In 1989, Chiang joined Industrial, Light, and Magic and became the Creative Director in 1993. During this time, he worked as Visual Effects Art Director for films including Ghost, Back to the Future II, The Doors, Terminator 2, Death Becomes Her, Forrest Gump, Jumanji, and The Mask. He has earned both an Academy Award and a British Academy Award for Death Becomes Her and another British Academy Award for Forrest Gump.

In 1995 Chiang left ILM to head up the Art Department as Design Director for Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. Currently, Chiang is working on Episode II and his personal film / book project Robota. As an independent film director, Chiang has received numerous awards, including First Place in the FOCUS Awards for his film Mental Block.

Visit his site for more images and info: www.dchaing.com

These are the tools I use for the marker sketches. A small triangle, a Winsor & Newton series 7 brush, a pilot razor point II pen, a 30% cool grey marker, and pro-white paint.

First, I begin by sketching loosely with the 30% grey broad tip marker. This stage is the most fun since I'm mainly trying to get interesting shapes and forms and not details.

Once I'm happy with the broad shapes, I begin to define the details with the pen. The drawing begins to take a life of its own as the shapes emerge from the abstract forms.

After the line work is complete, I'll then use various shades of grey markers to help define the forms. I primarily use 30%, 50%, and 70% cool grey markers.

Next, I photocopy the drawing to create a simple mask to airbrush the background gradation. The mask is cut and lightly sprayed with spray adhesive to tack it to the drawing.

The final step is to bring out the highlights with pro-white paint and a small brush.