Hello
My name is Amanda Starlein, I graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art majoring in Illustration. I’m very passionate about my work and very explorative in Concept Art and Design. I like to push my boundaries and explore new territories that I’m comfortable and uncomfortable with to grow as an artist. Illustration is my key to convey my initial ideas to create something unworldly and new. Creating character concepts and their environments to provide a sense of the life to the characters and their surroundings is how I construct an idea. I strive to push creatively when presenting ideas and create what was an idea, into a visual reality as an illustrator and an artist. My influences are heavily focused on fantasy genres because of my interest in the mythological, supernatural, and tribal themes. These influences sparked from my interest in art history from the Italian Renaissances, Roman art, and the Ancient arts. I’m capable in handling most mediums ranging from digital art with Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. I also specialize in traditional arts with graphite, acrylics, markers, ink, and charcoal. Thank you for taking the time to look through my portfolio, and please enjoy!
Rabnage
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Mecha Kha’Zix
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Hydra
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The Nine Techniques of Ezio Auditore Da Firenze
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Check Winery: The Black Queen
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The Old Hero of the Jungle
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Relive the Adventure
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Sombra’s Jungle
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The Old Hero of the Savannah
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Avis
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Artaia
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Rabnage
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Tools: Photoshop Description:
Take two iconic characters, merge them together, and create a poster to showcase them in their environment. I took Carnage from Spider-man and The White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. Spring 2011
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Left Image: The first initial sketch of Rabnage had a more static pose, but didn’t fit Carnage’s character. His feet were also scrapped and replaced with rabbits feet.
Right Image: The cloth and glasses were scrapped in the final sketch to the right but kept the ruffled collar and the iconic golden stop watch.
A closer look at Rabnage’s face, teeth, and iconic crazy tongue.
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Mecha Kha’Zix
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Tools: Photoshop Description:
A personal project to explore and experiment with metallic figures. I used a League of Legends character because of the lack of reference and took it for a personal challenge. Spring 2014
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Left Image: When first sketching Mecha Kha’Zix, I referenced a lot of Japanese battle robots since Mecha Kha’Zix doesn’t have many profile reference.
Right Image: The final sketch of Mecha Kha’Zix took a lot of trial and error. I decided to give him a more recognizable levitating pose from the game.
Close up of Mecha Kha’Zix’s head and his mouth piece. 16
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Hydra
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The first concept of the Hydra, I gave the snakes a more dragonish look instead of a serpent look. In the layout of the Hydra spread sheet, the concept had 9 heads with different horns for each head but was scrapped in the final product.
Tools: Photoshop Description:
Create a spread of any creature or story from either a mythology or fable. I chose the Hydra to experiment with movement and cooler colors. Fall 2010
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For the environment, I decided to follow the mythology and created the Hydra’s home in a mythical swamp. I chose cool greens because of the mystery surrounding swamps as well as the green acid the Hydra’s spew in the myth.
The hazy environment was intentional to give a chilling and eerie feeling for any lost wonderers who have the unfortunate of encountering the Hydra. 21
The Nine Techniques of Ezio Auditore da Firenze
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Tools:
Photoshop, Graphite, Charcoal, Cutpaper, Colored Pencils, Pen, Ink, Acrylic Marker Description:
Take any subject and create 9 techniques with said subject. I took Ezio from Assassin’s Creed to play with intense shadows. Fall 2011
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When creating the sketch, the dramatic shadows that are cast from Ezio’s hood was a perfect opportunity to play with intense shadows as well as playing around with traditional mediums. The seven 5”x 5” pieces are to show my process when using traditional mediums while the other two are digital and blind contour.
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Check Winery: The Black Queen
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Tools: Photoshop & Illustrator Description:
A group project between two classmates to create a wine brand. I was tasked with the Black Queen (piece) and contrast her to my choice of white wine. Fall 2011
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The Black Queen went through a lot of concept clothing changes. Her first concept are shown on both the left and right images, have the Queen in a English monarch clothing from around the 16th century. This idea was scrapped because we wanted to go for a more Medieval theme, especially in the clothing.
The final concept for the Queen borrowed on some of the aesthetic choices in the early concept for the Queen. We decided to keep the detachable pleated collar and her hairstyle. Her fluffed dress was flattened to fit the era as well as giving smaller amounts of jewelry. The logo was tasked for me to create, and I thought of using a typical crown but saw an opportunity to create the king’s chess piece in the center. The first name was called Tournament but the name was too long and we refined it to Check.
The Old Hero of the Jungle
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Tools: Photoshop Description:
I created a character for the jungle who would be the hero of that region in my thesis. This Panther Queen was designed to show her elegance and Aztec attire. Spring 2013
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The Panther Queen’s first design was a tiger, but the camouflage Panther’s give off in the jungle fit more for the environment I created for my thesis. Her armor was inspired by Aztec architectures with many maze like patterns and golds. While most Aztec attire was documented with tan cloth, I went for a more whimsical feeling to incorporate designs from Aztec art into the armor.
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This close up shows the detail in her face, whiskers, and her gold ware.
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Relive the Adventure
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Tools: Photoshop Description:
Nintendo of America was hosting a contest for The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. I created this piece to represent the grand scale of the game. I placed in the Top 50 and was presented at The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses. Fall 2013
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This concept was presented a lot shorter where the piece only showed the protagonist and minor protagonist. The villains were later added to show a grandness of the looming evil that Link will encounter. I decided that the Great Sea should remain static because of the beginning of the adventure was, in essence, the calm before the storm. The clouds show the calm and continue to the storm of evil.
The cyclone underneath the center of the piece was scrapped in the final product because of the conflicting thunderstorm planned at the end of the image. I didn’t want two different storms to clash in this piece.
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Close up of Link, The King of Red Lions, and Fishman floating on the calm sea.
Details of the white clouds and minor characters.
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The main antagonist where the storm rages with some of the other bosses near him.
Minor supporting characters blending into the storm clouds.
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Sombra’s Jungle
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Tools: Photoshop Description:
After taking a Interior Design class, I wanted to try to create a concept for a ruined throne room for my thesis. Stepping out of my boundaries to try something new, this was the outcome. Spring 2013
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Sombra’s Jungle was constructed while trying to introduce architecture into my drawings with basic perspective. The image to the left was the layout for the perspective drawing. 53
A close up of the throne with the panther king. 1.
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The Old Hero of the Savannah
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Tools: Photoshop Description:
Part of my thesis, I wanted to focus on a archer character for the savannah region in the world of my thesis. I picked a gazelle for their speed and camouflage in the golden lands of the grasslands. Fall 2012
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I studied and researched African tribes and their clothing. Many were colorful and mostly don’t sport clothing on top. Specifically hunter, shamans, and women are bare chested with a lot of colorful bracelets. I also added gauged piercing which was another common style in African tribes. The hooves were incorporated last and replaced human feet. This was decided so give speed for the gazelle.
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A closer look of the gazelle’s details and jewelry.
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Avis 62
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Tools: Photoshop Description:
This was a free project I used for the opportunity to construct my main character for my thesis. Avis’s concept was created in 2011, but wasn’t fully developed until this project. Spring 2012
The top image is one of the first concepts of Avis. The under arm wings were scrapped to fit him in clothing and didn’t want him to seem more like a male harpy. The wings were incorporated in Avis’s hair later on.
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This is the final preliminary layout sketch for Avis. The choice for dual swords were decided on his agility and easy ambush from the trees and mountains. 65
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Artaia 68
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Tools: Photoshop
& Mixed Mediums Description:
My senior thesis project composed of an art book of 154 pages, posters, and custom designed resume, business cards, and thesis statement. Created all within a year to show the hardships of concept art. Spring 2013
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Thank You