Medusa
Portrait of Medusa. I really wanted to go all out on this one and give it 100%, playing up the details as much as possible. I also put a lot of effort into the environment, trying to achieve as much of a rich and luxurious feel as possible. The eyes were the most difficult element to paint, as I wanted them to really pop out and have a very unique feel; I ended up repainting them several times before I was finally satisfied with the results. Overall I'm quite pleased with this image, and I plan to Illustrate many more paintings with the theme of Greek Mythology, which appeals to me greatly. The pose and design of the snake we're referenced as well.
King of the Throne
A commissioned piece for a magazine cover, the model was Tuface Idibia. I was asked to illustrate him as a King, so I was definitely going for an iconic and luxurious look with this one. Painting this was a lot of fun, the lighting in particular was a lot of fun to paint. I enjoyed the color palette as well, warm tones are definitely my strong point so I was quite comfortable handling this image.
Kingdoms Fall
This is a commissioned portrait. I was given a ton of freedom for this painting, as I was asked to paint a woman wielding a sword. I wanted to give the image a bit more of a fantastical feeling as well, as that style suits me well. Overall I'm extremely pleased with the painting, and consider it one of my strongest portraits. The hair in particular is something I'm very proud of; Hair has always been something I never used to enjoy painting in all honesty, but I seem to have gotten the hang of it now it seems. This image is copyright by Last Life Games.
Catwoman
Portrait of Catwoman, still in Fan Art mode it seems. Very happy with how this turned out, pretty much as I envisioned it from the beginning. I wanted this to look realistic and a cross between the comic book version as well as the live-action films, and it was a challenge to combine the two to create something original.
Sonya Blade
This is a portrait of Sonya from the Mortal Kombat games. I basically mixed several incarnations of her to create this painting, and made sure she looked feminine while also tough looking at the same time, which was a bit tricky... But I believe I found a good balance. The angle of the face was difficult to pull off, even with a reference, but it was definitely worth it I'd say as I learned quite a bit. The eyes we're the most difficult aspect of this image to paint due to the angle, and I had to adjust them several times during the painting process to get it right, but I thing I managed them well. Special thanks to Reid Southen for his feedback as well.
Liu Kang
This is a portrait of Liu Kang from Mortal Kombat. I'm a huge fan of the games so this was a lot of fun to paint; I plan on doing a bunch of paintings based on the main characters as well. This painting is also a tribute to Bruce Lee, who I find very inspirational and whom the 'Liu Kang' character is based on as well. For reference I looked at some pics of Bruce Lee and the actor from the first film, as well as some photos of hands to help make this as realistic as possible. Overall I'm very satisfied with how this piece turned out.
Two Face
This is a portrait of the classic Batman villain. Finally had some free time to paint something I wanted which was a welcome change of pace, as I had envisioned this image in my head for quite some time. The look I was going for was basically a combination of all the character's appearances, from the comic books to his appearance in 'The Dark Knight'. I wanted to go all out with the detail on this one as well, especially with his burned face which was easily the most challenging element of this painting. Overall I'm quite satisfied with how this turned out!
If you'd like to see the 'Making Of' this painting, you can check out a tutorial here.
Sin City Hold'Em: Native American Woman
A promotional piece for Sin City Hold'Em. This one is my favorite of the bunch I was asked to illustrate.
The Twelve Apostles
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
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 here
Valren
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
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
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.
Fighter
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.
Jeire Kleros
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.
Mileena
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.
Orlon Cray
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
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.
Aqua
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.
The Awakening
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
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.
Yearning For Carnage
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.
African American Vampire Woman
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 :d
The Enchantress
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.
Dusk: A Vampire's Tale - Latina Vampire
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.
Dusk - A Vampire's Tale: African American Male
One of the many images I completed for Dusk: A Vampire's Tale. I was asked to paint an African American male that resembled the rapper Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs. 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
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 at http://www.dusk-game.com for more information as well as an exclusive preview of some of the artwork I've done for the game.
Riot Shell
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.
Pin-Up Girl
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 intriguedI 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.
Note: Olivia was not harmed during the making of this portrait.
Superman
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
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.
Apollo and Daphne
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.
Phoenix
I've been studying the works of Boris Vallejo for quite some time, and I wanted to paint something in that style for quite some time. 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.
Lost
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 Resurrectionist
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
Wrath of Medusa
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
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
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
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.
Lost From Sea
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]
Joker Was Here
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.
Dancing With The Devil
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.
Wonder Woman
Portrait of Wonder 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
*Special thanks to Henning, Baka, and CGDude for their input
...
'Wonder Woman' is property of DC Comics.
Blade of Fire
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!
Save Us
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
Lady Gaia
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).
The figure was referenced from http://mjranum-stock.deviantart.com.
Batman Caricature
I painted this a while back, decided to finally post it. Approximately 10 hours of work.
Indiana Jones and the Secrets From Beyond
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.
Going Under
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
A gift for two friends
Reply With Quote
.gif ";)")
Lovin' that batman and Indy looks great. Very nice work, I'd like to see more
Bookmarks