Artist Spotlight: Devacurse Art Director, Sarit Chareonpanichkul
Sarit Chareonpanichkul, art director and illustrator for the Devacurse card game.
Our first artist spotlight column focuses on Sarit Chareonpanichkul, art director for Gandharvas Studios. Although not a member of the original game design team, Sarit’s impact has been so profound that he is accounted one of the “Six Devabrothers” or six founding fathers of Devacurse. As an artist, Sarit is gifted with a vivid imagination, a sharp eye for composition, and a precocious dedication to craft.
A dynamic sketch of a horse lord.
But what separates the 25 year old artist most from other young talents is his passionate streak of cultural nationalism. An unabashed admirer of the Thai linear style showcased in the phantasmagoric Ramayana murals of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok, Sarit seeks to revitalize and update it for modern audiences. The results are beguiling: Devacurse sports a look as elegant as it is pyrotechnic, infusing the power of contemporary fantasy illustration with a distinctly Thai grace.
Read on to learn more about Sarit and to see his work, including full color digital paintings and several previously unpublished sketches.
Sarit's iconic sketch of the garuda lord Sadayu locked in combat with two nagas.
Sarit got an early start as an artist, educated and encouraged by his father Somchai and mother Suwannee, both art teachers. He later attended Buriram Rajabhat University in Buriram, Isaan (northeast Thailand) and studied art there with mentor Sujin Sangwanmaneeneth, whom he credits along with his parents as being his primary influence. Sarit has supplemented his professional training with a good deal of self-education, using art books to learn and refine his digital skills. Sarit typically works on a single card image for an entire week, a dedication to quality that is all too rare in the often slapdash world of photoshop artists. He typically sketches each card image in fine detail before scanning it into the computer, revising, and adding color and other effects. To compare several of Sarit’s sketches with the final digital paintings, scroll down to the end of this article.
Sarit’s dedication and considerable investment of time into every work has clearly paid off. After a scant two years of experience painting digitally he is already producing professional quality work.
The craven Siwapu. The naga hero's wispy silver hair and fey features show the influence of Japanese manga, while his clothing updates traditional Thai garments.
Sarit’s artwork has clear Asian pop influences. His men have the lithe bodies, stark musculature, and exaggerated hairstyles familiar to readers of Japanese manga or Chinese manhua, and as his illustrations for the Devacurse rulebook show, he has not only studied but mastered the lessons of these East Asian comics. If he wished I’m convinced Sarit could make a solid career out of being a comicbook illustrator.
Sarit's "super-deformed" manga take (left) on Randis Albion's (Andre Weiss's) garuda lord, Sumpatee (right).
But his card illustrations replace the manic energy of comics with a subdued and lyric grace. Indeed, Sarit seems to have a taste for languid beauty that saturates everything he does. Consider the curvilinear quietude he invests in this depiction of a warrior in spiked armor, for example. The concept evokes rough brutality but Sarit’s inventive cresting wave composition suggests repose and latent power.
Blade mail, from the Vengeful Kindred expansion set.
Not all of Sarit’s work evokes Asian sources: the brooding color palette Sarit favors is more suggestive of Magic the Gathering illustrations than the bright stylings of East Asian pop culture. His smoldering rendition of Maruto the fire demon from the Vengeful Kindred expansion, for example, is rich with dark atmosphere.
Dark tones evoke Magic the Gathering, but the ornamental flames are pure Thai.
While Sarit has learned from East Asian and Western examples, however, he finds the prevailing trend to simply ape these styles boring. Sarit’s true passion and aesthetic allegiance is for the art of his homeland. Specifically, Sarit has a love for the style he calls “Thai Line”, which emphasizes linear grace and elegant patterns. He cites the dynamic battle scenes from the Ramayana murals of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha as primary examples of this style, as well as the work of modern Thai artist Chaleamchai.
Sarit indicated this battle scene from the Ramayana (Thais call it the Ramakien) murals was one of his favorites. Here the white monkey Hanuman leads a charge of monkey warriors against Ravana's demon troops. Sarit particularly enjoys the character of Hanuman, who served as a model for his rendition of Devacurse character Tuwalo (below).
Sarit’s ambition is to update this Thai visual style for modern audiences, partially by blending it with Western and Japanese elements. This is an effective way of reaching Thai players, as many younger Thais feel disassociated from their traditional arts. Sarit is optimistic that by blending Thai styles with other popular styles, he can get Thai young people excited about their own artistic heritage. Devacurse is a private venture, but Gandharvas Studios has more than profit in mind: they also have a sincere interest in inspiring cultural pride in Thai patrimony.
But the dreams of Sarit and Gandharvas Studios don’t stop at Thailand’s borders. Sarit’s vision is to take the Thai art style of the Ramayana murals global through Devacurse, so that players in foreign lands also become conversant with Thai visual culture. It’s an inventive idea, taking an artistic vision from static murals and translating it into mobile cards, then circulating them through the world’s commercial bloodstream.
For all his accomplishments, what excites me most about Sarit is his potential. If he’s already producing work this good at age 25, I can’t wait to see what he’s doing at 35. And if the visually impressive Vengeful Kindred expansion is any indication, Sarit’s director’s eye for quality is only getting sharper. With his innate talent, graceful style, and drive to improve, I expect great things from Sarit in the coming years. And with this art director in charge, I expect Devacurse will become ever more spectacular as it brings its uniquely Thai vision to the world.
Sarit's masterful illustration of the venomous Pisapop, arch villain and naga prince.
Fans will be happy to know Sarit confirmed that he will be contributing more artwork to the next, as yet unnamed, Devacurse expansion. For more insight into Sarit’s process, take a look at the sketch / digital painting juxtapositions below. To see more of Sarit’s work, scroll to the bottom of the page for links to the artist’s personal websites.
Sketch of Dronacharya, archer of Sivi.
Dronacharya, final version. This digital painting of the Mahabharata sage is Sarit's favorite work. He considers it his best realization of a contemporary Thai style yet.
Sketch of Rajinee Jaturunta, Insect Queen.
Rajinee Jaturunta, Insect Queen. Final version.
Sketch of Tuwalo, Monkey Lord.
Tuwalo, Monkey Lord. Final version.
Links of interest:
Click here to see a slideshow featuring Sarit’s digital paintings.
Click here to see Sarit’s digital art gallery on deviantart.
All images are used by permission of Sarit Chareonpanichkul and Gandharvas Studios.
