out The Clockwork Man 2 Official Website for more information and/or to place an order!

Speedpaint: Socrates Bust

2010-07-03T12:15:00.006-04:00

Photo study of a Socrates statue bust. Roughly 1 hour.

Yearning For Carnage

2010-07-02T15:31:00.002-04:00

Portrait of a friend; I painted him as a Vampire to show his natural roots (I kid, I kid). This image was fairly challenging, especially in regards to the color scheme. I ended up altering the color scheme several times, but I think it all worked out for the best. I painted this image with an earlier version of Photoshop, but refined it later with the new version CS5 which is a blast to work with. This image will also be featured in the upcoming Facebook video game Dusk.

Speedpaint: Antique Portrait

2010-07-01T01:09:00.003-04:00

This is an unused image for a project I'm currently working on and was based on a stock photo I found on deviantart. Spent around 3-4 hours on it, and was going for a very antique/old fashioned look. Very happy with how this one turned out and learned a great deal in regards to skin tones as well. The client was looking for something a bit different and more modern, so I scrapped this for something else (which I'll be able to show soon as well); I might finish this one sometime in the future whenever I get the chance.

Speedpaint: Character Concept

2010-06-29T04:13:00.003-04:00

Playing around with Photoshop CS5... Really good program, much better for painting than the previous versions IMO. This one took me roughly around an hour to complete. Learned a lot about colors and skin tones as well.

African American Vampire Woman

2010-06-12T04:52:00.002-04:00

Painted for 'Dusk'. Lots of fun with this one, especially in regards to the skin tones. The version that will appear in the game will be slightly more clothed, gotta keep it PG!

Official Website: Dusk

Dusk: A Vampire's Tale - Crazy Vampire Woman

2010-06-07T00:58:00.002-04:00

Yet another vampire! I was asked to paint a crazed vampire this time, and had a blast with this one. I wanted to try a different setting for this one, so I experimented with a rainy setting which was a lot of fun. Close up below as well:

Official Website: http://www.dusk-game.com

The Enchantress

2010-06-01T03:32:00.004-04:00

This painting is the book cover for A.P. Stephens' 'The White Shadow Saga: Shameless Wonders'. This is easily my most detailed work to date. The background and foreground took a lot of work to bring to life; Creating the chaos and destruction in the background specifically was very fun, and very challenging as well. To order a copy of the book or if you're interested to see how this painting was created, you can check out the official website here.

Below are some close ups as well:

Dusk: A Vampire's Tale - Modern Vampire

2010-05-27T06:52:00.002-04:00

Painting of a modern vampire. This image probably took the longest out of the whole bunch I did, as I wanted this image to look as realistic as possible. The grass in the foreground was a lot of fun to paint, and I created several custom brushes to help speed up the process as well. More info on the game available at http://www.dusk-game.com

Dusk: A Vampire's Tale - Latina Vampire

2010-05-24T15:12:00.002-04:00

I completed this image a couple of months ago for the video game 'Dusk', and I recently had the chance to work on it more to give it a further refined finish. I'm quite happy with how this one turned out overall, it's definitely one of my strongest works for this project. Official website of the game can be viewed at: http://www.dusk-game.com as well.

Bouguereau Study

2010-05-21T14:21:00.004-04:00

Speedpaint/study of Bouguereau's 'Seated Nude'. Approximately 1 hour 40 minutes of work. Trying to get better with color (my palettes tend to get a bit over saturated at times) and skin tones, so I'm there's no better way to go than studying from the Old Masters. I learned a lot from this study (which is normally the case when I do these types of studies), so I'll definitely continue doing them.

Forever

2010-05-19T22:57:00.002-04:00

This painting was done for a friend. I wanted to achieve a classical feel to this image, so I studied a lot of the paintings from the Old Masters, especially Bouguereau. Learned a lot on how to approach colors and values too, which was a great benefit. The background in this image was very time consuming, but was worth it as I feel it adds a lot of depth to the image. The apples in the foreground were a lot of fun to paint, too.

Dusk: A Vampire's Tale - Vampire

2010-05-19T06:11:00.002-04:00

Another image I completed for Dusk: A Vampire's Tale. This one was completed fairly recently, and very much inspired by the 'Underworld' movies - wanted to achieve a similar feel to that of the movie's atmosphere. This one was a lot of fun to do, and also very challenging, as I was on a tight deadline. Thanks for looking!

Dusk: A Vampire's Tale - Anglo

2010-05-18T12:41:00.003-04:00

One of the many images I completed for the upcoming Facebook game, Dusk. The deadline was very tight for these paintings, but I'm happy with how this turned out, especially in regards to color. For more information the game, make sure to check out the official website: http://www.dusk-game.com

Dusk - A Vampire's Tale:African American Executive Male

2010-05-07T17:51:00.003-04:00

One of the many images I completed for Dusk: A Vampire's Tale. I was asked to paint an African American male. Lots of fun with this one. The deadline for this project was very tight, so I had to work very hard to get it completed with a refined finish. Official website for the game can be viewed at: http://www.dusk-game.com

Dusk: A Vampire's Tale - Beautiful Vampire Woman

2010-05-04T18:00:00.002-04:00

A promotional image created for Dramatic Development's 'Dusk' Facebook video game, available this summer. This image was completely recently and definitely one of my favorites I've created for this game. Be sure to check out the game's official website here for more inofrmation as well as an exclusive preview of some of the artwork I've done for the game.

Riot Shell

2010-04-29T21:10:00.004-04:00

This is a collobaration between Abbas Saeleem Khan, who did the linework, and myself, who did the painting. This is a contest entry for Comic Idol's Cover Contest as well. The deadline was very tight, so I had to work around the clock to get this one finished, but I'm very happy with how it turned out overall.

Here's the WIP if you're interested:

Pin-Up Girl

2010-04-11T16:35:00.005-04:00

This image came out of nowhere; Initially I started a caricature for a good friend, Athena, and eventually she gave me a different idea - a pin-up. Needless to say I was intrigued :) I studied lots of old classic Pin-Up paintings before I approached this painting to help convey the proper feel for this type of image, and I think that research definitely paid off. More importantly, Athena was very pleased with how this image turned out. Mission=success!

Special thanks to my friends and fellow artists Linda Wong and Henning Ludvigsen for their input as well.

Olivia

2010-04-05T23:22:00.002-04:00

This is a portrait of a very good friend. Olivia has always been supportive of me as an artist from a very young age, so I created this painting as a gift to her. I wanted to give this image a generally soft feel, so I avoided over detailing it and made a heavier use of softer brushes than I usually use. I'm happy with the results, and more importantly, Olivia is as well, so I consider this image a success in that regard.

Please note: Olivia was not harmed during the making of this portrait.

Speedpaints

2010-03-27T18:04:00.010-04:00

I've been doing a ton of speed-paintings lately, trying to get better at things I need more practice on; specifically, landscapes! Here's a bunch of studies I've done throughout the week:

Some character studies (referenced from Deviant Art). I learned a LOT about how colors work with these studies:

That's all for now. Expect my blog to be updated daily from now on, as I plan to continue practicing daily.

Superman

2010-02-27T22:55:00.002-05:00

This is my contest entry for 'Photo Reference For Comic Artist's' contest, in which they asked to paint a DC comic book character based on one of their photo references. I wanted to paint something iconic, so I went with Superman and chose a fairly straight forward pose. My goal with this image was to push the details as far as possible. I spent quite some time creating several brushes for this piece, such as the cloth texture, skin pores, etc. I feel this really helped bring the image to life, and I'm pretty satisfied with the results as well. Thanks for looking!

Leonidas

2009-10-28T09:37:00.002-04:00

My brother, who poses for reference in many of my paintings, wanted me to paint him in a style that was similar to the movie '300'. Painting him in Spartan gear was a lot of fun, and a bit challenging as well. A lot of thought went into this piece, from the composition to the setting, and I feel I have a stronger piece of work because of that. I learned a lot about how colors work as well working on this piece. Overall I'm very satisfied with this one.

Asher

2009-10-24T15:24:00.003-04:00

I promised a friend I'd paint something for her quite some time ago, but I never had the chance to until recently. The concept of this piece is her idea, so it looks quite different than my other works, but I was determined to paint it as close to her vision as possible, and I think I succeeded in that regard. The hardest part about this image was the hair - I generally dislike painting hair and view it as a challenge itself, but overall, I'm quite satisfied with how that aspect turned out.

Apollo and Daphne

2009-10-21T10:58:00.003-04:00

The Greek Mythological tale of Apollo and Daphne was something I tried many times before to paint without much success... until recently. I felt like this story could make for some very interesting imagery, so I was very determined to get it finished. I put a lot of thought and work into the background in this one. In general I feel like I spend too much time concentrating on the figures during the painting process, so I tried to break that flow with this image, spending lots and lots of hours on the background alone. I created quite a few custom brushes for this one, specifically for the leaves on the background and grass in the foreground to help speed up the process, as well as obtain some very realistic textural effects as well. The tree's textures were a lot of fun to work on as well... and very, very time consuming, but I feel like I have a much more stronger and believable image because of it. Overall I'm quite satisfied with how this image turned out, and I hope you enjoy it as well.

Zombies - Leave the Kids Alone

2009-10-15T09:44:00.003-04:00

This is my first comic book cover illustration, the first of many I'm doing for Malaka Studios, and I have to admit I'm very proud of this one. The lightning was a bit tricky, but I think I managed to pull through. I wanted to keep the figures as the focus, so I purposely kept the background loose. Thanks for looking :)

Phoenix

2009-10-12T15:49:00.004-04:00

I've been studying the works of Boris Vallejo for quite some time, and I wanted to paint something in that style for a while now. I learned much about how to go about color and skin tones studying his work, and I think this image greatly benefited from that. For once I'm actually quite satisfied with how this image turned out; Easily my best work in terms of colors and composition IMO. The figure was referenced from Mjranum-Stock, and was very much inspired by the character from the 'X-Men' comic books/movies as well.

Lost

2009-10-12T05:07:00.005-04:00

I had this theme in my head for quite some time, and finally found some time to paint it. I wanted to paint something that was surreal in style, while leaving it open for interpretation. I learned a lot about conveying mood in this one as well.

The Ressurrectionist

2009-10-10T10:31:00.003-04:00

A collaboration between myself and Abbas Saleem Khan (bakatron.com). The underwater theme tend to be a bit challenging for me, but I'm very happy with how this one turned out. Thanks for looking :)

Speedpainting - Devil's Eyes

2009-10-06T22:54:00.006-04:00

I started working on this one earlier today, but couldn't quite finish it, so I decided to scrap it altogether. The lightning was very difficult in this one and was easily the most challenging aspect of this image. I decided to drop it because I found the figure's expression bland, and didn't enjoy the composition as well. Not sure if I'll continue to work on it more in the future, so for now, it's just an unfinished painting.

Los Mafiosos

2009-08-31T20:46:00.000-04:00

Painting done for a friend. This piece was fairly challenging, especially in regards to the skin tones, but I learned a lot from it in the end. This is also much different from my usual works, which is a welcome change I have to admit. Thanks for looking!

Wrath of Medusa

2009-08-12T23:06:00.003-04:00

I wanted to paint Medusa for quite some time, but haven't had a chance to until recently. This image was a lot of fun to paint, but also extremely challenging; The statue's 'folds' and texture in particular were very time consuming, as was the strands of grass on the foreground. For those interested, a tutorial on how I painted this image will be available soon on Photoshop Digital Painting Magazine as well.'

Stoned

2009-06-15T13:34:00.006-04:00

This image was created for Digital Arts Magazine, as a tutorial on how to create a portrait of a statue. I had a lot of fun creating this one, especially in regards to the lightning as well as the texture work. The tutorial deals with applying both photo textures as well as hand painted textures to create a believable result. Be sure to check out the complete tutorial next month on Digital Arts Magazine!

Persephone

2009-05-29T17:44:00.004-04:00

I created this image in order to practice painting drapery, which I view as a challenge. Greek Mythology inspires me heavily as well, so I wanted to show that with this image. Persephone's story mainly evolves her abduction from the Earth realm, to the Underworld, courtesy of Hades. This image deals with that concept (albeit a bit subtly). The figure's pose was referenced from Lockstock as well, who has some great fantasy themed stock photography.

A very lengthy tutorial on how this image was created will be available in June of next month's Advanced Photoshop Magazine as well, so be sure to check that out.

Self Portrait

2009-05-10T04:24:00.002-04:00

I wanted to do a fantasy-themed self portrait for quite some time, but haven’t had the chance to until recently. I opted for a fantasy theme with this one mainly because I felt it would make for some interesting imagery. I wanted to emulate the look of those early classical paintings, so I applied what I have learned from doing the Master Copy studies a while back into this painting. I feel like a have a stronger piece of work as a result of those studies.

Digital Artists - Available For Pre Order!

2009-05-07T14:09:00.002-04:00

I'm proud to announce that my work will be included in 'Digital Artists'. 'Digital Artists' is a book from ArtSquared.co.uk that will follow 70 of the worlds best digital artists showcasing more than 250 images spread over 172 diverse pages of artwork, including 10 workshops written by some of the best artists in the business.

Click here to find out more >>>

Lost From Sea

2009-04-29T12:38:00.003-04:00

This image started off very... unplanned. At first, I initially wanted to paint an underwater scene, but I got bored halfway through and decided to do something a bit different. I'm glad I did at the end of the day, as an underwater scene would have probably been too cliche.

Pose referenced from: [link]

EDIT: I altered the lightning a bit to make the second light source more evident.

Joker Was Here

2009-04-20T00:19:00.005-04:00

I recently saw The Dark Knight on Blu Ray, and immediately after decided I had to paint the Joker. I wanted to do something a bit more original, however, so I tried to depict the Joker more as a vampire than anything else (hence the black attire as opposed to the classic purple).

This was painted in a period of 3 days, and I did my best to avoid overworking this piece, so I stopped much earlier than I usually do.

Edit: Updated the piece a bit, mostly added some details and reworked the colors quite a bit to bring more life to the image.

Dancing With The Devil

2009-04-16T14:31:00.004-04:00

This piece was commissioned over a year ago, and I had much fun, and frustration, in creating it. I don't usually experiment much with a dark theme, so this was a fun change from the norm. I was asked to do something very Tim Burton-ish, whom I'm a huge fan of, and what you see here is the result.

I wanted the composition to be simple, concentrating on atmosphere above all else, so I decided to keep everything pretty much empty. The more elements I tried to add, the more the atmosphere suffered. I learned with this piece, specifically how to create rainy effects and enhancing atmosphere. I kept the color theme simple and generally cool to add to the atmosphere as well.

The Clockwork Man - Available for Pre-Order!

2009-03-12T15:01:00.006-04:00

The Clockwork Man, a project I've been working on along with fellow artists for the past year, is finally available for pre-order! I'm very proud with the work I've done for the project, and how the game turned out as well.

At the turn of the century, in an alternate timeline where steam-powered technology has become dominant in almost all walks of life, this Hidden Object Adventure will take you to exotic locales, while you attempt to compile the parts to the world’s greatest invention!

Explore unique Scrolling & Zoomable multi-layered scenes.
Find hundreds of hand-painted Victorian items.
Solve many adventure & logic puzzles.
Get spoiled only as much as you need thanks to an innovative hint system.
Enjoy high replay value as hidden items appear in alternate locations on consecutive play sessions.

To learn more about the game, visit the official "The Clockwork Man" website. For a limited time, you can save 50% on the title now should you choose to pre-order it :)

Wonder Woman

2009-01-22T16:57:00.002-05:00

Portrait of Woman Woman. I approached this image in a similar way Alex Ross approaches his paintings; Using a photo reference to obtain dynamic lightning information, but not being a complete slave to it. I really wanted to push colors with this one, so I spent a lot of time working on the colors as well as studying color theory in general. A tutorial on how I created this image will be featured in GoMotion magazine soon, so keep an eye out for that :) Figure referenced from: [link]

*Special thanks to Henning, Baka, and CGDude for their input :)

...

'Wonder Woman' is property of DC Comics.

Blade of Fire

2009-01-18T03:34:00.004-05:00

This piece was a commission at first, but due to problems with the client, it fell through so I decided to make it my own. I put a lot of thought into this one, from the color scheme to the composition, and I think it really paid off. I consider this my best work to date, by far. Thanks for looking, and here's to a great 2009!

Master Copy - Biondina

2008-10-09T18:17:00.002-04:00

A Master Copy of Lord Frederick Leighton's "Biondina", done for practice. I always seem to learn a tremendous amount when doing these practice paintings, and this time was no different. I tried to capture the likeness of the original, especially in terms of colors w/o taking any 'shortcuts' (no box gridding, color picking, etc). Original image can be found here: [link]

Approximately 2-3 hours of work.

Save Us (revised)

2008-10-05T09:18:00.004-04:00

I decided to update this piece a bit, as I consider it to be my strongest in terms of theme. Among the changes were better color harmony, much more texture (I tried to emulate the look of those old Master paintings), and more definition, particularly in the clothing and face. Enjoy :D

Out Of This World - Speedpainting

2008-09-26T04:50:00.004-04:00

Yet another speedpainting (I'm on a roll! :). This one was done without any references, which I'm very proud of (my previous portraits were fairly highly referenced). I had a lot of fun with this piece, and I might repaint this as a 'full' painting in the future. 1 hour, Photoshop.

EDIT: Worked on it for 1 more hour, looks much, much better me thinks :)

The Underworld - Speedpainting

2008-09-26T03:20:00.003-04:00

Quick speedpainting, approximately 1 hour. Trying to get some more practice in landscape painting :)

Thanks for looking :)

Speedpaint: Fall of Daphne

2008-09-23T23:16:00.004-04:00

Just a quick speedpaint done with Photoshop; I'm gonna be doing a lot of these to help me paint faster, as well as refine my technique. This one took me around 2 hours to complete, which is a huge improvement for me (I'm generally a very, very slow painter).

Thanks for looking :D

Edit: Worked on it a bit more. I have a bad habit of not being able to let an image go, even if it's a speedpaint :(

Some Updates and Publications

2008-05-19T20:51:00.002-04:00

I recently did an interview with Digital Tutors, which can be read here. Additionally, I'm featured in this month 2D Artist as well. I'm also in the process of writing up quite a few tutorials on digital painting, most of which will be online early summer. I'll keep you posted :D Expect some new paintings later this week as well :)

Lady Gaia

2008-05-12T01:40:00.002-04:00

This piece took me quite a while to complete; I started this off in early February, with a much more different concept; Eventually I altered the theme for something more darker. All in all, this took around 100 hours of work; The background was especially difficult for me to do.

Special thanks to Melanie Delon (Eskarina), who helped me out a tremendous amount with this piece (especially in terms of the colors).

Reference used for the figure.

Edit: Updated this piece a bit - altered the color scheme a bit, and enhanced the lightning a bit.

Batman Caricature

2008-04-23T03:02:00.003-04:00

I painted this a while back, decided to finally post it. Approximately 10 hours of work.

Catwoman

2008-04-21T01:51:00.004-04:00

Portrait of Catwoman. This started off as practice, but got a bit out of hand. Angelina Jolie was naturally used as reference :)

Nature Speedpaint

2008-04-21T01:46:00.001-04:00

Approximately 2 hours.

Going Under

2008-04-16T10:06:00.001-04:00

Portrait done for a fellow artist. Originally, this was gonna be your standard portrait, but I decided to be more brave and adapt a more Fantasy style theme. Overall I'm quite satisfied with the results.

Wedding Gift

2008-04-15T04:19:00.004-04:00

A gift for two friends :) Sorry for the lack of updates lately, been busy as hell to be honest. I'll make more of an effort to update my blog constantly from here on out.

Indiana Jones and the Secrets From Beyond

2008-02-18T23:49:00.005-05:00

Book cover done for Marek Cardew. This one took a while I have to say, but I'm quite satisfied witht he results. I learned a lot with this piece, especially with regards to skin tones. Enjoy!

Master Copy - "Black Bashi-Bazouk"

2008-01-23T15:21:00.000-05:00

This is a Master Copy of Gerome Jean Leon's "Black Bashi-Bazouk". It's probably the last one I'm going to be doing for quite a while. I learned a lot with this one, specifically on how clothing/folds work, and more on colors as well. A tutorial will be online on how I created this image shortly. Below is the WIP if you're interested:

Master Copy: The Bacchante

2008-01-19T17:29:00.000-05:00

I'm currently doing some Master copies in order to help improve my skill. I think I can learn a lot studying from the old Masters, especially in terms of color. The original piece titled "The Bacchante" is from Gerome Jean Leon. I started this one in black and white and added color in the later stages. I might be using this technique in all my future pieces, I'm not so sure. Colors can tend to get a bit muddy if you start off with greyscale, but hopefully I can recitfy that. You can check out the WIP below as well:

Superman Returns

2008-01-13T02:27:00.000-05:00

Painting I did using a still from Superman Returns as reference. Started off as practice, but I decided it to refine it a bit. It got a bit out of hand I admit, so I consider this a finished painting.

Project Barbra

2008-01-13T01:58:00.002-05:00

This image was created for an online art forum, Pixel Brush. I'm very satisfied with the results I must say. This is easily my strongest piece in terms of color harmony. If you're interested in how I created this image, a tutorial is available here. Enjoy :)