Expressive Digital Portrait Studies by Giovanni Scarfini

Italian artist Giovanni Scarfini has built a parallel creative practice alongside his professional animation career, one shaped by classical observation, but created entirely on a digital canvas.

Giovanni’s classical influences come through clearly in these pieces. His technique shifts fluidly between rich, impasto-like digital painting and a looser sanguine-and-chalk approach that recalls Renaissance drawings.

Many of his subjects come from film and television, but the source material is almost incidental. His interest lies in psychological weight, not likeness. He strips each subject of narrative context, isolating a single moment of inner tension. The process is visible throughout, with loose brushwork, construction lines and unresolved edges giving each portrait a sense of motion.

For more of Giovanni Scarfini’s work, take a look at his portfolio.

More illustrations via Behance