Erik Ly is an illustrator and digital artist who creates elegantly surreal illustrations, character art and animal drawings. He has worked in video games as well as creating designs for brands such as Amazon and Serif.
You can watch Erik Ly's character design video tutorial and read Erik Ly's 16 tips for digital sketching to see his process, and read our guide to the best drawing tablets to get up and running yourself. But back to Erik's studio, and he takes us on a tour.
"I’ve been living and working out of this apartment for close to seven years now. It has seen so many updates as my tastes have changed and my equipment evolved over the years. This should be this apartment’s final form! My wife and I plan on moving to something larger and more permanent, hopefully by next year.
I was once told that when humans spend such a large amount of their lives driving, they should invest in a car they actually like and want to drive daily. I’ve taken that sentiment to heart. The office chair of my studio is where most of my time is spent, so I’ve invested all my efforts into upgrading the space. All the art books, trinkets, figures and artwork on the wall makes it such a happy little studio space for me."
All the artbooks, trinkets, figures and artwork on the wall makes it such a happy little studio space
Erik Ly
"My studio is covered with figures from my favourite series. FromSoftware has a strong presence, along with Berserk, Monster Hunter and Digimon. In the corner I have motorcycle equipment along with my accessories, like rings and bracelets. My Canon Pro-1000 is constantly pumping out prints I sell at conventions and in my online store. In future, I’d also like to make room for a drafting table to go back to my roots and focus on more traditional artwork.
My work has a balance between freelance, conventions and keeping up my social media presence. There are times when I can take it easy and work on my own personal projects. Then there are months I have freelance coming from multiple directions, plus conventions! I go from zero to 100 so quickly and get hectic, but I’m always trying to take things in my stride and I’m grateful I can do art for a living.
I tend to travel a lot more these days for conventions. I generally have around 10 shows a year, and I maybe fly out for almost half of those. After spending usually a week away from home doing a show, nothing feels better than when I finally get to come home, relax and be back in my studio."
Erik is a contemporary illustrator who has worked on beloved series including Mortal Kombat, Mega Man, Sonic, Star Wars and more! Check out his art on Instagram or on his website.
Artist in residence: Erik Ly
Erik's studio setup, clockwise from top left. "I picked this up in Japan. If you glance quickly, it almost looks like the creature has its mouth open and is displaying a row of odd teeth!
"A bottle of Highland Park scotch whisky from my best friend at the time. I only have two to five glasses a month. All good things in moderation!
"I told my buddy that I was going to feature in ImagineFX, and he asked me to give him a shout-out. Go check out Alex Dos Diaz’s art!
"A stuffed animal by PunchingPandas. I love boxing – I actually have a punching bag to the right of my desk! So when I saw this little guy at Emerald City Comic Con in 2019, I had to have him.
"I set up this table for books and references, but when Luna and Leo started jumping up, it made for an extra bed.
"My own playmat I created. I think playmats are a great product to sell at shows, but they can get so heavy when travelling around. I felt like a little red would tie the room together nicely and make the desk feel less empty.
"I have so many books spread across my apartment. They are all art books, but in future I’d love to have a large bookcase in the living room.
"Printers like this one need to be used almost daily, or else they’ll self-clean and waste a bunch of ink. When I’m travelling, I have friends and family stop by to feed our cats and do a basic nozzle check once a day to make sure it isn’t wasting ink.
"It’s a tight little space, but I’m doing my best to utilise all of it. I’m a bit more careful with what I choose to collect these days.
CRT is a personal, bittersweet illustration that won the best digital art award at Dragon Con 2024.
"Here’s some unsolicited advice: I just got into the Digimon Card Game with my wife. If you like money, then don’t do that!"
"When it comes to collecting toys, I usually choose action figures over statues. The simple pleasures of posing and accessorising a figure is something I take very seriously! They’re also often much smaller than statues and space is in short supply here in my apartment. Because these can be posed, I also enjoy using them as reference for my work."
"This is my Wacom Cintiq 27 Pro! It’s the largest tablet I’ve ever owned. I just purchased this in 2023, and before that I used my Cintiq 13HD for close to eight years. You certainly don’t need a massive tablet to produce good work, but it’s a luxury that doesn’t hurt, that’s for sure."
"Ascension, a best-selling piece of mine that’s based on the Chinese folk tale of the Dragon Gate."
"I love fighting games, and I thought it was about time I actually made my own custom stick! I even created custom artwork just for this niche controller. Tekken is my current jam."
"James Jean’s Peppermint Cobra. My wife gifted me this incredibly rare signed print. It’s one of his earlier pieces, done in 2008 for a collaboration with Hint Mint. Now it’s the centrepiece of my studio. "
"Fire and Ice was a little dream of mine, being able to draw Sub-Zero and Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. This was commissioned by the franchise itself to promote the newest game."
"I was able to acquire this original ink drawing by one of my favourite artists! I’m a sucker for crocodiles and alligators. I feel super lucky to purchase this piece at Tomer Hanuka’s 2023 Gallery Nucleus exhibit."
This content originally appeared in ImagineFX magazine, the world's leading digital art and fantasy art magazine. ImagineFX is on sale in the UK, Europe, United States, Canada, Australia and more. Limited numbers of ImagineFX print editions are available for delivery from our online store (the shipping costs are included in all prices)
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