Erik D. Martin is a visual development artist based in Los Angeles and currently working for Disney Interactive.
His past clients include Nickelodeon Animation, Hasbro Animation, Disney Imagineering and Jim Henson, among others, He also contributed work as a color artists on Kazu Kbuishi’s beautiful Amulet graphic novel project.
Martin has the kind of springy, energetic style often characteristic of the best concept art, with lively drawing underpinning an effective use of controlled color. I particularly like the way he handles atmospheric perspective in his landscape environments.
On his website, you can find galleries of his work divided into categories like Environments, Visual Development, Character Design and Sketches. Don’t miss the Props gallery, which is more interesting than you might suspect (images above, second from bottom). There is also a section for Storyboards and Sketches. (Avoid the “Client Portfolio” section; it leads to a login page that is hard to back out of.)
Martin Also maintains a blog where he posts both professional and personal work, including some plein air paintings (above, bottom).
Martin has conducted an online class in Digital Painting for the Computer Graphics Master Academy, which is still available (for the CGMA’s usual fee).
There is a small Erik Martin gallery on the Creative Talent Network (where you can also find links to many more talented concept and visual development artists).
