{"id":276696,"date":"2026-02-10T09:59:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T09:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/276696\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T09:59:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T09:59:22","slug":"turning-architecture-skills-into-epic-brutalist-fantasy-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/276696\/","title":{"rendered":"Turning architecture skills into epic Brutalist fantasy art"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tarmo Juhola was an architect for about a decade before transitioning to a full-time freelance concept artist, bringing a deep understanding of form, structure, and visual problem-solving to his creative work.<\/p>\n

With a long-standing interest in all aspects of visual and creative design, he balanced architectural practice with concept art<\/a> and illustration commissions for many years before moving fully into the entertainment industry in 2018. Since then, Tarmo has contributed to numerous AAA games and high-profile film projects, working with studios including Riot Games, Ubisoft, and Axis Animation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Based in Finland, he combines tools such as Blender, Photoshop<\/a>, Character Creator, and Rhino \u2013 often cited among the best 3D modelling software<\/a> in production \u2013 into a flexible, performance-conscious workflow, shaped by hands-on experience with the best laptops for 3D modelling<\/a>. He remains open to new opportunities across games, film, and related visual design work.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

Below, Tarmo takes us through some of his favourite art from his portfolio, available on ArtStation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Epic\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tarmo Juhola)<\/p>\n

\u201cWith my architectural background, Brutalism is a comfort zone form. With proper delineation, a building can be as imposing as a sheer cliff face.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"Epic\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tarmo Juhola)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis piece started with a five-minute shape sketch, which then transformed into something else, while retaining the initial cool silhouette.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"Epic\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tarmo Juhola)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis fantasy landscape ended up feeling a lot more grounded than I anticipated.
I guess I lean towards realism even with preposterous designs.”<\/p>\n

Daily design news, reviews, how-tos and more, as picked by the editors.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Epic\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tarmo Juhola)<\/p>\n

\u201cA night-time naval battle in an extreme storm seemed terrifying, but adding a giant sea serpent made the scenario truly terrifying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Need more inspiration? Try these books:
\n<\/p>\n

\n

\"Ten\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Ten Speed Press<\/p>\n

Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

\"Dover\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Dover Publications<\/p>\n

Fantasy World-Building: A Guide to Developing Mythic Worlds and Legendary Creatures<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

\"3DTotal\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

3DTotal Publishing<\/p>\n

Artists’ Master Series: Composition & Narrative<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tarmo Juhola was an architect for about a decade before transitioning to a full-time freelance concept artist, bringing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-276696","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-new-zealand","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}