The Art Of Ben Olson

Rage miner (Via)

Ben Olson has been one of my favorite artists over the last few years, and an artist that has definitely kept a low profile online compared to most of the other artists we typically feature on this blog. I've always enjoyed his incredibly painterly, rough and dirty style that always pays attention to surface detail, texture and mood. Concept art usually suffers from being a little too squeaky clean at times, with perfect armor, flawless faces pristine worlds..But guys like Ben are there to remind us that not everything should be so perfect. I really like that mentality. If you simply look at the material treatment on the helmets and miners faces above above, there's a real sense of wear and tear that reflects the harsh world of these guys and tells a story.

Starting his concept career at Surreal, the folks behind 'The Suffering' series Ben created some incredible work that truly pushed the boundaries of grotesque and disturbing, which unfortunately couldn't be faithfully translated into a Playstation 2 action/horror game. After moving on to work on the Area 51 reboot by MIdway, he finally landed a gig at iD, where he contributed his skills to RAGE before heading to work at Red Fly in Austin. Check out more of his work after the break!