Lamin Illustration & Design

Lunachick

2012-01-24T03:40:00.000-08:00

Here is an image taken from a line illustration found in pages of Solstice. She is my interpretation of a heavy metal dragon woman. I've always been into rock and heavy metal so I'm actually surprised that it took me this long to do a rock themed illustration. This will be the first of many music themed images that will cover different genres across the music spectrum! Rock on!

Lamin

Snap Dragon

2011-12-27T08:09:00.000-08:00

Here is an interpretation of what a tropical wild flower would look like if it were combined with a dragon. The image is called "Snap Dragon" a line-art image taken from Leather Wings Semblance that I really enjoyed working on. I had no idea where I was going when I started painting this illustration but I knew that if I kept pushing through I would come up with something interesting. I hope you like it!

Lamin

Then and Now

2011-11-15T18:34:00.001-08:00

Here is an image I completed for the TD Bank "Then and Now" black history month poster competition! Unfortunately I didn't win but I had a lot of fun working on this image. The feeling I was going for was a mix of a 1930's jazz singer combined with a 70's hairstyle.
What was also great about working on this image was that it was my first time working entirely on the Cintiq 21UX that I bought a few months ago. It took me a while to get used to but drawing on a screen rather than on paper soon became very intuitive and natural. I'm really looking forward to producing more work using the Cintiq as an integral part of my work flow.

The Art of Lamin Martin Solitude Video

2011-11-06T17:23:00.000-08:00

The Art of Lamin Martin Solitude occurred on October 7th, 2011 where canvas prints from Lamin Illustration & Design were presented in a gallery style setting at the Toronto Cartoonist's Workshop in Downtown Toronto. Thank you to everyone who made it out to the unbelievably successful show and a special thanks to the Toronto Cartoonist's Workshop for hosting the event and to Guerilla Printing for providing print promotional material of the highest quality. For those who weren't able to make it out to the creative networking event you can enjoy video from the opening evening by following the image link below!

Thank you so much for the support!

Lamin

Electric Playground - The Art of Lamin Martin Solitude

2011-10-13T18:53:00.000-07:00

Electric Playground visited The Art of Lamin Martin Solitude exhibit where they were kind enough to conduct an interview discussing the images and themes showcased at the event. Below is a clip taken from Season 21 Episode 232 of Electric Playground's "Profiles" featuring the art of Lamin Martin.

You can also catch the full episode HERE.

Army of Me

2011-10-02T14:18:00.000-07:00

People love steampunk for many reasons. Two of which are, first, the costuming and detailing found in steampunk fashion is fun, beautiful and open to tons of creativity. Second steampunk has set designs and a backstory that are absolutely fantastic. Which is why I wanted to try my hand at a steampunk inspired illustration. The image that I came up with is a story of a soldier who took it upon herself to take out a fleet of zeppelins, one at a time, by cutting them open and tossing in belts of grenades. She's a specialized member of a rocketeer group who's job in the war effort is to turn the tide.

Lamin

The Art of Lamin Martin: Solitude

2011-09-11T19:23:00.000-07:00

On Friday October 7th,The Art of Lamin: Solitude gallery show will explore artist Lamin Martin’s fantasy concept art hosted by Toronto Cartoonist's Workshop and Guerilla Printing.The Art of Lamin: Solitude will be a creative networking experience showcasing 18 beautifully immersive two and a half foot by three and a half foot canvases, from Lamin Illustration & Design, framed and presented in a gallery setting in Toronto's trendy and cultural College and Bathurst (at Clinton) area. Books featuring collections of Lamin Martin’s extraordinary work, and prints will also be available.For more information please click the flyer below!

See you soon!

Blood and Lavender

2011-09-11T18:59:00.000-07:00

One of the first images that I worked on when I began digital painting was Blood and Lavender. I always considered it to be one of those images that got away because it never really came out the way that I wanted it to. The lighting, the colour composition, the values never really gave the haunting sense of strange beauty that I was initially going for. Since then I've learned a few new tricks, new processes and new painting techniques that I felt I could finally apply to this illustration to do it justice. Below is the before and after!

Blood & Lavender After

Blood & Lavender Before

Blood & Lavender Line illustration

Electric Playground Interview

2011-08-14T07:12:00.001-07:00

Recently Electric Playground visited Czyonoft Studios, the game studio where I'm working as a concept artist, for a preview of the work going into our upcoming game Yinasia. We were featured in EP"s "First Look" segment and as one of the concept artists on the project I was fortunate enough to be interviewed on some of the creative process that went into the character designs. Below is a clip taken from Season 21 Episode 184 featuring a "First Look" at Yinasia as well as a link to full episode.

Low quality clip from Season 21 Episode 184

High quality full episode from Season 21 Episode 184

Yinasia Concept Art

2011-08-14T06:45:00.001-07:00

While working with Czyonoft Studios as a concept artist on our upcoming title Yinasia I had the great opportunity to come up with designs for weapons, armour, creatures and the main character Leo. Below you'll find promo material that I painted where those designs are put into action!

Alamptria 1 - Bloodstone Crypt

2011-07-13T19:48:00.000-07:00

Here is another novel cover that I completed for Alamptria 1 - Bloodstone Crypt, by Canadian fantasy writer Richard A. Valicek.

For this image Mr. Valicek was looking for a classic embrace between a vampire and a human. In keeping with that tradition I researched tons of romance novel covers before coming up with something that is mysterious and seductive.

Baroque

2011-05-25T20:43:00.000-07:00

In my journey to find new and exciting ways to conceptualize my images I took on the task of learning Maya. The reason I decided to start using Maya was for me to be able create and maneuver 3D objects through space and then arrange them into environment mock-ups that I then paint over in Photoshop, kinda' like sketching in 3D. It's a quicker and more efficient way of establishing my perspective in a 3-dimensional plane without having to plot vanishing points and draw perspective lines which can be very time consuming. The learning curve for such a powerful application such as Maya is pretty steep but if you love what you're doing you can find fulfilling enjoyment in every challenge. Below is the process!

Christabella

2011-05-18T07:53:00.000-07:00

In my development and growth as a concept artist it's of course necessary to be able to render environments. To be able to come up with believable spaces for characters to exist in wasn't really a focus of mine but the more I look into the importance and necessity for it the more I love it and the more I want to work at it. What's interest about my dive into environment design is that I'm more daring in my approach to the process, meaning I'm more willing to dive into photoshop without sketching anything out first, which is what I usually don't do. Instead I fire-up Photoshop and start painting shapes allowing accidents to happen. Below is Gothic environment that I came up with that is a blend of architectural design elements. The cathedral is influenced by a mix of french and italian design, the iron grid in the foreground is a design element found in Bordeaux airport in France and the narrative is inspired by Silent Hill of a lost traveler who unfortunately stumbles into the foggy mysterious town and quickly learns that the shadows are not always as they seem and that the only light needed to cast off the darkness is found in the refuge of the church.
If you haven't come across the Silent Hill game series then do yourself a favour and check out the movie HERE or check out the games HERE.

Lamin

Spill The Wine

2011-05-08T07:27:00.000-07:00

The line art for "Spill The Wine", found in the pages of Apocrypha, is one of those images that's near and dear to my heart. If you're like me and you're the kind of artist who loves creating demonic characters who wear large heavy pieces of amour around the chest and shoulders, surrounded by large masses of wool with giant blood-rusted blades strapped to their arms, then you can imagine that I had a ton of fun with this image!
One of the challenges I faced in digitally painting this character was realizing that in order to create more depth in the background I had to remove the wings that I originally drew in the line art. This created some much needed negative space that I then used to display more of the demon dog. As a result of those design choices I think it makes for a much stronger piece.

Lamin

Alamptria: Red Moon Rising novel cover

2011-05-05T07:20:00.000-07:00

Here is a novel cover that I completed for Alamptria: Red Moon Rising, by Canadian fantasy writer Richard A. Valicek.

From the beginning the writer knew that he wanted to have one of the female main characters shown with a sexy and threatening gaze with the male character shrouded in shadowy surroundings, so most of my thumbnails were slight variations on that idea.

The challenge of this image for me was working with a large central figure whose expression tells more of the story than anything else. When working with large compositional elements like this the smallest adjustment in the expression can completely change the tone of the piece. So as you can imagine most if not all of the my sketches focused on the expression in the eyes.

The image was sketched in pencil then scanned and coloured in Photoshop.

Lamin

Sketch,

Transitions Mini-Golf Championship

2011-05-04T12:55:00.000-07:00

Recently the great people at Oddly Studios and myself had the amazing opportunity to build an online mini-golf game for Transitions Lenses, the eyeglasses lens company. We were given a month to complete the work so there wasn't much room for error. Thanks to the workflow structure established by Oddly director Tim Willison, the resulting game was beautifully executed on time and it was something that everyone was proud of especially Transitions Lenses. My role in the project was to come up with concept designs for the nine mini-golf courses working with Oddly's art director Sheharzad Arshad and The Marketing Store's Neil Cabana. You can take a look at the designs below as well as what the courses looked like after they went from drawings to working 3D models built in Maya and then given physics in the Unity game engine thanks to the hard work of Adam Sullovey. If you'd like to play the game you can give it a try using the following link,

Transitions Mini-Golf Championship

Take care,

Lamin

A few sketches,

Maya Models,

A few completed courses,

Concept Designs

2011-04-28T07:52:00.000-07:00

Recently I was contacted by Gameloft to be considered for a 2D concept artist position. Unfortunately I lost out on the job but the test that I completed was interesting and helpful in my growth as an concept artist. It pushed me into doing some environmental work that I usually don't get into and as a result of that push I'm actually looking forward to trying out a few more environments on my own. In terms of character design I was pushed into relying on just the character and the costume design as the focal point without a background design because the test required no background elements. Below is the character design portion of the test that involved creating a sexy female pirate captain. The environmental portion of the test involved creating a 2D dark forest environment painted over top of a 3D wire-frame that was provided.

Lamin

Character design sketch,

Complete character design,

3D Wire-frame provided by Gameloft,

Completed environment design,

A Day at Laura Secord Secondary School!

2011-04-27T12:09:00.000-07:00

Recently I was given the opportunity to visit Laura Secord Secondary School in St. Catherines Ontario where I was asked to conduct a lecture on illustration followed by a how-to session on digital painting and illustration. It was an amazing experience where I met a very talented and enthusiastic group of up and coming young artists under the very insightful guidance of their teachers Steve Azzopardi and Cathy Biro. A huge thanks goes out to Steve (Mr. Azzopardi) for inviting me out and allowing me to speak to the students and to Monica Small, Peter Romo and Bob Vandenbrink in helping to ensure that the day ran so smoothly! Click the link below to see photos from that fun filled day!

A Day At Laura Secord Secondary School Photos!

Thanks again for an awesome day guys!

Lamin

Dracaena 3-D Model by Jacey King

2011-04-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

Recently I was contacted by a very talented digital animation student from Malaysia named Joshua Chin Yi King a.k.a Jacey King. He expressed interest in 3-D modelling one of my illustrations, "Dracaena", and I jumped at the opportunity for him to bring the design to life in a way that only a talented 3-D modeller like Jacey could. He kept me updated with very clear, clean and fascinating images of the modelling process and then to my pleasant surprise created an amazing trailer of "Dracaena" in action. Thank you very much Jacey for bringing my illustration to life and also thank you to Sony Computer Entertainment and especially Team ICO for creating the game "Shadow of the Colossus". A game with absolutely beautiful art direction which inspired both our works. Take a look at Jacey's incredible trailer!

"Dracaena" Creature 3D Modelling Reel by Jacey King from Jacey King on Vimeo.

You can find more of Jacey's fantastic work on,
Deviant Art

Thanks again Jacey!

"Dracaena" Concept Design by Lamin Martin

"Dracaena" 3-D Model by Jacey King

Jacey King 3-D Modelling Process

Dryads

2011-03-25T12:25:00.000-07:00

Dryads are tree nymphs in Greek mythology. I first took to the idea of dryads years ago after coming across some of the fantasy illustration work of Brian Froud, one of my favourite illustrators. Since then I've always been fascinated by tree spirit folklore and started coming up with my interpretation of what I think they would look like. Below are examples of my thoughts that play with the idea that dryads are free to roam the forests if they choose but are always attached to the trees.

Harmony - Finished illustration,

Harmony - Line illustration,

Spiderbait - Finished illustration,

Spiderbait - Halfway stage,

Spiderbait - Line illustration,

Our Finest Hour

2011-02-27T18:38:00.000-08:00

"Our Finest Hour" was one of the images that tackled when I was first learning digital painting that I always knew could be really cool looking if only I knew enough about Photoshop to make it really cool looking. I left it unfinished for the longest time out of frustration but then recently decided to give it another try after having a couple years of digital painting experience under my belt. The second image is what it used to look like and the top image is what it looks like now and I'm really pleased with the result.

Forest Fight

2011-01-30T11:59:00.000-08:00

This is a commissioned piece for a writer who needed a cover for one of his books. It's a traditional fantasy style cover that I had a lot of fun working where I got the chance to play around with some very dramatic lighting.

An Island Unto Myself

2010-12-27T23:09:00.000-08:00

One of the aspects of dragon folklore that always fascinates me is the belief that dragons have the ability to hide in plain sight as either trees, rocks or even mountains. Here is my take on a very skilled dragon, taken from the line art found in LEATHER WINGS SEMBLANCE, who's claimed her hiding place in the form of an island.

Elements Workshop - Setting a Mood

2010-12-22T00:26:00.000-08:00

A new workshop, graphically designed in the Imagine FX Style, is complete and ready to download in the WORKSHOPS section on www.laminmartin.com. In this workshop I go through the thoughts and processes behind "Message in a Bullet", a full colour rendering of a line illustration found in the pages APOCRYPHA, where I explain the importance of establishing a mood, dramatizing the environment and adding the right accesories to a character to take it from an illustration to a concept design. You can download the free PDF HERE or by clicking the image below.

Message in a Bullet

2010-12-14T16:16:00.000-08:00

When I think of angels I've always envisioned them as an army. Each soldier has their own specialized skill set complete with their tools of the trade. The soldier that I came up with, found in the pages of APOCRYPHA, is one who's passion in service to God is to hunt and kill demons with his weapon of choice being a long range double-barreled breech-loading rifle.

Let There Be Dragons

2010-11-30T08:27:00.000-08:00

I love to play around with combining different design elements to come up with dragons that are more conceptual than some of the traditional dragon designs that are present in fantasy illustration. Below are a batch that I recently painted that were once line drawings found in the pages of LEATHER WINGS SEMBLANCE but have now been brought to life in full colour. Poster available HERE

Lamin

Xenomporph Dracus is my interpretaion of how an Alien, designed by my hero H.R. Giger, would look if it mated with a dragon. An Alien with wings would be a dream come true for me.

Shadow of the Colossus was one of my favourite games on the PS2. The art direction and character design of the colossi was absolutely beautiful so in honour of a game that is more art than escapist entertainment I created a dragon that is modelled after a colossus.

Jewel of the North is a step away from the bulky and heavier looking dragons that I usually draw by combining the softer qualities of unicorns and the majestic qualities of dragons to come up with a delicate yet regal dragon design.

In Succession

2010-11-26T23:47:00.000-08:00

Here is an image that was originally line art found in the pages of SOLSTICE. I don't know how or if I'll ever get over the love I have for the look of Victorian clothing so I'm always playing around with fashion elements from that time period. Here is another example of how I took bits and pieces from that fashion movement and threw them into a fantasy setting to illustrate the fact that this character is a citiizen in a decadent hybrid dragon society who is next in line to take her positon of authority in the royal family.

The Art of Lamin Martin Exhibit

2010-11-26T11:16:00.000-08:00

December is shaping up to be an exciting month with the upcoming The Art of Lamin Martin Exhibit happening Friday, December 3rd., 7pm - Midnight, @The WALYA Bar & Lounge, 996 Queen st. E (Queen E & Carlaw) in downtown Toronto. The Art of Lamin Martin Exhibit WWW.LAMINMARTIN.COM will showcase line artwork taken from the pages of six my published artbooks entitled, FIELDS, DECORUM, LEATHER WINGS, APOCRYPHA, LEATHER WINGS SEMBLANCE and SOLSTICE and brought to life in full colour. The select colour pieces have been printed on beautifully immersive 2 1/2 foot by 3 1/2 gallery framed canvases. If your in the Toronto area feel free to make it out to the event where there will be plenty of fun, friends and art. Click on the event flyer below to add yourself to the invite list.

See you soon!

Lamin

Sweet Nectar

2010-10-20T10:56:00.000-07:00

Greek mythology has tons of characters with amazingly descriptive literary reference to pull inspiration from and translate visually. Medusa, especially, being one of those characters. Using a line image taken from the one of the pages of APOCRYPHA I wanted Medusa to be more playful than some of the other interpretations that I've come across in books and films. I like the idea of her being so skilled at turning warriors into stone that she takes great pleasure in it, which is why she has an awesome smile on her face!

Within Reach

2010-10-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

I've been in a very demonic mood lately with the recent crop of images I've been posting. I was never really into demonic imagery but now that I have a taste for it I absolutely love it! Taken from the pages of APOCRYPHA, is a line illustration entitled "Within Reach". It's my interpretation of "Death" but instead of harvesting souls with a scythe he instead has multiple hands all within reaching distance of those ready to cross over. I also changed the hooded "Death" image found in the line illustration to the horned skull image found in the new colour version to create a more dynamic gesture and design.

Lamin

From pencil to colour!

2010-10-02T07:54:00.001-07:00

Over the next couple of months I'm going to be sifting through the pencil illustrations found in my line of artbooks, selecting some of my favourite images and bringing them to life in full colour. I've always had an idea how every image would look like in colour so instead of putting it off any longer I finally decided to dive in and see how each image fills itself out. So to get started the first image below is from a pencil illustration found in APOCRYPHA entitled "A Bountiful Harvest". It's my interpretation of Famine, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who feeds on angels wings.
The second image below is from a pencil illustration found in LEATHER WINGS entitled "Verse 1, Chapter 1". This is my interpretation of a demon who is so dedicated to seeking redemption that he pins pages of scripture to his wings. There will be plenty more colour illustrations to come so check back soon.

Lamin

Toronto Fan Expo 2010!

2010-09-17T08:27:00.000-07:00

This post is a little late but I just wanted to do a little recap on The Toronto Fan Expo and the debut of SOLSTICE. From the attendees perspective to say that the show had it’s ups and downs would be an understatement. This years show was again plagued with the overselling of tickets coupled with angry fans who had to wait in line for hours just to be able to walk through the front doors or not even being able to walk through the front doors at all. It was a great disaster. Great in the sense that Fan Expo is becoming so huge that the Metro Toronto Convention Centres North Building space of 193,000 sf, wasn’t enough to accommodate the amount of people who showed up. Next years show will be in the South Building which has a floor space of 260,000 sf. That is why The Toronto Fan Expo is the third largest convention in North America next to San Diego and New York. So to say that the release of Solstice went well would be an understatement when being debuted in venue like that. Thank you to all of the fans, new and old, who came out looking forward to picking up a copy of the new title and a very special thanks goes out to Kurt Sasso from TGT Webcomics for doing an interview with me and spreading the word that Lamin Illustration & Design is out there.
Take a look at his site and the interview HERE.

You can also take a look at some of the photos from Toronto Fan Expo HERE.

SOLSTICE Now Available!!

2010-08-27T00:42:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!! I'm very pleased to announce that Solstice is now available! Feel free to visit www.laminmartin.com to order a copy now where you'll find the newest fantasy artwork being produced by Lamin Illustration & Design.

Hope you enjoy!!

Solstice Image - The Thrill of the Hunt

2010-08-19T19:06:00.000-07:00

This image is another found in Solstice. I really love the look and feel of a misty English countryside. Combine that with the love for a strong British dragon woman who believes that bearing arms is not only a right but a necessity in the face of any all opposition and you've got a winner as far as I'm concerned!

Solstice Image - Treasure Trove

2010-08-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

Here is another image that will be going into Solstice. There is something magical and mysterious about mermaid folklore that has inspired many artists such as Munch, Waterhouse, Beardsley, Pyle, Rubens, and Bosch. So in keeping with the tradition of the folklore I came up with my version of a mermaid, but with a slight twist. She is unique in the sense that she has horns that are derived from her being born with dragon blood.

Newest Solstice Image

2010-07-27T19:03:00.000-07:00

Here is one of the many images that will be going into Solstice, the newest illustration book from www.laminmartin.com. I love and will always love the look of classical Renaissance art so I felt it was only fitting to take my work in that direction for as long as it will allow me. So the images in the new book will hopefully have that same feel and sensibility.

New website online NOW!!

2010-07-01T17:02:00.000-07:00

The new website for Lamin Illustration & Design is now online. Feel free to drop by and check out the new artwork, prints and downloadable content that fills out our new home. Also take some time to view the trailer for Solstice, the new artbook set for release August 27th at the Toronto Fan Expo.

Take care!

Lamin

New website online July 1st!

2010-06-25T09:35:00.000-07:00

Things have been pretty hectic over the past couple of months in preparation for the launch of the new website. Right now I'm just finalizing some of the finishing touches which, of course, is the part of the creative process that takes the longest. But it'll all be worth it once everyone gets a chance to check out the bigger and better Marketplace complete with new prints and merchandise, a new gallery section complete with new and exciting artwork and new free downloadable content. Also don't forget to catch the launch of the trailer for Solstice, the newest illustrated artbook from Lamin Illustartion & Design, along with the launch of the new website on July 1st. August 27th will then mark the day that the Solstice artbook will debut at this years Toronto Fan Expo.

See you then!

Lamin

Elements Workshop: Narrative Textures

2010-02-28T20:19:00.000-08:00

Here's the latest workshop that I put together that explains how important I feel it is to ground your fantasy worlds in some sense of reality by combining digital painting with photographic texture reference to make the unbelievable, believable. Download the free PDF HERE and please don't hesitate to leave feedback and suggestions for future workshops.

Take care!

Lamin

Preview sketch for upcoming new book!

2010-02-15T11:40:00.000-08:00

Here is an image that is a work in progress for my upcoming new artbook that will explore and tell the story of combining dragon anatomy with human anatomy. I haven't decided on a title yet but I'm always open to suggestions. I'll be posting more sketches as the weeks and the months go on until the debut of the book in August. Stay tuned!!

Lamin

Decorated Valour

2010-01-13T20:17:00.000-08:00

Here is a new digital painting done using the line art from the pages of LEATHER WINGS. I love the idea of soldiers so heroic in their actions on the battlefield that their armour is decorated with commendation after commendation, each medal marking the survival of another conflict. The large main ribbon has an inscription that spells out the word "peace" using the Elvish runic alphabet in the hopes that, one day, through their efforts peace will finally be achieved.
I'm working on the tutorial for this painting so check back soon!

Lamin

Tutorial - Fantasy Renaissance

2009-12-21T23:28:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!

With the year coming to a close I feel now would be the best time to say thank you to all of the supporters who helped to make it possible for me to do what I love most which is draw. Thank you to everyone who came out to the shows and picked up a print or a book and thank you for all of the great feedback from all of my friends, new and old, who were most helpful in providing the necessary feedback to take my illustrations to places I probably wouldn't have gone. Without the right people around you, you will never achieve the right results. So instead of sending out a greeting card I decided to put together a tutorial that I hope will be helpful to anyone else who may be looking for an alternative creative process that they may not have thought of.
I'm a huge fan of the Imagine FX magazine publication and the website so to pay homage to all of their great work and helpful content, I put together this workshop in the Imagine FX style. Let me know what you think!

Click here to download the free PDF.

Take Care and Happy Holidays!

Lamin Martin

Dragon Lily - Leather Wings Semblance

2009-12-02T11:48:00.000-08:00

Here is an image that will be the first of many that will be taken from the linework found in Fields, Decorum, Leather Wings, Apocrypha and Leather Wings Semblance and brought to life in full colour. If there are any suggestions as to what images you'd like to see coloured before others or if there are any helpful tips you'd like to pass along to help improve the colour work please feel free to send me your feedback. I'll be posting the process images of how I coloured this image in the next few days. So check back soon!

Lamin

Sorceress Colour Process

2009-10-25T09:08:00.000-07:00

Above is the line drawing used as a guide for the digital painting that I worked on. Notice that the background is very sparse in terms of detail 'cause I wanted the colour to handle most of the detailing for me.

An overall wash of a dark turquoise was the base colour that the rest of the painting was built on.

Next I build up the figure ensuring that the lights and darks across her skin play well with the lights and darks found in the background.

The cloak is a very simple colour scheme of rich dark blues and deep reds. I orginally wanted her to be draped in a white cloak but found that her figure got lost due to the fact that there wasn't enough of a contrast between her and the cloak to really make her body and face stand out. Instead I went with the dark cloak painted with cool blues that pushed itself further into the background while at the same time forcing her figure forward.

The light from the staff comes into play now creating a warm contrast of light on a cool colour palette.

Here is the final with all of the fun flourishes highlights and shadows needed to give an a image that little extract push towards believable.

Thanks for checking out the first of many "process" blog entries that I'll be posting!

Check back soon!

Lamin

Legacy Posters Celebrating Women's History Month

2009-10-09T09:24:00.000-07:00

I was given the great opportunity to illustrate the posters for, the Legacy: Celebrating Female Leadership Poster Series brought to you by Robert Small, internationally renowned fine artist of the Legacy Festival. Working on a portrait series of posters was another departure from my usual subject matter of fantasy images but I had to jump at the opportunity to stretch and grow as a well rounded illustrator.

To order your copy of the Legacy: Celebrating Female Leadership Poster CLICK HERE!

To view more of the beautiful work that the Legacy Festival produces visit www.thelegacyfestival.com

The Word On The Street 2009

2009-10-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

The Word On The Street National Book & Magazine Festival celebrated it's 20th outdoor exhibition this year! It was a great day for meeting and greeting an audience that wouldn't usually attend a comic book convention and thank god it didn't rain which helped to draw out large crowds of people who were more than willing to support artists in all forms of their print media.

Batman Sketch

2009-09-17T07:18:00.000-07:00

I don't really draw a lot of superheros but Batman is one of my favourite comic characters. This is a sketch that I did in honour of the Batman Arkham Asylum game that came out across all of the major platforms. It was requested by the cool guys as Oddly Studios to go along with the video podcast that we filmed to review the game. Once editing is complete I'll let you guys know where you can view the footage.

Lamin

Fan Expo 2009 Montage.

2009-09-07T05:53:00.000-07:00

Here is a video montage of all of the fun and excitement that occurred during the Fan Expo 2009 weekend created by the good people at Guerilla Printing.

Toronto SpeakEasy Illustration Show 2009

2009-09-05T02:15:00.000-07:00

The Toronto SpeakEasy Illustration Show was a night out for creatives where 30 talented illustrators came together to showcase their work in a gallery style setting. Being someone whose mostly exhibited at fast-paced comic conventions the SpeakEasy show was a refreshing, relaxed and casual art viewing experience where you could gather with a group of like-minded individuals in the creative field and take the time to converse with them about their art styles and creative processes.

Toronto Fan Expo 2009

2009-09-01T03:15:00.000-07:00

The amount of people that attended the Toronto Fan Expo this year was overwhelming, so much so that fire and safety workers were called in to monitor and control the amount of people heading into the Toronto Metro Convention Center. Keeping up with and greeting everyone that weekend was a little tough especially with all of the hustle and bustle of a full capacity venue. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to meet one dedicated art fan in particular who went the extra mile by not only appreciating my art but also making it a part of him. The image above is of an art lover who took the back cover of one of my books ,Leather Wings, and had the design tattooed on his calf. Hopefully I'll get to meet him one day and say thank you in person. You can check out the rest of the photos from the show on my Flickr account.

Leather Wings Semblance available!

2009-08-28T01:42:00.000-07:00

Leather Wings Semblance, the newest artbook from Lamin Illustration & Design, is debuting at Toronto Fan Expo 2009 today from the 28th - 30th. If you can't make it out to the show you can always pick up your copy of our new book on our website available now in our Marketplace.

$19.99
Leather Wings Semblance
by Lamin Martin
Dimensions: 11" x 17"
Format: 26 B&W pages of line art, full colour cover.
Genre: Fantasy

The lastest Sketchbook in the fantasy line from laminmartin.com.
Leather Wings Semblance, the follow up to Leather Wings, is a
beautiful collection of fully rendered black and white dragon
illustrations that visually bring to life the mysterious secrets that
surround the lost civilization of dragons. Consisting of 26 pages
of fantastic settings, emotions and imagination venture into the worlds
contained within the pages of this immersive 11” x 17” format book for
a larger than life fantasy experience.

Great Show!!

2009-08-22T18:07:00.000-07:00

It’s been a little while since the last post but for good reasons the main one being that Wizard World Chicago was filled with so many cool people to talk to that I’m still recovering from the whole amazing experience.

Here are just a few of the many great artists that I met,

Diosdado Mondero

Misty Coats

Jim Su (Beach Studios)

Hugh Rookwood

Karl A. Nordman

Tiffany J. Tinsley

Marko Radulovic

Kevin Leen

Jason Metcalf

If you haven't seen some of the photos from Wizard World Chicago you can check them out on my Flickr account.

Off to see the Wizard!

2009-08-05T02:43:00.000-07:00

Wizard World Chicago is finally here! If you're in the Chicago area feel free to visit us at Table 4318 where we'll be meeting new people and displaying new artwork.

See you soon!

Lamin

Dragon Island

2009-07-29T01:36:00.000-07:00

Here is another image from Leather Wings Semblance, my new book coming out August 28th at Toronto Fan Expo. In this image I played with the idea that in dragon folklore they are able to hide themselves in plain sight. So why not have a dragon large enough and skilled enough in concealment to disguise itself as an entire island.

Leaf Dragon

2009-07-23T01:14:00.000-07:00

For my image concepts I like to incorporate cultural or environmental elements into the designs. I have a love and fascination with nature and trees and of course dragons which is why it was a lot of fun combining the two and creating my friendly leaf dragon. I played around with different types of leaves that I felt would make the dragon look a little more exotic or tropical but I always came back to the recognizable and simplistic design found in the good ol' Canadian maple leaf.

Giger Dragon

2009-07-15T17:04:00.000-07:00

Here is an image that is going into my new book Leather Wings Semblance. I am a huge fan of H.R. Giger's alien design, in my humble opinion it's the best movie monster ever created. Which is why I took the two creatures that I love the most, dragons and Xenomorphs (aliens) and combined them. Hopefully one day Hollywood will make an alien with wings and turn my fantasy into reality.

Storm Hawks - Piper

2009-07-10T16:28:00.000-07:00

Here is a pin-up image that I did for the new Storm Hawks comic book available through DMF comics and Beach Studios. The characters name is Piper, the valued member of the Storm Hawks team who speaks five languages, loves to sketch and knows eight ways to make a surly Torka Beast fall asleep. The team’s stealth agent, Piper loves nothing better than coming up with the Most! Perfect! Plan! For those of you unfamiliar with Piper or the Storm Hawks team you can also catch the animated series on YTV.

2009-07-03T08:25:00.000-07:00

Now here she is coloured and ready to step into the spotlight.

2009-07-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

Here is the line work for a design element I used for Lamin Illustration & Design. I used the center faerie figure as a mascot of sorts throughout the entire site. She was part of this larger illustration but I felt she needed to be taken out of her ensemble casting and given a starring role.

Let's Begin!

2009-07-01T03:10:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I’m very excited to finally open up the online journal and say welcome to all of the wonderfully creative people who are process junkies like me.
One of the things I love about looking at another artists’ work is trying to figure out their process. What’s even better is when that same artist gives you insight into what that process actually is which is why I’m opening up a forum such as this to post the sketches and notes that go into every image I come up with in the hopes that through my thoughts and my work it will take your art to the next level in the same way other artists have done for me.

For example here is a work in progress that will be going into my newest book, Leather Wings Semblance. It’s a bit of a departure from my usual subject matter in that the focus of the image is on the character of the landscape rather than the figures. It was a bit of a challenge in making inanimate objects like buildings seem alive and vibrant but of course the fun is in the challenge. So this blog will also serve as a record of my attempts at growing and progressing as an illustrator where your feedback will be taken in and put to use in upcoming images and books. Thanks for taking interest in my work and I will take the time to make this place a resource that you can tap into for inspiration.

Take care and stay creative!