Zach Montoya

“My work is very atmospheric, generally inspired by my childhood in the Pacific northwest,” says Zach. He’ll often finish off his traditional art in Photoshop.

1 Zeal

“I was inspired by Old Master paintings where the earth-toned underpainting shows through in shadows, giving this beautiful glow. I used washes of Burnt sienna liquid acrylic over a line drawing, then passed over it in oils.”

2 Mem ory of Running

“Part of the reason I tend to mainly draw women is because I like the way women’s fashion looks. There’s also something about sleeve tattoos on women that really appeals to me.”

3 Gathering

“I was inspired by the grey, snowy days from my childhood. I wanted to see how much I could get out of the watercolour textures while still using a tight rendering technique.”

4 Call ing

“This was a bit more esoteric in its theme. I often try to reconcile my realistic painting techniques with something more stylistic. I wanted to make the bird and the hair feel very painterly, without being strictly realistic.”

Fancy sharing your traditional art with your fellow readers? Then email five pieces of your work and a short explanation about each one, along with a photo and a few details about yourself, to fxpose@imaginefx.com