Oh by the way, had a change of name. Just so you know....OK
First up is Richard Dumont and Eric Gagnon who are responsible for the 'Lions share' of the art for Deus Ex Human Revolution. I bought the collectors edition not really knowing what it was about short of a friend telling me it's the type of game I would love for game play, music and visual style. Flicking through the art book and maybe messing about with the action figure included in the edition I found that this is bang on the type of art I love. It's sci-fi no doubt about it but its...real. The image I found is concept of Megan Reed's office. There's holographic screens, new and interesting machines but it's also crammed with books, an old leather recliner and paper strewn all over the place. It still has connections to contemporary offices and it shows that even in a future where newspapers are now in the form of tablets books and paper still have a place. It's more believable as an environment. The art style is something I adore too. When I say I want to draw this is the type of drawing I dream of being able to accomplish. Long way off huh. It almost looks like a photo but you can subtly tell its been done digitally, explaining art isn't a strong point of mine. I really love the colour scheme of..well, everything in the game really. It's all blacks, oranges greys and browns but somehow I find it makes it more real. Far from the clean white and silver edges of most sci-fi games. Deus Ex just feels, real, and I think that's why I love it. I really want to play it now :(
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I believe the phrase they used in the art book to describe the style of Deus Ex was Cyber Renaissance
which is why most of the clothes look like a modern take on 16th century clothing. Or whenever the renaissance actually happened. The building's also have slight influences of renaissance architecture |
Matt Rhodes is the next artist least of all because he is the lead concept artist at Bioware and thus responsible for the concept art behind Mass Effect. Which is the best game in history no questions asked. I'm not biased at all. While Deus Ex has a more realistic feel to it because it is only the near future, say maybe 40 years (although I think the game is set closer to 70+ years into the future) Mass Effect is well into the future, some 170 years. So while Deus Ex still has some contemporary elements Mass Effect has lost most of them opting for the more typical neon lights and silver metal surfaces to some areas like the Citadel or Ilium but still keeps a grimy, run down slum looking areas such as Omega. Despite the sleek metal corridors of the Citadel it still feels lived in. The Presidium is where all the fancy people live. It's very sci-fi with white walls and a mix of edges and very smooth metal surfaces, ponds and fancy parks but the Wards where average people live is very different. On the face of it the Wards still have the edges and very smooth surfaces but they feel so much more alive and you can see that in the concepts. There are people bustling about with bright neon adverts above their heads and cars whizzing about above it just feels so much more alive and you can feel that in the art. Again the art style itself is something I love too, that digital picture type art that looks almost real. I find that I'm attracted to sci-fi concept art that looks like that, hence Mass Effect and Deus Ex.
I understand I haven't really explained why I like the art very well. It is hard to explain why I love it I just sort of, do. But I hope the pictures help give a better idea of at least the type of concept art I like.
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These are some of the ideas for Jack. A badass biker chick/ psychopathic killer
with way to much biotic power and eagerness for killing. |
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| Citadel Wards |
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| I'm pretty sure this is concept art for Shepard's apartment in the Mass Effect 3 Citadel DLC. Which actually looks completely different in-game. |
Thom Tenery was one of the many concept artists behind the 2013 film Oblivion. I guess by now you're seeing a trend with my concept artists. Unlike Mass Effect and Deus Ex Oblivion is very spartan. It's all very clean, white and a mix of angular and smooth with no real stand out features, oh apart from god damn perspex pool that looks down onto a 2 mile drop or some ridiculous height. That would scare the crap out of me, in fact living there would scare the crap out of me. It's not until later in the film do we see Jack's little cabin in the woods he has been building for what I can assume is years. The concept art for this is wildly different from the one seen in the film as it is more of a house, less of a tent. Still it is very beautiful picture in itself, the way it blends into the grass and the trees behind it and how Jack has scavenged various bits for it both functional and cosmetic adds more personal touches, like he lives there instead of just stays there like he does in Tower 49 which it is a very far cry from. I also like how in other pieces of his art he has merged nature with buildings like nature is reclaiming the world. It's much the same as Jack's cabin however he has blended it into nature rather than nature taking it back. If that makes sense. I think it looks nicer blended instead of reclaimed. Back to nature reclaiming the world it's a nice change to see striking images of skyscrapers popping out of the ground or battleships in the middle of what is now desert plains. The world is a very flat, empty place with lots of massive open spaces, its a nice change to see iconic buildings as well as general ones poking out of the sand to provide a little break in the scenery. Plus I find that sort of hauntingly pretty. There was one scene in the film and I'm quite annoyed I couldn't find a concept art picture of it but its 2 rows of apartment buildings creating an artificial canyon with waterfalls running down in front of them, that I thought was very pretty.
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| The tower the two characters live in is striking in its own sense |
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Oh this is the massive drop you see through the bottom of the pool.
Terrifying |
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| The living area of Tower 49 |
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| The world being reclaimed and almost remade by the nuclear blasts, earthquakes and tsunamis |
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| Jack's cabin in the woods |
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| OK I think this is a still from the movie but I'm not sure, anyway this is what I was talking about with the whole artificial canyon thing. |
And now for something completely different. Ray Lederer who worked on environment, prop, characters and key action scenes for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim does some amazing fantasy work. These pieces are more obviously artwork and are a little more stylised than the previous selections however I like these because they look more like painting than pictures. I just realised that my choice in concept artist's somewhat contradict each other, I like 'picture perfect' and paintings. Although that being said the sci-fi ones do tend to look better as 'pictures' while more fantasy images such as Skyrim or Oblivion (the game this time) tend to lend themselves more to painting style. Either way I like both. I think my two favourite pieces are the Wisp mother and the troll fight. The troll fight has a clear epicness about it, the Dragonborn fighting a clearly much larger and deadly creature than himself . The expression on the trolls face is awesome too and frankly makes the whole fight much more epic than they actually are in game. I can't quite pin-point what I like about the Wisp mother picture I just sort of do. The way brush strokes and colour have managed to make her look very ethereal is very impressive, I also quite like the little stream just in front of her just because of all the little bits of detail that have gone into it like the reeds and small rocks, it just looks pretty and adds a little more to the picture. Now if I'm honest I'm not a real fan of the Solitude concept. Having played the game I just don't think of this picture as Solitude. It just looks
too medieval if that makes sense. However that doesn't mean I can't appreciate the art, and I do. The sky is incredibly pretty and could have only been made better with the addition of the aurora borealis you see so often in game. The little bay as well is really cute and I like the little lighthouse you can see through it as well as the way the light gently bathes it, it's a bit of a shame Ray decided to keep the sun behind the city, personally I think the city would have looked prettier as well as more welcoming if the light shone from behind the little character in the foreground. But that's just me.
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| I believe this is early concept art for Solitude |
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| This is concept for a Wisp Mother |
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| This is a pretty epic looking fight with a frost troll |
Paul Chadeisson is the concept artist behind the game Remember Me, which ironically everyone forgot about. While everyone was complaining about how bad it was (which it kinda was) I was busy unlocking the concept art, just because I liked it. So first up is the top image, this is about half way through the game. The rain looks really good and really adds to the depressing atmosphere as well as the drenched Nillin who looks either in sneaking mode or a bit tired. The blues and very little else adds to the depressive atmosphere making the picture look pretty cold, although it is raining and rain tends to be cold. I like the lens flare from the drone as well, don't know why I just think its a little something extra to the picture and looks pretty cool. Another thing about the picture is the blend of old and new. Deus Ex did it but it was more renaissance and future, this is more contemporary and future. The game is set in Paris, just so you know but I think it's quite tasteful the way they have blended the modern with the Victorian style glass roofing and shops. You can't quite see them in this picture but trust me they're there. I also like the massive difference between rich and poor. The slums are comprised of either home made shelters or corrugated iron houses much like Rio De Janeiro while only a few miles away the rich live in their.....I've no idea what you call the style but it's the bottom picture. It's so vastly different that it's like another world, which in a way it is. You can also tell its a much nicer place simply because it's sunny, in fact I don't think you ever visit the slums on a sunny day and it's mostly the same with the concept art. The slums are dank, dull and wet to help with the oppressive atmosphere but the upper class areas are bright, airy and use lots of light colours to create a light atmosphere, to lift troubles away as it were.
I have no idea what I'm talking about.
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| While not quite the slums this is a more average person area. |
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| The slums surrounding the San Michele dam |
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| The more fancy areas of Paris, where peasants aren't allowed to go |
Stephan Martiniere was responsible for the concept art behind the 2012 remake of Total Recall. Which few people liked because it didn't have the classic Arnie quotes, or his various noises. So while people were hating on the film I was watching it thinking ' Man I would love the concept art book for this' and added it to my list of concept art books to get. To be honest I'm struggling to find new ways to say the same thing about the artwork, it's fairly obvious by now the type I like and I hope I managed to get across why I like them. Although one thing I did like was the cars and the magnetic highway that ran above the old roads, which are still used. I do quite like the cars though as they are very sleek and actually don't look too bad, at least compared to the little bubble car in the bottom left of the top image.
So yea not really sure what else I can say about it that hasn't already been said :/
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| I think this is concept art for London but I'm not completely sure |
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| OK this one is definitely London, its one of the magnetic highways that run above normal roads |
I'm sure there are many other artists out there I would love but these are a few I've come across so far. I hope I can actually remember their names for references as they are pretty cool.
