What are your goals in regards to your art?

Long term, I feel drawn to educational art projects. Short term, I may turn a corner and work on more fantasy, steampunk type paintings. I’m also working on the artwork & development for my own apps/games. Additionally, I’m creating a series of animated 3D buildings & characters. Some of the buildings already have a steampunk direction, but I’ll see if it sticks.

Your paintings always feature animals. What's with the animals that inspire you in creating these amazing paintings?

I feel a certain empathy for animals. They seem like slightly exaggerated versions of ourselves. I look at my dog each day & just see another, albeit more hairy, person in the household.

Do you ever go through down times when you are not happy with your own work or skills? Do you ever face “creativity blocks?” If so, how do you overcome it?

While I create a piece of artwork I’m constantly asking myself, “Is there a way of doing this that would look better?” I wouldn’t really say that I face blocks. I think it’s more like I have too many options. I find that if I just work on something long enough the solution always presents itself, usually sooner than later. Artwork is sometimes the greatest exercise in patience.

How often do you experiment with new styles and how do you decide which suits you best? How long does it take you to create something?

In retrospect I think I created my best painting styles in 1991 (age 17) & 1998 (age 24), while oil painting. I constantly refine my digital painting style to more closely match the vigor in those old oil painting styles. On illustration projects I usually need to match the style the client requests or whatever the normal industry style may be for a given project.

General Time for completing art:

12000 px x 9600 px Painting - 65-135 hrs

Video Game

Asset rendering - 1-8 hrs

Background painting - 6-30 hrs

Create artwork with a new style for the first time - add 25-50% to time

What advice can you share with aspiring artists?

Get as many critiques as you can from both artists & non-artists. Over time these critiques will help balance your aesthetic compass. Learn from the mass amount of art tutorials online. They’re amazing & I think in some ways more educational than expensive college classes. Finally, gain a solid drawing foundation, including perspective.

More about Phil Jaeger

Phil Jaeger has worked on a diverse spectrum of art including fine arts, video games, illustration, and design. You can find more of his works on his Behance profile or website.