Welcome to…

If you’re an enthusiastic hobbyist or not so far

No 1 FOR DIGITAL ARTISTS Imagine FX

Editorial Editor Rob Redman rob.redman@futurenet.com

Imagination

ARTIST NEWS, SOFTWARE EVENTS

CREATE GAME ART THAT SLAYS

Thomas Elliott shares his process for crafting a brutal cover for Doom: The Dark Ages

Letters

YOUR FEEDBACK & OPINIONS

FRESH PAINT

New works that have grabbed our attention

Ar Siu

LOCATION: Hong Kong MEDIA: Clip Studio Paint WEB: www.artstation.com/arsiu

Nico Lee Lazarus

LOCATION: Thailand MEDIA: Clip Studio Paint WEB: www.instagram.com/nicoleelazarus

Anand Ramcheron

LOCATION: South Africa MEDIA: Procreate WEB: www.instagram.com/anand_ramcheron

Michelle Cheng

LOCATION: US MEDIA: Procreate, Photoshop WEB: www.lemoncholy.net

Sara Kipin

LOCATION: US MEDIA: Photoshop WEB: www.sarakipin.com

Heart of Darkness SCP

YEAR CREATED: 2024 MEDIA: Photoshop, ZBrush

How to sell your artwork

Promotion commotion Tanya Combrinck discovers how getting serious about marketing can pay off and hears advice from artists across a range of industries

LESSONS TO LEARN

Business and marketing resources for creatives

DC and Sega join forces

Comic collaboration Adam Bryce Thomas talks about the challenge of combining two classic IPs as Sonic partners up with the Justice League for a new adventure

ImagineFX quick quiz

Find out if you’re a digital art brainbox!

Geizi Guevara

Vibrant harmony Step inside a high-energy art space packed with gadgets, artbooks and creative chaos

ART CHALLENGE

Purple reign You picked out a mystical colour theme to test your skills as our Art Challenge returned

THE TOP 19 PHOTOSHOP ALTERNATIVES

Confused by the endless choice of digital art apps on the market? We’re here to help with a breakdown of the best options for you

PROCREATE

The powerful iPad software is a fan favourite with a wealth of brushes for a bargain price

REBELLE 7

Simulate traditional painting with realistic watercolour, acrylic, wet and dry media

AFFINITY PHOTO 2

The best straight-up alternative to Photoshop offers options for digital art and photo editing

CLIP STUDIO PAINT

A great drawing and painting tool aimed at those who specialise in creating manga and comic art

MORE APPS FOR ANDROID ARTISTS

If you’re on the hunt for some alternative Android apps, check these out…

PAINTER 2023

One of the most complete options for painting, although updates appear to have gone AWOL

MORE APPS FOR IPAD ARTISTS

There’s a host of software beyond the big names that are well worth trying…

ARTRAGE VITAE

The cross-platform painting software brings a set of realistic tools to the table

KRITA

It might be a little rough round the edges, but this open-source software is a strong no-cost option

FRESCO

Adobe hopes to reel artists into its ecosystem with a tidy free offering

DRAWING DESK

One for the kids! Get them started early with basic lessons including Marvel characters

Patrick Wagesreither

Delve into a unique collection as the concept artist shows off his chubby war machines and unusual soldiers

PAINT DISTINCTIVE CHARACTER ART

Yona shares his advice for creating powerful, personality-filled characters using simple and dynamic composition techniques

USE PHOTO REFERENCES

Quentin Marsollier studies images to get inspired for striking scenes

DEVELOP MAGICAL PORTAL EFFECTS

Richard Lay gives us the lowdown on all the key details and techniques that went in to creating his spellbinding scene

AN ENCHANTING FANTASY FOREST

1 Initial ideas My starting point is

HARMONIOUS WORLD DESIGN

Sail Lin takes the battle to the vegetable plot with an army of carefully crafted characters

CREATE ETHEREAL LIGHT AND COLOUR

Pauline Voss shares her approach to crafting luminous, mystical lighting and using layered colours for atmospheric characters

KITBASH THE GROUNDWORK

Sebastian Luca reveals the process that resulted in his dystopian lemonade stand

Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2 (2025)

APPLICATION CONUNDRUM The updated tablet is still a baffling combination of hardware and software

Acer DS2 Series Pro

NEW DIMENSION The monitor delivers eye-boggling 3D SpatialLabs technology, but comes at a significant price

Seagate Ultra Compact SSD

SPEEDY STORAGE Small on the outside, gigantic on the inside

Concept Art: Character Design & Worldbuilding

LEADING LIGHT Want to learn how professional worldbuilders think? Even Amundsen’s course has all the answers you need

Brushing up…

We put three packs through their paces to find out whether they’re worth downloading

ASUS Zenbook Duo

DOUBLE TROUBLE We love the 2025 update of the dual-screened laptop, but it still hasn’t managed to shift its one disappointing flaw

Revopoint Miraco Plus 3D scanner

YES WE SCAN! This impressive device sets a high bar for its rivals

Carolina Soares

SHOWCASING THE FINEST TRADITIONAL ARTISTS

Faith Schaffer

Faith works in animation, illustration and publishing, with her backgrounds appearing in shows such as Amphibia and The Owl House. She’s inspired by turn-of-the-century illustration, medieval art and folklore.

CRAFT INTRICATE FANTASY DRAWINGS

MATEUSZ LENART outlines his workflow for creating dynamic pen and ink art in the classical style of 19th-century masters

First Impressions

Tamara Nederkoorn