A Masterful Friday Fan Art

(*Parents, teachers: This week's FFA involves a naturalistic depiction of a mermaid. Thus, she wears no seashell-bikini.)

I've seen lots of wonderful submissions for Friday Fan Art over the years. Each time a drawing, painting or sculpture arrives in my studio inbox, I am over the moon with joy that my work has inspired others. However, every once and awhile something comes in that completely BLOWS MY MIND.

Gilberto Magno is a CG artist working in São Paulo, Brazil. His portfolio exhibits many artistic styles, but what he excels at is digital 3D rendering.

This is the detail of a CG model of a Caribbean Mermaid from Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide.  Think that's amazing? take a look at the rest of it.

…and here is the model painted.

Gilberto even placed the model in an undersea setting, creating a convincing lifelike illustration.

Having seen the CG models used for the Spiderwick film, I can tell you that Gilberto's work is right up there with the best in the business. His attention to detail and understanding of various shapes and forms has created a stunning interpretation of the mermaid. If these jpegs weren't enough, check out this little video he created:

Keep up the fabulous work, Gilberto. I can't wait to see your name in the credits of the next blockbuster film.

Keep dreaming, keep drawing.