Phillip Straub: Pushing The Limits Of Concept Art

Phillip Straub is a very talented illustrator, with over 16 years of experience in the games, film and publishing industries. Presently he has been working as concept artist for Warner Brothers, and he has already worked for other big companies such as DC Comics, Mattel and EA.

As one of the founding members of the CG Society, Phillip Straub is responsible for judging in illustration competitions. He said that when he does that “the most important aspect in an image to me personally is originality in concept. I’m drawn to images that have a strong idea/story and images that play with metaphors or symbols. Now, with the advent of digital technology technical proficiency has new meaning- and while there are myriad of technically rendered images out there because of the great range of tools, many have little soul.” [1]

And that’s one of the things he tries to accomplish in his works, Straub focuses on invoking an emotional response from his images through composition, color, light and subject matter.

He takes inspiration from several different artists like “the Hudson River School painters - Church and Bierdstadt, orientalists like Gerome, Alma Tadema, and Bouguereau, and Michael Whelan.

As a Concept Art teacher, Phillip Straub says he gets “a great joy sharing the knowledge I’ve tried to gather over the years with others. Really, there are very few things that I find more rewarding than helping someone grow as an artist or even as an overall individual.“

He is the author of an amazing graphic novel called Utherworlds, whose pages can be viewed here. In a recent interview Phillip Straub has described it:

“The basic idea is – All thought is alive – each hope, fear, and memory is a part of the whole we call the universe. Every living creature contributes in their own unique way to the balance of positive and negative energy in the world. This energy is channeled to the Realms of Nightmares and Dreams, a visual manifestation of all thought energy that is located far in the depths of the universe.

“For eons a balance has been maintained between the positive and the negative but, the balance has shifted and the natural order has been disrupted. Sentient beings have lost their way and have given into the temptation of negative thought. Hope, empathy, and truth are being challenged by the growing forces of greed, hatred, and lust. War, global climate change, and industrialization grow with each passing day unchecked. It is true – the universe has reached a tipping point. A time of no return is nearly upon us all. Those who are open – those with true presence and a belief in hope are called upon to reclaim and restore the balance.”

Below there is a selection of his works, the first two are from the Utherworlds novel. Check his site for more.

http://www.ballisticpublishing.com/books/utherworlds/showcase.php

www.philipstraub.com/

Dehong He: Breath-Taking Fantasy Art

Dehong He is a very talented Chinese illustrator, who works with concept art for games.

His style is very clean and realistic, full of intricate details and often based on Chinese folklore.

About his choice for fantasy imagery, Dehong He said that it "gives me the biggest possible stage to work with. It’s as if you’re God, you can create a new world."

Dehong He's ability impressed his parents when he was very young, and when he was a fine art student at university, he started working with comics and a year after finishing college, he moved on to work as a concept artist for games.

About his work process, Dehong He says that he puts "my work’s quality and the themes which I express first. Style comes second. With the passage of time, I think, my own style will emerge naturally." [1]

Below is a selection of his artwork. Visit his site for more.

Official site: http://www.hdhcg.com/

Stephan Martinière: Sophisticated Futuristic Art

Stephan Martinière is a French concept artist, cartoonist, and animation director, winner of a Hugo Award in 2008. He worked on major movies such as I Robot and Star Wars 2 & 3, made concept art for many book covers and games. His style is very sophisticated and precise, the colors always balanced and harmonious.

In interviews, Martinière has commented on his work process, saying that he tends "to use my imagination more at the beginning stages when I’m doing concepts, and finding compositions, original and unusual shapes. I do more research when the concept goes into the painting stage to find a mood, some texture or particular elements such as street signs, windows, etc." [1]

And when asked to compare the different media he has worked with, Martiniére said that "being an illustrator for film or animation is being part of an enormous machine. An artist also does not own his work and therefore has a lot of difficulties exhibiting his art much less exploiting it. The publishing industry especially in book cover is the exact opposite.

"In terms of the actual work there isn’t much of a difference between doing concept for a movie, an animated film or a game. There are obviously some technical limitations associated with each medium but doing concept is about ideas. Obviously that same idea will follow different path to completion and will be rendered in different ways based on each field. Animation for example will dictate certain simplicity of execution as opposed to a feature film. All in all as an illustrator I like doing book cover best." [2]
I've selected three of Stephan Martinière's amazing artworks. Visit his site for many more, which are also for sale in print.


 

 

Official Site: http://www.martiniere.com/

John Howe: Middle Earth And Beyond

John Howe is a great Canadian illustrator, best known for his works on JKK Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings series. He was one of the illustrators who worked on the concept art for the movies of the Trilogy (and he's working on the art for the upcoming The Hobbit movie as well), and has also illustrated several other books by Tolkien, Robin Hobb and other writers.

Below is a few of his artworks. Visit his site for more.

More info: www.john-howe.com/

Highlight: Adam Brockbank

Adam Brockbank is a concept artist, who worked in the production of several mainstream movies, such as Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets (among others of the series), Tomb Raider, Alexander and Inkheart.

Unfortunately, there is very few personal information about Adam Brockbank on the web (as far as I could find) and no interviews. But I happened to uncover some background:

Like so many other concept artists, Adam Brockbank first got interested in art through comics, especially Marvel's Silver Age series. Brockbank spent 7 years learning painting, and joined the film industry as a storyboard artist, later working on concept art. [1]

If you know of any interview or articles about him (with some text and not only his amazing concept art) let me know. Thanks! :)

Here are some of his works:

Tomb Raider 2

Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets

Alexander

Visit Adam Brockbank's site for more great concept art.