Dylan Cole
Dylan Cole is an American Digital Matte-Painter and concept artist specializing in work for film, television, and video games. Cole received a degree in fine arts from UCLA. He is best known for his work on feature films like The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Avatar and its sequel, Daredevil, Alice in Wonderland, Tron: Legacy, Maleficent and The Chronicles of Riddick. He recently published his first book, The Otherworldly Adventures of Tyler Washburn.
Dylan Cole

Tennessee Titans · YouTube: https– View/save archived versions on archive.org (0:28) · CC BY 3.0
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- painter · illustrator · designer
- Fields
- illustration · graphic design · digital art
- Languages
- English
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q5318704 · wikipedia · Dylan Cole
In this article
Matte-painting community
Matte-painting community
Cole co-authored the book D'artiste Matte Painting: Digital Artists Master Class in which he shares of his work process and industry experiences throughout his career, and through the Gnomon Workshop has released instructional DVDs featuring his digital matte painting techniques.
Partial filmography
Partial filmography
• Daredevil (2003) • The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) • Van Helsing (2004) • The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) • I, Robot (2004) • Little Black Book (2004) • Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) • The Aviator (2004) • Flight of the Phoenix (2004) • The Ring Two (2005) • A Sound of Thunder (2005) • Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005) • Four Brothers (2005) • The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) • The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) • Superman Returns (2006) • Evan Almighty (2007) • The Kite Runner (2007) • The Golden Compass (2007) • 3:10 to Yuma (2007) • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) • Speed Racer (2008) • The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) • The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) • John Adams (7 episodes, 2008) (TV) • Eagle Eye (2008) • G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) • The Road (2009) • Avatar (2009) • Land of the Lost (2009) • 2012 (2009) • Clash of the Titans (2010) • Alice in Wonderland (2010) • Tron: Legacy (2010) • Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) • Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Awards and nominations
As part of the team that created the artwork for James Cameron's 2009 film Avatar Cole received a 2010 Directors Guild of America Award for Excellence in Production Design. He also received nominations from Art Directors Guild for Excellence In Production Design For A Fantasy Feature Film for both Alice in Wonderland and Tron: Legacy. Cole stated that his inspiration for the forests of Avatar came from a trip on the Kuranda Skyrail.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Dylan Cole, revision 1364552510 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.VFX Artist Dylan Cole's Otherworldly New Picture Book. 28 May 2013.
- 2.VFX Artist Dylan Cole's Otherworldly New Picture Book. 28 May 2013.
- 3.The Quiet Earth. Awesome concept art for James Cameron's AVATAR surfaces. May 28, 2009.
- 4.Alex Billington. Two New Concept Art Pieces from James Cameron's Avatar. First Showing. May 28, 2009.
- 5.Art Directors Guild: 15th Annual Excellence in Production Design Awards. Art Directors Guild.
- 6.Daniel P. Wade. D'artiste Matte Painting: Digital Artists Master Class. Ballistic Media Pty Ltd. 2005. 1-921002-16-6.
- 7.Bill Desowitz. Gnomon Workshop Releases Matte Painting DVDs. Animation World Network. October 19, 2006.
- 8.Dylan Cole. The Gnomen Workshop.
- 9.D'Artiste: Dylan Cole. Animation Artist.
- 10.staff. Kuranda Skyrail inspires Avatar rainforest. The Cairns Post. January 16, 2010.
- 11.Charlie Jane Anders. Avatar's Designers Speak: Floating Mountains, AMP Suits And The Dragon. Io9. Jan 14, 2010.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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