I've always been intrigued by the unanswered questions that our universe holds. As a self-taught physics nerd, anything having to do with space, immediately catches my attention. My intention with this image was to allow the viewer to decide whether this is a scene of destruction or of creation. 

It took some experimentation to get the planet to look right. Eventually, I was able to achieve the "glow" - which proved to be a critical selling point for the image. I decided to give the bright glow a blue hue, hopefully perplexing the viewer into thinking it may not be destruction they are seeing.  

During my early years at The Art Institute of Dallas, I began to explore skill sets outside of my major (3D Modeling) and discovered a passion for digital painting. Over the course of my last 2 college years, I grew a respectable collection of digital painting ranging from characters, environments and texture paint-overs. This image was one of my first successful digital illustrations.

During a thumbnail exercise, I challenged myself to portray an emotion - but not necessarily that of a human's. Originally, this image came about without the rabbit in mind. The mood set by the color and lighting eventually pushed me to realize that something was missing. I felt that the rabbit's alerted state (not fear) gave the scene a sense of calm. 

Line art

Painting process

Equally as captivating as the universe, the ocean has yet to show us all of it's secrets. I decided to flesh out a concept. Heavily inspired by classic horror movies such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, I chose to capture a unexpected encounter. 

I took some time to play with lighting and mood by working on some thumbnails. Once I narrowed it down, I gave some thought to what my antagonist could look like. 

Environment design thumbnail

Environment design thumbnail

Scene layout sketch

Creature development

Creature development

Line art

Painting process