Featured Pro Portfolio: Borislav Mitkov
Borislav Miktov is a concept artist and illustrator with more than 10 years of experience who has worked on several games in the Assassin’s Creed Franchise and the Prince of Persia trilogy. One of the first to try out the new ArtStation Pro Lava theme, it’s design geared towards showing off vertical images is well suited for his bold graphic artwork and sketches.
Check out his ArtStation-powered portfolio website.
“I used to have to manage my own website, blog, and social media galleries and it was a tedious, annoying job. At some point I realized that most of my clients and offers were coming from ArtStation so I decided to go ‘Pro’ and deleted my previous website. I moved my domain so that I can have my website, resume, portfolio and blog – all in one place. It’s much easier to manage, communicate and find all the necessary info on everything art related.”
Tell us about one of your favorite pieces.
Well, it’s hard to pick just one piece. I love drawing any kind of characters, from sci-fi, fantasy, all the way to steam-punk. Some of them are made for various clients and projects, and some are very personal rough ideas for my own stories. This one is the very first depiction of the main character from a graphic novel i’m working on. Though it was first imagined as a horror story, it did a 180 degree turn around and is now mostly sci-fi themed. Those interested in the development and process of the comic can follow my blog here on ArtStation. The working title is ‘Project V’ and I’m the writer and artist behind it.
What made you want to pursue a career as an artist?
It was my passion since my childhood. I loved reading comic books in the 80s and I tried to copy the illustrations a lot. Back in the 90s when I just finished school, I almost gave up on it. It was a hard time in Eastern Europe back then so many people sacrificed their dreams just to have a job and food on their table. I was lucky enough to meet the right people while I was studying ‘Ancient History’ in the early 2000s in Germany. One of those people is my wife, who never gave up on me and pushed me hard to start drawing again. Then followed my career in Ubisoft and freelancing afterwards. I’m happy with what I do now and very thankful to all the friends who supported me through out the years.
What is the most challenging part of your job?
That’s an easy one – managing the projects and your family time as a parent. I must confess, I’m bad at managing . There are so many different clients I have to deal with every single day and every one with their own vision of the project. You have to be very patient and understanding person all the time. Sometimes it’s really stressful.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to young artists?
When it comes to art, many people mostly mention one thing – ‘talent’. Forget about it – practice is way more important. Practice every day, every hour, whenever you can. Read, watch, copy, push forward and develop your own style – never remain idle. Don’t rely mostly on the software to fix your mistakes, work traditionally as well and learn basics to make your life easier.
See more of Borislav’s work on his portfolio website. To learn more about ArtStation Pro websites, click here.
