Dylan Cole is an American Digital Matte-Painter and concept artist specializing in work for film, television, and video games. Cole received a degree in

fine arts In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwo ...

from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

. He is best known for his work on feature films like ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 c ...

'' trilogy, ''

Avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appeara ...

'' and its sequel, '' Daredevil'', ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creature ...

'', '' Tron: Legacy'', ''

Maleficent Maleficent ( or ) is a fictional character who appears as the main antagonist in Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions' List of Walt Disney Animation Studios films, 16th animated feature film, ''Sleeping Beauty (1959 film), Slee ...

'' and '' The Chronicles of Riddick''. He recently published his first book, '' The Otherworldly Adventures of Tyler Washburn''.

Matte-painting community

Cole co-authored the book ''D'artiste Matte Painting: Digital Artists Master Class'' in which he shares of his work process and industry experiences throughout his career, and through the Gnomon Workshop has released instructional DVDs featuring his digital matte painting techniques.

Recognition

Awards and nominations

As part of the team that created the artwork for

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post- New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability ...

's 2009 film ''

'' Cole received a 2010

Directors Guild of America Award The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D. W. Griffith. The statues are made by New York firm, Society Awards. Cate ...

for Excellence in Production Design. He also received nominations from

Art Directors Guild The Art Directors Guild (ADG; IATSE Local 800) is a trade union, labor union and local of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees, International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) representing 2,979 motion pic ...

for Excellence In Production Design For A Fantasy Feature Film for both ''

'' and '' Tron: Legacy''. Cole stated that his inspiration for the forests of Avatar came from a trip on the

Kuranda Skyrail Skyrail Rainforest Cableway is a scenic tourist cableway running above the Barron Gorge National Park, in the Wet Tropics of Queensland’s World Heritage Area in Australia. It operates from the Smithfield terminal () in Cairns to the ...

Partial filmography

* '' Daredevil'' (2003) * '' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' (2003) * ''

Van Helsing A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across ...

'' (2004) * '' The Chronicles of Riddick'' (2004) * ''

I, Robot ''I, Robot'' is a fixup (compilation) novel of science fiction short stories or essays by American writer Isaac Asimov. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines '' Super Science Stories'' and ''Astounding Science Fiction'' bet ...

'' (2004) * ''

Little Black Book Little Black Book may refer to: * An address book, particularly one containing the names of past or potential romantic or sexual partners * Little Black Book, an annual feature of the ''Tatler'', a British magazine * Little Black Book, Elrey Borge ...

'' (2004) * ''

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow ''Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'', often shortened to ''Sky Captain'', is a 2004 science fiction action-adventure film written and directed by Kerry Conran in his directorial debut, and produced by Jon Avnet, Sadie Frost, Jude Law an ...

'' (2004) * '' The Aviator'' (2004) * '' Flight of the Phoenix'' (2004) * ''

The Ring Two ''The Ring Two'' is a 2005 American supernatural psychological horror film and a sequel to the 2002 film '' The Ring'', which was a remake of the 1998 Japanese film '' Ring''. Hideo Nakata, director of the original Japanese film ''Ring'', on w ...

'' (2005) * ''

A Sound of Thunder "A Sound of Thunder" is a science fiction short story by American writer Ray Bradbury, first published in ''Collier's'' magazine in the June 28, 1952, issue and later in Bradbury's collection '' The Golden Apples of the Sun'' in 1953. ...

'' (2005) * '' Herbie: Fully Loaded'' (2005) * '' Four Brothers'' (2005) * '' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' (2005) * '' The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'' (2006) * ''

Superman Returns ''Superman Returns'' is a 2006 American superhero film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris from a story by Singer, Dougherty and Harris based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the sixth and final i ...

'' (2006) * ''

Evan Almighty ''Evan Almighty'' is a 2007 American comedy film, and a spin-off of ''Bruce Almighty'' (2003). The film was directed by Tom Shadyac, written by Steve Oedekerk, based on the characters created by Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe from the original fi ...

'' (2007) * ''

The Kite Runner ''The Kite Runner'' is the first novel by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini. Published in 2003 by Riverhead Books, it tells the story of Amir, a young boy from the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul. The story is set against a backdrop ...

'' (2007) * ''

The Golden Compass ''Northern Lights'' (titled ''The Golden Compass'' in North America and some other countries) is a young-adult fantasy novel by Philip Pullman, published in 1995 by Scholastic UK. Set in a parallel universe, it follows the journey of Lyra Be ...

'' (2007) * '' 3:10 to Yuma'' (2007) * '' Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End'' (2007) * ''

Speed Racer ''Speed Racer'', also known as , is a Japanese media franchise about Auto racing, automobile racing. ''Mach GoGoGo'' was originally serialized in print in Shueisha's 1966 ''Shōnen Book''. It was released in tankōbon book form by Sun W ...

'' (2008) * '' The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'' (2008) * ''

The Spiderwick Chronicles ''The Spiderwick Chronicles'' is a series of children's fantasy books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. They chronicle the adventures of the Grace children, twins Simon and Jared and their older sister Mallory, after they move into the Spider ...

' (2008) * ''

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

'' (7 episodes, 2008) (TV) * ''

Eagle Eye ''Eagle Eye'' is a 2008 American action-thriller film directed by D. J. Caruso and with a screenplay by John Glenn, Travis Adam Wright, Hillary Seitz and Dan McDermott from a story by McDermott. The film stars Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan an ...

'' (2008) * '' G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra'' (2009) * ''

The Road ''The Road'' is a 2006 post-apocalyptic novel by American writer Cormac McCarthy. The book details the grueling journey of a father and his young son over a period of several months across a landscape blasted by an unspecified cataclysm that ha ...

'' (2009) * ''

'' (2009) * '' Land of the Lost'' (2009) * ''

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

'' (2009) * '' Clash of the Titans'' (2010) * ''

'' (2010) * '' Tron: Legacy'' (2010) * '' Transformers: Dark of the Moon'' (2011) * '' Avatar: The Way of Water'' (2022)

References

An interview with Dylan Cole

CG Node

3D Total article

2d Artist magazine

Artist Journal

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Dylan 21st-century American painters Living people Matte painters American male painters Year of birth missing (living people)