Philip Straub

Philip's luminous and meticulously detailed digital and traditional oil paintings have classical influences but are purely based on the fantastic. Many images are derived from the ever present surreal worlds that play out in his mind like lucid dreams throughout the day. His visions are inhabited by unique characters and filled with imaginative architecture and lush vegetation that seems to come to life, bursting with vibrant colors and dramatic lighting. Philip focuses on invoking an emotional response from his images through composition, color, light and subject matter. Although a conceptual...

Philip's luminous and meticulously detailed digital and traditional oil paintings have classical influences but are purely based on the fantastic. Many images are derived from the ever present surreal worlds that play out in his mind like lucid dreams throughout the day. His visions are inhabited by unique characters and filled with imaginative architecture and lush vegetation that seems to come to life, bursting with vibrant colors and dramatic lighting. Philip focuses on invoking an emotional response from his images through composition, color, light and subject matter. Although a conceptual illustrator at heart, his ability to successfully execute a variety of styles has allowed him to work with an array of clients producing imagery ranging from the dark and fantastic to the playful and charming. Philip's use of traditional media with 3D and 2D software to create his illustrations, has garnered him international acclaim among a variety of artistic circles. He has been a featured artist numerous times in several publications including; The Society of Illustrators NY and Los Angeles Annuals, Spectrum Fantasy Annuals, Expose' digital fine art books, ImagineFX Magazine, Advanced Photoshop Magazine, Corel Painter Magazine, Fantasy Magazine, 2D artist Magazine, It's Art Magazine, and on dozens of digital art websites and forums.
As an Art Director, Philip Straub has overseen Concept Development studio wide for a variety of NCSoft's original IP including; Guild Wars, Tabular Rasa, and Lineage Forever. Prior to working at NCSoft, Philip was Studio Art Director for Electronic Arts overseeing visual development for over 8 franchise' including; Madden, NCAA, Tiger Woods, and NASCAR. While at EA Philip developed a centralized Concept team that created visual development for over 10 products consecutively. In addition to character, environment, and UI Design, his team developed in game cinematics, marketing materials, and logo brand development. Reaching beyond his Art Director duties, he also taught a Concept Art class at EA University helping to grow Concept Artists within the studio and was on Electronic Arts Worldwide Preproduction council working with other company representatives to improve the console game prototyping process.
Philips work has appeared in over 30 children's books and he has Co-Authored three digital art tutorial books. In the entertainment industry he has worked with many clients including; Mattel, Fisher Price, Disney, Universal studios, Warner Brothers, DC Comics, and Knowledge Adventure. Philip is a founding member of the CGSociety and regularly contributes to the illustration and digital art communites by judging illustration competitions including; The Society of Illustrators, Painter, Expose, and CG Challenges hosted by the CGSociety.
Philip's licensed designs are appearing on a variety of products: books, games, wall murals, scrap booking, gift, stationery and textiles. As a freelance illustrator his work has appeared on broadcast media, book jackets, CD covers, magazine covers, trading cards, in feature films, and included in advertising campaigns. A short list of clients include; Scholastic, John Wiley and Sons, Universal Studios, Cendant, Fisher Price, Mattel, Utne Reader, RJ Reynolds, Bonner and Co, Big Tuna Trading and Mercer Mayer, McGraw-Hill, Simon and Schuster, Harper Collins, TSR, Random House, Draft Worldwide, Ballistic Media, Magic the Gathering, Golden Books, Future Publishing, Harper Festival, Corel, Electronic Arts, 3D Total, Zoo Publishing, Softmotion, Brewster Wallcoverings, American Traditional, Satchi and Satchi, Martin Design, David Textiles, Gander Mountain, CR Gibson, Wizards of the Coast, Sci Fi Channel, Popcap Games, Synthelabo Global, Stylorouge, Toyota, and Nickelodeon.