 | Digital
Painting CGN:
What are the major tools and methods that you
use in your painting? “I
primarily use Photoshop and Painter for my
digital illustrations and concept work. In
a pinch, I do occasionally use Maya to block
out the basic structure of an image but I tend
to prefer to draw everything from scratch.
Lately, with my concept work, I've been keeping
my Photoshop and Painter images within one
or two layers. I found that I was abusing the
layers in both Painter and Photoshop and this
would ultimately slow down my creative process.
So I try to keep everything as bare bones as
possible now, recreating the traditional single
canvas feel.”“My production work, either for
games or film, can have multiple layers and
the amount and complexity is usually dictated
by the specific project. I have just a few
brushes I love in both digital illustration
packages and have tons of custom brushes and
nozzles.”“With my traditional oils ands acrylics
I generally work on half tone gessoed illustration
board. On the illustration board, I recreate
a refined value study of my thumbnail sketch
with 9H-7H pencil and a white charcoal pencil.
Once the value drawing is complete I begin
painting a series of glazes over the drawing,
slowly getting more opacity as I go.” 
The
origin of the character in Winds of Change (above)
comes from a story I've been working on for quite
some time. She represents the idea or concept
of change; she is actually a visual metaphor
for what human beings feel when harsh change
is thrust upon us. Eventually we must shed our
old skin in order to be reborn and start new.
Click to enlarge
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| Inspirations
and Influences CGN:
What is the source of your inspiration? Are
these visions completely sourced from your
mind? “Inspiration
comes from so many places, really. I'm inspired
by so many different artists these days. I
am blown away by the sheer craftsmanship of
guys like Dusso, Craig Mullins, Ryan Church
and many of the other leading concept artists
right now. I look at some of these guys' work
and am amazed at how accurately they are able
to depict imagery in such a short period of
time. I'm influenced by some of the masters
of contemporary fantasy and symbolism like,
Michael Whelan, Scott Gustafson, Kinuko Craft,
Daniel Merriam and Gil Bruvel. The latter two
names I mentioned are purely fine artists and
make their living solely from selling their
paintings. I admire the successful fine artist
for their sheer will to create and undying
artistic individuality.” “Mostly
though, I find that my imagination works faster
than I can paint. And this is the major inspiration
for my work. The creativity tends to come in
bursts; sometimes I'll get a bunch of ideas
all at once and be forced to stay up late trying
to sketch them all out. Earlier in my career,
I wouldn't always take the time to sketch out
all the ideas I'd have at odd hours… Sadly
these would be lost forever. Now I've developed
a good habit of getting as many of my painting
ideas sketched out as I possibly can, regardless
of what time it is or where I am. It does create
some interesting life situations; thankfully
I have an understanding boss and girlfriend.
The truth is you never know if the drawing
you didn't sketch could one day have been your
greatest piece, the one that changes your career.
So, I say try and sketch 'em all!” CGN:
You have said that you try to evoke an emotional
response in the viewers of your work. How does
this imperative influence your work? “With
most of my personal work I do try
to create some sort of emotional response within
the viewer. Some of my work is highly personal
for me and many times an extension of my subconscious.
I'm intrigued at the idea of creating an environment
or worlds that don't exist or have never been
seen before. Most of my personal concept paintings
have a spiritual aspect to them and many are
connected to each other. For example, a path
in one image might lead to a location in another
image. I've also been experimenting with conveying
human emotion through visual metaphors. The Dreaming
tree , Winds of Change , and Dreamcoat all
represent an emotion or specific life experience.
These characters are all inhabitants of some
of my environment concept paintings. It's intriguing
for me to think of the environments and characters
in separate images having a direct and unique
connection to each other.” CGN:
What are some examples of emotions your works
convey? Where do your own emotions come into
play with your work?
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| 
Dreamcoat (above)
is an emotive piece dealing with the subject
of dreams/nightmares. For some reason what goes
on our head while we're asleep just fascinates
me. Creating imagery that is a symbol for what
dreams represents allows for unlimited experimentation.
Click to enlarge
Nightmare
Factory (below)
is the darker side of the Dreaming
Tree. I thought it would be fun to
think of our nightmares not as something
we control but more something that is produced
by an ancient factory. Click to enlarge
 | | “The
funny thing about the more emotion-driven images
I paint is that I rarely have a preconceived
notion of the image before I begin. They all
follow what I like to call the 'stream of consciousness'
technique. This is similar to creative writing
where the writer simply allows the words to
flow on the basis of a single emotion or idea.
Translating this to my work, I basically sit
down and begin painting, usually when I'm feeling
a passionate about a specific situation in
my life. Sometimes the imagery will change
multiple times before I settle on anything
concrete; I simply let the shapes and motion
of the line do the talking. As the painting
develops there's usually a moment of clarity
where I suddenly see the image for what it
truly is. However, and this is the most interesting,
There have been times I've done a painting
and haven't seen the influence or real meaning
until some time has past. It is amazing how
honest an artist's work can be, so honest that
sometimes they don't even see it themselves.” Dreaming
Tree (below). Click to enlarge
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