Artist Message
Canadian born artist Rob Chope spent countless hours in his basement bedroom drawing, painting, hiding and loving every second of it. Now you can find him busy at his work office or upstairs in his home art studio. Sixteen years ago he started out his journey in the commercial art world working in the matte room, changing paint bowls, answering phones and making coffee for the McNamara and Associates art agency. He has since spent fifteen of those years as senior studio artist for The Core Group, one of the most sought after art studios in Michigan. After long hours working at a computer monitor Rob decided to start sneaking in the fun stuff (sci-fi & fantasy art). Despite Rob's love of traditional mediums, he has little time to create freely. This led him down a new and inventive path. "When your job puts you in front of a huge flat screen monitor it is hard not to fall right into a new creation. I believe that the digital world has accelerated my progress and abilities. I can try any aspect of a piece in many ways and colors to study it and determine what really works best rather than wondering what something would have looked like had I approached it differently. I never have to wait for paint to dry but I do miss the smell of the acrylics, oils and pencil shavings." So when he is not retouching or illustrating professionally, he slips into the world of fantasy art. His work takes you to a bold, imaginative place full of exaggeration and wonder. Maybe it was having grown up in a family of machine designers that made Rob the odd man out but through that the challenge was presented. Making a living doing what he loves the most. Aside from his success in the commercial art industry, Rob's work has been displayed in magazines including Big Idea (covers/interiors), Create magazine as a featured artist, his "Weehawk Tribute" can be found on Ralph Bakshi's website. Online gamers across the world can experience his work in the Mafia War's saga, Mafia Wars 2, and Vampire Wars. He's also been proud to present and sell his work at C-POP Gallery - Detroit's preeminent pop culture showcase, Gallery Provocateur's Frank Frazetta Tribute and is looking forward to many more exciting opportunities of this ilk. Rob's passion for gaming art began the first time he saw a Dungeons & Dragons book and it's only grown from there. He says he has been doing this kind of art even before his professional career began and cannot imagine ever abandoning it. He counts himself lucky to be able to do something he loves so much for a living. Come see game art and more ........ |