During this workshop, I’ll break my work processes down intoeasy-to-follow guidelines. This will show how I painted the load screen images, such as this portrait of Loki, Thor’s half-brother and the God of Mischief, for the upcoming videogame Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and for the X-Men Legends games.

I recently challenged myself to create more evocative images, by applying better draughtsmanship and developing the composition. I hope to pass on some of these elements in this workshop.

The biggest influences on my work have come from working with my art lead at Ravensoft. Dan Hay (www.danhay.net) is a modeller, animator and lighting expert who has helped me to examine how light falls across forms and affects colours. There’s also Mitch Cotie, (www.mcotie.com) a painter who sits next to me in the office. Being able to get feedback from CGSociety and ConceptArt, and my talented colleagues at Ravensoft has been invaluable. I also take drawing cues from Brandon Kitkouski, (www.bkstudio.com) a friend in the industry.

The thing that shocks most people about my work is how simply I approach the software I use. Whether it’s working in Photoshop or Painter, I believe the strength of my work is based on a fast and loose approach towards getting the initial masses and gestures into the illustration, keeping a lot of traditional compositional elements in mind, learned from my early graphic design days.

From then on, it’s a study of how important lighting can be in affecting and generating an overall mood and sense of believability.