Roger Gibbon (b. Blackpool, 1966) discovered a talent for painting at a young age and quickly knew he would have a future in art, just now how.

After completing O Level and A Level art he didn't feel an art degree was right for him at the time for various reasons, (ignorance largely), so took a job with Barclays bank as a computer operator while he figured things out. Being shift work it was well paid and provided more free time than a normal nine to five to continue painting.

It was during this time working for Barclays that he first experienced success as a traditional fine artist being selected for the 1986 Singer & Freidlander Sunday Times Watercolour competition exhibited in the Mall Galleries, London and for a second time in 1988 but it was a chance discovery of the book Industrial Light and Magic The Art of Special Effects by Thomas G. Smith where he learnt about the use of traditional glass painting in film that would prove pivotal in his artistic direction. He realised that teaching himself to paint from photos in a hyper realistic way he had been training the skills needed to be a matte painter. In that moment he knew he could combine his love of movies and his skills as an artist to pursue a career in the film business.

Rogers got his first break at The Magic Camera Company based in Shepperton studios. Thats a whole story in itself but his journey into the world of VFX took him from Shepperton Studios to Venice, California working for the legendary Digital Domain. He soon found himself in the even more exotic location of Oahu, Hawaii to work for SquareUSA on the ground breaking film Final Fantasy. Next stop back to California this time the Bay Area to work for ESC on the Matrix sequels Reloaded and Revolutions and then The Orphanage to work on Sin City.

In 2005 he returned to UK and continued woking as a digital matte painter at various companies in London. For several years he lived out of a suitcase with the belief he would return to the US but this did not come to pass so had to shift gears and start to look for a permanent base to set up a studio and home. Balancing the realities of affordability, space and access to London fate lead to purchasing a modest conversion project in Devon.

While eternally grateful and lucky to have had the career and experiences he has had in film being a digital artist never quite had the appeal of real paint and the pull to do his own work grew ever stronger.

Effectively being a contract worker has allowed Roger time between projects to continue painting and he now resides in Devon where he is focused on developing into a full time artist.