Matteo Meloni is a digital painter from Rome who is working on tabletop games and TCGs. With Upper Deck Company, he has contributed art to the likes of Rush of Ikorr and Dungeondraft: Pirates and Paladins.
His work tends to make use of dramatic shadows and vibrancy. As well as animated movies like Princess Mononoke, he is inspired by Dishonored and Arcane. Below he tells us about four examples of his work, including three pieces of fan art based on games that have inspired him.
Matteo mainly uses Procreate and Photoshop for his art (see our guide to the best digital art software).
The Ritual
“This illustration depicts a dark magic ritual from a short horror story. I love to illustrate books and create visuals for worlds that are not yet represented.”
Corvo Attano
This Dishonored fan art was a tribute to Dishonored 2, from the streets of Karnaca. “I wanted to capture the game’s stunning architecture and iconic lead,” Matteo says.
Liliana from Magic: The Gathering
This was a piece of fan art inspired by the collectible trading card game Magic: The Gathering. “With each piece I try to push myself to learn a new skill,” Matteo explains. ”For this artwork, I used the Colour and Overlay layers to create the zombie crowd. It’s an amazing technique for managing complex scenes.”
Geralt from The Witcher 3
Of this fan art, Matteo says: “Geralt hunts with a wolf pack, symbolising that he’s never truly alone, even when he tries to push others away. I liked this aspect of him in the book, and wanted to incorporate it in my artwork.”
You can see more of Matteo's work on his website.
For more inspiration, see our feature on what is concept art? and our character design tips.
This article originally appeared in ImagineFX. Subscribe to ImagineFX to never miss an issue. Print and digital subscriptions are available.
