Odysseusart

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My name is Odysseus. Painting, music and storytelling are my passions, and I decided early on to follow them, study them, and evolve as a person and artist through them.

Currently I focus on illustration for covers, card game artworks and board game art. I prefer taking on challenging projects that require time, study and skill in order to achieve a unique result. Usually I work on images that cannot be photographed, such as sci fi, fantasy and also satyre themes.

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SHORT BIO
I come from Athens, the capital of beautiful Greece. Currently I am living in central Europe, in the capital of Austria, Vienna.
During the last 10 years I have been working in several applications of Visual Art. After my studies in Graphic design and illustration, I started working as a graphic and poster designer for advertising and print.
In 2007, I was hired as a game artist by Eyelead games, a fresh company which developed a versatile engine for next gen games and at the time they were working on their first game title, Deathfall Chronicles. My job in that small and talented team was initially concept art, 3d modelling and texturing. Eventually I moved to creating matte paintings and even sound design for the game demo.

In the meanwhile I was playing music with several bands and organized exhibitions for my personal projects and pictures. One of them is the “Nart Saga”, a collection of legends from the rich mythology of the populations of mt. Caucasus. This is an on going project that combines images, storytelling and music.

After a period of freelancing and travel, I rejoined the team for the development of the awarded Planetarium Show (dome film) “Evolution”. I produced storyboards and set design illustrations, and eventually moved to matte painting and 3D modelling. It was a very interesting project.I learned much from working on it, having to jump from creating volcanoes and primitive plants to modelling the castle of Chambord and a modern metropolis.

The next period, summer of 2011, found me travelling to Vienna in order to complete the pilot for a sci fi series named Ship Happens. My work there was concept art and matte painting. I also composed the main theme (music) for the show.

After a journey to northern and western Europe, I returned to Vienna to work as music composer for a documentary series, produced by the Russian TV. The documentary was cut in episodes and featured two seasons: One was themed “World Catastrophies”, the second “Great Wars”. Alongside I was working as a storyboard artist for films.

I started working as a board game and card game artist in 2012, and developed the visual style and card artworks for the first of the ongoing board game series “Among the Stars”, by Artipia Games. I have worked on several titles since, for some of which I developed both illustrations and graphics, taking the project from the starting point until completion.

My goal at the moment is to complete a series of personal projects that combine visual art, music and storytelling.

TOOLS
My tools include both traditional mediums (acryllics-inks-aquarelle) and digital(computer, wacom tablet and painting software). Each has its strengths and weaknesses, so I often use both for different tasks in a given project.

Although I am familiar with most commercial graphics software and I own several of them, I find myself drawn to open source software such as Krita. Artists always ended up creating their own tools or customizing them to fit their particular needs. Therefore I find it exciting to be able to participate in the community, and talk directly with the programmers and other artists that use the same tool for their work. An open source software is for me like a custom made studio, which I can actively shape and more directly contribute in its evolution.

EDUCATION
I graduated from Intergraphics School of Design in Athens, 2004. I also spent 2 years studying with the illustrator and teacher Antonis Papantoniou, a brilliant and versatile artist, great resource of knowledge and encouragement.

For my musical studies, after I finished my study in piano I spent several years studying theory and composition. Oleg Mavromatis, graduate of the Moscow Conservatorium, was my teacher in music theory and composition. Nikita Kaminski taught me arrangement.

I have never stopped studying. After my time at schools and teachers I have taken every opportunity to further develop my skills. Every artist is more or less self taught, because personal experience in the field is what really produces the knowledge to reach our inner treasure.