Juan Silva

Review

Tell us about yourself: Who are you, what do you love to do and where are you from?

I’m Juan Silva, a passionate illustrator, graphic designer, and lifelong gamer from Bogotá, Colombia. My love for art began with video game concept art. As a kid, I was fascinated by the incredible worlds, characters, and imaginative ideas that artists brought to life. Those illustrations left a mesmerizing impression on me and inspired me to pursue art and continue developing my skills as an illustrator.

I used to spend hours reading magazines about how video games were made, and the concept art was always my favorite part. I was fascinated by the process of creating entire worlds with their own rules, cultures, and visual identities. Seeing how artists designed characters, environments, and visual storytelling made me realize how much thought and creativity went into every detail. That process had a huge impact on me as a child and inspired me to follow my imagination and create worlds of my own.

Comics and cartoons were also a huge source of inspiration for me. I remember spending hours drawing the characters I saw on TV and in comic books, always trying to recreate them as accurately as my skills allowed at the time. Looking back, those countless hours of practice made my drawing abilities grow.

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

Understanding form and shape was one of the biggest challenges when I first started drawing, and even today it remains something I continue to work on. Learning how to construct solid forms and make them relate to one another in a way that feels natural and visually convincing is a skill that takes years to develop.

I also remember how difficult it was to draw from imagination. Drawing and painting require many different skills to work together, perspective, anatomy, light, color, composition, and design. When even one of those elements is off, it immediately stands out and affects the entire illustration.

Another challenge I faced was learning how to deal with frustration. Art taught me that patience is just as important as technical skill. You have to trust the process, even when you don’t like what you’re creating. For me, starting a painting without knowing exactly how it will turn out often felt uncomfortable, almost as if I wasn’t capable of finishing it successfully. Over time, however, I learned that uncertainty is a natural part of the creative process, and that every finished piece begins as something rough and imperfect.

I think this feeling will never disappear, and we’ll have to learn how to live with them.

Renekton fan art

Renekton has always been one of my favorite characters from League of Legends. The goal of this splash art was to create a new interpretation of his design while adding a bit more depth to his background story through the illustration.

Why did you decide to sign up for CGVerse online art school?

Well, I decided to sign up for CGVerse because I was looking for a mentorship that would help me better understand splash art. I had completely fallen in love with this type of illustration, and while browsing ArtStation, I came across a post by one of my favorite splash artists, Santiago Parra. He shared several demos explaining how he approaches a splash art project. He also mentioned that he was mentoring through CGVerse, and it didn’t take me long to apply.

At that time, CGVerse gave me the opportunity to connect directly with a professional mentor, and I loved the idea of learning through mentorship. The thought of receiving direct feedback on my artwork from an experienced splash artist filled me with excitement. CGVerse made that possible. Although I couldn’t take the mentorship with Santiago Parra, I had the opportunity to learn from Augusto Quirino, who turned out to be an incredible mentor.

Another aspect I really appreciated was that, before the mentorship even began, I had the opportunity to speak with Christopher Schiefer. He took the time to answer all of my questions and even reviewed my portfolio, providing valuable feedback in an interview. That experience gave me confidence that CGVerse was a professional and well organized online concept art school.

Finn from Arcane

Finn is an interesting character with a really impactful design. I noticed that the characters from Arcane, especially Finn, don’t have many splash art fan artworks. The idea behind this piece was to give him the spotlight and imagine what an official style splash art for the character could look like.

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

During the mentorship, Augusto Quirino gave practical classes where he showed us his drawing and painting process through live demonstrations and exercises. We would complete assignments between sessions, and in the following class he would review our work, provide detailed feedback, and paint over our pieces to show us how they could be improved. He was also very approachable and always willing to answer any questions we had.

Throughout the mentorship, Augusto gave us feedback on the personal projects we were working on, sharing practical insights into his professional workflow and decision making process. I found his advice incredibly helpful, as it gave me a much better understanding of how to approach splash art from both a technical and artistic perspective.

By the way, I really liked the way he teaches. Every time he tried to explain something to the students, he didn’t rely only on words but also on drawings, which made the explanations much clearer. Each drawing was saved in a Photoshop file and uploaded to the Discord server.

Another thing worth mentioning is that Augusto was very open about showing us his workflow. He shared GIFs, step by step images, and even Photoshop files. It was really fun to see all of this because it gave us a much better idea of how to approach a splash art.

Hanzo Overwatch

Another fan art featuring a very popular character from Overwatch that I wanted to illustrate. Blending the visual style of League of Legends splash art with the art direction of Overwatch was a fun and challenging process.

How was the mentorship for you?

The mentorship for me was incredible. I was always excited every time we had a class, and I’m gonna miss them. I felt that Augusto really pushed me to become a better artist, so I always tried my best on every assignment. I put all my effort into every image I submitted because I knew Augusto would give me feedback that could completely change and improve it, and I was always happy to receive it.

I think that’s the only way to truly improve and push yourself to the next level. I approached every assignment with that mindset, trying to learn as much as possible from each critique. If I hadn’t done that, my work would have remained the same, and I wouldn’t have grown as an artist. To me, that’s the whole point of taking a mentorship, to challenge yourself, learn from someone with more experience, and keep improving instead of repeating the same mistakes.

Even though I really pushed myself with my Renekton splash art, something clicked for me. I realized that you can take the details and storytelling much further than I had imagined.

The mentorship was everything I expected and more. The only downside was that time flew by so quickly, and before I realized, the mentorship was over.

First Augusto Assignment

In this assignment, Augusto taught us new ways to approach drawing from imagination. We explored how to build more dynamic poses and how to make them more appealing and interesting to the viewer. This exercise helped me think more creatively about gesture, movement, and visual storytelling, this was my second approach to this assignment.

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

I would say that the mentorship was very fun and challenging, but its value depends a lot on the student. You need to be curious, ask questions, and push yourself to improve. The mentor is there to explain things clearly, guide you through difficult topics, and make the learning process much easier, but you have to take the initiative.

One thing I really appreciated was that Augusto made me feel comfortable asking absolutely anything. No question felt too small or unimportant, and that created a great learning environment. So don’t hesitate to ask whatever comes to mind.

English is definitely an important part of the mentorship since all the communication happens in English. However, if you’re not completely confident, you can prepare by writing down your questions beforehand and saying them as best as you can. The mentor will understand you and answer your questions patiently. Over time, you’ll also become more comfortable communicating in English.

That happened to me. My English isn’t perfect, but all the communication with my mentor was clear, and Augusto answered every question I had. He always made sure I understood his explanations.

I highly recommend CGVerse. I have no complaints, and I had a great experience throughout the mentorship.

First Augusto Assignment

Just like the previous image, Augusto taught us how to create dynamic poses for a splash art illustration. The focus was on making the character’s pose feel more expressive, and visually appealing while strengthening the overall composition, understanding the motion of the pose, this was my first approach to this assignment.

What are your next steps?

Well, I think there are a few things I’d like to focus on after finishing my mentorship. I see this as the beginning of a new stage in my career, and I have several goals that I want to pursue, so my next steps are to keep improving my art, reach new opportunities, and find a new job. I think that, with everything I learned during the mentorship, it will be much easier for me to achieve those goals.

Probably the most important step is finding a job where I can apply the new skills I developed throughout the mentorship and continue growing as an artist.

I also want to meet new people and connect with other artists. Since we’re all on the same path and often make the same mistakes, talking with others, sharing experiences, and learning from each other can be incredibly helpful for improving and reaching new levels as artists.

Another important step is to fall in love with art again and find new ways to approach it. I truly believe that starting something without knowing exactly how to tackle it can be very rewarding, because it pushes you to think creatively and discover new solutions. That’s why I think experimentation will be an important part of my growth as an artist.