Targete's NEWS

News and Fletching Shadow caller

2012-02-07T00:34:00.000-08:00

Just quick update, I'm working on several projects one is a potential film which I'm excited about and also a game project that looks to be cool. Everything is under NDA (non-disclosure) at the moment so can't show any images.
Also here's my latest illustration not related to the aforementioned stuff.

Rat folk

2012-01-24T14:07:00.000-08:00

Yheap thats the title RATFOLK..

Character I did for a game company.

New character art

2012-01-23T10:24:00.000-08:00

This is a game character I did, has almost a comic book character vibe to it, lots of fun.

New art

2012-01-11T11:52:00.000-08:00

Here's some concept art I did for a game company Maslow Six entertainment.

Whats on my Easel

2012-01-08T18:19:00.001-08:00

Here's a quick preview of a comissioned oil painting I'm doing. There's nothing like the smell of oil paints in the mornin.

J.P. Targete Sketchbook now available

2011-12-28T01:31:00.000-08:00

My sketchbook is now available for purchase. It's been a long time in the making. It includes many sketches, doodles and drawings I've created in my professional and personal sketchbooks. The book is available in softcover and hardcover, you can order your copy here: Once upon a time in my mind

or click on the book preview on the upper right.

J.P. Targete

Character

2011-12-21T22:47:00.000-08:00

Here's a character piece I did for a game company.

Zombie

2011-12-14T01:43:00.000-08:00

Haven't done a zombie in awhile, lots of fun!

Psyops FedEx Enchanted Forest

2011-12-07T00:21:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of working on some early concept art with Psyops TV on this FedEx spot. I thought the final look they arrived at was quite charming.

Here's the spot

http://www.psyop.tv/#psyop/new/projects/fedex-enchanted-forest-

some of the designs I did

Thundercats fan concept art trailer featuring my art

2011-12-02T20:42:00.000-08:00

thought this was cool, Thundercats ho!!!!!!!!!!!

My Sketchbook is now available

2011-11-18T20:50:00.000-08:00

Hydra

2011-11-18T00:26:00.000-08:00

Had fun with this, lots of heads.

JP

"Once upon a time in my mind" Prints available

2011-11-17T00:27:00.000-08:00

I've made some prints available of my sketchbook cover art at Deviant art. Just follow the link below, there area few size options and prices so just click on the one you prefer. The actual book is in production and I'm waiting for the proofs.

http://www.deviantart.com/print/23397823/

Sketch book Cover

2011-10-26T05:30:00.000-07:00

Thought I would post the cover for my upcoming sketch book. I've been wanting to publish a collection of my sketches and drawings for sometime now and I finally have enough drawings and sketches to do so. I'll post more info on it as the completion date comes nearer.

JP

Few new character designs

2011-10-11T04:45:00.000-07:00

Here are some Gypsies,
I love doing creatures but humans are fun too. It's interesting the slightest tweaks on the facial features can make a character look so diffrent. It's because as humans we are so in-tuned with human facial expresssions and recognition that we pick up on the slightest nuances. With other animals it's a bit harder, I can't recognize one Tiger from another, maybe with practice.

Ghoul 3d sculpt concept

2011-09-18T23:24:00.000-07:00

When I get some time away from my 2d work I love to create creatures in 3d. The technology has come so far since say Jurassic park in terms of 3d character and creature creation, this took about 2 days to do.
I can't wait to see what else comes our way in the next 10 years.

Scarab tomb guard

2011-09-14T06:17:00.000-07:00

A quickie before bed.

CG Society interview

2011-08-17T14:41:00.000-07:00

The CG Society has a featured interview with me on their site. I've always considered that site to be a quality website with great articles, great cg artist and learning opportunities. Thats why I'm very flattered to be featured.

You can check it out here:

CG Society interview

New Illustrations

2011-07-28T03:47:00.000-07:00

Here are a few new illustrations.

RedForward.com A great new entertainment/cg and art site

2011-07-26T22:59:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine has just launched a great website http://www.redforward.com/ dedicated to the entertainment industry with a focus of vfx/art film , games and commercials. There are top notch interviews and articles. So take a moment to visit the link and share with your friends if you like it. I'll be spending alot of my time on there checking out all the cool stuff.

JP

ART featured at SLIXART.COM

2011-07-05T21:14:00.000-07:00

Slixart has some of my art featured this month check it out http://slixart.com/theartists/artistsofthemonth/Jp_Targete.aspx

Thundera home world of The Thundercats

2011-06-24T04:13:00.000-07:00

You know there is something about our childhood that just never goes away. When I was a kid I watched a ton of cartoons and read as many comics as I could. One of the cartoons I watched in the 80's was Thundercats. Man I loved that show. I was always impressed with the concept and the mixture of sci-fi and fantasy. Well when I heard that Warner Brothers might make a movie of it I got really excited. I mean with todays vfx anything is possible right? well the movie seems to be on hold but that hasn't stopped me from doing my own take on the designs.

I imagined it being more like Lord of the Rings meets Dark Crystal. The possibilities to push the designs in all aspects be it characters, weapons and environments is so tempting to any artist. So hey Warner Brothers if your listening or looking lets do this! :) .

I leave you with my take on Thundera the home planet of the Thundercats which I did last night. I decided to design possibly the main royal palace or a place where the Lord of the Thundercats could address his subjects in time of crisis etc.

Few new character designs

2011-06-22T14:26:00.000-07:00

Here are a few character designs I've been woking on for a project. I'm really enjoying doing these.

Death Colossus

2011-06-09T04:10:00.000-07:00

This is my latest creature, had fun with the details.

Creature

2011-05-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

This a design for an upcoming project. I haven't done a creature in sometime so thought I'd post it.

cheers,

JP

The Brain behind your concepts

2011-05-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

Many aspiring concept artist who I have spoken to seem to ask me about my techniques and what photoshop brushed I use. Though both technique and photoshop brushes are needed for digital creation the one ingredient that is crucial to creating a concept design is adding the description of what it is. Drawing or painting a great concept may not always be sufficient in illustrating what the concept is. You have to be able to verbalize or write a description of what that object is and its functionality, history or mythology etc. This is not always easy but it is probably one of the most important skills you must have as a concept artist.

Below is an example of a description attached with my concepts. This was done for Richard Garriots Tabula Rasa. These concepts and ideas and functionality and technology were to be the core ideas describing the Technology of the Elohs which were the ethereal alien beings at the center of this Epic story and game.

I did a lot of research and also filled in the blanks with my own ideas about their technology and how it works. Click the image to see a larger version and read the descriptions it's all geeked out.

The Sword of Darrow novel now available

2011-05-13T19:49:00.000-07:00

I just got my complimentary copies of "The Sword of Darrow" a children's novel which I did the cover and interior illustrations for. The book is now available at Amazon. This was a fun project and has about 11 BW tonal drawings/paintings and many smaller BW inked drawings as well. Here's a quick pic of the book and a link to the books on Amazon if anyone is interested in getting it. The story written by Alex and Hal Malchow is fantastic and and a pure pleasure for me to illustrate it.

New Character designs

2011-05-04T03:45:00.000-07:00

Here are some new character designs I did for a project. I think I mentioned this before but I really enjoy detailing costumes on the characters I design. Every item on that character should tell a story or have a history to it that gives us a better idea of the character. Be it a piece of jewelry or a tear in the clothing, these small details can give so much personality to the character.

JP

Interior Art for "The Sword of Darrow" and News update

2011-04-20T23:22:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I posted my cover art for the children's novel "The Sword of Darrow". Written my Hal and Alex Malchow published by benbella books. Here are a few of the interior illustrations I did for it. It was a fantastic project to be a part of.

Also I am working with a well known Film Director on an exciting new project that I cannot reveal at the moment. I can say that I'm really excited about this and so far it's going well.
I also maybe working on a project for famed Ozzy guitarist Zakk Wylde of the band Black Label Society.

Osirian Path-finder New Character concept

2011-04-07T22:11:00.000-07:00

Here's a character concept created for Paizo publishing. This was a fun design as it mixed african, egyptian and fantasy elements.

Return of the Northern Giants

2011-03-21T10:08:00.000-07:00

A quick Character painting. I'll be doing more single figure concepts in the future.

New Book cover Art

2011-03-19T14:13:00.000-07:00

Just a little update. This is a new cover I just did for a children's novel titled "The Sword of Darrow" I was asked to re-paint the cover as the 1st version was considered to scary for girls and yes I did the 1st cover.

Oil Painting "Dominator" a tribute painting in memory of Frank Frazetta

2011-03-16T17:16:00.000-07:00

A while ago I created BW drawing titled "Dominator" . It was a tribute piece to the legend Frank Frazetta. I decided to create an Oil painting from the BW drawing. It took sometime to complete as I was doing freelance work but I finally got the opportunity to complete the painting so here it is. I really can't write enough about Frank Frazetta. What can be said that hasn't already been said? I guess for me it started at the age of 12 when my dad took me to a comic book shop and I purchased my first Frank Frazetta art book. From that point on my art was never the same. Though I have been inspired by other artist, Musicians etc my fantasy artist roots always will be inspired by Frazetta. He will truly be missed and I am so grateful and fortunate that I found his work many years ago. Rest in peace.

Quick environment painting

2011-03-09T02:45:00.000-08:00

Once in awhile I get in the mood for some sci-fi and speed painting. I spent about 3-4 hours on this.
the title is : "The Enemy of my Enemy is my friend"
I've heard this somewhere and though it was fitting of this paining. I think we've seen so many concepts and films where aliens attack, it would be nice if they came to specifically protect us for a change. Perhaps Transformers is similar within that realm.

When Science Fiction meets Fantasy, Who is the stranger?

2011-02-12T05:48:00.000-08:00

Occasionally while taking a break from my freelance work I do a drawing or painting just for me, just to get my mind and imagination flowing in another direction. This is sort of my self-therapy. So three and half hours ago I completed this image. Sure this is not as detail or as refined as my usual work but that's the beauty of it it's my own monster good or bad.
The idea for this painting actually occurred while looking at an older piece I created for a role playing game as it depicts a fantasy barbarian in battle with some sci-fi Orcish creatures with sci-fi weapons.
However rather then writing about this older image I decided to just do a new one. Any excuse to do something for myself is always a good thing :).

So back to my initial topic and the reasoning for this painting. I've always loved Sci-fi and fantasy, be it movies, comics, novels or illustrations. I love both equally and I am a huge geek and fan of each. There are qualities of both that I admire and can instantly relate to. Sci-fi for me is not about what is plausible through advance technology but the unknown reality that could be a possibility in our world and out there in the universe. An example would be life on another world or undiscovered life for instance in the depths of our oceans. This is what draws me to Sci-fi the excitement the beauty and sometimes the horror of an unknown reality within our world or another out in the universe. As an artist I am so fortunate as many artist are to be able to visualize our ideas and those of other dreamers and visionaries.

Fantasy has has always been the dark horse of genres in the sense it's not been taken very seriously as a form of art be it in illustration, literature and film until just recently. This is due to a few body of of works namely Tolkein's Lord of the Ring, and few other highly regarded works of literature and films. It's amazing how just about 70% of fantasy literature,film, games etc continue to use Dwarfs, Elves and Orcs in their works, that's how much impact Tolkien has had on the genre. There a few Fantasy works that create new mythos and creatures, hopefully we will see more themes that pop up that stray from whats been done before.

Though the cliches of the Fantasy genre are all around us in pop culture there are always gems that we find. Gems that are created by artist and writers who are not afraid to break the cycle of the norm. This is what appeals to me about Fantasy is that as an artist you can explore so many ideas be it Mythology, Folklore or your own crazy dreams it's so broad. Fantasy maybe should not be defined as a genre by any structural or set visual or literary elements. Basically it is what the creator/artist/writer wants it to be.

So back to my painting. I've depicted a "Fantasy like female centaur creature" meeting a few "Sci-fi beings". After looking and thinking about the piece I ask my self this question (have I really defined either genre?) what makes it sci-fi? or fantasy?. Those aliens could be mythological gods in the Centaurs world or maybe she is an Alien from another planet who's entered their world or even their dreams or sub conscious. So you see the stranger is neither. The painting is perceived by the creator the way he or she wants but also the viewer can perceive it in any way as well. I feel the line between Fantasy and Sci-fi are not always defined by the subject and themes. I also feel some of the most interesting examples of both genre's are those that mix them both seamlessly.

JP

Tutorial: Painting Dark Fantasy a Digital process by J.P. Targete

2011-02-03T22:08:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

As my initiative to give back to all my supporters and friends I will be posting a series of steps into my painting process that I did awhile back for Imagine FX. So for those who missed it or would like to share it with your friends , please feel free to d0 so by clicking the share buttons below each post.

So I will begin with an Intro and the first 4 steps, and each day I will post another 4 so check daily for updates.

Tutorial: Dark Fantasy Digital Painting by: J.P. Targete

Some fantasy art is not all about cute elves and pet dragons, sit back as I take you through the steps I take to creating a dark fantasy painting from roughs to the final painting titled "The Purifier" .
J.P. Targete

Whats the diffrence between Dark fantasy and regular ole Fantasy? you ask. Well it's not the obvious, which is, it doesn't actually have to be a literally dark image or have a muted color palette. However it does
have to have a sense of of mystery, obscurity or a threatening mood of pending or present fear visualized in the image. Also what makes "Dark Fantasy art" distinct is that it introduces
an element of reality to the viewers visual experience which is diffrent then the typical "Fantasy" it can appeal to them or make them feel uneasy, etc. Lets face it many of us like to be scared or surprised and "Dark fantasy" can do this.
So when I was asked to do a workshop on anything, I choose to do my favorite genre "Dark Fantasy". I find it most interesting and enjoyable to play with and keeps me engrossed from start to finish.

I enjoy simplicity in concept and idea, however I love all the small technical details and processes needed to give life to those simple ideas. In this tutorial I will start with a simple idea in thumbnail form and develop it into
a drawing that we will develop into a fully detailed colored illustration using photoshop CS2. There is more then one way to skin a cat, in our case more then one technique and tool in photoshop to get the results we want. I will go over the
techniques and tools I use. I'll also discuss the ideas and concepts behind the character "The Purifier". I'll go over painting, color, lighting, surface materials and detailing. This tutorial is for
artist who have a basic to good understanding of photoshop.

STEP 1.
BIRTH OF AN IDEA

For this first step I use pencil and paper and start sketching to fuel my ideas. When I first started sketching I didn't have a clear idea of what I wanted to do.
I just knew that I wanted to do a powerful character either in battle or just standing in a "I'll kick your ass" pose. As I continued to sketch I found myself straying away from the more
action oriented thumbs because I've done many battle type paintings in the past. I chose to do the more iconic posed character in sketch # 4, the character holding the axe.
This would allow me to focus on the single character, details and background decor.

STEP 2
DEVELOP A LINE DRAWING

In this step I took my raw thumbnail and developed it into a line drawing, I then scanned it at about 10"x13" at 200 dpi and tweaked it in photoshop . It's important to keep the drawing mostly bold line work, I'll tell you why later.Try to get as much detail and refinment in the shapes, anatomy etc in this pass because it will save you alot of grief later on. As I am drawing it I am designing and actually free forming and embelishing my initail idea. I came up with this; the character in this image is called "The Purifier" he is a cursed lord from the underworld who travels between our world and his. He purifies the lost souls of humans and creatures of both worlds who are dammed and hopeless. He basically purifies their bodies through pain and eventually death allowing their souls to be set free and collected. The object on his back is actually a dark magic soul collecting mechanism which is attached to him always.

STEP 3
COLORIZE YOUR LINE ART

The next step is to colorize your BW line art. The reason to do this is because at some point you will merge your line art with your painting and the colored line can be easier to deal with then the BW line as far as painting over it.
There are several ways to colorize your line work, one is using the variations function under the >image menu>adjust. Here you can see variations of your image and change the color to the overall image quickly by clicking the desired
color. I like to give my under-drawing a sepia or brownish warm color.

STEP 4
ADD A GROUND COLOR

As I mentioned before in step 2 your line work should be bold and clear because you will now use it as a top layer and lay a color ground underneath it in another layer. So create another layer under your line drawing. Change the layer setting of your line drawing to multiply, go back to the layer underneath. Go to your RGB color slider and set it to this R 110, G 102, B 117. Take the paint bucket tool in the tools bar and click into the empty layer. The reason behind this is because
we are creating a color and value ground which we will add highlights and shadows to.

STEP 5
FILTERS ARE YOUR FREINDS

Many artist do not like using filters in their work which is fine but I like to use as many as I can. My favorite filter is the grain filter, found in the filters menu under texture>grain. By adding texture to your ground layer you will simulate real media, like paper or a grainy painting surface. Settings in the grain filter should be set to: grain type: clumped with an intensity of 39 and contrast of 50. The filter will add small colored grainy particles to your image, this will help it to look more like natural media.

STEP 6
THE MIGHTY DODGE TOOL

The Dodge tool gets a bad rap in photoshop, because many users tend to mis-use it making it obvious that the tool was used in the image. If used properly the dodge tool is a powerful tool.
In this step I use the dodge tool to add highlights to my ground color. This is similar to adding white chalk on gray paper. The dodge tool does not erase or paintover the grain texture so the texture stays intact as I add highlights. This is backward painting because in art school we are taught to start with our darks and shadows first and finish up with highlights. I find the backward method easier for me when I put in basic highlights. It's important to know what direction your lighting will be emitting from and how many light sources there will be as you work.

STEP 7
ADDING DARKER VALUES

Now that I have my highlights I can now start to add shadows and some values to my ground color. I like to use the pre-made oil brush in photoshop, its not as smooth as the regular round brush but not as hard as the pencil or hard brush. I set the brush setting to darken and apply dark colors like markers keeping areas some what translucent. I try to work very quickly in this step and really focus on shadows, values and form.

STEP 8
APPLY LIGHTING EFFECTS FILTER

The lighting effects filter under the filter menu>render is an exteremly usefull filter for painting in photoshop. It should be used to help establish quick broad lighting and color set up in your image. I've set up a creme colored spot light for my main light source and two omni red/orange lights for my edge and background light source which will be flames. By previewing your image you can move the lighting around and see how it effects your image.

STEP 9
ESTABLISHING YOUR SURFACE MATERIALS

Before we continue with the painting it is important to establish the surface materials of the elements in the painting. If a viewer cannot distinguish flesh from stone or metal in your paintings, your image is getting further away from realism. Just like a 3d modeler who will create shaders for their 3d renderings a 2d artist needs to establish a materials library in their heads or in a folder. For "The Purifier" there are four main surface materials: chipped carved stone of the arch decor, the characters flesh tone, the painted carved stone of his back piece and the scratched dented metal of the claws, head piece and weapon.

STEP 10
MERGE LAYERS START PAINTING

Once you know what materials go where you can now merge your drawing layer and ground layer and start painting on top of that layer or on a new layer. I choose to paint on a new layer in case I screw up. I roughly start to paint with my oils and soft brush with warm colors. Notice how some of the ground color is showing through. This also makes the flesh tone closer to reality.

STEP 11
BLOCKING IN THE BACKGROUND

Painting more transparently in this step I roughly block in the background leaving bits of the ground color to show through a little. I paint in the flames very quickly, they will be refined later on. I've also started rendering the character's back piece keeping in mind the materials its made out of and how light will effect it. I also am constantly aware of the lighting scheme as I paint making sure it is consistant as I work on the diffrent parts.

STEP 12
I LIKE PAINTING SKULLS

As I continue painting I get carried away with painting the skulls. There's nothing so raw and primordial then a skull of an animal or human, it's that basic visual chunk of reality that seeps into Dark fantasy that makes it so appealing and scary to me

STEP 13
BACK TO THE BACKGROUND

Many times I will go back and forth from background to foreground and middle ground. In this step I work up the right arch decor and the flames a little more keeping in mind the material they both are made of. I also have fleshed out the characters lower body. Notice the diffrence in materials from cloth to metal.

STEP 14
ARCH HEADPIECE

For the arch center head piece I wanted three degrees of light. Ambient lighting which shows the form, a dominent main light source and secondary under lighting emitting from the bottom flame. For the left side of the arch decor I copied and flopped the right side and re-painted it with the proper lighting.

STEP 15
TEXTURING THE ARCH

Using a custom made texture brush I add small speckles to the arche's surface. This brush comes in handy in more ways then one.

STEP 16
ADD SMOKE

On a seperate layer I paint smoke in the background with a custom cloud brush I created. This brush serves many purposes from clouds, smoke and fog.

STEP 17
ERASING AREAS OF SMOKE

With the eraser tool I carefully erase the smoke areas where I want to show the foreground elements in the underneath layer.

STEP 18
UNSHARP MASK

After putting final touches I use the unsharp mask filter under filters menu>sharpen>unsharp to bring out some of the details of the painting. Always create a duplicate layer of the layer you want to apply the filter to, because you can always erase the parts you don't want and keep what you have painted. This filter is great for tightening and sharpening your paint strokes. Just becareful not to over use it.

STEP 19
THE PROMISE LAND THE FINISHED IMAGE

After looking at the image I realized I painted it literally to dark and in consideration of it being a printed piece I needed to pump up the highlights in certain areas. I used both the level sliders under the image menu>adjustments>levels and my friend the dodge tool to bring out the highlights. So "The Purifier" is done but his reign of terror lives on.

For those interested you can purchase a print of the final image here. just make sure you click on photo prints to get diffrent sizes and prices.

I hope this tutorial was helpful. Feel free to leave suggestions or comments or share with your friends and fellow artist. I will be posting more insights and works in progress in the future.

J.P. Targete

New projects on the way for 2011

2011-01-26T08:54:00.000-08:00

I've been working on a few new projects for the New year and slowly but surely will share them. There are some exciting things on the way that I can't wait to jump into. As an artist I am always looking for challenges but also to learn as much as I can , and this year will be no exception.

2010 was an up and down year, however the brightest spot was the birth of my second son Cage who's a handful and then some.

"wired dog boy"

2011-01-24T00:17:00.000-08:00

Here's a concept of a humanoid/dog like creature I did for a project.

In Progress update

2011-01-18T01:27:00.000-08:00

Hi friends,

Here's a quick update of a few things I've been working on. One is an original oil painting the other is a 3d sculpt. The oil painting is a commission I've been working on for awhile, bless the buyers patience :). Working digitally I sometimes forget how fun painting with real paints can be.

The layers of color and subtleties of tone and luminance you can achieve cannot be reproduced easily digitally. It's the physical layering of the paint and how light passes through each layer that makes it invaluable.

I'm Back

2010-12-05T05:16:00.000-08:00

Here's a 3D sculpt I'm working on in Mudbox, still a work in progress. Between 3dcoat, Mudbox and Zbrush, the skys the limit when it comes to 3d sculpting and painting.

Here is the concept I did for it and the base mesh I started out with.

Oil painting update and sketch

2010-07-22T14:13:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update of that oil painting I started this month and also a sketch I did last night.

JP

Sketching again

2010-07-21T03:34:00.000-07:00

Ahhh! feels good to hit the graphite again, I missed you old friend. The one thing I always answer to those who ask me what is my fav medium to use? "Graphite baby all the way". I started drawing with pencil at age 4 it's never let me down. Drawing and sketching are the essence and foundations that hold a painting together. Never give up on your sketching.

Whats on my Easel 2 "da oils"

2010-07-14T04:30:00.000-07:00

There's nothing like the smell of oil paints and painting medium in da mornin. Aside from killing a few brain cells with the fumes it brings me back to my youth when photoshop was non-existent and illustrators had to actually lift a paintbrush up and dip it into real paint and apply it to a canvas. The age of photoshop is here but there are still a good number of illustrators who prefer analog over digital. I dwell between both digital and analog, digital for speed and ease of use (no messy paints to clean up) analog I use for archiving and exposition of the original and selling to collectors. For me I still do an original oil painting from time to time it's important to leave a legacy of art for my sons.

Here is the start of oils on the "Dominator" piece. As you can see the more muted muddy color is the under-painting and under-drawing. In order to create very detail oils you must have a tight under-drawing or under-painting. You can achieve higher levels of detail quicker with a tight drawing before you start painting instead of going straight to painting with no base drawing.

Whats on my Easel

2010-07-13T00:11:00.000-07:00

On May 10 the fantasy art world lost a living legend Frank Frazetta. His work influenced me greatly as a youth and continues today. The thing that made him special was that he created his own defining archetypes. Whether it was a battle worn Barbarian or a beautiful Martian princess, he created these visual archetypes that will stay with us for a long time. When people say "That's a Frazetta girl" you don't think of Kate Moss you think of Jennifer Lopez, you know exactly what they are talking about, that's the impact of the mans work on the genre.

I never had the chance to meet him regretfully, but through his visions I could see his raw passion for life and art in general. Without sounding melo-dramatic I will never forget the first time I laid my eyes on a Frazetta painting it ignited my imagination into overdrive and my desire to cut my own artistic path.

I created a Frazetta tribute piece and if you saw my webpage splash page you can see the BW version and here is the under-drawing in Charcoal and white pastels for the oils I will be painting.

I'm having tons of fun with this. How can you not enjoy a battle scene with an out of his mind charging warrior, sub-human baddies and beautiful tied up women?.

Original Targete oil paintings for sale

2009-11-23T16:31:00.000-08:00

Hello,
I get many people who ask me "Hey where can I get an original piece from you not to mention an affordable one?" well these are the facts and answers.
Between 1989 and about 2004 I was painting book covers mainly with oil paints. Many of these paintings took about two weeks or more to complete, some were more detailed then others depending on the deadlines I had. Many were craeted not long after I graduated from the School of Visual arts. I was still learning and developing my style so many of these pieces were a sign of that time.
I have in my possession quite a few originals that were stored away and even forgotten by me. I've kept them for sentimental reasons because each of those pieces marked a certain evolution in my career and life. Recently we moved to Texas and I've unpacked many of those box's that had these classic Targete paintings and I've decided to put them up for sale for anyone interested in getting an orioginal.

Please visit The illustration exchange to see what pieces I have available for sale just type in "Targete" without the quotes in the search box. I also have a few on my website in the "For sale" section.

At this point in my career I do oil paintings when I get the chance and get a break from my film and video game concept work which is mainly done in digital. You can never forget your roots and what got you where you are.

JP

A speed painting and 3d

2009-10-20T11:09:00.000-07:00

Ahh its been a while since I've updated. With work and another baby on the way I have my hands full. Things are going good, I wrapped up my work on John Carter of Mars and am fully immersed on a graphic novel/comic book with Radical comics. It's a lot of work but I like the challenge. I've also been working with Blizzard on some World of Warcraft tcg art, cant post those yet. I actually had fun painting scenes from that universe, quite a change up from my darker pieces.

Below is a speed painting I did to loosen up a bit. Also a head sculpt I did in Mudbox titled "Smiling Bastard ". The alien ships were created with a nifty little program called "easy toy" its a sketch based modeler and man its great for 3d challenged guys like me . Textures and rendering was done in Photo shop cs4.

The evolution of my art is ongoing, and I've been at it since I was old enough to hold a pencil. Professionally I've been working as an illustrator/concept artist and art director since 1989. I've worked on book covers , game box art, video game art , matte paintings and costume designs for Film and now finally I get to work on a graphic novel for a major comic book publisher. The circle is not complete though until I write, concept and illustrate my own graphic novel which has been ongoing for sometime now. When I am far enough along to show something I definitely will. I will also be looking at potential publishers as well as this will be the pure Targete, unfiltered , unchained and out to shock :). I will definitely give the fans what they have been asking me for a long time.

As soon as I am allowed to unveil art from the graphic novel project I surely will. I appreciate all the support and kind emails I receive about my artwork.

JP Targete

Graphic novel and Film work news

2009-07-01T13:15:00.000-07:00

It's official I'll be working on an un-annouced graphic novel/comic book series with Radical comics. Radical is new comic book publisher which focus on high concepts painted sequentials and comic book to film properties, a few of their projects are already being made into films including Hercules and Freedom Formula, you can check it out at Radicalcomics.com.

I also will be working on a big film project in the coming months. Will fill everyone in as I get authorized info.

Slagguron

2009-06-30T17:08:00.000-07:00

This painting is from a scene in my friend Dean Lorey's book Night mare academy. You can see more of my art on his webite www.deanlorey.com.

Art inspires art?

2009-06-28T21:51:00.000-07:00

While surfing on the web I found this great 3D work in progress rendition of a concept I created of Slithe of the Thundercats by Jukka Tahtinen looking forward to seeing it all textured and finished, cool!

2009-06-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

A pitch illustration for a commercial that never happend /Nexus productions

An oil painting comission just completed

Some Environments for Tabula Rasa MMOG R.I.P

New work

2009-06-09T02:22:00.001-07:00

INTERVIEW

2009-04-02T02:28:00.000-07:00

Hey all Sidebar a popular website dedicated to comics, art and pop culture has posted a recorded audio interview I did with them in Feb. The sites articles and interviews are run by Swain and Dwight some of the coolest funniest dudes in the comics-sf-and fantasy generes you will ever meet. I had a blast chatting with those guys, and hope to hook up at Dragoncon.

you can download the interview here: Interview with JP

They also have other artist on there whom you should check out as well.

Thanks Dwight and Swain you guys rock like no other.

2009 BANG!

2009-02-23T02:46:00.000-08:00

So it's 2009 can you believe it? time flys when your having fun and paying bills :). No joke though wow where have all the years gone by? It feels like yesterday that I graduated from the School of visual arts to pursue an illustration career at a young age of 20 in the depths of New York city. The good old days of lugging my massive portfolio around the streets of Manhattan and on the subways through millions of humanity all around me and pigeons too lots of pigeons.

It's been a hell of a journey with many ups and downs but thats life you can't have the good without the bad you cant have the light without the darkness, it's like when you paint you need lights and darks and even some grey to make a picture, it's the small choices and values you use to create your master piece or disaster.

Well enough rambling, on to the art. I've updated my concept gallery with some ThunderCats re-imagined concepts, you can find the images here in the concept gallery first page. These are not connected to Warner bros, these our strictly fan art I created on my own. I really want to see the property develop as it has a lot of potential to impact a new generation of fans, it just needs the right direction and care. I grew up watching the cartoons and enjoyed coming home from school and not doing math homework to watch some Thundercats.

City of Dust #4

A cover I did for Steve Niles thriller comic book City of Dust from Radical comics.

Bull boy breathes!

An animation I did with a 2d animation program called Anime studio all 2d no 3d, just testing it out on one of my concepts.

The Queens little gods Speed painting

2008-10-25T05:08:00.001-07:00

I promised a speed painting and intended to spend an hour at the most on this but end up on it for a couple more. Strange piece developed as just a character design and turned into something else.

JP

It's been months

2008-10-24T00:33:00.000-07:00

Hello there wanderers,

Just wanted to say hello since I've been rather quiet :). Actually a buddy of mine was bitching that I hadn't posted in ages so I thought I would shut him up with a small update.

I'm doing well just working on a video game project at Ignition Florida. Things are going good we have a very young but strong team and we are pushing forward. Can't show any art right now but hopefully soon. All I can say is hold on to your hats its going to be quite a ride.

I haven't had time to do anything other then work related art but here are a few Matte paintings I did for Fantasy Flight sudios new TV series Midnight Chronicles before joining Ignition. I've worked with thier game comany for years on many projects so it was fun to contribute to their TV series, I wish them much success with it.

I've updated the environment concept gallery and digital painting galleries with a few pieces.
See you all next time, I'll start some speed painting soon and post them.

JP

Off to Florida

2008-02-27T22:57:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

Well it seems like once again Florida the place I grew up is where I will be moving to next month. I will be working as Visual director at Ignition USA a video game company originally based in the UK but now having studios in Florida and Japan. I am extremely excited to take on this new venture. I'm a little sad because I am leaving LA and have made some good friends here but hey I'll be back for E3 shows and GDC etc.

The project I will be working on has the potential to be ground breaking and it will be up to me and the team to make it look beautiful that's easier said then done but that's the challenge of it all.

My feelings about being in LA for 4 years is mixed on the one hand it's a great city plenty of work and filled to the brim with talent. However on the other hand I find that many artist concept artist jump from one gig to the next without blinking which is fine to a degree. The number of concept artist working in the film industry is not so big, Hollywood uses the same creature guys for practically every creature heavy project out there and at some point you begin to notice this within the designs themselves. It's a bit hard if your just getting started to break into. In the end it is definitely who you know but more so who knows you and what you have done for them lately it's also a matter of being at the right place and time.

I also feel everyone wants to push their own ideas and sometimes in the melee talented and creative people get shuffled in the crowd and go un-noticed and basically buried under a sea of corporate bullshit and managed by higher ups who have no clue how to harness such talent. I see why many people get discouraged and leave LA, but maybe those are the people who cant tough it , perhaps that's the case. For me though I'm no spring chicken and now is the time I must give it all I have as far as art. I hope to return to LA at some point and it's an amazing place and like anywhere it has its good and bad points.

I believe though you can be in a basement in an igloo the middle of Siberia and still produced the most inspiring art and be as creative as possible, you don't have to be in LA.

Well enough of my ranting here are some new works,

Happy New Year

2008-01-05T12:25:00.000-08:00

So it's a New Year, 2007 was an amazing year, and very special for me and my wife because Logan are son was born in 2007 and he's been my driving force.

In 2007 I also started working for Gentle Giant Studios in Burbank California as lead concept artist working on a number of game, film,and commercial projects. If you are a client and want to work with me on a project please contact me through the contact link at the top of this page.

At Gentle Giant Studio I am surrounded by some of the most skilled practical and digital sculptors in the industry. I am very grateful to all the folks there who welcomed me with open arms, and I'm looking forward to this great opportunity. You can check out there website here http://gentlegiantstudios.com/ where you can see some of there work and a list of projects they have worked on.

Here is one of the first paintings of 2008 titled "The Lost Breed" its a rough color painting done with Gouache and watercolors on masonite, it was nice to take a break from digital painting for a little and do something for fun.

Here is a digital piece done in 2007 for White Wolf publishing titled "Winter Masques"

JP's creature design featured in Tabula Rasa video game trailer

2007-08-13T04:04:00.000-07:00

I just got the link to the new Tabula Rasa video game trailer featuring one of my creature designs the "Bane Strider" .

It's pretty amazing to see something you started as just a thumbnail come to fruit as a detailed finished color concept, but it's an even more mind blowing experience and rush to actually see your designs come to life with animation, special effects and sound. This is why I do this stuff, it makes all the hard work worth it in the end.
I worked on NCSOFT's Tabula Rasa for about a year and a half, I designed and art directed a lot of the creature stuff in the game and it was an amazing experience. I do hope the game does well and people will enjoy these creatures even though they are there to blow you out of existence :)...what a job right?

JP

New Starcraft the board game box art.

2007-08-11T02:59:00.000-07:00

Just updated my gallery with some new art I did for Fantasy Flight games. Fantasy Flight games unveiled "Starcraft the board game" http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/starcraft.html last week at Blizzcon. Can you believe it ?Blizzard is so damn big that they have their own convention..nice!.

I'm also about to start that Conan final, can't wait to paint with oils again.

My son is growing at an alarming rate, he's about 19 1/2 pounds now, I feel it on my arms the most when I carry him. To think they just get bigger.

I'm dying to get back to my personal work, I'll update as soon as I have something to show.

Barbarians just wont die!

2007-07-21T23:32:00.000-07:00

Many a picture have been made of the mighty barbarian from Cimmeria. Great masters of fantasy art have brought him to life on canvas with their paint and blood. The screams of his enemies echo in their nightmares, those same screams I shall soon here piercing my mind.

The trumpet boy will play the anthem of glory and pain and I will find myself staring at the face of an empty canvas beckoning me to raise my brush, and when I do a black hairded blue eyed goliath with a battle axe will welcome me into his world. Will I be foe or friend? it matters not I go willingly like all those before me.

Look for my Conan painting soon, hope you enjoyed the rough sketch and speed painting

JP

New Images

2007-07-18T10:43:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I've taken a little time off to work on my graphic novel, it's coming slow but it's a lot of fun and helps me do what I love to do, tell stories. It's great to do art work for other people, clients etc but once in a while it's important to do your own thing the way you want to do it with no restrictions. I see so many talented artist who actually are better painters and draftsman then myself but who don't do their own thing, I'm not sure if it's because they choose not to or they don't have the ability..any way I believe we are at our best when we do art for ourselves. It's important to unleash your creativity and become the visionary rather then follow someone elses lead all the time.

I've posted a few new images in the concept/environments section of my gallery, here's a peak.

A NEW Beginning!

2007-07-12T16:02:00.000-07:00

Hey there everyone, as you can see I've given in to the blog monster, actually it's a great way to easily update news and happenings.

I've thrown out my old gallery viewing system. I was getting alot of heat from visitors about not being able to see my images, anyway hopefully the new viewing system will be better.

I have started teaching at the Gnomon school of visual effects. I am teaching a fantasy illustration class you can read about it here fantasy illustration class.

I am also featured in the issue 19 of Imagine FX there's an interview with me and a tutorial, so check it out.

On the work front I'm working with Marvel entertainment on some special project, cannot disclose right now but its big and green :). I'm also going to be working on a Conan board game cover for nexus games, I finally get to paint the dark haired Cimmerian.

Also I'm working on another cover for White Wolf's changelings book titled Winter Masques,
here's a little peak: