The Arts & Culture Journal

drfranken is Fran Rodriguez, a digital artist born in La Coruña and works in Madrid. On show here is a handful works that show a master of digital art at his very best.

drfranken heralds from an artistic background with both parents capable artists in their own right. Yet where his mother and father used traditional materials such as oil, charcoal, pencil and watercolour, drfranken has embraced the new possibilities available to modern creatives.

'My interest in digital art arose when I started my studies as a computer programmer - I began to discover a world of new possibilities and tools to express my art.'

With skepticism of new techniques quickly residing, we asked drfranken whether traditional art and it's digital counterpart should remain separate entities. 'I think the traditional art and digital art must be separated, although sometimes used together. Traditional art uses some common techniques with digital and vice versa, but each has its own identity. Knowing how to paint in oils will generate good digital compositing.'

So it seems there is a strong cross-over here and something for the skeptics to consider. Simply looking at these wonderful illustrations leaves you marvelling and the craftsmanship, digital or not, of the artist.

drfranken's works are hugely magnetic - they pull you in with human elements engulfed in a whirl of fantasy. It's like walking through the dreams of the artist with a paintbrush in hand - the strokes are so vivid they could have been added just moments before you came across them. There is a freshness, a high contrast that makes them grab your attention like an electric shock from the computer they were created on.

If want to have a go at producing something as similarly outstanding it may be worth