D'Artiste: Matte Painting 3

Apologies for the extended period without posting. I've been busy relocating my life with a happy little jaunt through Europe thrown in for good measure (more on that soon!). During that time however, I've been lucky enough to be included in the latest book from Ballistic Publishing: 'D'Artiste: Matte Painting 3'.

 

One of the three editors is David Luong, the veteran I recently studied under. I'm very honored to have two of my early attempts at matte painting included. I'm sure you will recognise them in the spreads below.

D'Artiste: Matte Painting 3 is currently available for pre-order from the Ballistic Publishing site here. You can flip through the entire book on the site. It seems to have a big focus on step by step tutorials and includes links to training videos and other resources. My copy has not yet arrived, so I'll let you know more once I've had my greasy paws on the real thing.

Sky Freight

Here is the latest addition to my matte painting reel, built exclusively from my own photography taken in and around Vancouver.

This matte painting explores the idea that mankind has developed a technology that can manipulate and overcome gravity. However, the technology isn't terribly nimble, making its applications somewhat less glamorous than your average science fiction craft. 

There's something extremely appealing to me about impossibly large objects floating serenely in the sky. From Avatar's hallelujah mountains to the District 9 saucer, I've always been captivated with this idea. I'm not sure if it's the serenity, the primal urge to fly, or the thrill of vertigo in the back of my mind. Maybe a bit of all three.

Rivendell Matte Painting Competition

So in the interest of adding another string to my bow, and to quench my thirst for learning new things, I'm in the process of putting together a Matte Painting Reel.

Here's one I've been working on, which I'm proud to say managed to take out top honors in a contest over at CGChannel. The competition was run by Jonathan Berube, who kindly provided a great plate to work from. The task was to remove any signs of the modern world, then add Rivendell and modify the environment until it looked like it sat in the world of the Hobbit / LOTR films.

You can see the original plate on Jonathan's Flickr page if you like, so you can see where my work began and ended.


I've still got some work to do on this one though as it's not quite finished. I'll be sure to post a link to the video once its all done!