I stumbled onto Erwin Madrid’s work in CGTalk and instantly thought, I want to live there. Maybe it’s my penchant for walking in the woods, or maybe it’s the simplicity of design, subtle light, and sweet-but-somber mood he sets. Whatever it is, if I could tune the world into various artists’ styles, Madrid’s is a channel I would visit often.
See more Erwin Madrid at his Tor.com gallery.
A few quick questions for Mr. Madrid:
Favorite painting you did in the past year?
The girl next to the tree with the weird-looking birds, because it’s little darker in mood than most of my other paintings. Plus I really enjoyed painting it and now I’m doing a comic book in that style for Editions Delcourt :)
Dream assignment?
For now, anything similar to what’s in my blog or something different and new that would influence the growth of my personal style.
Do you remember the first time you knew you wanted to be an artist?
When I couldn’t stop drawing ninja turtles in middle school.
First break in the business?
My summer internship at LucasArts Entertainment exposed me to what I needed in my portfolio to be a concept artist.
A career highlight?
Getting a job at PDI/Dreamworks Animation as a visual development artist while still in school and geeking out because I just discovered that I was going to be working side by side with some of the people who painted the backgrounds and layouts for Prince of Egypt.
Do you have a set image in your mind when you start sketching or do you start out abstractly and let the process of doodling take over?
I usually have a set image in my mind and I try really fast to make a doodle out of it before I forget. Not a neat drawing but a couple of strokes, more like a note for me to remind me of the thought. Then I go straight to photoshop and draw and paint it at the same time as fast as can. Sometimes the final will be similar to what I initially wanted but usually I would create something better in the process.
Advice to a young illustrator?
Paint with real paints as much as possible while you’re in school because you might not ever do it again when you start working professionally. :(
