
Editor's note: This post is part of our weekly In the NVIDIA Studio series, which celebrates featured artists, offers creative tips and tricks, and demonstrates how NVIDIA Studio technology accelerates creative workflows.
This week In the NVIDIA Studio, we welcome Yangtian Li, a senior concept artist at Singularity6.
Li is a concept designer and illustrator who has worked on some of the biggest video game franchises, including Call of Duty, Magic: the Gathering and Vainglory. Her artwork also appears in book illustrations and magazines.
Dreams of the Past (left) and Elf Archer by Yangtian Li. Li's impressive portfolio features character portraits of strong, graceful, empowered women. Their backstories and elegance are inspired by her own life experiences and world travels.
Snake Witch by Yangtian Li. Now based in Seattle, Li's artistic journey began in Chengdu, China. Her hometown serves as the inspiration behind her extraordinary portrait, Snake Witch. This unique and provoking work is based on tribal black magic from Chinese folklore. Li drew and painted the piece, powered by a GeForce RTX GPU and the NVIDIA Studio platform.
Up close, viewers can feel the allure of the Snake Witch. Snake Witch is a product of Li's fascination with black magic, or Gu, where tribal witch doctors would gather toxic creatures, use their venom to make poison and practice the dark arts. I always thought the stories were fascinating, so I wanted to do a take, Li said. Snakes are more appealing to me, and it helps to create some interesting compositions.
Li chooses to keep it simple before diving in on the details. After primarily working in 2D, Li moves to 3D to support her concept process. She adds, having a high-end GPU really helps speed up the process when it comes to using Blender, Zbrush and so on. These speed-ups, she says, are particularly noticeable with GPU-accelerated rendering in Blender Cycles 3.0, achieving results that are over 5x faster with a GeForce RTX laptop GPU compared to a MacBook Pro M1 Max or CPU alone.
https://blogs.nvidia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/itns-yangtian-li-snake-witch-distortion-crop-1280x680-3.mp4
With the Snake Witch's character foundation in a good place, Li used the Liquify filter to subtly distort her subject's facial features.
Liquify is one of over 30 GPU-accelerated features in Adobe Photoshop, like AI-powered Neural Filters, that help artists explore creative ideas and make complex adjustments in seconds.
https://blogs.nvidia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/itns-yangtian-li-snake-witch-adjustment-layer-crop-1280x680-1.mp4
The more life experiences you have, your understanding of the world evolves, and that will be reflected in your art.
Li uses adjustment layers in the coloring phase of her process, allowing for non-destructive edits while trying to achieve the correct color tone.
If unsatisfied with an adjustment, Li can simply delete it while the original image remains intact.
Finally, Li adjusts lighting, using the Opacity feature to block light from right of the image, adding a modicum of realistic flair.
The devil is in the details, or in this case, the Snake Witch. Remaining in a productive flow state is critical for Li, as it is for many artists, and her GeForce RTX GPU allows her to spend more time in that magical creative zone where ideas come to life faster and more naturally.
Li goes into greater detail on how she created Snake Witch in her Studio Session. This three-part series includes her processes for initial sketching, color and detail optimization, and finishing touches.
Previously, Li has worked as a senior concept artist and designer at Amazon Game Studios, Niantic and Treyarch, among others. Check out Li's portfolio and favorite projects on Instagram.
Accelerating Adobe Creators In the NVIDIA Studio More resources are available to creators seeking additional NVIDIA Studio features and optimizations that accelerate Adobe creative apps.
Follow a step-by-step tutorial in Photoshop that details how to apply a texture from a photo to a 3D visualization render.
Learn how to work significantly faster in Adobe Lightroom by utilizing AI-powered masking tools; Select Subject and Select Sky.
Follow NVIDIA Studio on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, access tutorials on the Studio YouTube channel, and get updates directly in your inbox by joining the NVIDIA Studio newsletter.
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
15/06/2025
July 2025 in Dublin, Berlin, Amsterdam & London
Photo: Thea Martre
Music Production for Women (MPW) have announced that they will be running a series of fo...
15/06/2025
Composer/producer launches free virtual instruments
Sulcata Sound is the latest venture of Jason Graves, a two-time British Academy Award-winnning composer,...
14/06/2025
NEW YORK Pluto TV and the All Womens Sports Network have launched a free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) AWSN channel in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and the Nor...
14/06/2025
NEW YORK and CINCINNATI E.W. Scripps has announced a new, multiyear agreement with the WNBA that will continue Ions regular-season coverage of the league on Fri...
14/06/2025
WASHINGTON The National Association of Broadcasters highlighted the hidden importance of spectrum in the production of major sporting events and described wha...
14/06/2025
WASHINGTON Sunsetting ATSC 1.0, expanding business opportunities for NextGen Broadcast and increasing international adoption of the ATSC 3.0 standard were top o...
14/06/2025
SAN FRANCISCO Samba TV and Acxiom have announced that they will dramatically expand their longstanding relationship....
14/06/2025
July 2025 in Dublin, Berlin, Amsterdam & London
Photo: Thea Martre
Music Production for Women (MPW) have announced that they will be running a series of fo...
14/06/2025
San Francisco State University's School of Cinema Uses Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton June 13, 2025
0 Comments
More than 40 Blackmagic Design came...
14/06/2025
Boris FX Mocha Pro Adds New AI Tools To Tackle VFX Tasks Fast
Jessie Electa Petrov June 13, 2025
0 Comments
The 2025.5 release helps artists work more...
14/06/2025
AJA Debuts DRM2-Plus Mini-Converter Frame at InfoComm 2025
Brie Clayton June 13, 2025
0 Comments
Next-gen frame addresses diverse rackmount needs wit...
13/06/2025
(L-R) Lindsay Utz, Michelle Walshe, and The Right Honourable Dame Jacinda Ardern attend the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Prime Minister at Eccles T...
13/06/2025
Photo credit: Atsushi Nishijima
If you're a true lover of rom-coms, chances...
13/06/2025
Pure Drama and Fierce Rivalries set to dominate the world's most iconic spor...
13/06/2025
Johannesburg, 12 June 2025 - The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an a...
13/06/2025
ABILENE. Texas A severe storm knocked down the tower and severely damaged the news studio and main facility of Sinclair-owned KTXS here on Sunday, June 8....
13/06/2025
Berklee's Music Business/Management Department Recognized by the Music Biz A...
13/06/2025
WASHINGTON The ATSC, the Broadcast Standards Association, honored veteran technologist Aldo Cugnini and Clarence Hau, Senior Vice President of Standards, Policy...
13/06/2025
(Editor's note: The 2025 UFL Championship Game between the D.C. Defenders and Michigan Panthers kicks off Saturday, June 14, at 8 p.m. Eastern. The game wil...
13/06/2025
New iPad/iPhone synth App announced
Following on from last year's release of Gradient Synth - which reached #6 on the App Store's Paid Music charts ...
13/06/2025
LONDON Warner Bros. Discovery has announced that HBO Max will launch direct-to-consumer in multiple new countries this July as the streamer becomes available in...
13/06/2025
AI voice transcription and captioning platform Verbit has added a new feature to its Captivate ASR solution the ability to identify specific features in automat...
13/06/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission member Anna Gomez has wrapped up two weeks in California visiting broadcasters, television studio executives, enter...
13/06/2025
WASHINGTON The U.S. House of Representatives voted mostly along party lines to approve a rescission package that would cancel $9.4 billion in previously approve...
13/06/2025
At InfoComm 2025, AJA Video Systems announced DRM2-Plus, an intuitive, high-capacity 3RU frame that can neatly house up to 24 AJA Mini-Converters. Tailored to s...
13/06/2025
Cinema advertising leader to leverage AOS and suite of AI-enabled solutions to optimize forecasting, yield management, and streamlined ad sales and operations a...
13/06/2025
Manfrotto has launched the ONE Hybrid Tripod, a new support system designed specifically for professional content creators working with mirrorless cameras acros...
13/06/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that its Media Edge Gateway (MEG), an ATSC 3.0 software-based IRD, now supports Device Security requ...
13/06/2025
LiveU, the global leader in live IP-video contribution, production and distribution solutions, is deepening its commitment to the German-speaking market with th...
13/06/2025
Chaos, the leader in architectural visualisation software, today announces Chaos Corona 13, giving archviz designers new ways to add eye-catching style and flai...
13/06/2025
PALI's Nena Music Video Shot with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton June 12, 2025
0 Comments
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K and DaVinci Resolve Studio b...
13/06/2025
OddBeast Powers Up iRobot's Newest Roombas with Suite of CGI Launch Assets
Brie Clayton June 12, 2025
0 Comments
The motion design and production ...
13/06/2025
On Chick Coreas Birthday, a Newly Uncovered Archival Release The Visitors, composed by Corea and performed by vibraphonist Gary Burton and pianist Kirill Gers...
13/06/2025
In fulfilment of a recommendation by the Government's Expert Advisory Commit...
13/06/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Backblaze's Gleb Budman Talks Products, Partnerships, and the ...
13/06/2025
SVG Sit-Down: DAZN's Walker Jacobs Calls Streaming the FIFA Club World Cup ...
13/06/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Vecima Networks' Paul Strickland on How Improving QoE...
13/06/2025
Pitch Perspective: Where's Next for Specialty Cameras in Soccer? Leaders from Sky Austria and ACS discuss the possibilities of camera placement pitchside B...
13/06/2025
Premiership Rugby Final 2025: Vintage clash between Bath and Leicester gets full...
13/06/2025
Premiership Rugby Final 2025: TNT Sports gears up for Bath vs Leicester battle w...
13/06/2025
NCAA Men's College World Series: ESPN Adds Two-Point SupraCam, Invests in Ne...
13/06/2025
New FSWX signal and spectrum analyzer with novel architecture overcomes limits o...
13/06/2025
Apple today announced the addition of iPad to Self Service Repair, providing iPad owners with access to repair manuals, genuine Apple parts, Apple Diagnostics t...
13/06/2025
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today previewed iOS 26, a major update that brings a beautiful new design, intelligent experiences, and improvements to the apps use...
13/06/2025
At Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple unveiled Apple Games, an all-new destination designed to help players jump back into the games they...
13/06/2025
Industrial AI isn't slowing down. Germany is ready.
Following London Tech Week and GTC Paris at VivaTech, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang's Europea...
12/06/2025
In 2018, Spotify launched Heart & Soul, a mental health initiative developed to ...
12/06/2025
50 Years Strong: SBS and NITV Supercharge NAIDOC Week 2025 in a joint 50th celeb...