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Welcome to my my Portfolio Page.

This is where you'll find my professional work (and some personal pieces as well).

As always, I'm unable to post my current work, as it's for films that have yet to hit the big screen.

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Sunday, February 3, 2008

The Phantom 2040

In the early '90s, I did a few concept illustrations for an animated series called "The Phantom 2040". The show got great reviews, but didn't last long...33 episodes...none of which I ever saw. Consequently, I have no idea if any of my designs were even used. But I was pretty happy with a few of the paintings, so here they are.

Sorry for the obvious Syd Mead / Blade Runner rip off; it's what they wanted. I had just finished work on Dick Tracy, and the producers specifically wanted their city to look like a cross between Dick Tracy and Blade Runner. Syd Mead was way too expensive, so I got the job.
(They're all painted in acrylic.)

The City


City : Detail


Arch Nemesis' Office


Police Chief's Office

38 comments:

Le Tang said...

Amazing concepts. I don't recall ever seeing 'Phantom 2040', hmmm...

Dominus said...

never heard of Phantom 2040 but Blade Runner is screaming out of those concepts! awesome work!

filipe said...

Hi !
It's really an amazing work, you've got there.
I'd like to know, how should we do, to have you working on a project?
lordshion@hotmail.com
Best regards

Benjamin Plouffe said...

i really like the last 2 interiors!

Mark McDonnell said...

Ah, you friggin' nailed it man!!! There's a beautiful Sydness in the buildings of the major city but also a greater development of lighting . . .style with more of a reality based lighting system. And the bottom INT. are awesome and full of great light and a great hint at the beauty of old hollywood in a more developed way. . . .if any of that makes sense,

MAC

Leighton Hickman said...

Gorgeous paintings! I love how loose the brushwork is on the detail of the city yet how insanely tight the rendering looks in the larger image. The lighting in the office is simply amazing. Is there anyway we could persuade you to do an acrylic demo?

Ben Mauro said...

great lighting and detailing, those look like a lot of fun.

TLE said...

Hi Paul--
Another inspiring post. I check-out your blog on a regular basis, and decided to finally leave a comment and tell you how much I admire your work.

best wishes,
_tommy lee edwards
www.TommyLeeEdwards.com

SEILER said...

Wow, these are amazing . . . love the lighting in the Police Office, seriously INTENSE!

Joe Kresoja said...

Strong acrylic Kung-fu you got!

Jeff Harter said...

Wonderful. Love the city scapes. I'm a sucker for Blade Runner-esque. But I think you succeeded in veering away slightly from BR in your own unique way. Looking forward to seeing more.

AlexTuis said...

The interior are really great, I am really amazed by the shadows on the book.
I do not really understand what is the processs.
I did not see the Phantom, but it was maybe an animated serie?

RAWLS said...

Beautiful beautiful work Paul!! Talent out the wahzoo!! Keep up the great work my friend!

roque said...

These are gorgeous.

Shuku said...

Paul, f I short-circuit my keyboard out with drool, it is entirely your fault...those are so beautiful. And acrylics! YAY acrylics, I love painting with them on the rare occasions I -do-.

You even put in the ubiquitous green light in the police chief's office! Man, those things are -everywhere-, even in the 1930s and 40s (we worked on a friend's graduating film in uni, and one of the props we had to find was That Green Lamp.) I love how there's a stone representation of Medusa in the Arch Nemesis' office too, with all that cold, veined green-grey marble. Very much a character study (and anyways the old Greeks, they knew cruel.) The cityscape...mmmm. Purr. Makes me want to do more building drawings now since I can't do those for nuts...

Sooooooooo beautiful. Another Good Lord moment!

--Shuku
Wire, wire, and POINTY OBJECTS.

Paul Lasaine said...

Thanks for the comments everyone!

Shuku,
Ahh yes, the green lamp. It just seemed right.

And the Nemesis's office: My favorite part of her office is the lack of anywhere to sit. Very intentional...if you have the misfortune of being in her office, it's probable because you screwed up in some way, and the last thing she wants is for you to be comfortible as you stare up at that giant Medusa head looming over her desk.

Alina Chau said...

AWESOME!

Shuku said...

Paul,

You know...I had originally thought that was the Nemesis' HALL leading into her office because of the lack of chairs. But you are absolutely right - who wants to be comfortable staring up -at- that Medusa head! - and oh yes. Screwed up is the word. I wish I could remove the PHONE from my office at times and send Medusa tentacles through mindwaves but...

--Shuku

Manu Martin said...

Amazing piece of work.. a great inspiration to develop my blog

C.Deboda said...

Super nice! I'm also especially liking that last 2 interiors as well. Try to keep up the good work, will you please?

Josh Kao said...

wow and all done in acrylic too.....

Randy Bantog said...

looks fantastic!

Bojana said...

I love your bold brush stroke...you did a wonderful job! It has a Blade Runner feel to it, but it's fresh and bright, and therefore different...

Marc said...

Beautiful paint handling. Your images always read so well as a whole, but reveal a wealth of juicy details and loose brushwork up close. I have to agree with Leighton about hoping for a demo. Since you seem to miss real paint so much (cough, cough) um... wouldn't a demo be a good excuse to break out the brushes? I'm shameless...I know.

Brian Growe said...

Whoa, your work is really good!

Marcelo Vignali said...

These are really amazing Paul!

Gracia said...

Oh my! Beautiful and technically amazing!! as always.. I really like the last interior! Brilliant! thanks for sharing :D

stathis said...

Hi Paul
I wonder, could you be so kind as to describe for me the process you go through to create such wonderful work? Do you use visual references? If so, what kind? I'd appreciate any input really because I'm trying to illustrate already written stories and I need all the help I can get. Thanx in advance

Daniel Ted said...

Surreal.

alf said...

Hi Paul!
There is no use to say how much I like these paintings, I always wanted to be able to do it like you.
What I always wonder, watching your paintings, is how you begin. How you decide where to put a big dark spot, or a light one. The first brush strokes in paintings like these are even more amazing to me, than all the fantastic details, textures and final light reflections.
Thanks for posting your incredible works!

Alessandra Sorrentino said...

Beautiful paintings Paul.
The Chief's office is so cool! :)

bog_art said...

All of them are master piece!!.. and I don't have more words to say..

jeremy melton said...

Very very very well done sir!

XaviC said...

Really amazing paintings. It's always a very good pleasure to see this level of traditional painting nowadays. Really like the.

Draco said...

OMG!!! I'm a very huge fan of Phantom 2040!!. I cannot believe you worked in that project!!. Not so many people know about this animated series but I can assure everyone that it's totally amazing. Great Characters, great concept, great plot. And I'm very pleasent of finding this images. High Quality indeed, as everythig else involved in this series.

Omar "OX" Rodriguez said...

amazing city shots....truly inspiring

nakano said...

I can't remember if these designs were used, but I'm pretty sure I watched this show as a kid, if the main character wears purple and has a skull ring.

Tertius said...

You've been working at the Phantom 2040 design? Amazing! I really liked this show back then. This cyberpunk universe when the internet era was just beginning... I didn't even know what a modem was, and it was the name of a young hacker character.

Graft and his exoskeletton, the crazy TV-reporter "doctor Jack" and his brain-plugs... great charcters indeed! And the plot, though it was putting Bengale in Africa, it was unusually dense for a TV-show.

Here on Dailymotion, you can find, with the usual crappy sound and image, the series' episodes:

http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/Phantom%2B2040

But I rather doubt that you'll recognize your art in the final product. Ain't that, after all, the fate of any original artwork for a TV-show?