Gianmarco Ariemma

Character & Costume Concept Artist

Hi! My name is Gianmarco Ariemma. As a concept artist, I take a unique perspective on character & costume design. Through this original approach, I create works with intricate details and deep storytelling. I love problem-solving visual presentations and narrative elements in a creative fashion. I use my design skills to listen, depict and engage with others in a way that they feel seen and heard.

Portfolio

Character Re-Designs & Lineup

Software: Adobe Photoshop

Synopsis: In a group with others, we handled the task of translating Wizard of OZ characters as if they could exist in the world of Adventure time. I was tasked to solve designs for the Scarecrow, the actual Wizard of Oz, and the Wicked Witch of the East. The big challenge was finding the correct balance of detail, as the Adventure Time style can vary from very simple shapes to highly realistic forms.

Overwatch - International Pastry Skins

Software: Clip Studio Paint

Synopsis: In a group with others, we handled the task of creating skins for Overwatch, with the theme being "International Pastries". The idea stemmed from creating designs centered around each hero's designated nationality. From that nationality, a chosen pastry served as the framework for the hero's attire, main weapon, and one of their in-game abilities. I chose to tackle Sombra (Mexican), Ana (Egyptian) and Sigma (Dutch)

Poses & Lineup

Software: Clip Studio Paint

Hansel & Gretel + Monsters Inc.

Character Re-Designs

Software: Clip Studio Paint

Synopsis: How would the story of Hansel & Gretel exist in the world of Monsters Inc.?
This certainly was a trick question to solve at first, but I eventually settled on wanting all the characters to pay homage to the Monsters Inc. cast. I took the element of Boo's disguise to create outfits for the siblings, made witches to resemble as species to past characters, and implemented an eye motif throughout all the designs and environment keyframe. My choice for the eye motif takes from Harryhausen's sign, the Japanese restaurant in the film, and I decided to exaggerate this detail as crazily as I could.

Environment Keyframe (Hansel & Gretel at Witch's House)

Software: Clip Studio Paint

Reference Boards

Treasure Island Re-imagined

Character Re-Designs + Prop Design

Software: Clip Studio Paint

Synopsis: I took the original story of Treasure Island, and adapted it to be in a "Gilded Age Masquerade Ball" type of setting, where the map is a fake ball invitation, leading to a decrepid mansion, that is misintrepeted as a center of great wealth, much like the original island in the story. I wanted to re-intepret the characters in a way that centered around morality (a theme in the story), directly being indicated in what mask each character wears. Smollett is morally good, Blind Pew is morally bad and is lost, and LJ Silver morally falls in the middle, unable for anyone to get a read on. I also designed a prop that would match the time period, in this case a syringe, representing the "Black Spot" in the story, which is known as the mark of death for pirates back in history.

Final Renders

My 3 Aspects

Software: Clip Studio Paint

Synopsis: "What if I took myself, and I spliced myself into 3 different aspects?"
These designs center around answering this question, marrying everything I love about fashion, character & costume design, and emotional storytelling. These 3 aspects are the exterior body, interior skeleton, and inner soul, each with their own color palette and design language. A big goal of this project, was also mixing a personal symbol I utilize a lot: broken glass, with butterflies, and having these two motifs intertwine with varying degrees of balance in each aspect's design.

Individual Character Portraits

Corpus Vesternale (Corpus V.) Design Process

Software for Slide Format: Adobe Photoshop

Almosa Design Process

Software for Slide Format: Adobe Photoshop

Schelos Design Process

Software for Slide Format: Adobe Photoshop

Cloak Design & Story Keyframes

Software: Clip Studio Paint

Synopsis: This centers around the portrayal of myself in a tattered cloak. I've been drawing myself in one for a few years, and I wanted to finally expand and explore this concept. This involved fully designing the cloak, emphasizing my height and it swallowing my figure. I then paired the design, and placed it keyframes depicting me traversing in this dream-like fragmented world. I emphasized the atmosphere with color, in which the world can range from calm and eerie blues, to overwhelming and painful emotions in red.

Tattered Cloak Design

Keyframes

Keyframe 1 : Stable Mental Path

Keyframe 2 : Unstable Mental Path

Interpretation on the Yuki-Onna

Software: Clip Studio Paint

Synopsis: This design was my personal take on the Yuki-Onna, an ice spirit from Japanese folklore. This reimagining takes on a lot of my favorite elements to design: tattered fabric, fragmentation, mirrors, and a cool tone palette. I also paired this with massive flowing hair, and plenty of layered textures: mainly built-up frost and traditional fabric patterns.

Clown-based Character Design: Twila

Software: Clip Studio Paint

Synopsis: For this design, I initially wanted it to lean more towards harlequin than a traditional clown costume, with a notable desire to clash organic clothing forms with diamond shapes and sharp points based on my references. I also picked the name "Twila" based on the eventual color palette I settled with: mixing purples and yellow, as they are complementary to each other. The name "Twila" means "light in dark places", and I felt the color story worked well with this meaning.

Contact