Create Amazing Give your digital fantasy art an astonishing new look in a sensational workshop by WILL MURAI
LEGEND
MARK SCHULTZ
Inside
DEPIC CT A D DE EMON EMON DISINTEGRATING NEW WAYS TO GIVE YOUR ART TEXTURE DRAW A COMPLEX CROWD SCENE
p era marvel at tHe art of norman saunders and tHe pul
masters
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Editor’s letter
to an art invasion! Eagle-eyed readers will notice that I’m not Claire Howlett. Your regular editor has taken on her most challenging mission to date… motherhood. I’m sure you’ll all join me in congratulating her on the new arrival! While Claire recharges her batteries, ImagineFX remains as committed as ever to championing the fantasy art you love, both old and new. This issue we invoke the era of Wally Wood and Norman Saunders in a celebration of the Golden Age of pulp art. Turn to page 48 to read our feature on the era’s inspirational artists, who worked for the love of their art and the recognition from their peers. I think there’s something we can all learn from these pioneers of fantasy illustration; love the art you make and have pride in your achievements. Our workshops this issue offer an array of insights. Weta’s Christian Pearce demonstrates how to grime-up your illustrations on page 76, while Daniela Uhlig shows how keeping brushes simple can reap rewards in her pin-up workshop on page 94, and Thom Tenery uses compositional rules to define an alien world on page 98. Finally, ex-Disney artist Jack Bosson recalls his life in the jazz bars of 1950s New York on page 82, to demonstrate how to draw a complex scene with multiple figures. I should also tell you that our new and improved digital editions are on sale now (complete with streaming video for iPad users). Skip over to page 31 to catch the latest deals.
Our special cover ffor issuuee.. subscribers this iss Ian Dean, Editor
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September 2012
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Introducing...
Featured artists
EDITORIAL IAN DEAN EDITOR
[email protected] DANIEL VINCENT ART EDITOR
[email protected] CLIFF HOPE OPERATIONS EDITOR
[email protected] BEREN NEALE FEATURES EDITOR
[email protected] SHONA CUTT DESIGNER
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ImagineFX brings together some of the world’s finest artists to share their techniques and inspiration for creating stunning artwork
CONTACT US POST ImagineFX Magazine, Future Publishing Ltd, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, BA1 2BW, UK PHONE +44 (0) 1225 442244 EMAIL
[email protected] WEB www.imaginefx.com TWITTER @imaginefx FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/imaginefx DVD PROBLEMS +44 (0) 1225 822743 EMAIL
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[email protected] WEB www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk SUBSCRIPTIONS US AND CANADA PHONE (toll-free): 1-800 428 3003 WEB www.imsnews.com/imaginefx CONTRIBUTIONS Jack Bosson, Matt Boyce, Bill Corbett, Mélanie Delon, Dan D Evans, Michael Gapper, Damian Hall, Nick Harris, Richard Hill, Jon Hodgson, Richard Hood, Daryl Mandryk, Will Murai, Angela Nicholson, Christian Pearce, Darren Phillips, Jem Roberts, Cynthia Sheppard, Jonathan Standing, Thom Tenery, Alex Thomas, Paco Rico Torres, Daniela Uhlig, Emma Vieceli, Garrick Webster, Henry Winchester PHOTOGRAPHY Future Photography Studio PAUL NEWMAN group senior editor STEVE GOTOBED group senior art editor ROBIN ABBOTT creative director JIM DOUGLAS editorial director ADVERTISING +44 (0) 207 0424124 NICK WEATHERALL advertising sales director
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[email protected] MARKETING LYNDSEY MAYHEW marketing manager SARAH JACKSON marketing executive CIRCULATION JANINE GRAHAM trade marketing executive RICHARD JEFFERIES international account manager
Christian Pearce
Jack Bosson
Daryl Mandryk
A 10-year veteran at Weta Workshop in New Zealand, Christian is a self-taught senior concept artist whose spare-time projects are in danger of taking over his life. This issue’s retro aeroplane is inspired by his love of hot rods, ramshackle vehicle design and “griming up” his digital art. Discover his texture tips on page 76. www.christianpearce. blogspot.co.uk
Having won numerous awards for his fine art and exhibited in the US and Europe, Jack is a master of his craft. A trainer in feature animation at Disney, Jack later set up an animation department at Woodbury University, which he chaired for three years until retiring two years ago, as Professor Emeritus. Jack shares his figure drawing knowledge on page 82. www.jackbosson.com
Vancouver-based Daryl has been creating concept art for the video games, film and entertainment industries for 11 years now, and his recent credits include SSX: Deadly Descents and Prototype 2. This issue Daryl demonstrates how a strong, classic composition can help define an imagined sci-fi heroine. Head on over to page 86 now to read his engaging workshop. www.mandrykart.com
Dan D Evans
Daniela Uhlig
Thom Tenery
Dan works in the video games industry as a technical art director, but in his spare time he pays artistic homage to pulp film posters and book covers, as well as working on a film. Dan shows how he creates a bespoke pulp book cover from sketch to cover lines, using Photoshop trickery to create the look of sloppy gouache. His workshop is on page 88. www.myartshame. blogspot.co.uk
For most of her life Daniela has worked traditionally with paint on canvas. Then, following a new job at a large entertainment company, she began experimenting with Photoshop and Painter, and never looked back. A fan of pin-up art, Daniela has created a unique poster girl for futuristic air travel, and she explains why less can often mean more. Daniela’s workshop is on page 94. www.du-artwork.de
A graduate of the illustrious Art Center College of Design, in Pasadena, US, Thom has worked in video games, film and book publishing. Thom’s clean, evocative paintings are highly sort after and have adorned many book covers. This issue, in his workshop in page 98, Thom channels the spirits of Frank Frazetta and Edgar Rice Burroughs to create an alien palace in a snowy environment. www.thomlab.com
PRINT & PRODUCTION VIV TURNER production co-ordinator MARK CONSTANCE production manager NOLA COKELY ad production manager NATHAN DREWETT ad production co-ordinator MICHELLE ROGERS operational purchasing manager LICENSING REGINA ERAK senior licensing & syndication manager FUTURE PUBLISHING LIMITED STUART ANDERTON group publishing director MATTHEW PIERCE group publisher FIONA TULLY publisher MARK WOOD chief executive NEXT ISSUE ON SALE 17 AUGUST 2012 Printed in the UK by Philtone (cover) William Gibbons (inside) Distributed by Seymour Distribution Ltd +44 (0) 207 429 4000 2 East Poultry Avenue, London EC1 9PT ImagineFX is the registered trademark of Future Publishing Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Total Average Net Circulation
16,245 Jan-Dec 2011
© Future Publishing Limited 2012. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used or reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. Future Publishing Limited (company number 2008885) is registered in England and Wales. The registered office of Future Publishing Limited is at Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath BA1 2BW. All information contained in this magazine is for information only and is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of going to press. Future cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. Readers are advised to contact manufacturers and retailers directly with regard to the price of products/ services referred to in this magazine. If you submit unsolicited material to us, you automatically grant Future a licence to publish your submission in whole or in part in all editions of the magazine, including licensed editions worldwide and in any physical or digital format throughout the world. Any material you submit is sent at your risk and, although every care is taken, neither Future nor its employees, agents or subcontractors shall be liable for loss or damage.
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September 2012
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9000
Assassins Creed Art Book © 2011 Ubisoft Entertainment
Cover artist In progress Will grapples with pulp art for our latest cover
We set Will the challenge of creating a cover in the pulp art style with a modern twist. Delving into his love of the genre, Will hit on the idea of a literal ‘monstrous boss’ getting fresh with his secretary. Tentacles, a strong light source and a ‘dame’ in distress, Will is on the right track…
Cover artist
For purposes of the cover we love the simplicity of the image and the strong light source that adds drama. To update the pulp premise we ensure our secretary isn’t a victim – she’s now an Ellen Ripley-inspired survivor. More tweaks, and Will creates a new crop to fit the ImagineFX cover layout.
An accomplished li h d illustrator ill with i h an infectious i f i sense off fun, f Brazilian ili Will Murai proved the perfect foil for our pulp art fantasies this issue
Will Murai
COUNTRY: Brazil SOFTWARE: Photoshop WEB: www.willmurai.com São Paulo based Willian Hideki Murai never imagined he’d sketch out a career as a leading digital artist. As a child he loved to draw; now the adult Will draws for Marvel, DC Comics and led an art team at Ubisoft. An adaptable artist with a keen eye for character, Will sharpened his pencils to turn in a fantastic pulp-inspired cover.
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We suggest that the tentacles have caught various office paraphernalia in their slime trail. Will adds his worn paper textures, boosts the contrast and embellishes the shadows, to create the perfect pulp homage. See his workshop on page 72.
September 2012
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Receive great savings and get every issue delivered to your door when you subscribe! scribe! Seee pages pagges 31 and 38
Contents FXPosé 8
48
Reader FXPosé
ImagineNation 18 28 30 40
News Forum winners Letters Artist Q&A
Features
33 Rising Stars 2012 Our judges offer advice for creating the perfect portfolio to enter this year’s search for the best new artists. 48 Pulp art We look back at the gaudy pulp art covers of the 30s and 40s, and ask leading artists why they enjoy this eye-catching painting style.
See page 8 for the best new art
41
58 Sketchbook Veteran film and TV designer Craig Elliott gives us a peek into the twisted, darker corners of his sketchbook. 62 Legend: Mark Schultz The pulp-inspired illustrator legend talks about technique, comics history and why colour might be overrated.
“Pulp has an enjoyable simplicity and naivety that modern fantasy art has distanced itself from” Artist Daren Bader on the joys of pulp art
62
58
Melting metal
44
68 Development sheet Chinese designer Zhang Jian lets us in on the creation of his giant arachnid for a video game.
Reviews 104 106 107 108 110
Hardware Books Training Film Video games
Legend: Mark Schultz
Sketchbook
68
18
Disintegrating demon
47
Regulars 3 31 38 57 93
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Editor’s letter Digital editions Subscribe today Back issues Next month
Mars Attacks!
September 2012
Development sheet
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Mountain pass
Issue 86 September 2012 94
Workshops Advice and techniques from pro artists…
72 Master the vivid look of pulp art Will Murai shows how he created our cover. 76 Use texture in an image Christian Pearce applies some dirty tricks. 81 Give your art a traditional look Cher Threinen-Pendarvis gives strokes realism. 82 Compose multiple figures Jack Bosson puts together an engaging crowd scene. 86 Portray a sci-fi soldier Daryl Mandryk gives his female trooper attitude. 88 Paint a worn-out pulp book cover Dan D Evans pays homage to the pioneers of pulp. 94 Simplify your brush choices Daniela Uhlig shows how to create a sci-fi pin-up.
WATCH THIS!
98 Depict a snowy alien landscape Thom Tenery imagines a palace on an alien moon.
www.bit.ly/IFX86_book
How to watch your video workshops
Artist Q&A
Where you see this badge you’ll find an accompanying video workshop. Click the link to watch the artist at work.
40 This month’s topics... How to paint flowers, lips, wet atmospheres, calm seas, floating in space, pace, guilty expressions and more.
86
Paint a sci-fi soldier
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Depict a snowy alien world
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THE PLACE TO SHARE YOUR DIGITAL ART Wes Talbott LOCATION: US WEB: www.westalbott.daportfolio.com EMAIL:
[email protected] SOFTWARE: Photoshop
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Wes is studying Illustration at Columbus College of Art & Design: “I did my first digital painting in 2007 with GIMP and a mouse and instantly decided I needed to get a tablet and pursue this new medium.” Despite still being a scholar, he’s already begun to make in-roads into the professional life: “Recently I’ve done some concept art for several films and am currently doing concepts for Emerald City Games. My hope is that upon graduation I’ll be able to make art, start a family and live comfortably, either through freelancing or securing a full-time position doing concept art.”
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TH RAVEN QUEEN “This piece was THE just a fun exercise to try some things jus II’ve never done before. I don’t use a lot of red normally, I don’t paint female characters very often and I rarely do paintings of villains. So this was a combination of all of those.”
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T THE BLACK DRAGON “I wanted to revisit the classic idea of a single re courageous knight confronting a dragon co who had stolen his maiden, but I was having trouble being inspired. So I wrote a poem describing a scene in my head, and this is the final depiction of that.”
ARTIST OF THE MONTH Congratulations Wes – you’ve won yourself a copy of Exotique 6 and Character Modeling 3! To find out more about these two great art resources, go to www.ballisticpublishing.com.
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September 2012
FXPosé submissions to:
[email protected]
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Concept artist Jason Pickthall comments on Wes’s Black Dragon “A really nice use of colour for a wintry scene. Perhaps some fogging or slight desaturation in the top half of the image would really create some distance and make it even more dramatic!”
FXPosé submissions to:
[email protected]
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September 2012
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1
Rozenn Illiano LOCATION: France WEB: www.onirography.com EMAIL:
[email protected] SOFTWARE: Photoshop
2
Not content with being a published children’s author, Rozenn also spends her time “creating illustrations about fantasy, fairies and surrealism.” She’s entirely self-taught and admits, “I’m still learning. I started with traditional tools, watercolour and coloured pencils, but with time I discovered Photoshop and bought my first tablet. With the help of my companion, who’s also an illustrator, and thanks to the many talented illustrators around the world that make me dream, I learn every day and hope to live with my art.”
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S SERAPHITA “The goal of this painting w was to do a picture using common photo stock on deviantART, entirely p painted and not photo-manipulated. I wanted to depict an angel of ashes, bringing with her the Apocalypse and utter desolation.”
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S SNOW QUEEN “One of my o obsessions is winter and the Snow Queen tale. I always try to push the Q realism as far as I can, and a portrait like this is a good training piece.”
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September 2012
FXPosé submissions to:
[email protected]
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