The Gnomon Workshop

Igor Staritsin

Creating an Epic Matte Painting Shot: Advanced Techniques with Igor Staritsin

Image Gallery

Personal Website

Igor Staritsin

Senior Matte-Painter and Concept Designer

Igor Staritsin is a Senior Matte-Painter and Concept Designer working in the film and video game industries. He has worked for various visual effect companies all over the globe, such as Digic Pictures, Axis Animation, Warner Brothers, MPC, Pixomondo, Disney and National Geographic. He has contributed to a wide range of projects such as Maleficent, Game of Thrones, Gone with the Bullets, winner of the 2015 Asian Film Award for Best Visual Effects, Grey Goo (videogame cinematic), Jersey Boys, Welcome to the Punch, The Dream of a Butterfly and many more. Igor has also been featured in several books, including Ballistic Publishing’s D'artiste Matte-Painting 3, with nine of his matte-paintings. He has a deep appreciation for traditional art that has helped him work both digitally and traditionally.

"Igor is one of the most talented artists I have had the pleasure to work with. He has an incredible artistic eye, pays attention to details and always delivers the highest quality of work. If you want to learn from the best artists - he is definitely one of them!"
- Oleksiy Golovchenko
Senior matte painter (Double Negative, MPC)
"Igor Staritsin paints with Light. The highest Resolution"
- Juan Jesus Garcia – Xuasus
Senior Matte Artist Generalist at ILM
"I've always loved seeing Igor design his environments. From the concepts to the finished digimattes, he always has such a strong foundation to build upon. In the end, the art that he produces really transport you into that newly created world."
- David Luong
Senior Cinematic Artist II - Blizzard Entertainment
"Igor is an experienced matte-painter and concept designer who has been working on many feature films and video game cinematics. His art reflects great understanding of artistic essentials along with his versatile knowledge of the technical aspects in matte-painting. This tutorial is definitely a great introduction for everyone who wants to get into professional field.”
- Lubos de Gerardo Surzin
Senior DMP Concept Artis
"To create strange new worlds from nothing then bring them to life. Igor Staritsin is a creator and this is his craft”
- Karl Sisson
Senior Matte Painter at Weta Digital