Ultimate Guide to Fantasy Art

Fantasy art is a joy to create, whether you’re just starting out, an established industry professional, a spare-time enjoyer – or a mix of all three! Nowadays there are so many genres, styles and industries powered by fantasy art that you could be an expert in one – classic TTRPG character design, for example – but still new to techniques like photobashing or working with 3D. Maybe you’d like to dip a toe into concept art for video games, or maybe you started creating digitally and now want to enter the world of pencils, paper and paint. Whatever kind of fantasy art you want to create, this guide is for you. It’s packed with tips, tricks and techniques from industry professionals across a wide range of disciplines and covers everything…

“This artwork is based on a sketch that’s over five years old. I always liked the idea behind it and the mystical feeling, so I wanted to see how I could paint it today. I like blocking out shapes, such as in the thumbnail, and then drawing on top loosely to help me refine certain areas. The primary focuses of this image are the flowing shapes in the smoke that take the form of a snake, and the fire. When adding colours, I really wanted to push that mystical sensation. I decided to go with some unusual colours within the fire, but made sure to keep them harmonic.” Artist PROFILE Maximilian Degen LOCATION: Australia Maximilian is an illustrator with 13 years’ experience. During that time he has worked as an artist…

In this workshop I’ll be focusing on some of the techniques I use for adding dramatic lighting and shadows. In this illustration I really wanted these elements to be key, and I’ll be guiding you through the steps that I usually take when working on this type of composition. We’ll start from the early sketching stages, all the way through to the completed illustration. This includes some post colour adjustments to help make your finished illustration pop off the page. I’ll be explaining what to keep in mind such as light sources, and lighting figures and surroundings when drawing and painting them. We’ll also be looking at shadows and how to use them for storytelling and movement in your artwork. For this piece, I’ll be using the painting software Krita…

“This is my key image for the Council Tower of the Navoz leaders in the LAX universe, part of an unreleased project I worked on. After sketching out different variations of the capital city, we settled on a design that captures what a city would look like if magic functioned like electricity. It also contains Spanish baroque influences and a harmony between the citizens and nature. I started by blocking out base 3D shapes to find the right composition and lighting. An authentic feel was achieved by gathering every possible architectural building block, before I designed the lamps, floors and windows using Blender. Once I had enough 3D elements, I overpainted almost all of the image. The biggest challenge was to make the magical and otherworldly design feel cohesive, which…

Obsidian is a town made for the board game Harbor of Blight. For this painting, I was briefed to develop a fantasy town that featured a mixture of Egyptian and Native American architecture, with an extra splash of steampunk in the mix. The biggest challenge for this painting was finding a good blend of all these styles without it feeling too random. This also gave me a perfect opportunity to use the symbol of Obsidian and incorporate it into the architecture of the entrance and other places. I was aiming for a painterly style, while also keeping it detailed in areas of interest given that it was going to be used as a map. As a result, I opted to go in a more 3D-based route for the commonly repeated…

“To create this set of berserkers, warriors and mercenaries, I listened to a lot of epic music. I also studied the anatomy of people and animals, as well as looking over the shapes of various mechanisms, plants and a selection of raw materials. When I get started, I draw a lot of things quickly so that my hand can keep up with my imagination. While I’m working, whenever I have an interesting idea for a character, I like to write about it in my notes. That way I won’t forget anything and I’ll remember to draw them in future when creating other characters.” Artist PROFILE Ashot Avetisyan LOCATION: Armenia Yerevan-based Ashot is a concept artist who has worked in the gaming industry since 2019. He enjoys experimenting with different art styles…