Magazine
Christmas 2012
Blizzard's art director Glenn Rane leads the charge with his Warcraft cover
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Ever since ImagineFX launched we've managed to embrace both digital and traditional strands of fantasy and sci-fi art, enabling Frazetta to rub shoulders with Andrew Jones. So this issue I was excited when Blizzard's senior art manager Jeremy Cranford chose us to feature a very special project, as fantasy's finest traditional artists share their visions of Blizzard's digital worlds. On page 42 you'll find exclusive new inspirational art from Alex Ross, Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell, Simon Bisley, Syd Mead, Todd Lockwood, Michael Whalen, Alex Horley, Paul Bonner and Craig Mullins. We all have a favourite – which is yours?
The Blizzard connection carries on in this issue's workshops. On page 70 Sam Didier shares his digital techniques for painting World of Warcraft and StarCraft characters in a brand new painting, while on page 94 the talented Laurel D Austin reveals how she paints multiple StarCraft characters in a scene. There are plenty of new skills to master elsewhere this issue: on page 86 Annie Stegg shares her layer advice, while on page 98 Jessica Oyhenart mixes her historical references. Don't miss Painter Wow! author Cher Threinen- Pendarvis's guide to Painter 12's workspaces on page 85.
Finally, thanks for all your feedback over the past few editions of ImagineFX. I always love to hear from you, so please get in touch with your thoughts, questions or just to share your art!
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Picture a pair of fighting heroes
The worlds of Warcraft and StarCraft collide as Sam Didier depicts a fight scene with two key characters from the best-selling video games -
Show a dynamic action scene
Arman Akopian was inspired to paint a sexy manga character, but then decided to add some realistic elements into the mix… -
Add life to your character art
Paul Sullivan designs a figure with convincing storytelling elements and explains how the process applies to a video game production pipeline -
Look to the past when painting
Playing around with historical references and fashions is a great way to create personality in a painting, as Jessica Oyhenart explains… -
Be creative with costumes
Using the same base model, Annie Stegg demonstrates how to give a female character a range of personalities -
Creating a group of characters
Blizzard’s Laurel D Austin discusses how she paints Sarah Kerrigan, the mutated human leader of the Zerg, in a rare moment of reflection -
Reader FXPosé
More fantastical images from the IFX community -
Artist Q&A
Got a question for our experts? Let us ease your art-ache at help@imaginefx.com
