Twin Falls

Third in the "tower with rocks" series...I hope you can hear the roaring of the waterfalls and feel the chill in the air...

Watchtower

Second of the 4 tower-series paintings...

Empire of the Saviours

A book cover I did last year.

Summit

Testing techniques and ways to approach a painting. This is one of a series of 4 paintings I did with a similar theme.

Forest Temple II

This is the other Forest Temple painting I did simultaneously as the previous post...same ingredients: big tree, forest, 2 characters and a temple.

Forest Temple I

One of 2 recent illustrations I did for practice using techniques outlined by the amazing Feng Zhu. My subject matter was a moody forest, 2 characters and a temple of some sort.

Enchanted Forest

First painting of the year. Trying out new approaches...

The Wise Man's Fear

A promotional image I did for the portuguese edition of The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss.

Winter Travellers II

Although I live an area of sunny winters without any snow I've always been fascinated by snow covered mountains. The snow/rock patterns and their value contrasts are something I really love...add a few drops of fantasy and this is what I got to... Happy New Year!

Winter Travellers

Exploration of new techniques can sometimes lead to satisfactory results, although, most of the time, they end up in the garbage folder.
With this one I made heavy use of Photoshop's lasso tool in the initial stages and sticked to only two brushes throughout the entire painting process: a more textured one with opacity set to pressure and a round one with pressure set to size+opacity.

Blue Abyss 2

I wasn't quite satisfied with the outcome of the first Blue Abyss image so I started again from the same initial sketch and this is what I came up with. Even if it didn't improve I wanted to share this second experiment.

Sanctuary...revisited

Based on a painting I did last year that didn't really come out the way I wanted it to, so I decided to revisit it.

Blue Abyss

Practice...this time with a Blade Runner inspiration.

Trackers

Practicing...inspired by the works of Paul Lasaine and Robh Ruppel.

Fantasy Theater

This was done for an ad campaign for imm Sound, a Spanish company developing 3D immersive sound technology for theaters.

Colony Interior

This was the final assignment for James Paick's online masterclass. Had a great time and learned a lot.

Desert Winds

Commissioned painting. Inspired by the given title and "Prince of Persia".

Colony II

Week 7 assignment for James Paick's online masterclass.

Colony I

Here is my assignment for week 6 of James Paick's Environment II class.

Week 5 assignment for James Paick's online Environment II class.

Saboteurs

Based on a small b/w sketch I did in the beginning of 2011. Two small figures sneaking into the heart of a big industrial complex, about to blow the whole thing up.

Assingments for week 3 of James Paick's Environment II class.

Under My Bed

Based on an image I did back in 2006 for a Portuguese cg forum contest titled "Under My Bed". Having grown up with movies like "E.T.", "The Goonies", "Poltergeist" and "Cat's Eye" where kid's rooms were gateways to fantasy worlds, I thought I would come up with my own homage to those wonderful movies.
I struggled somewhat on the latter stages of this painting, as I wanted to really cram the room up with toys. However, as I kept adding things they all looked out of place or seemed to detract from the main focus which were the tentacles. In the end I don't know if the image ended up feeling too "empty".

Endless Streets STEPS

You can find some steps of the painting process HERE.

Endless Streets

Watching my portfolio I can definitely say I'm more of a Lord of the Rings/Dungeons&Dragons kind of guy. However, there are 2 sci-fi movies which had a huge impact on me when I watched them as a kid during the 80s: "Star Wars" (original trilogy) and "Blade Runner". I remember being completely blown away the first time I saw "A New Hope". "Blade Runner", on the other hand, was a bit different. As I watched it over and over again I slowly started to realize the masterpiece it was. What I admire most are the moods...the constant rain and darkness, the blue/green hues, the lonesomeness, the smoke, the juxtaposition of different architectural styles, the soundtrack...everything just brilliant! One might think that some of these aspects would equal discomfort, but they are portrayed in such a romantic way that they become captivating and soothing.
So, concluding...this painting is an homage (another one) to this superb movie.

An-Thonn Gate

Final painting done for James Paick's masterclass. Let me hear your thoughts...

Fog in the Dawn

This was one of the last assignments I did for James Paick's online masterclass. It was a very enriching experience. A great thanks to James for sharing his precious knowledge and also a special thanks to my father for convincing me to take the class. Always learning...

The Prize

Another work for James Paick's masterclass. It's in the same alignment as my previous two paintings. However, this time I wanted to retain a more painterly look. An evil army returning home with their "prize"...the rest is up to your imagination.

House on Fire

Same technique as previous work.

Ritual

Took one of the thumbnail sketches and developed it into a more polished concept.

And even more sketches...

More sketches...but I think now it's enough! Next step will be to develop one of them (out of the castle/ruins/Scotland batch).

More sketches...

Here are some more sketches. Each of these took me longer to do compared to the previous group of thumbnail sketches.

Environment Sketches

Here's a bunch of environment sketches done for James Paick's online masterclass. Each set of 4 took me between 90 min and 120 min to complete. It's a very good exercise in trying to focus on the essential parts of the image and not getting lost in details. I still have a lot to learn, but it's a very entertaining and fun process.

Retreat

Same inspiration as my previous painting: monsteries in Greece.

Monastery

Putting to use my new aquired knowledge from James Paick's online masterclass. Based on a photo of the "Holy Monastery of Rousanou" in Greece.

Sci-Fi Power Plant

Here is an assignment I did for an online course I am taking with James Paick as instructor. I am loving it and learning a lot.

Lost Thoughts

Blade Runner is just one of those movies where everything was done right. The mood portrayed in this movie is just so unique and captivating that sometimes you wish you could lose your thoughts in that futuristic city...it is almost soothing, although there is nothing really "attractive" about it.
This painting was very much inspired by said masterpiece and I wanted to share my admiration for it.

Lego Atlantis

Here's an image I did last year for Lego's Atlantis toy line.

Waking Light...first post of 2011, although I finished this one in 2010. It is based on a 2 year old concept.

The Gathering

This is based on a thumbnail sketch I did almost 2 years ago. (http://www.andreasrocha.com/gallery/scene_rough/090126_4_concepts.htm). Again, you can make up any story you like as I believe that is what fantasy is all about. It could be a gathering of monks, a satanic ritual, a portal...whatever you like.
I hope you like it...and Merry Christmas and wishes of a Great 2011!

Crashing Waves

For this painting I used a similar technique as my previous one -Dry Winds- It's a great exercise trying to reach a pleasing balance between different textures, moods, values, etc. I also wanted to create some kind of "dialogue" between the wet, cold, hard foreground and the warm, soft background.
Let me know your thoughts and thanks for watching.

Dry Winds

A more conceptual approach to painting a fantasy landscape. I tried to achieve a balance between detailed and rough areas, where the brushstrokes are still visible.
Inspired by the amazing rocky formations found in Utah's National Parks. I've never been there but it must be something amazing to behold.

I've always been a Dungeons&Dragons art fan since the 80s...I have a special admiration for Jeff Easley's work. This paiting was a tryout to do something in the genre. I used a photo of myself for reference and also one of Alec Guiness as Obi-Wan. I wanted to give the background much more clutter but everytime I added something it seemed to disrupt the balance of the image, hence the overall lack of detail.

Silent Shadows

This painting is based on a sketch I did 2 years ago ([URL]http://www.andreasrocha.com/gallery/scene_rough/080204into_light.htm[/URL]). I wanted to give it the same degree of finish as my previous painting "Warm Mist".
I leave a suggestive title hoping that you make up your own story behind it...for me it could be a party of deadly warriors silently emerging from the morning mist about to suprise the enemy.
Again, Peder Mork Monsted was a great source of inspiration.

Warm Mist

Commissioned painting. The aim was to portray a magical forest. I drew inspirations from a lot of places but I believe Fangorn and Sintra, fictional and real, are what influenced me the most. I love forests...fantasy is inherent to them. I don't know if it's the green tones, the wind blowing through the trees or the fresh air...there is just something special about them.

I also took a lot of inspiration from the beautiful paintings by master painter Peder Mork Monsted
Let me know your thoughts.

More...

Arcade From Hell

Being somewhat displeased with one of my previous paintings which was supposed to be an homage to arcade games from the 80s I decided on a different approach (technique-wise) to a similar theme. The idea was quite disparate (if there even was an idea!), but I just thought about mixing an arcade cabinet, medieval motifs, elements from horror movies and heavy metal music...and this is the result. It's probably one of the weirdest stories I came up with, but then again, arcade games usually had really simple ideas behind them which was one of their charms, I suppose.