Section:

Artist Journey: concept artist Marco Espinosa

Marco Espinosa

Concept Artist

“Be loyal to you, to what you want to do, what you love to do. Be socially active and post regularly. Discipline and consistency are the core keys to success.” Concept artist Marco Espinosa offers plenty of advice, while breaking down his artistic journey so far…

Marco's ArtStation

Content warning: This article contains some nudity

3dtotal

Thank you for sharing your journey so far with our readers. Let’s begin: please introduce yourself and let us know how long ago your journey started? What drew you to art? Any early influences?

Marco

My name is Marco Espinosa. I’m 26 years old and a self taught concept artist. My journey started seriously 6 years ago while I was studying Design in an institute in Quito-Ecuador. With my peers we used to have weekly drawing challenges and after that I started discovering the small but awesome artist community in Ecuador, traveling to different places to attend the Behance portfolio reviews celebrated during the whole year across the country. Back in those days, for sure my biggest influence was my best friend Randi Sanchez who was motivating me by being a cool growing artist as well and my fearsome competition!

As a little kid I got really impressed by monster movies and adventure videogames such as Jurassic Park and of course God of War, following the dream that one day I could be part of them. The early artists I discovered and loved were Anthony Jones, Ross Tran, Dibujante Nocturno, and Milan Nikolic, to name a few.

2d illustration digital digital art alien sci-fi concept design
Inspired by Milan Nikolic artwork

3dtotal

Do you still have any early artwork? We’d love to see your early work, be they digital or traditional. How do you feel about these works now?

Marco

It’s so funny to remember all this stuff and how painting these took me weeks to complete. At that moment I was very proud of this drawing and without a doubt I sent it to an art contest organized by Adidas, I didn’t win that day but I was part of the top 50. That was my first time painting with Photoshop so you can imagine how proud I was. Nowadays it makes me laugh how bad it is, but you know, it’s part of my story.

3dtotal

What training or learning did you do in those beginning stages? Could you see your progression?

Marco

Youtube tutorials were my first medium to learn from. I used to watch speed paints and pause at the moment the artist used a specific tool or brush and tried to mimic them and analyze how the artist thinks, and the why’s of the decision he/she made in order to paint. I still do that. The greater step for me was after watching an Anthony Jones tutorial called “Painting like a sculptor” on Gumroad. It was a defining moment for me, I truly understand how to think in order to paint with light and shadow and see 3D in a 2D medium.

3dtotal

Can we see some of your progression artwork? Where did you think you were improving? And where did you need to improve upon?

Marco

Anatomy and renderings were my first improvements; however I lacked the rest of the fundamentals, still learning though. I used to draw a lot of stiff characters and creatures, and the overall composition was simplistic and not good enough, over time with countless mistakes I managed to improve that. However my technique is kind of chaotic, though it works for me! But it’s something I definitely need to improve. This past year I was working on architecture and landscape designs, something completely new for me, it was very rewarding, but it still needs improvement.

2d illustration digital digital art horses sketchbook concept design
2d illustration digital digital art sketches horses concept design
Trying to figure it out how to draw a horse in order to design unicorns

3dtotal

Were you always happy with what you produced, or was there a turning point where you thought; “This is it, I’ve made it!”?

Marco

Not at all, I’m not happy with 99% of what I do, but at the end of the day I noticed it doesn’t matter. It makes me more eager and hungry for knowledge and to push it harder every day. I’m in this never-ending fight with myself; I try to be always on the move so I can beat the yesterday me.

3dtotal

Which piece are you most proud of, and why?

Marco

This dragon is the one I am most proud of. I did it for a Wacom contest (didn’t win) but it put me on the map. I reached some of my favorite artists that I never thought I could ever talk to. I also enjoyed every part of the design process; the planning, the sketching, the painting. I enjoyed it the most because in my mind I imagined it as a real concept for a AAA videogame.

2d illustration digital digital art dragon concept design

3dtotal

What are you still working on improving (if anything) - or have you reached a point of high consistency? Do you have any tips for keeping it fresh?

Marco

I’m still not at that consistency stage. The past month I was painting without adding photos into my workflow because at one point I was using too much photobash, it didn't help me to grow as an artist at all. So I wanted to improve my painting skills and strengthen my fundamentals knowledge, especially the color theory. I want to master it. So to keep it fresh, dare to get out of your comfort zone, be bold, and do unexpected things, you may come out with cool ideas.

3dtotal

What advice would you give to any of our readers who are just beginning their journey now?

Marco

Be loyal to you, to what you want to do, what you love to do. Be socially active and post regularly. Discipline and consistency are the core keys to success.  Keep in mind that you could always learn more and there are different ways to solve a problem, just think outside the box. The real prize is the journey to reach a goal. Enjoy the process and make good art!

3dtotal

Have any of 3dtotal’s published books been useful in your development?

Marco

Totally! Sketching from the Imagination and Digital Painting Techniques have been helpful to me, when I have an art related doubt or just for inspiration, they are the books I go to. As well as the art of Gu Zheng Wei, one of my favorites artists of all time. I also have the anatomy male figure right next to me, it is unbelievable how accurate it is. With it, I better understand the form and structure of the human body. Hopefully I could acquire the set of animals and the female figure in the next couple of months.

3dtotal

What can we expect to see from you next?

Marco

Creatures and more creatures! This past crazy year I discovered myself and what drives me to paint. I did a lot of landscapes, robots, even spaceships, but nothing fires me up like drawing creatures. I participated in the #Smaugust and it was a life changer, it opened up doors to really cool projects that I’m working on right now, that you will love!

2d illustration digital digital art sea concept design

Some of the dragons done for the #SMAUGUST

2d illustration digital digital art lava concept design

2d illustration digital digital art dragon concept design

2d illustration digital digital art environment concept design

2d illustration digital digital art wolf concept design

Fetching comments...

Post a comment