Matvey Panteleev, known professionally as 23gradusa (literally “twenty‑three degrees”), is a digital artist from Chelyabinsk, a city in Russia’s Ural region known for its brutally harsh climate and unforgiving atmosphere.
He began his professional career in 2019, creating digital artwork using Photoshop and Blender. Today, he primarily works on YouTube thumbnails, driven by consistent demand in that space. He aspires to eventually shift his focus entirely toward producing his own music.
Regarded as one of the most skilled artists in his niche, he collaborates with both prominent and lesser‑known bloggers across the CIS, sometimes even working at a loss simply for the enjoyment of creating visually striking work. 23gradusa is available for hire.
Twitter (X) → x.com/23gradusaa
Telegram → t.me/twenty_three_gradusa
Featured design
Overview
Hey everyone 👋
I’ve always loved taking part in challenges, battles, and contests. That’s pretty much how I shaped myself creatively. So when I stumbled upon this awesome challenge by Thumbnails 101, skipping it would’ve been a crime.
I managed to make 5 entries, reached the Epic rank, and then chilled. Might continue later. I’d love to hit Godlike, but I’m way too lazy.
Huge thanks to everyone who voted for me <3
For this Unlayered workflow breakdown, I chose one out of five works — the most difficult one production-wise. Hope it’ll be interesting to read.
Technical brief
The task was both interesting and challenging. Fitting five characters into a single thumbnail is no joke. Personally, I have only two enemies: too much text and too many people.
My main goal was to create original characters based on the CTR theme. I didn’t want to just grab existing superheroes and slap a “CTR SQUAD” label on top. I wanted something new, something original.
The only fear I had was misunderstanding the brief and doing something completely wrong. (Haha. Yeah.)
Before starting, I needed to place all the required faces according to the brief and find a composition that actually worked for me. While exploring different options, I came up with the idea of putting them in a glass prison room, with the client Johnny B placed front and center.
Composition options
Inspiration
Usually, I don’t look at many references before starting a project, as I’m afraid of subconsciously stealing too much from other people’s work. I mostly rely on my visual experience and whatever’s already stored in my head.
The whole “what’s yours vs. what’s not” topic is pretty philosophical. It deserves a separate article, so I won’t go too deep into it here 🙂
Still, just to be polite, I checked out a few Suicide Squad posters to catch the vibe. I remember watching the first movie in theaters. What a terrible film that was. Huge disappointment. But the second one turned out great. Highly recommend it.
References
In this section, I’ll also explain how I thought through the characters and their personalities. Copy-pasted directly from my notes:
Stats Commander: hi-tech, charts, graphs, percentages everywhere
Clickbait: red headband, red arrow pointing at the face, spear with a cursor-shaped tip
Mystery: pixelated character, only eyes visible
Text Man: made of symbols, letters, and numbers
Content Thief: wearing a MrBeast mask
Saturation: bright, acidic, eye-burning colors
I spent a long time thinking about the characters, discussing them with my wife. I tried to pack in as many references to YouTube thumbnail culture as possible.
Out of all characters, I made a sketch for only one: Miss Clickbait. The rest were created directly during the process.
Miss Clickbait sketch
Starting assets
Almost all models were downloaded from Sketchfab. I can't leave all the links to the models because there were so many of them, so I'll just show them in a GIF.
I took a couple of models from games, for example, the main character in the foreground is from the game Escape from Tarkov, and for the rich guy, I took the base Gman from Half-Life 2 because I had previously made a preview for this game and took models from it.
I often use 3D models from games because they are beautiful and highly optimized, which is an ideal combination.
3D models
Editing Process
Now the real work begins.
First, I changed the head angles to make the faces more dramatic. If you want to get rid of that stock-photo feeling – change the angle. Simple.
People often ask how I change head positions, and my answer is very simple: Google exists. People are genuinely too lazy to type “change head angle AI” and click a couple of websites.
Changing angles
Then I posed the characters and modified their textures:
Johnny B got a cap with a “CTR” texture
Miss Clickbait got multiple textures so I could combine them later in Photoshop (For some reason, I also made a full 3D model of her face. No idea why, just experimenting. How to do this is also easy to find online, but if you need consulting, hit me up.)
Biz Thief got a custom normal-mapped texture to make the dollar bills look volumetric
Text Man had letters manually placed across his entire body
Saturation got extreme color tweaks and a paintbrush
Censor received a hammer with the word “BAN” on it
Character modifications
I spent a ridiculous amount of time adjusting camera angles, poses, and lighting. It’s impossible to fit all of that into one article. It’d need a whole movie.
So instead, here are the final renders.
Renders
3D is great, but manual Photoshop work is still essential.
Every character had to be carefully refined. Painting light, shadows, color, and small details by hand.
Photoshop character polish
An important element is to convey the feeling of glass. The first thing is, of course, the girl's hand leaning against the glass, but that's not enough. I had to use old Photoshop techniques with filters that distort the glass, create textures of cracks and blurring, layer them on top of each other, add glare, and reveal the beautiful parts on the mask. The result was good glass. Additionally, the wall at the bottom makes it clear that this is a separate room.
Creating the glass
I still have saved process stages. This kind of workflow looks very different from what you see in the final result.
Showing a layered PSD is one thing. Showing the actual creative process, inspiration, and iteration is something completely different.
Creation stages
Just for fun, I made these character cards.
Bonus
Unlayered
Workstation
I live in creative chaos. I deliberately didn’t clean up for the photo. I like being real and alive.
(Okay, fine – I did place the guitar and MIDI keyboard on purpose.)
Hardware
Main Monitor: Acer V227Q
Second Monitor: SkyView V22
Mouse: Logitech G102
Keyboard: Bloody B820R
Headphones: Axelvox HD272
Microphone: FIFINE T669
Graphic Tablet: XP-PEN Deco Pro Medium
Chair: Samurai Black Edition NEW
MIDI keyboard: Nektar SE61
Guitar: some cheap one
CPU: Intel Core i5-13400F
GPU: RTX 3060 12GB
RAM: 64 GB DDR5
Storage: 500GB SSD + 100GB SSD + 2 TB HDD + 16 TB HDD
Software
Photoshop
Blender
Stable Diffusion
My hands
What's the story behind "23gradusa"?
It might seem like there’s some deep hidden meaning behind my nickname, like it represents something very personal, but honestly, there’s nothing special about it.
I’ve been using Photoshop since 2012, and in 2016 I decided to create my first creative page. The phrase “23 degrees Celsius” popped into my head. At the time, I had this very in-love vibe going on, I liked everything romantic, and the phrase sounded like some kind of silly quote from a teenage romance book.
Why 23? Because I just like the number. That’s it. Hahahaha.
Later, when I created an Instagram account specifically for work and wanted to push myself in design — business cards, logos, all that stuff — I wanted to call myself 23design. Of course, it was already taken. A friend suggested adding an extra “i”, and that’s how 23desiign was born. I’m still ashamed of that decision. It was really dumb. Eventually, I finally renamed everything to 23gradusa. I don’t plan on changing it anytime soon. I actually like it now. And for other creative fields, I have different nicknames… but that’s a whole different story.
You’ve described Chelyabinsk as brutal. How did that environment shape your visual taste or creative mindset?
Yeah, Chelyabinsk is very brutal. But honestly, it’s mostly a local joke. The city is famous for its factories and for the meteor that fell there in 2013. I’ll attach some memes that were all over the internet back then so you can understand the absurd humor around it.
I was actually born in Satka, a small town with about 40,000 people, and moved to Chelyabinsk only when I was 17 to study at university. To be honest, I don’t really know how the environment shaped me — I’ve never lived anywhere else, so I have nothing to compare it to. Hahaha.
My visual taste and creative mindset were influenced by everything at once. Every little thing that enters my information bubble gets stored somewhere in my head.
You’ve said you sometimes work at a loss simply because you enjoy making cool things. How do you decide what’s worth your time and energy?
I decide however my soul feels at the moment. I’m not in this field just for money — creative fulfillment comes first for me. There are a couple of clients I genuinely enjoy helping. Doing it for free would feel awkward, so I just charge them a very low price.
Because of this approach, I’m not exactly rich. I’m trying to be happy without money first — so that if I ever do get rich, it won’t come with depression. Maybe one day I’ll gather my strength and start focusing more on income. We’ll see.
You joke about being lazy, but your work is extremely detailed. How do you know when to push and when to stop?
People often call me lazy. For some reason, they just decide that for me.
I don’t consider myself lazy. I think a lot, search for meanings, and don’t do enough, which I’m trying to fix. I’m pretty sure I have ADHD, because I fall into hyperfixation easily: I work insanely hard for a while, then drop everything and procrastinate.
My best works are made during those moments when my eyes are on fire and I’m ready to stay up all night just to create.
You’re already considered one of the strongest in your niche. What still excites you about creating, and what keeps you from burning out?
Thanks! I think I burned out a long time ago and there's nowhere left to burn, ha ha ha. But in general, I've lasted this long because I get a lot of rest. For me, rest is a very important part of life and you need to devote the right amount of time to it. I used to have a huge incentive to create, to prove to people that I am strong, to gain recognition, and it really paid off, but now I am rethinking my life a little and trying to find answers. I have been gathering information on this subject for a long time, what creativity is and why people want to share it, why they do it at all, maybe someday I will make a video about it.
Music seems important to you -- what kind of music do you make, and what do you usually listen to while working?
I record my own music only in a private channel with one subscriber — me. I’m not ready to release music publicly yet, because I don’t consider myself skilled enough. I’m still learning. Over the past few years, I learned how to growl and scream, which makes me very happy.
As for listening, literally everything. From jazz to witch house. I believe there’s no bad or good genre, only bad or good songs. Still, what’s closest to my soul is rock, metal, emo-punk, and similar stuff.
My favorite bands are:
Slipknot, My Chemical Romance, Marilyn Manson, Mudvayne, AFI, VIOLENT VIRA, Evanescence, HIM, SIDxRAM, Fall Out Boy, Thirty Seconds To Mars, Papa Roach, Electric Callboy.
Best thumbnail you've ever made?
There are two most difficult questions left, and I thought for a long time about what to put here. I never have just one “best” or “favorite” thing. At most, I have lists of things I like, but never a single one.
I’ll leave here my tournament entry. People seem to consider it one of my best works. And I’ll also attach a few pieces that I personally like the most.
Best thumbnail you've ever seen?
I've seen a lot, been inspired by many, too many to list, but I'll mention my friends and acquaintances who are incredibly skilled.
Huge thanks to Joseph Blaze for giving me the opportunity to write this article. It really means a lot. I hope someone actually made it this far, and that it was at least a little interesting.
See you around!
If you found this edition of Unlayered helpful, please consider sharing it with someone who might benefit from this workflow too! 💙
