Andreas Rocha on maintaining balance, zooming out, and the quest for the perfect painting
A labyrinthine wildwood, a grove of cursed oaks, floating mountains in an evening snowstorm, or an enchanted, dilapidated manor house... these are just a handful of the environments that Andreas has created over the last year for Fablecraft. As one of our primary environmental artists, Andreas is a wizard at conjuring new and strange landscapes and interiors. You can see his pictures throughout the regions of Mythas, but none more extensively than the Wildwoods. He is also the driving force behind the strange and wonderful rooms players will explore in the upcoming Fablecraft adventure, The House in the Manor.
Name: Andreas Rocha
Socials: @andreas.rocha | @andreas_rocha
Location: Lisbon, Portugal
Artistic superpower: Being aware of my flaws!
Interests beyond painting: Board games, eating (and cooking), jogging, walking around nature, and Lisbon
Couldn't live without: My pillow
Favorite ice cream flavor: Pistachio and Coconut
Can you tell us a bit about how you came to be a professional artist?
ANDREAS: It wasn’t a planned thing, that’s for sure. It was actually during my college degree as an architect that I found out about digital art, a long time ago. I had always loved drawing, but painting was something that was full of frustrations because I just wasn’t able to get to the level of the artists I admired using traditional media. When I bought my first tablet everything changed and I was fascinated with the things I could create. Of course it was only about 6 years later that I finally got to a level where I started to get requests. And a few years later I finally got to the point where I could kiss architecture goodbye and focus on digital painting full-time.
A riverside hamlet nestled at the base of the Highland mountains
Recently, rumors of a nearby haunting have reached the townsfolk
Who are your biggest artistic influences?
ANDREAS: Two artists that cemented my love for fantasy art quite early during my adolescence were Drew Struzan with his amazing movie posters and Jeff Easley who created some true classics for Dungeons & Dragons. I must confess that I was never a great admirer of the Grand Masters of old. I was very often attracted to landscape paintings of much lesser known artists. Later on, when the Internet and digital art boomed I was fascinated by the works of Craig Mullins and Khang Le. However, now there are dozens of digital artists that I admire as much as these artists I just mentioned.
Tell us about your favorite medium to work with.
ANDREAS: My favorite medium is, of course, the digital one. I use a Wacom Intuos tablet, a large monitor and Photoshop. However, I always try to mimic traditional media to some degree. The textures and expressive brushstrokes are something that gives a painting so much character!
The ever-changing Wildwoods are widely considered to be the most mysterious regions in Mythas
What are your main sources of inspiration?
ANDREAS: I would say my main source of inspiration really is browsing through the Internet and seeing what all the other amazing artists out there are creating. A daily dose is enough to keep me inspired. On the other hand, walking through nature and my hometown of Lisbon also always fills my head with new ideas.
What motivates you to create?
ANDREAS: Not sure if you could call this motivation, but waiting for those precious hours when I can close shop of client work and delve into my own personal creations is something that keeps me highly motivated. I also love exploring new techniques to see if I can get to good results in a shorter amount of time…but I still haven’t found the holy grail though :)
The route through the forest changes based on time of day. A Woodland guide is strongly encouraged.
Tell us about a day in your life as an artist.
ANDREAS: My life is so intermingled with other things that I couldn’t refer to just the artist part of it. I am constantly doing home and family related things. I keep jumping between painting, washing clothes, painting, picking up the kids from school, painting, preparing lunch, etc…but, although I keep complaining to my wife about it, I think it is actually a very healthy thing. For starters it keeps my eyes “fresh” so I don’t get stuck on a painting for too long. And then I also value each moment that I can spend sitting at the computer painting. My life as an artist also involves a lot of browsing through ArtStation, finding out about other artists and painting techniques. I also love to browse through my traditional painting techniques books, which have helped me a lot in my progression and it is always a good idea to take a look at them from time to time.
Cursed Groves occur when their roots become disconnected from the Wildwood
Can you walk us through your process when working on Fablecraft artwork, from brief through to final execution?
ANDREAS: My approach to a painting is always changing, but the process I used the most for Fablecraft was starting out with a few colored small sketches after reading through the brief and clearing out any doubts with Darci. She would then pick 1 or 2 of those sketches and I would develop those further. Once one of those sketches was approved, I would resize the sketch to the final image size and start detailing it.
An early draft of “Into the Woods”
ANDREAS: I like to gradually zoom in stages while painting, so I would work for a few sessions at a very zoomed out level until I was pleased with the outcome. I would then zoom in and take the painting to a finished stage at that zoom level. I would repeat these steps until I was working only on a few zoomed in areas to bring the level of detail to a satisfactory level. In the end I usually do a few color adjustments to give the painting that extra flavor and also add a few color washes to bring the elements together.
Into the Woods final render
Talk us through one of your Fablecraft pieces. Which element(s) are you happiest with? What was the most challenging part of working on this piece?
ANDREAS: My favorite piece is clearly “Into The Woods”. I really like the way the painting pushes you in and I am a sucker for forests with giant trees and large roots. I also like the twisting tree trunks, branches and roots. I don’t remember what the most challenging part was, but I do remember that the painting came to a stage where there were too many details everywhere and I decided to simplify some areas and focus on the larger shapes rather than the details. I am really glad the painting came out successfully in the end as that is something that I (unfortunately) can’t control.
What is your favorite piece of Fablecraft work that you didn't work on? We would love it if you would shout out another artist whose work you admire!
ANDREAS: I love Sam Burley’s depictions of the Coral Coasts, I greatly admire Anthony Avon’s Highlands (he is master of the earthen tones) and Karma Cats by Brian Valeza is a true winner!
The Coral Coasts by Sam Burley
Highland Caverns by Antony Avon
Karma Cats by Brian Valeza
How do you manage a work-life balance as an artist?
ANDREAS: As I said before, I think my balance is achieved by equally investing time in artist related activities and non artist related activities, like family, sports and leisure.
The manor house of the late Baroness Grandidier, of Grandidier Mining fame
What are your ultimate career goals?
ANDREAS: One of my career goals is to find a painting process that will only produce successful paintings. It is not really a “career” goal as I think I have already achieved my main “career” goal which is to spend most of my life painting. However, I have had many frustrations, because I have created much more unsuccessful paintings than successful ones. If I could only find that “perfect” painting process…but, on the other hand I hope I will never find it, because the path to get there is what makes it fun.
Wildwood forests orbit around a single, central Heart Tree – the most sacred and magical tree of the region.
Any advice for aspiring artists out there?
ANDREAS: These are very specific tips but they have helped me immensely.
1. Keep an organized reference library, be it photos or other artists’ paintings
2. Learn your shortcuts and try to make your painting process as quick as possible
3. Zoom out a lot and start small
4. Make lots and lots of intervals during your painting process to keep a fresh eye. Another thing that is also good practice is to work on more than one painting, constantly switching between them.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
ANDREAS: None! I am so glad to be where I am that I wouldn’t change a thing. The mishaps, failures and frustrations will only make you stronger!
Highland villages are carved directly into the mountainside and many settlements stretch far beneath the rock.
Check out more of Andreas’s work on Riftweaver’s new TTRPG, Fablecraft. Fablecraft is a cooperative digital tabletop roleplaying game set in the vibrant, hopeful world of Mythas. The platform integrates interactive battlemaps, video, audio, and text chat, digital dice and unique game system, and a library of artwork and music, to bring your stories to life.
