Romeo Varga

Drawing since 3 and having his first public art exhibition curated by teachers at age 4, Romeo Varga is a multi award winning international self-taught artist whose technical precision and artistic diversity has led him to be commissioned by global brands for over 15 years in the Australian advertising industry. His work has been published in print magazines, newspapers and online publications across three continents including the front cover of Australia and New Zealand’s leading car magazine Wheels and London’s Evening Standard newspaper. Romeo has been recognised for his artistic excellence with awards and accolades in North America, Europe and Australia and has exhibited his fine art paintings in iconic art capitals including Berlin, Paris, Milan, London and New York. Between 2013 and 2024 Romeo was represented as an illustrator by Australia’s leading talent agency The Jacky Winter Group before he made a full transition into the gaming industry as a 2D illustrator and art director. Romeo’s artworks can be found in private collections across continents, and one of his hand drawn ink works is also permanently hanging in a 16th century castle in France.

As a Creative, how do you bring forth your style in the different projects you work on?

Because of my immensely broad artistic range—everything from photorealistic cars to cartoons to 18th century painting replicas to Disney-inspired illustrations to award winning hyper realistic fine art portraits, every job I am commissioned for requires of me a totally different style (I can literally draw in any style imaginable).

However, regardless of what project I’m on and the subject matter within, whether it be drawing a crowd of grotesque monsters for a video game cover artwork to an emotional storyboard scene advertising life insurance, there is always a harmony, beauty and balance I bring to my art.

What was your very first Creative job? How have you grown since then?

I got my first freelance illustration job when I was still just in high school in Sydney, Australia. One of my teacher’s approached me about a friend of his who owned an exhibition stand company whose designated Artist had fallen through last minute and he needed me to create an exhibition design sketch overnight. He gave me $100 payment in advance for my sketch and this was while my friends were working for peanuts all week at KFC or McDonalds. —The man ended up being my regular client for nearly a decade.

Since then I’ve grown immensely skill wise, being able to master a range of subject matter, but my work ethic remained exactly the same. Even at school I took that job seriously and stayed up all night working on it and never missed a deadline or was late for one. That has never changed.

Could you please share with us a little about your background and family?

I was born in former Yugoslavia, and spent my teenage years in Nuremberg, Germany before migrating to Sydney Australia where I completed an Interior Design (Honours) degree and even studied to be an Australian police officer, all the while working as a freelance artist. Since 2013 I was represented as an illustrator by Australia’s leading talent agency, until 2024 when I made the full transition into the gaming industry as a 2D Artist and Art Director.

What do you think sets your work apart from other Illustrators?

I think the fact that I’m also an award winning portrait painter sets my work apart. My ability to convey emotions and capture the essence of people means my illustrations resonate in a way that you feel the energy of the subjects I draw (whether they’re gaming superheroes or monsters or characters for advertising campaigns).

I also think the fact that I’ve been taking my drawings seriously since I was 3 years old is another distinguishing factor.

How do you work with clients to ensure their vision is accurately represented in your work?

My work is their work. I merely visually translate their ideas and story into art, but at the end of the day it is always their work. I am just a conduit to bring their ideas to life.

How do you balance artistic expression with technical precision in your work?

I have absolutely no idea how to answer this. I assume for me it’s one of those automatic things, that I am never able to describe or articulate as it comes naturally to me. I have never been one to be able to describe what I do or analyse it, I have always just simply drawn.

How did your journey into the creative world begin?

When at four years old I was given a solo exhibition by my teachers in kindergarten, I realised I had something special in me that others didn’t. Up until then, I assumed everyone could draw like me and that it was just an innate human skill, but when the teachers gathered all of my artworks and mounted them on the walls and all of the parents of my peers came to the school to see my work, I became aware that I was different.

What’s your advice to young Creatives just starting?

A few key things:

Seize absolutely every opportunity, treat everything you do like it’s serious work (don’t see a volunteer role or a personal project as an unpaid playworld, treat it like it’s a high paying job and it eventually will turn into one); see communication as important a skill as your actual profession/trade. Oh, and deadlines are the lifeblood of your career.