Concept Art, Digital & Matte Painting Magazine

Issue 037 January 2009 $4.50 / €3.25 / £2.25

Tomasz
Jedruszek
This month we get to know freelance illustrator, Tomasz Jedruszek and discover why he left his
study of architecture to pursue a career in illustration!

Interviews
Tomasz Jedruszek & Jim Maxwell

Articles
Sketchbook of Justin Albers

Galleries
Yap Kun Rong, Andreas Rocha & Szymon Biernacki, plus more!

Tutorials
Speed Painting with Richard Tilbury & Justin Albers, plus more!

Making Ofs
Flower Concept by Soheil Danesh Eshraghi
 Contents
Editorial
Happy New Year and welcome to
Issue 037 of 2DArtist magazine! Contents 001

Being the start of a new year and What’s in this month?

all, I thought I would give a little
insider info as to what you can TomaszFreelance
Jedruszek 007

Illustrator
expect from us this year. We’ll
soon be kicking off a brand new
series, created by Dwayne Vance
Jim Maxwell 023

Matte Painter & Concept Artist

and Hoi Mun Tham on rendering
vehicles. This is going to be a Sketchbook 035

Sketchbook of Justin Albers

five-part series that takes us right
from the thumbnail concepting
stage through to final renders, and
The Gallery 045

10 of the Best 2D Artworks

the vehicles – well, I’ll keep you
in suspense on that bit of info as I think you’ll like what’s in store. Another Stylised Characters 055

great series we’d like to start this year is on 2D character creation – not This Month’s Finalists & Last Month’s Making Ofs
your everyday anatomy practice, but something with a little bit more ‘bite’.
So if you’re looking for a New Year’s resolution for 2009, then how about:
Understanding Composition 069
by Joel Carlo
practice painting (and buy a subscription to 2DArtist magazine)? (Worth a
shot, huh?! *winks*) If you buy now then you’ll be sorted for the entire year, Speed Painting 075
so have a read through this month’s issue and if you like what you see, why Justin Albers & Richard Tilbury
not invest in us for 2009?
OK sales speech over; let’s get back to the January issue – so what’s Space Painting 083
Transport: Part 7 – Capital Ships
in store? Well, we have two interviews this month – our first one with
freelance artist, Tomasz Jedruszek, who has worked for a variety of
big names – Fantasy Flight Games and White Wolf Publishing to name
Flower Concept 097
Project Overview by Soheil Danesh Eshraghi
a couple. We caught up with him for this month’s issue to find out a little
about what caused his career shift from architecture to illustration; check China Town 102

out his stunning portfolio on page 7. Our second artist interview is with Jim Digital Art Masters: V3 Free Chapter Promotion
Maxwell, matte painter and concept artist who has worked on some great
feature films of late – Mr & Mrs Smith and The Incredible Hulk being just About us
3DTotal.com Ltd Information & Contacts
105

two. So for a glimpse into the world of matte painting and concept art for
high profile projects, check out page 23.
Bringing the sketchbook back to you this month we have a great article for
Editor Layout Content Proofing
Lynette Clee Layla Khani Lynette Clee Jo Hargreaves
you from Justin Albers, who kindly gives us a sneak peek at the fantastic Matt Lewis Tom Greenway Lynette Clee
sketches that can be found in his “junkyard collection of ideas and designs” Lead Designer Richard Tilbury
Chris Perrins Marketing Chris Perrins
(page 35). You can also find Justin’s work gracing the tutorial pages in his Jo Hargreaves Jo Hargreaves
latest speed painting interpretation of the topic, ‘The approaching swarm
appeared biblical in scale and straight from a nightmare’. Check out page
Free Stuff!
75 for Justin’s take on the subject, alongside in-house artist, Richard
Wherever you see
Tilbury’s answer to this month’s brief.
this symbol, click it to
Our other tutorials have been created by Chee Ming Wong, who this
download resources,
month looks at capital ships as part of his in-depth look into space transport
extras and even movies!
design (page 83). And because we’re tutorial crazy here at 2DArtist, we
also asked Joel Carlo to create an article for us which takes us back to
basics on composition (page 69) – what better way to start the year than to
get a better understanding of one of the key components of image making?
Finally, to wrap up the teaching section of this issue, Soheil Danesh has
generously provided for you all a look at the creation of his beautiful Flower
Concept, on page 97. Enjoy!
Thanks for reading, enjoy the issue and catch you next month! Ed.

www.2dartistmag.com page 2 Issue 037 January 2009

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 Contributors
Justin
Albers
A graduate of the Art Institute
of Dallas and currently working
as a concept artist at Vigil
Games on the Warhammer
40,000 MMO in Austin, Texas.
His previous companies include TKO Software and

Contributing Artists
Each month, many artists from around the world contribute to 3DCreative
NCsoft.

& 2DArtist magazines. Here you can find out a little about them.
If you would like to be a part of 3DCreative or 2DArtist magazines, http://www.justinalbers.com/
please contact: lynette@3dtotal.com albers.justin@gmail.com

Chee Ming Wong Richard

Has over 8 years of creative Tilbury
visualisation and pre-production Has had a passion for drawing

experience, having worked since being a couple of feet

on various independent game tall. He studied fine art & was

projects, publications and CGI eventually led into the realm of

pre-production artwork. He is currently the CEO computers several years ago.

of his own digital art studio, Opus Artz, based in His brushes have slowly been dissolving in white

London. Previous work includes his role as Senior spirit since the late nineties & now his graphics

Concept Artist and Visual Lead for Infinity: The Quest tablet has become their successor. He still sketches

for Earth MMO 2009, plus numerous commercial regularly and balances his time between 2D and 3D,

publications. although drawing will always be closest to his heart.

http://www.opusartz.com http://www.richardtilburyart.com

chee@opusartz.com ibex80@hotmail.com

Joel
Carlo
A multimedia developer residing
out in Denver, Colorado. His
career as an artist has spanned
over the last 14 years and
includes work in both traditional
and digital media, web design, print, and motion
graphics for broadcasting. His client list is varied and
Would You Like To Contribute To ranges from commissioned work for small studio
3DCreative Or 2DArtist Magazines? projects to larger clients such as Future Publishing,
We are always looking for tutorial artists, gallery submissions, potential Burrows & Chapin, The Ayzenberg Group, NASCAR,
interviewees, ‘making of’ writers, and more. For more information, please Dodge, Toyota and Fox Television.
send a link to your work to: lynette@3dtotal.com http://www.joelcarlo.net / joelcarlo@gmail.com

www.2dartistmag.com page 4 Issue 037 January 2009

Contributors
Soheil Danesh Felipe
Eshraghi Fernández Morell
Born in Tehran, 1984, he is Studied art in Montevideo,
known as a comic artist and Uruguay. He then worked
concept designer in Iran. He freelance in Barcelona in
started his career when he was different media, from publicity to
14, designing cartoons and comics for magazines editorial to web. He’s currently
and newspapers. He is now working as an illustrator working as a production and concept artist in the
and character and environment designer for games industry.
animations, movies and video games.

http://danesh.cgsociety.org/gallery/ http://www.ffilustracion.com
soheildan@gmail.com contactos@ffilustracion.com

Ruth Robert
Martinez L. Cron
Studied graphic design, Attended Carnegie Mellon
but always felt attracted to University in Pittsburgh, PA,
illustration and animation. where he received a BFA in
She’s currently working as a 2D scenic and costume design.
animator in the games industry, For the past 12 years he’s
and is happy to be working professionally in her been working as a professional costumer for film
hobby. She also pursues her passion for illustration and television projects, most notably for the last four
through the likes of the 2DArtist stylised challenges! seasons of NBC’s The West Wing. He’s recently
begun working as an illustrator for film, television and
commercials, and currently resides in Los Angeles,
http://ruth2m.com http://www.costumesketch.com
ruth2m@gmail.com robert@costumesketch.com

www.2dartistmag.com page 5 Issue 037 January 2009

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 Vancouver Film School alumni credits include Across the Universe Geeta Basantani, Digital Compositor Alias Scott Dewis, Visual
Effects Artist Ant Bully Ben Sanders, Character Animator | Rani Naamani, Animator | Ernesto Bottger, Character Animator AVP:
Alien Vs. Predator Shawn Walsh, Color & Lighting Technical Director Babel Luis Blackaller, Storyboard Artist | Lon Molnar,
Visual Effects Supervisor Battlestar Galactica Daniel Osaki, Lead Modeler | Megan Majewski, 3D Animator | Alec McClymont,
3D Artist Blizzard Entertainment Alvaro Buendia, Cinematic Artist Bolt Lino Di Salvo, Supervising Animator/Voice of
Vinnie Charlotte’s Web Aruna Inversin, Digital Compositor | Adam Yaniv, Character Animator | Tony Etienne, Lead Lighter
Kristin Sedore, Lighter Chicago Lon Molnar, Animation Supervisor The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch
and the Wardrobe Kristin Sedore, Lighter | Shawn Walsh, Lighter | Adam Yaniv, Character Animator The Chronicles
of Narnia: Prince Caspian Andreas Hikel, Pre-Visualization Artist | Christoph Schinko, Character Animator | Jami
Gigot, Senior Layout Artist Cloverfield Nicholas Markel, Pre-Visualization Supervisor Constantine Aruna Inversin,
Digital Compositor The Dark Knight Pietro Ponti, Lead CG Lighting Artist Dead Like Me Daniel Osaki, Visual
Effects Artist | Alec McClymont, 3D Artist Diablo III Alvaro Buendia, Cinematic Artist | Steven Chen, Cinematic
Artist Family Guy Michael Loya, Storyboard Artist Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Arun Ram-Mohan,
Lighting Technical Director | Shawn Walsh, Visual Effects Executive Producer | Jessica Alcorn, Compositor
Flags of our Fathers Aruna Inversin, Digital Compositor Gears of War (VG) Scott Dossett, Animator
The Godfather (VG) Kirk Chantraine, Motion Capture Specialist The Golden Compass Adam
Yaniv, Animator | Chad Moffitt, Animator | Thom Roberts, Animator | Ben Sanders, Animator
Andrew Lawson, Animator | Matthias Lowry, Visual Effects | Tony Etienne, Look Development
Justin Hammond, Lighter Pearl Hsu, Effects
Technical Director | Aruna
Compositor | Fion Mok,
Your name here. Inversin, Digital
Matchmove Artist
Hairspray Lon Molnar, Visual Effects Production Executive Halo 3 Bartek Kujbida, Character
Animator Happy Feet Ben Sanders, Character Animator | Thom Roberts, Character Animator
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Shawn Walsh, Color & Lighting Technical Director
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Pietro Ponti, Technical Director Harry Potter
and the Half-Blood Prince Harry Mukhopadhyay, Lead Effects Technical Director Hellboy Aruna
Inversin, Digital Compositor Hellboy II: The Golden Army Christoph Ammann, 3D Sequence
Supervisor Horton Hears a Who Arun Ram-Mohan, Lighting Technical Director | Brent Wong, Modeler
Hulk Geoff Richardson, Visual Effects Editor I, Robot Daniel Osaki, CGI Modeler | Megan Majewski,
Pre-Visualization Ice Age: The Meltdown Ben Sanders, Character Animator | Arun Ram-Mohan,
Lighting Technical Director The Incredible Hulk Shawn Walsh, Visual Effects Executive Producer
Tony Etienne, Look Development Lead Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Henri Tan, Creature Technical Director Iron Man Adam Marisett, Visual Effects Artist King Kong
Chad Moffitt, Senior Animator King of the Hill Michael Loya, Director Kingdom Hospital Daniel
Osaki, Visual Effects Artist | Megan Majewski, 3D Animator | Alec McClymont, 3D Artist Kingdom
of Heaven Shawn Walsh, Digital Compositor Letters from Iwo Jima Aruna Inversin, Digital
Compositor Live Free or Die Hard Jessica Alcorn, Compositor Lord of the Rings Trilogy Chad
Moffitt, Senior Animator Lost Scott Dewis, Visual Effects Artist Lucasfilm Animation Singapore
Sandro Di Segni, Senior Effects Technical Director/Lead Digital Artist | Ming Chang, Lighting Technical
Director | Adrian Ng Chee Wei, Character AnimatorSeema Gopalakrishnan, CG Software Developer
Mass Effect (VG) Sung-Hun (Ryan) Lim, 3D Modeler Matrix: Revolutions Aruna Inversin, Digital
Compositor | Shawn Walsh, Color & Lighting Technical Director Master & Commander: The Far Side of the
World Robert Bourgeault, CG Artist Metal Gear Solid 4 (VG) Josh Herrig, Artist | Yuta Shimizu, Artist The Mummy:
Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Aruna Inversin, Digital Compositor Night at the Museum Allen Holbrook,
Animator | Adam Yaniv, Character Animator | Chad Moffitt, Animator | Kristin Sedore, Lighter Persepolis
Marianne Lebel, Animator Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End Ben Sanders, Character Animator
Allen Holbrook, Animator | Aruna Inversin, Digital Compositor The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything:
A VeggieTales Movie Mike Dharney, Animation Supervisor Reign of Fire Lino DiSalvo, Animator
Resident Evil: Extinction Joshua Herrig, Visual Effects Artist Robots Arun Ram-Mohan, Additional
Lighting Rome Teh-Wei Yeh, Matchmove Artist The Santa Clause 2 Aruna Inversin, Digital Compositor
Daniel Osaki, Visual Effects Artist Scarface (VG) Maya Zuckerman, Mocap 3D Generalist Shrek the
Third Rani Naamani, Animator Shrek the Third (VG) Samuel Tung, Technical Artist Sin City Michael
Cozens, Lead Animator Smallville Geeta Basantani, Lead Compositor Speed Racer Aruna Inversin,
Digital Compositor Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Andrew Doucette, Character
Animator | Nicholas Markel, Pre-Visualization Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (VG) Arun
Ram-Mohan, 3D Artist | Jessica Mih, Level Artist Stargate SG-1 Aruna Inversin, Digital Compositing
Artist | Daniel Osaki, Visual Effects Artist | Shawn Walsh, Digital Effects Supervisor Stargate:
Atlantis Daniel Osaki, 3D Animator | Megan Majewski, 3D Animator | Alec McClymont, 3D
Artist Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Jami Gigot, Concept
Artist Transformers Allen Holbrook, Animator | Henri Tan, Creature Technical Director

3D ANIMATION & VISUAL EFFECTS | CLASSICAL ANIMATION | DIGITAL CHARACTER ANIMATION

Vancouver Film School. Countless paths. vfs.com/animationvfx

Unreal Tournament III (VG) Scott Dossett, Artist Valiant Robert
Bourgeault, Lighting Technical Director Viva Pinata Megan Majewski,
Animator WALL-E Mark Shirra, Layout Artist Watchmen Jelmer
Boskma, Previs Modeler | Lon Molnar, Visual Effects Supervisor | Cynthia
Rodriguez del Castillo, Visual Effects Artist World of Warcraft:
Burning Crusade (VG) Carman Cheung, Animator A Wrinkle
in Time Aruna Inversin, Digital Compositor and many more.
VFS student work by Jeff Plamondon
“’m just tired of ‘artists’
who paint only fairies
or girls - or even worse,
those who paint the same
person over and over
again - is this a kind of
obsession or just a lack of
any other models?”

Tomasz Morano is a freelance artist from

Poland who has worked for a variety of
companies and publishers over the years. He
left his study of architecture to pursue a career
in illustration and believes that “digital painting”
is supposed to be a new kind of
artistic discipline
 14
This is the Free Lite Issue of to purchase the Full Issue click here

www.2dartistmag.com page 9 Issue 037 January 2009

“The determination and
long-time desire to be a
matte painter, and not
necessarily classes or
diplomas, is what has
allowed me to do
what I do”

Jim Max
well is a
matte p
number ainter a
of featu nd conc
re films ept artis
recent b includin t who ha
lockbus g Mr. an s worke
ter, The d Mrs. S d on a
since ch In credible m it h , Lust Ca
ildhood Hulk. He ution an
and in th has love d the
“Matte p is interv d paintin
ainting is ie w he talks g and film
all abou to us ab
t paintin out why
g light, s he think
hadow, s,
and colo
ur”.
 Interview Jim Maxwell

I see from your resume that you have a few

year’s experience as a matte artist / painter.
How did you come to be involved in this area of
CG and where did you learn your skills?
Well I’ve loved painting and drawing and
watching movies since I was really young, so I
think it was a natural conclusion to eventually
bridge these together. As soon as I’d learned
you could have a career painting and having
those paintings appear in film, I immediately
wanted to be a matte painter, I was probably
about 13 or 14. Sitting watching movies, I’d
try to find where the matte paintings were; to
pinpoint exactly where the matte painting met
the real footage. I’d also wait until the very end
of the film to see who the matte artists were
in the credits - those guys were, and still are,
my heroes. I went to art college for a while,
and took some night classes here and there in
Adobe Photoshop, After Effects, and Lightwave.
But there are obviously other software packages
more or less applicable depending on job
requirements, and if you’re good at what you do,
you learn to use additional software on the job
along the way.

The determination and long-time desire I had to

be a matte painter, and not necessarily classes
or diplomas, is what has allowed me to do what
I do. Ultimately what’s important is how you
put the knowledge you gain to use, how much
experience you gather as you go, and to not

loose faith in yourself, as everyone operates and learns differently. That

said - education and training are important, but you inevitably are the one
responsible for the quality and success of your work.

Working towards your goal in your spare time is extremely important too -
it gives you an edge over people who just “want” to do something. I think
with matte painting or anything creative it’s being active, producing work,
and spending time improving your skills that will be your best advantage
and serve you well in the future.

www.2dartistmag.com page 12 Issue 037 January 2009

In my first studio job as a matte painter I was
hired for two days a week. It was a “trial by
fire” experience because I had to get used to
the software in a production environment, but I
ploughed through and ended up being part of a
team that was nominated for a Canadian Gemini
Award.

From your early interest in film who do you

regard as being pioneers in the field of matte
painting and whose work do you admire the
most?
A lot of people might say Albert Whitlock - and
he is phenomenal - but I didn’t learn about him
until later on. He wasn’t just an extraordinary
matte painter, he would composite elements
together in an old-fashioned way, such as
manually dragging a painted-on photographed
image of the Hindenburg across a glass matte
painting of the New York skyline (which would
be done these days with compositing software
and a 3D model of the Hindenburg). But his stuff
is amazing and I think the guys whose matte
paintings I grew up looking at are somewhat
indebted to him.

The matte painters that really inspired me

though, were guys like Michael Pangrazio,
Harrison Ellenshaw, Frank Ordaz, Chris Evans,
Caroleen Green, Yusei Uesugi - their early
work was so impressive, and it was all done
with a brush! I would try to contact them at their
respective workplaces (years before most kids
knew what matte painting was) and would be
lucky enough to have conversations over the
phone with them, asking them techniques and
advice on how to break into the business.

As I wanted to be a matte painter so much,

I’d sit and watch old movies with my parents,
and call out “hey that’s a matte painting”, and
they’d tell me to shush, and for the most part
they didn’t understand what I was talking about.
I recognised that images in The Wizard of OZ,
and Gone with the Wind weren’t just painted
backdrops, there was something different with
them... where they were situated in the frame,
their composition etc.

With the digital age too there are some great

guys; Yannick Dusseault’s work on The Lord
of the Rings trilogy, and the Star Wars films is
amazing.
He’s so talented and I think he works very On your demo reel there is a sequence from The shot was initially 2000 frames long, and the
quickly and in a very smart way, which makes the recent Hulk film showing a wireframe camera actually follows right around to another
him successful. Other guys like Dylan Cole, overlay across a building façade. Can you talk side of the building. So I had to create two
Richard Bluff, and Chris Stoski are all really us through this shot and how the matte was facades.
talented people working in the digital era of created?
matte painting and they’re the guys to watch The first thing was to find specifically what Sometimes you can get away with simple
right now. production was asking for. The building geometry planes textured and tracked in 3D.
represented a laboratory, so they requested But it was necessary to add a bit of depth and
People say a lot of romance is lost between the that the building be extended. So you ask detail of the inset windows, as well as creating
old ways of painting on glass and now painting questions: one extra storey or two? Should it the holes in the wall. Luckily, the scene was
through the glass on a computer screen, but resemble the previous floor and is there any tracked already. I have great respect for people
for the past decade or so there has been extra architectural ornamentation? In the end who nail down a good track in a shot. There
astounding work on the screen that no one they wanted one more floor, same architecture - were basic 3D planes laid out to match the
would ever recognise as a matte painting. though certain windows may have lights off and footage, and that generally makes your job that
there would be two large holes in the brickwork. much easier (though it doesn’t always happen
that way!) Anyway, I had some photo reference brought it back into Maya and mapped it onto will have the exact same movement and motion
of the actual building in the daytime, with a my building geometry. I had to do a few lighting as the physical, practical camera that was on
somewhat orthographic, straight-on view. I passes; the character “Abomination” throws set when they shot the scene. Usually roughed
colour-corrected the photo to match the plate, objects through the wall so I created one texture out geometry will be created to match buildings,
and transformed the image so it was perfectly pass with lights on and one with lights off to landscapes, or features of the scene. For the
orthographic - which is important when you’re simulate flickering lights and damage... then I lab shot in Hulk, rough geometry planes were
applying texture to geometry. I painted up some rendered everything out for the compositor. created for the ground, for a building on the
areas, and cloned others in Photoshop. Then I left and right, and for a distant building. The
took that file, brought it into Maya, put it on an Can you explain what you mean by: “The scene tracker then animated the camera movement
image plane and spent a few days creating the was tracked already”? while watching the footage playing within the
needed geometry. Basically when the plates (film footage that’s software to make sure his “track” was as bang
been digitally scanned) arrive in a VFX studio, on as possible. So when I started working on
When I was happy with the windows etc, I and there are set extensions or 3D elements the scene, it was already tracked for me - so I
rendered out the UV’s and saved them out that need to be added to the scene, someone created the facades of the building and placed
for Photoshop - then I painted on the UV’s, will have to create a virtual, digital camera that them where the rough geometry was, deleted
that geometry and then focused on the details
of the texture I had to project onto the building.
There were some tweaks here and there where
I had to reposition some elements as they would
fall off the track and move independently of the
camera move... so there was a bit of back and
forth before everything stayed put. But in the
end, I thought it looked pretty bang on.

Do you do much hand painted work on matte

paintings these days or is everything pretty
much composed of photographic elements?
I think any good matte painter combines as
many techniques as possible. It would be a
hard job for me to do if I limited myself to basic
photo collage - it would get old really fast. I try
to hand paint (digitally in Photoshop) as much
as possible, I create basic models in 3D that I
eventually paint over when I don’t always have
good references and there’s a lot of photo-
cloning as well. Photo references are important.
As good as your eye can be in what you know
of the world (lighting, shadow, perspective etc),
photo references can be vital depending on
the shot. But I really think painting skills are the
number one necessity - they’re the glue that
pulls everything else together. Just recently I
had the opportunity to create a cityscape matte
painting that served as the background in the
last scene of a feature film. The timeframe
was really short, and I could have used some
photo references which I was lacking... so I
painted in the majority of the rooftops of the city
using colour, light, and shadow, suggestions
of antennas and satellite dishes, and it ended
up looking believable. When I get the chance
to paint in details, or paint full skies, clouds, or
landscapes, it’s very rewarding and I try to do it
as much as possible.

It’s interesting that you mention painting in the

rooftops “using colour, light and shadow”, as
you often hear people describe matte work as
the art of “painting light”. Do you think this is a
good definition?
Absolutely. Matte painting is all about painting
light, shadow, and colour - but light is the most
significant of these in bringing the form and
shape of an image to life. Apart from sunlight
creating obvious contrasting shadows and form,
if you look outside, regardless of the day, you
have atmospheric perspective, and layer after
layer of haze. These are all different aspects
of light and when added to matte paintings
these elements give you more depth and a
sense of reality. In some VFX shops - in their
pipeline - “light” can be handled differently:
instead of objects being painted up in a scene,
3D geometry may be used, and then textured,
and then lit, and finally colour-corrected and
comped etc. I see the modern matte painter
as someone who attempts to blend certain
stages of the pipeline with a traditional sense of
painting techniques. I think artists like Vermeer
and Caravaggio were recognized as great
artists because of the way they handled light.
They didn’t necessarily paint “photographically”
(photographs weren’t invented in their day!), but
they captured a “lifelike” version of reality, which
as matte painter, I try to do every day.

What sort of challenges does creating concept

work present compared to matte painting and
what are the best aspects about doing both?
Concept work is terrific stuff to get a chance to
work on. Sometimes, depending on the client
and project, you can have great design freedom;
you decide the mood, the atmosphere, and
really put a personal touch on it. Sometimes
matte painting can be limiting in that regard
because everything can be pre-laid-out for you.
That said, with creating concepts... not all days
are great idea days - I guess it’s akin to writer’s
block. You can sometimes work several hours
and not have great results - and sometimes
you can nail something down in 30 minutes. I
think it’s partially because you’re pooling from
your imagination, which isn’t always 100%
cooperative. Concept work is very abstract;
you’re presenting an idea of something rather
than the reality and the hope is that the client or
receiver of your work is receptive and that you’re
able to communicate your ideas back and forth.
There is a blurring though sometimes between
concept and matte work.

Some matte paintings that I’ve created were

begun as concept images, and were eventually
massaged into something more photo-real.
As challenging and wildly creative as concept
work can be, some matte painting requests can
be very imaginative in their scope, especially
when you’re dealing with alternate realities - an
alien landscape, or futuristic city for example.
 Interview Jim Maxwell
To make those matte paintings look real can be
difficult, but also exciting! In those cases you
have years of film history ideas to tap into, but
I like trying to be as original as possible. Being
derivative can be frowned upon by an audience
when they see the same ideas recycled over
and over, and you want to try to be innovative,
which makes the job more challenging, but
ultimately more enjoyable.

I think that because I love film so much, and the

enjoyment of going to the theatre, I mostly prefer
matte painting over concept work. With concepts
you can see your ideas translated into reality
- whereas with matte paintings, (sometimes
with slight adjustments from the film labs) it’s
as if they’re transferred from your computer
screen straight to the movie screen - and that’s
amazing!

I think seeing your hard work on the big screen,

and knowing you were responsible for an
establishing shot is so satisfying.

What types of shots in general prove to be the

most difficult facing a matte painter and are
there any subjects that are more problematic
than others?
Since matte paintings are in motion these days,
they’re more technical, and so there are more
variables to problem-solve. When it comes to
3D projection matte paintings there are new
rules that have to be obeyed to garner a realistic
outcome. Working with your first frame of that geometry sequence and making sure your Although there are still matte paintings that

geometry and your last frame of geometry, and matte painting is lining up and not stretching can are sky replacements, and basic backgrounds,

then having to project your matte painting onto be a difficult but satisfying process. matte painters should be prepared to have
knowledge of 3D software and be able to create
a matte painting that moves like a regular scene
would with a camera trucking past.

Major perspective or parallel changes can

get tricky depending on the complexity of the
shot. Anything that’s not grounded in modern
day reality will be difficult because it can be
interpreted and designed in so many different
ways, not to mention that it doesn’t presently
exist!!

www.2dartistmag.com page 18 Issue 037 January 2009

Jim Maxwell Interview

Sci-fi/fantasy films, period pieces, war epics all alien landscapes and futuristic environments are shoot (camera lens, lighting info); setting up a
have their own sets of problems. On Ang Lee’s absolutely believable (even though they don’t 3D camera and blocking in rough geometry that
Lust, Caution, I got to work on matte paintings exist), so you can’t make excuses! [Laughs]. will match the practical shot (if you’ve received
of Shanghai in the 1930’s - there was a lot of scans of the footage); reading the script; and,
research and reference gathering to maintain When being presented with a brief for a matte on occasion, travelling to the film location shoot
the authenticity and consistency of that time painting, what are the typical stages that to take reference photos either during or after
period, and that can be very difficult when you go through from start to finish in order to filming has wrapped. Sometimes the production
you’re working with grainy photos from the 30’s complete the piece and are you ever provided company will ask for a style frame after a film
and you can’t determine whether something with location photography or high res reference shoot is completed.
is a mailbox or a telephone booth. But the film material?
looks quite believable when you’ve seen the Depending on the timeframe, sometimes you The style frame is like a concept painting that
footage beforehand and afterwards. The bar may have a week to acquire all your resources combines a frame of the footage, and is used as
is set very high these days in terms of realistic - this would include gathering image references; a key guide for lighting, palette, and placement.
digital matte paintings. There are films where doing research on the specifics of the location For instance, if you have a scene with actors in

www.2dartistmag.com page 19 Issue 037 January 2009

front of a practical castle drawbridge set that’s
built 10 feet high, the matte painter (usually
in a day or so) could paint a quick style frame
concept showing the castle extension, turrets
and sky. If the shot is not locked-off, and has a
camera move, two or more style frames may be
required. This gives production an idea of where
you want to go with the matte painting, and
starts the communication.

It’s always a lot of fun when you get to go

scouting locations. You get out of the studio and
into the real world and usually come back with
great references.

From what I’ve experienced, VFX supervisors,

and various VFX leads will shoot a lot of location
references during filming, so they’ll usually
provide you with high res images. If the matte
painter has the majority of the responsibility for
a shot, they will occasionally go to the film shoot
as well.

Sometimes when a change is made, or a new

visual effect is introduced, the matte painter may
have to go back to the original location with a
still camera and lenses and shoot references.

If there are any readers out there who are

interested in becoming matte painters, what
advice would you offer them in terms of learning
the trade and creating a suitable portfolio?
I think a solid background in painting, drawing,
and photography is important, plus a love of
films and movies - and not necessarily heavy
visual effects movies.

As a matte painter, or any visual effects artist,

you’ll be working on films of all kinds. Art and
design colleges that teach traditional art as well
as courses in visual effects are great places
to hone your skills as an artist. In most cases
you’ll be dealing with instructors who have, at
one time or another, experienced working in
the visual effects industry. Learn a popular 3D
software package, and a popular compositing
package, and above all learn Adobe Photoshop.
There are others, but Photoshop is the most
widely recognised digital painting application in
film and design.

I think some people expect that right out of

school they’ll immediately get work, which isn’t
always the case. In the studios I’ve worked
I’ve seen crates and bookshelves full of demo
reels - most of them from students. It’s a very
competitive industry and I think producing
unique, original work, and working hard, is the
key to success and will single you out from the
rest. In terms of your portfolio, well, working at
nights when your friends want you to go out is
a sacrifice, but it’s pretty important. You want
to build up as much work as possible outside of
school. There are plenty of sites out there that
take submissions of artwork for inclusion in art
books and web sites - the reward is recognition
as an artist - and major VFX studios look at
these sites from time to time which is a good
motivator. Sometimes the studio you’re hired
by may be working on television programmes
or commercials that you feel won’t be useful or
“exciting” enough on your demo reel - in that
case, create something spectacular on your
reel to get attention from some of the bigger
VFX studios. There are matte painters I know
whose personal work is more interesting than
their professional studio work. On a demo reel,
combining your own work and studio experience
shows major studios that you’re willing to go
that extra mile. Sometimes if you want to work
on feature films or blockbusters, you’ll have
to move to a major city - so be prepared to
relocate. I’ve always believed that if you’re
determined to live your dream, then you’ll do it!

Jim Maxwell
For more work by this artist please visit:
http://www.reviresco.info/
Or contact them at:
jimcmax@gmail.com

Interviewed by: Richard Tilbury

 PMS COLORED

116 U

404 U

modo is for artists

3D image
3D image created in modo by Luxology. Credit: created
Gelmi in modo
For more by Luxology.
information, Credit:
visit Gelmi
modo3D.com

TM
In this article, Justin Albers talks about what inspires him and shares his ideas and
sketches, from his random drawings, to his last Dominance War character
 8
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www.2dartistmag.com page 25 Issue 037 January 2009

This month we feature:
Sara Justesen
Daniel Iulian Vijoi
Andreas Rocha
Loïc e338 Zimmermann
Ioan Dumitrescu
Dmitry Grebenkov
Robin Olausson
Szymon Biernacki
Yang Xueguo
Yap Kun Rong
 9
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Welcome to the “Challenge” section of
2DArtist. Every month we run a challenge
in the conceptart.org forums, which is
avaliable for anyone to enter. The winning
entries not only receive prizes from the
www.3dtotal.com shop, but also get
featured in this very magazine! And as well
as displaying the winners from the previous
month’s competition, we also showcase the
“Making Of’s” from the month before that,
so you can see how these winning
pieces of artwork

Butcher Stylised Challenge

In Association with
 16
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www.2dartistmag.com page 31 Issue 037 January 2009

“Composition can
be thought of as
the “glue” that
effectively holds a
piece of artwork
together”

In this article, Joel Carlo discusses the elements and principles of art
composition
 5
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www.2dartistmag.com page 35 Issue 037 January 2009

Welcome to the Speed Painting section of the magazine. This
month we’ve asked two artists to produce a speed painting
based on a simple, one-line brief. Here we feature the final
paintings and the overview of the creation processes.

This month our talented artists, Justin Albers and Richard

Tilbury, tackle the topic:

appeared biblical in scale and straight from a nightmare

 7
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Zoo Publishing presents the new issue of 3dcreative
magazine: a downloadable monthly magazine for
concept art, digital & matte painting for only $4.50US

visitwww.3dcreativemag.com
to download the free ‘lite’ issue, the full issue, subscription
offers and to purchase back issues.
“In space, all forms
of orientation of up,
down, left or right are
nonexistent. There is no
magnetic north or south,
only the way forward or
stationary.”

I - Planets and Star fields

Part 1: Stars & Nebulas–- July 2008
Part 2: Barren Worlds - August 2008
Part 3: Barren Planets - September 2008
Part 4: Gaian Planets - October 2008
Part 5: Colonised Planets - November 2008

II - Transport
Part 6: Spaceships - December 2008
Part 7: Capital Ships - January 2009
Part 8: Space Stations - February 2009

III - Environments
Part 9: Sci-fi Hangar - March 2009
Part 10: Space Battle - April 2009
Part 11: Mining the Asteroid Fields - May 2009
Part 12: Space Colonies - June 2009
 13
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www.2dartistmag.com page 41 Issue 037 January 2009

 “As a concept artist, I
make the scenes based
on the script, in a way
that a 3D artist can easily
recognise the lighting,
materials, and colours
and so on”

Soheil Danesh has been working as an illustrator,concept

designer and storyboard artist in animation and movie projects. In
this article he shares how he made his character “Baran”.
 5
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 Interviews
Chen Lin (wanbao)
Marek Okoń

Articles
Sketchbook of Chris Thunig
Wheelman Concept Art

Tutorials
NEW!
Vehicle Painting Series
by Dwayne Vance &
Hoi Mun Tham

Speed Painting:
“The size of the task ahead was
extremely daunting”

Galleries
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With the release of 3DTotal’s new book,
Digital Art Masters: Volume 3, we have
some exclusive chapters for you...

This book is more than just an artwork

book. Not only does it feature
full-colour, full-page images, but each
artist has given a detailed description, in
their own words, of the creation process
behind each piece of published artwork.
And they’ve done it especially for
this book!

This month we feature:

“Chinatown”
by Gerhard Mozsi
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 About us 3DTotal

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