Brian Murphy’s world of paleoart and fantasy

By Shilpa Sreesesh

Scrolling down, we can see the artworks of Brian Murphy with vibrant illustrations of unique beings influenced by creatures long lost in the prehistoric past. He created his own universe of beautifully illustrated dinosaurs and fantasy-influenced gun-wielding rats!

Brian’s passion for drawing led him to become a full-time digital artist, working in a studio.

Through seven years of hard work, he created his own paleoart inspired aesthetic, which can be used in gaming assets, the animated world, gaming cards and much more.

Brian’s illustrative experiments have been influenced by movies, games or from reading certain books.

Here we present a short interview with Brian Murphy about his career as a digital artist, his illustration process and his ongoing projects.

Tell us how you got into digital painting, illustration, and animation.

I’ve always had a passion for drawing since before I can remember but I didn’t start doing it professionally until quite late into my working life. In my late 20s I decided I didn’t like the path I was on so took a chance and switched careers. I got a job as a junior artist at a small games studio and worked my way up over the next 7 to where I am now.

Throughout that time I had to learn a lot because I had only really used pen and pencil to do art before then. I had dabbled in digital paint but I had to learn it properly now and at a production level. Meaning creating assets that were to be used in real world situations. I really have to shout out to idNerd Studios in Hong Kong for helping me learn so much on the job in my first couple years.

Since then it’s been a mix of having to do it and wanting to do it that’s kept me progressing and learning really. But I love what I do so the having to do it is not a negative by any means.

How do you incorporate your influences from digital art and fantasy in your paleoart?

I basically just try and sprinkle in things that I like from movies, games, tv, comics etc that I’ve seen. For example I might like the lighting in a particular scene of a movie and I’ll try and use it for a piece even though it might be completely different in content and composition. Or I might even use just the mood that I felt while reading a chapter of a book and try and replicate it in visual form.

From your in-house studio, what tools of the trade do you use for your artworks? Any tips to share for aspiring digital artists?

I used a Wacom Intuos Pro for most of my studio work before working from home, but at home I used and still use a Huion H950P for all my personal and freelance work. And now that I’m working from home permanently I still use it for my studio work too. I feel like it’s just as good as the much more expensive Wacom to be honest. And I think that goes for any tool you use.

More expensive does not always mean better. So don’t let someone tell you you can’t be good at digital art cause you don’t own the newest biggest cintiq. For any apsiring digital artists out there I would say just create art as much as you possibly can. Find the time to draw every single day even if it’s for 10 minutes. You will get better the more you do it, even if it feels like you’re not or that others are just naturally talented.

No one sits at a piano for the first time and can just immediately play well, it’s the same with art!

What freelance work have you been doing lately and how can others request something from you?

I’ve been working on a couple of dinosaur themed card games that I’m really excited about. I will be posting updates about them when they’re ready on my Instagram @wootusart if anyone is interested. It’s also probably the best place for people to reach me. Or if they don’t use that they can email me for enquiries: brianjmurphyart@gmail.com

Creating interesting presentations of extinct, colossus animals, Brian Murphy’s imaginative works inspire many of the world’s aspiring artists. His advice for a newbie to art is to take time to draw every single day, even if it’s only for 10 minutes.

As a self-taught artist, Brian believes in putting regular practice every day, to polish one’s drawing skills. His experience and artistic career is a perfect example for what one can achieve if you have the passion to keep a regular artistic practise.

Brian Murphy is currently based in the United Kingdom with his partner, daughter and their little dog. He was born in Malaysia and is mixed race Irish and Chinese Malaysian.

Having grown up in Hong Kong, Brian has lived in quite a few different countries; Australia, Canada and Japan, before moving to the UK.

Email: brianjmurphyart@gmail.com

Instagram: @wootusart

ArtStation: https://www.artstation.com/wootus