From Rising Stars To Art Legends…

Catch up For 11 years ImagineFX has led the charge for digital art. Beren Neale talks to the artists who’ve been with us on the journey.

In February 2006 Jon McCoy was in his first year of Transport Design at Huddersfield University. Although his course provided plenty of challenges, it was seeing his art in a new digital art magazine that energised him to continue with his chosen path in art. “When I was featured in issue five of ImagineFX, back in 2006, I was at the stage where I think artists mostly need encouragement combined with clinical, constructive feedback,” Jon says. “It’s a stage where many habits are formed and tastes developed. ImagineFX gave me a lot of encouragement in featuring me as a Rising Star, and really helped push me to practise and develop more.”

Last year Jon was a concept artist on Rogue One – the latest in a long list of big films he’s worked on, including the forthcoming Blade Runner 2049.

For the ImagineFX team, it doesn’t get any better than stories like this – to hear that we played a part, no matter how small, in an artist finding clarity, getting inspired, and eventually achieving their goals.

And it’s always been this way. The magazine launched at the time of a burgeoning online scene filled with passionate artists of all skill levels, and has grown with them over 11 years. Having identified a friendly online community with sci-fi and fantasy art as the common thread, we aimed to reflect them, to champion art legends and encourage those starting out.