“This image depicts one of the factions from a
personal project that I started, called Genesis Wars.
It’s a project about rival factions of mechanised
nations fighting against each other during a pivotal
moment in their history.
These guys are the servants of wizards whom have
managed to rebel from their evil masters and now
wish to take part in the mayhem. These mech andGENESIS WARS
Alex explains how he portrayed a
army of distinctive killing machinesInterview
help that the art department at
Portland State University College of
the Arts insisted Alex’s work, mainly
illustration stuff, wasn’t proper art. He
dropped out and found conceptart.org,
which proved not only that illustration
was proper art, but that people paid
the bills by doing it.
Aged 21, Alex moved to Austin,
Texas. He hung out and studied with
artists from The Art Department,
which offered online lessons and face-
to-face workshops. Here, the artist was
encouraged to experiment. The
instructors were illustrators with plenty
of industry experience. So whatever
the student felt like doing, the
instructors would help them work out
how to get it done. They knew how to
solve visual problems in exciting ways.
“It was a fun time with long hours in
the studio and lots of figure drawing.
This was the beginning of me taking
art very seriously. This was probably
around 2012, and I’ve been pursuing
it ever since.”
Alex often stayed at The Art
Department till the early hours. One
night, he was working alone when he
heard the doors slamming and
footsteps across the f loor. Just two
instructors had keys, so he assumed it
was one of them. He had a look
around, but nobody was there. This
building was a former funeral home.
The room in which Alex workedIt was a fun time with long hours in
the studio... This was the beginning of
me taking art very seriously
OBLISKURA MOOD
This image from Obliskura shows
Alex’s skill when it comes to mood
and lighting, something he learned
from observational drawing.