Torstein Nordstrand is an illustrator and concept artist based in the Bergen area of Norway.
His clients include St Martin’s Press, Random House, Wizards of the Coast, Upper Deck, White Wolf Publishing, Cappelen Forlag and Gyldendal Norsk Forlag.
There are portfolios of his work on his own website, the Shannon Associates site and on CGHub.
When viewing the images on either of the latter two, be sure to click on the intermediate size images to view the larger versions, as much of the appeal of his use of texture and scale are much better appreciated in large images.
Nordstrand’s primary subjects range through fantasy, horror and science fiction themes, often with different treatments within the genres.
He has a particular fascination with the visual effects of intense light sources scattered by atmosphere, flaring and dissolving at the edges, often framing his subjects in dramatic semi-vignette.
Nordstrand also makes interesting use of patterns in the sprays of light that sometimes surround his figures, as well as nicely suggested patterns on cloth and other materials.
Nordstrand works primarily digitally, painting in applications like Photoshop and Painter, as well as some ZBrush and 3ds max modeling.
