Alexander Ogranovich

Review

Tell us about yourself: Who are you, what is your inspiration and when did you start painting?

My art career started as an architectural visualization artist back in 2017. Arch-viz is a 3D industry, so at some point, in 2018, I realized that I am missing the freedom that 2D illustrators have – the ability to quickly sketch and fix ideas. At this point, I jumped into digital painting and illustration. Another important thing that inspired me a lot was computer games. Therefore I started to think about how to bring games to my life ‘legally’, and illustration quickly appeared as a solution.

Tyrande (full shot)

Final iteration of the Tyrande illustration

What were the biggest problems you faced when you started as an artist?

Firstly, I had an artistic background from arch-viz, however, the biggest issue for me was the workflow. Photorealistic renders require a very accurate and precise workflow, which didn’t work in painting at all, for me at least. Being loose and quick was very challenging at first. I wanted to control and focus on every piece of the image at the same time, making them equally important.
Secondly, as a 3D artist, I got used to working primarily with my brain. The whole work process was built around thinking, however, it wasn’t applicable in digital painting. Here, all the magic happens with your feelings and inner world, before the thinking even starts.

Tyrande - close up 1

Illustration for the male figure

Why did you decide to sign up for CGVerse concept art mentorship?

I am a 50% self-taught artist in 3D and fully self-taught in 2D. After 2 years of creating 2D illustrations on my own, I felt the progress, however, it was very slow. I had never tried learning from someone else. Besides, I came up with a couple of things that I couldn’t solve on my own, so finding a mentor became an evident thing to me.

Tyrande - close-up 2

Illustration for the female figure

What did you do during the mentorship and what helped you on each task?

Our main task was a fan-art illustration for a Warcraft book. However, we did a lot of exercises and studies along the way. My mentor gave me a personal study task for each lesson and overpainted it during the next one. This process was one of the keys to success because, besides the regular value of any study, you could see how the professional artist thinks and what he emphasizes not only within one image but within different multiple situations. It is easier to recognize the pattern when you see it applied multiple times.

Initial Sketch

This sketch was the basic idea

How was the Mentorship for you?

The mentorship was incredible! It was a bit tricky sometimes because our preferences could be different, however, it was not crucial. I came to learn, I trusted my mentor, and I learned more than I expected. Working with my mentor was very pleasant and smooth.

Thumbnails of Tyrande

The thumbnails I did during the mentorship to help sell the story and solve problems upfront

What would you say when you recommend us to an artist?

I would say that I did one image in 4-5 months before studying in the school, but now the very same result can be produced in 1-2 weeks. CGVerse concept art mentorship boosted my work process and changed my thinking approach, which greatly impacted both speed and quality. I worked b2b with a professional artist, asked him questions, showed him my mistakes, and asked him to share his experience with me. Besides art, the school provides you with career advice, and helps to develop your marketing strategies; tutors explained to me what, how, and where to post. Two months isn’t a lot when you are doing self-education, but 2 months with CGVerse was a game-changer for me.

Steps

Some of the work-in-progress steps I have saved along the way.