This veteran concept artist ditched digital to go back to oil painting

The UK-based artist Fred Gambino has been working as an illustrator and concept artist for five decades. That's included work for people like Mazza Animation Planet, Out of order Studios, Framestore, Codemasters and Cartoon Network.

Originally working with acrylics and oils, he switched to digital art software before reverting to water-soluble oils on board, paper and canvas. Here are four examples of his work, including from his Dark Shepherd novel.

Breel and the Dismantler

Oil paintings of a fantasy sci-fi scene by Fred Gambino — (Image credit: Fred Gambino)

This painting in oils on canvas features Breel, the main protagonist from his Dark Shepherd novel, which was published by Newcon Press. There is a process video on Fred's YouTube channel.

Junker

Fred painted this piece in oil on primed board. “I wanted to paint as loose a picture as I could. As far removed from my early ‘every-nut-and-bolt’ paintings as possible,” he explains.

Titan Sky

This was an oil commission based on an early digital image that marked Fred's transition from traditional to digital. It's on a 30”x30” on canvas. Again, there's a video on YouTube.

Roche Limit I

This was inspired by a scene from Fred's second novel Reality Rift, number two in the Dark Shepherd trilogy.

You can see more of Fred's work on his ArtStation profile.

This article originally appeared in ImagineFX. Subscribe to ImagineFX to never miss an issue. Print and digital subscriptions are available.

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