Mythic Beast Travel Posters by Fro

(Via)

I'm a sucker for well-made travel posters, and these fun mythological creature posters were no exception.  You might not believe in Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster ('Peter Pan' taught me not to mention belief in fairies, so leave that sh*t alone), but they're fun little stories nonetheless.  Fernando Reza, aka Fro, did an awesome job with this retro-looking series. 

Check out the rest of his work on his site. More posters after the break!

The Striking Illustrations Of Carlos Lerma

(Via)

Carlos Lerma is a Cancún based illustrator currently employed with Golpeavisa, a graphic design/illustration/art direction studio specializing in advertising work. On his free time though, Lerma focuses on creating truly amazing tribute and personal pieces, incorporating his visually stimulating, saturated style. His Saint Seiya anime (80's anime based off Zodiac signs) tribute above is an awesomely composed piece, incorporating the distinct personalities and elemental alignments of the main protagonists in one tight image.

The emphasis on highly graphic, angular shapes and elevated saturation is reminiscent of a modern interpretation of cubism, a style incorporating reassembled interpretations of subjects. Unlike most cubists though, Lerma emphasizes containing this deconstruction and reassembly inside shapes, with the exception of a few pieces. With his colorful style and bold compositions, this is yet another example of what we've come to dub as 'visual caffeine.' Check out more of his awesome illustrations after the break.

The M Machine - "Tiny Anthem"

The folks at The M Machine collaborated with the folks behind Superjail! and Ugly Americans to create a truly amazing retro-futuristic visual accompaniment to their latest track from Metropolis Part II, released by Skrillex's label OWSLA about a week ago.

Check it out on the official page for their latest album, and if you're into this be sure to take a gander at the work of the French DJ crew Birdy Nam Nam for a similar style, down to the visuals. A Soundcloud sampling of some more tracks and some kickass album art after the break.

Die Hard Infographics : From Nakatomi Plaza To Moscow

(Via)

Created as part of the marketing campaign for Bruce Willis' latest source of a paycheck, these infographics about the entire Die Hard franchise spanning close to 25 years now offer some truly interesting trivia about each of the five installments. From the numbers of explosions to vehicles destroyed, injuries sustained to numbers of mustaches, these are pretty interesting to check out.

The only bit of trivia these movies failed to mention was A)The downward spiral regarding the quality of the movies B)John McLane going from a vulnerable every day man in the first film to an invincible, explosion eating bullet sponge in the latest movie. Check out the rest of the movies after the break!

The Missing Link - "White Noise"

Created using a dial-up tone slowed down by around 700%, Chaîne de Darkfalky's strangely eerie White Noise couldn't be classified as a music video, but more of an experimental piece showcasing an ancient race of data creatures attempting to reestablish a link with the present. The short was created as part of the Pictoplasma project, a Berlin based visual festival dedicated to the avant garde pioneers in visual production. Think TED, but purely artistic in nature.

The Environmental Art Of Eytan Zana

(Via)

Eytan Zana is a California based concept artist with a knack for environmental concepting, having nailed the delicate balance of value, lighting, perspective, textural detail and atmospheric perspective to generate some truly impressive work. Zana is currently employed at Naughty Dog, currently working on the much hyped Last Of Us following getting a few Uncharted titles under his belt.

If there's one thing that's interesting about Naughty Dog, I get the impression that the majority of the concepting team over there mainly specialize in environment art, as their characters typically don't entail a lot of design work due to the realism aspect. It's a stark contrast to studios like Vigil (RIP), which placed a lot of emphasis on characters due to their heavily stylized aspects. Check out more of Eytan's gorgeous, painterly work after the break.

The Exquisite Corpse Series By Ankama

Created as a fun team building exercise by the staff of Ankama, the French animation studio responsible for the excellent looking Wakfu animation series (Yet to make the leap overseas), Exquisite Corpse is the result of an exercise involving 17 animators. Each artist was tasked with animating a small sequence (266 frames) that would tie in to the next one with no thematic limitations, creating a seamless animated sequence showcasing a small piece of each animator's style and personality.

Check out part two after the beak! The animators names, in no particular order: Naoki Araiza, Tokumasu, Floriane Grivillers, Julien Maret, Thomas Fourniret, Büb, David Besnier, Vincent Legarrec, Valerie Ménard, Sophie Dupont, David Decobert, Jean-Philippe Florin, Simon Coroller, Remi Juillet, Kosal Sok, Claudia Delahaye, Benoit Somville, Lucie Mayjonade and Carlo Toselli.

Awesome-Robo Podcast #13 : Return To Form!

After a multi-month podcast hiatus we (Myself and Robogal) return to discuss our whereabouts, news regarding developments on Awesome-Robo.com including the aftermath of the AwesomeRobo Kickstarter and lessons learned. We also delve into the Oscars, opinions on animated features and the VFX industry controversy sparked by Ang Lee's Life Of Pi as well as touching on the community's reaction to the Playstation 4 keynote.

The podcast returns in an improved format, using the Google+ Hangout feature, which we will be rolling out to include our other cast members in future episodes. In other news, the Awesome-Robo.com store will be launching by the end of the week, featuring all the shirts printed thanks to the amazing support we received on the Awesome-Robo Apparel Kickstarter from our readers. Thank you guys again for that, we're incredibly grateful!

The Behemoth's Battle Block Theater : Any Day Now

The Behemoth, best known for creating Alien Hominid and most recently, Castle Crashers look like they'll finally be releasing Battle Block Theater, a game that started off it's development cycle known as Game #3. The title was first announced sometime in 2009 and sporadically mentioned over the years as an ongoing work in progress, but due to how much fun I had playing Castle Crashers, I'm optimistic that the 4-5 years of development will pay off for the team.

Mixing coop and competitive gameplay with platformer-centric gameplay, this title is shaping up to be another addictive entry from the mind of Dan Paladin.

Timmy Muldoon and the Search for the Shadoweyes Bandit

I don't know about you guys, but growing up making home movies was the cool thing to do as a kid. As somewhat of a challenge, we would give each other a week to create our masterpieces and proceed to show them to each other like festival of some sort. I can assure you absolutely none of them were good, but god damn were they a blast to create. Timmy Muldoon is a short that takes the idea of creating home movies and gives it a Hollywood budget. In a sense, the short shows an evolution of one's career, starting from the love for film at a young age all the way up to making blockbuster hits.

With a couple of surprising cameos, it's hard to disappointed with this charming short. It's cute, awesome, and moving all in one go.

Disclosure- "White Noise" (Feat. AlunaGeorge)

British electro garage-house duo Disclosure teamed up with the relatively new AlunaGeorge to deliver a damn solid track that's been making waves in the UK. Directed by Luke Monaghan, the track paints a picture of urban decay and hopelessness akin to the type you'd find in Detroit, and one security guard's attempt to see the silver lining despite his surroundings. Awesome.

The Amazing Environmental Art Of Robh Ruppel

(Via)

Robh Ruppel is an absolute juggernaut in the art direction field, with over two decades of experience at companies including Walt Disney, Naughty Dog (Uncharted) as well as being an instructor at Art Center and the Gnomon School Of Visual Effects.

I'd run into his work multiple times, mainly showcasing his film and videogame related work, but his blog is where the magic truly happens. Robh has been engaged in a practice called digital plein-air paintings, a painting from life practice typically reserved for fine artists minus all the equipment. Deriving inspiration from the likes of Edgar Payne, he's been engaged in a 'less is more' approach, simplifying life into geometric shapes and applying his incredible sense of color and light to create some truly incredible paintings. A close up of the image above...

Yields an incredible painting constructed using nothing but a rectangle selection, square brush and line tool, starting with big shapes and working his way down to the finest minutia. Limiting his tools in Photoshop truly reflects the way plein air painters work, small canvases, limited brushes, bold paintings. Many digital artists have taken an interest in this approach, which reinforces the need to think less about detail and more about shape relationships, value and color. Check out more of his amazing work after the break!

Making Of By BUF: Life Of Pi, Thor, Enter The Void

The Parisian VFX studio called BUF has been around since 1984, providing visual effects for dozen of projects over the years, and they've just recently started to embrace a social presence. The company originally started off working on French movies and advertising work before getting their big break in the US market with City Of Lost Children and Fight Club.

The collective just recently uploaded a few making of featurettes, covering their recent work done in collaboration with Rythm & Hues for Ang Lee's Life Of Pi, Thor, and Gaspar Noe's mind bending Enter The Void, which until viewing the making of had baffled me with it's seemingly impossible one take shots.

Unlike some other VFX studio websites I've had a chance to visit, they have an exhaustive collection of making of featurettes, production notes for their latest projects and more, so I'd highly recommend checking their work out on the official BUF website. Check out two other making of reels and the companies 2012 showreel after the break!

First Person Mario: Endgame

After taking a measly 50 days of rendering FreddieW has something rather awesome to show us. The original, which was released well over a year and a half ago was neat but Freddie Wong and team has gone above and beyond with Endgame. Possibly my favorite part of this entire video is the addition of the the sidescrolling version of the level in the top left corner. Being able to jump back and forth between first-person and a 2D sidescroller really adds a lot of depth and I often found myself rewinding to see what the hell was actually going on.

Mysterious Swamp

Estonian animator Chintis Lundren created a wonderfully moody short with 'Müstiline raba', or it's English translation 'Mysterious Swamp.' This dark, and slightly uncomfortable story is about a stork who finds himself in a less than ideal situation with a group of nefarious frogs.  The art style is quite simplistic, almost childlike.  But it's the colors, textures, and rough appeal that takes it from innocent to something a bit sinister.

Mondo's 2013 Oscars Poster Roundup

(Via)

Mondo unleashed a whole slew of posters related to this years Oscar nominated films, spanning from Tarantino's wild Django Unchained to Paul Thomas Anderson's understated The Master. Yet again, the posters went on sale and were gone in a matter of minutes, so only a lucky few were able to get their hands on these amazing creations, crafted by juggernauts like Tyler Stout, Kilian Eng, Olly Moss (Above) and others.

Check out 8 more amazing posters after the break, and if you've got deep pockets you can try your hand at getting yourself a print over on the auction blocks of Ebay.

Is The VFX Industry Going Extinct? The Dark Shadow Of Rythm & Hues

With a great deal of friends in the VFX industry, yesterday saw a strange turn of events in the social sphere following the 2013 Oscars, an event that netted Ang Lee's Life Of Pi four Academy Awards in the categories of best director, best cinematography, best visual effects, and best original score. Yet despite all those accolades and close to half a billion dollars in international box office revenue, the company that brought Ang Lee's vision to life, Rythm & Hues filed for bankruptcy just two weeks ago, resulting in 200 artists losing their jobs. This comes as the result of years of slaving over R&D, new pipelines and bringing the director's vision to life. 1200 other artists jobs currently hang in the balance.



The issue presents an ever growing concern with the state of the VFX industry, and the strange belief that the artistry behind these types of projects is the result of simply pushing a few buttons. Yesterday's Oscar's featured some moments that truly brought me pain, including the cast of Joss Wheadon's The Avengers making a complete mockery of the situation, Ang Lee disregarding giving any shout out to the VFX team on stage, and Bill Westenhofer (VFX supervisor on Life of Pi) getting cut off when he attempted to bring light to the plight of Rythm & Hues and the industry as a whole.

Worth Checking Out: Moonbot Studio's The Golem

 (Via)

It isn't everyday an Oscar award winning animation studio takes a step into the realm of video games, but Moonbot Studios looks to be doing just that. While the studio has released titles for iOS in the past, The Golem is a title that seems to be taking the studio's skills five steps further.

Proving that narrative is equally as important as style, Moonbot Studios sets out to create an emotional world filled with deep character connection and a level of player interaction that I rarely see in games. Along with what sounds to be beautiful game design is a classic yet beautiful art style that sets the time and tone of The Golem.

The Painterly Illustrations Of Hoook

(Via)

Hoook is a painterly South Korean hobbyist turned illustrator who captured our attention with his surreal, painterly art style. Hoook's illustrations over the last year or two have been unified by an ongoing aquatic theme as represented by his subject matter and soft, aquatic color schemes.

What makes his work most interesting though is his compositional choices, adding a rather unsettling tone to the body of his work. From distant, lost looking mermaids to shadowy figures cropped out of frames, Hoook's beautiful paintings leave a lot to the viewers imaginations.

The Pub

Welp, that's enough trip-inducing video browsing for one day.  'The Pub' is 59 Productions extremely bizarre, obviously rotoscoped (yes, twice in one day...) animation how a young woman's shift at a local pub. Except this particular shift is just one extremely bizarre downward spiral into who know's what. It's surrealism to the Nth degree, that's for damned sure.

KOOL A.D. - "Moneyball"

Former Das Racist member and NY based wordsmith Kool A.D. presents himself as a the king of an eclectic utopia, while dropping masterfully forged contrasting verses on his thoughts about life, society and consumerism. Moneyball is from his latest mixtapes, dubbed '63,' an ode to one of his favorite bus lines while growing up in the bay area. Keep an eye out on Kool A.D., he's been killing it as of late.

Overcast

As their graduation project, UK-based animators James Lancett and Sean Weston created this awesome animation-juxtaposed-into-real life short.  'Overcast' tells the story of a stylized yet simple animated man, who just can't seem to rid himself of a pestering rain cloud over his head. Finally fed up, he tries to flee from this nuisance.

The overall message appears to be "just accept the downpour", which is, to me, an odd message. Primarily, I loved the use of animation vs. real life: It appears to me that the use rotoscoping has been used, which gives our protagonist some amazingly realistic movement.

Ursus

Illustrator Reinis Pētersons along with Latvian company Atom Art came together to create this beautiful charcoal animated short, 'Ursus.'  Appropriately named, it tells the story of a circus bear who finds himself weary of the phony life he leads.  Like most who tire of the day-to-day existence, he sets out to find himself and happiness.  But perhaps true happiness is found the simplest of places?  We haven't encountered many charcoal animations, so this was a happy breath of fresh air.  

Mad As Hell Movie Mashup

Sometimes you simply need a little anger to relieve some steam, let people know what's really on your mind. Who doesn't deserve a bit of a cathartic outburst from time to time? The folks over at Berlin's indepedent film agency called East Cross Projects put together an awesome little mashup featuring some of film's best moments of raw anger set to the music of Wojtek. After a somewhat frustrating week, this is just what the doctor ordered.

The Art Of Toronn

(Via)

Toronn is a Japanese female illustrator whom we found while researching Square's upcoming Bravely Default: Flying Fairy (Aka a chance to dust off that 3DS), a retro styled RPG created by Akihiko Yoshida. Toronn's work as a background illustrator on that title lead us to her portfolio, which featured some truly delicate, dreamy paintings created using mediums like gouache, watercolor and digital mediums.

Her work has won her features in international art publications including EXPOSÉ, Spectrum and more over the years, as well as plenty of gallery shows back at home. Check out more of her lovely illustration work after the break.

Junip - "Line Of Fire" (NSFW)

Folk-pop trio Junip just released this new music video for a track from their upcoming self titled followup to 2010's Fields, an incredibly unsettling affair directed by Mikel Cee Karlsson. Lead by the smooth vocals of Swedish/Argentine artist José González, Line Of Fire's music video features a series of looping vignettes slowly reveal the dark, uncomfortable side of a Scandinavian family. Sometimes it's the things that are implied, not shown which are truly disturbing. Their new album drops on April 22.

The Art Of Evan Lee

(Via)

Evan Lee is a concept artist and illustrator based out of Taiwan, who has climbed up the creative ladder at an accelerated rate with his unique designs and creative drive. Starting off as a fine artist, Evan branched into digital and got his first break by creating his own interpretation of an entire 78 card Tarot deck using a mixture of mediums (Gold foil, pastel, acrylic, watercolor and more). Since that project, it's been an upward spiral for the artist, up to the point of becoming an art director for the Gladius Regalis MMO in Taiwan's burgeoning gaming industry.

Lee is well rounded with his work, specializing in both fantasy and scifi genres, although I personally think his personality comes through more with his more future tinged pieces. I found it interesting that his style resembled had more in common with Korean design aesthetics (European influences) versus Chinese design aesthetics (Typically taking influence from Chinese mythology), but his work definitely carries a flavor all his own. Check out more of his work after the break!

Ad Collective Volume V : Chérie 25, Rovers, Heart to Mouth, Pariah, TedX

Welcome back! Ad Collective is a weekly spotlight on creative advertising projects that push the creative envelope. We're not talking mind grating, generic commercials for car insurance and laundry detergent here, rather a spotlight on individuals trying to elevate the art of advertising into more of an art form rather than an exercise in playing it safe and taking no risks.

This week brings us a wide range of amazing projects and experimentation from creative collectives and passionate individuals spanning the globe. This week's advertising campaigns, in order:

• Chérie 25 is a really cool ad bringing a series of illustrative stylish females to life on the streets of Paris and beyond, created by the fine folks over at Mathematic SAS. The limited color palette (Based off of the French TV Channels branding) is incorporated wonderfully into the cohesive promo.
• Amsterdam based collective Hello, Savants! came together to create this exploration of angularity called Rovers, featuring a mixture of hand made models and some post work to bring them to life via subtle motion.
• Heart To Mouth was created by Dutch creative Bart Hess as a reinterpretation of the classic symbol for love, the heart shape. Using a mixture of Latex and quite possibly some left over ideas from his time working for Lady Gaga on her Born This Way album, the result is both strange and tantalizing at the same time.
• Created at the  Köln International School of Design, Pariah was put together by a group of students (Hannes Hummel, Philipp Carboota, Thilko Limbeck) over the course of 3 months using a hacked Kinect and a low poly art style to fit their track of choice. The end result fits perfectly with the tone of the melancholic track.
• Glassworks Amsterdam created this playful and clever promo for TEDxAmsterdam called Create Destroy, featuring the reconstruction of a destroyed balloon installation with some subtle commentary on human nature thrown in for good measure.

Worth Checking Out: Death Inc. Kickstarter + Prototype Demo

It's been increasingly difficult to find games worth funding on Kickstarter. It's not that there's necessarily bad games, but the sheer amount of worthwhile projects would destroy your wallet in a moments notice. Even with the large quantity of quality Kickstarter projects, every so often a title popups that deserves a little more exposure; this is where Death Inc. comes in.

Developed by the small UK based studio, Ambient Studios, Death Inc. holds some interesting concepts that is definitely worth checking out. With a tight blend of RTS style gameplay, a business management style overworld, and an incredibly charming art style, Death Inc. is at the top of my must haves for Kickstarter initiatives. After spending a little bit of time with the Prototype it becomes increasingly obvious how dedicated the team is to putting out a quality title that won't disappoint. If you're on the fence for supporting the game I can't suggest more that you give the demo a try, while an early build, it definitely shows a lot of promise.

As it currently stands the Kickstarter has 12 days left with about £70,000 of it's required £300,000. Go take a look at the Kickstarter over here and if throw a few dollars at it if you please.

Bravest Warriors - Ultra Wankersim (Episode 10)

God dammit, it's impossible for me to see an episode of Bravest Warriors with Catbug without acting like a 14-year-old girl. He's just so f*cking cute. While this newest episode felt a tad bit slower compared to previous entries, it definitely looks like Pendleton Ward and crew are pushing the series into some interesting terrain. I personally can't wait to find out what the hell the series has in store for us, the ongoing side plot is shaping up rather nicely, and it'd be nice to see Chris to step out of the friendzone.

What's even more surprsing is the preview for the series finale titled "Catbug". Holy shit. There's an entire episode revolving around Catbug you guys. Guys. Guys. This is huge you guys. Catbug is getting he's own episode. I can't even handle this right now.

The Illustrative Art Of Brutal Moineau

(Via)

Brutal Moineau would make for one heck of a badass name, but despite my initial hopes it turned out to only be a monicker for French illustrator Roman Mennetrier, meaning 'Brutal Sparrow.' Roman's illustrative work is charming, simple and colorful, ditching detail for a clean style with a heavy emphasis on soothing colors, soft lighting and compositions bordering more on the graphic side.

If you've had a rather hectic week, you'll be pleased to see some more of the French illustrator's relaxing, pleasant work after the break. You can purchase prints of his work over at Society 6.

Worth Checking Out: Surgery Simulator 2013

Steam's Greenlight has definitely empowered quite a few developers to let their craziest come to fruition, and Surgeon Simulator is one of the most unintentionally hilarious games to come out of that movement. Narrating the story of an everyday ordinary guy called 'Nigel Burke,' you are tasked with performing various life saving surgeries on people..Using only one hand tasked to QWERT keys and a mouse. This game was created over the course of a 48 hour marathon.

The video below features Robbaz taking the proof of concept game for a spin, resulting in a rather humorous heart transplant with irreversible consequences. Who needs lungs, right? With a charm akin to QWOP, I'd definitely throw my support behind seeing this game fully fleshed out with more scenarios, settings and of course, tools. Check out their Greenlight page here for more details.

  \

Letherette - "D&T"

Using a found footage approach, courtesy of New York's Konx-Om-Pax collective, the Wolverhampton, UK based duo's track from their upcoming debut album (April) delivers an exciting taste of things to come. The chopped up funky track gels perfectly with the cascade of retro visuals, peaking with a most excellent guitar finisher towards the end. Anyone else getting some familiar Toro Y Moi vibes?

SWAG.MOV (nsfw)

Even if you're not a fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, there's really no reason for you not to be a fan of Max Gilardi and his PONY.MOV series. What began over a year ago has finally reached it's epic conclusion with the final entry into the series, SWAG.MOV. I always find it hard to say goodbye to a series, but this is definitely the right way to see it go. If you haven't gotten a chance to watch all of Max's work I suggest moving your mouse a little and checking out his YouTube.

Fat

In our part of the world, it's a rather gray, dreary day.  And it's Wednesday.  Hrmph.  At the very least, we have a little ray of sunshine in this adorable animated short by a group of students at Supinfocom, made as a graduation project a few years back.  It's a bright, sunny day on the farm, and everything is playing out like normal.  But upon the discovery of several literally inflated animals, things start to take a bizarre turn.  Without much explanation, it just progresses further and further across the farm.

New Footage Of Obsidian's Canceled Aliens: Crucible RPG Surface

The cancellation of the Aliens RPG back in 2009 still stands in my book as one of the most baffling, unexplained decisions by a publisher in recent memory. A studio experienced with RPG development, an IP begging for a more in depth gameplay experience, what went wrong? To this day devs haven't commented on the exact reasons behind the project getting canned.

SEGA never quite explained their decision behind the cancellation, but I'm guessing it had something to do with broad appeal and demographics. An FPS would probably sell better than an RPG, no? Obsidian went on to work on Fallout: New Vegas and only a few devs lost their jobs following a ton of work spent on a prototype that was ultimately overlooked.

Recent footage has surfaced showing off an early build of the game and some of the systems in place: Team based gameplay, characters with fleshed out personalities and a great sense of atmosphere. Despite some rough areas and placeholder assets, the video definitely gives a taste of what could have been. Former project director J.E. Sawyer offered some  insights into some of the game's high level concepts, which would have been pretty fitting for an Aliens RPG:

'This was a game of limited resources and perma-death. If a party member got face-hugged, your choices were to mercy kill them, put them in a sleeper and wake them sparingly if you need them, or let them pop - but the bottom line was that once they got impregnated they had an expiration date. ' (More here)



Animator Danny Garnett also recently uploaded this reel featuring some in game animations. On a fun note though, we've already heard from some credible sources that SEGA is currently at work on yet another Aliens title. Is this recent influx of Crucible footage a coincidence, or is this a sign of things to come? Only time will tell. We've gathered all the concept art related to the cancelled title that we could find (A massive amount), check it out after the break! Keeping our fingers crossed here.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle Is Looking Hot

Can this game get any more fabulous? Hirohiko Akari's famously quirky series, featuring many generations of protagonists cursed with the gift of perma-voguing and entities known as 'Stands' has long begged for a proper videogame adaptation, and this latest trailer has sold me on that aspect. Araki's dynamic style has always hit a certain note in me, mixing high fashion, idealized masculinity and the aesthetics of the highly unorthodox color schemes of Paul Gauguin to create a truly striking, over the top series that's left an impression on me.



I personally couldn't be happier that the folks over at CyberConnect2, best known here in the US for their stellar Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm series took the reigns for this project. The game is currently slated for an August 29 release date in Japan, but we're hopefuly that All Star Battle will make the jump overseas sometime soon. Yare Yare Daze!

The Art Of Vukasin Bagic - Mechs, Anime And Everything In Between

(Via)

Vukasin Bagi is a concept artist from the Novi Sad region of Serbia, who blew me away with his excellent concept oriented portfolio. Drawing his inspiration from contemporary and classical artists like Craig Mullins and Sargent, it makes sense that his work also carries a more impressionist tinge to it, with plenty of implied detail and a great deal of attention to lighting in his pieces.

Mix that with some truly fun subject matter, like his awesome attempt to make the infamously unreliable Yugoslavian car (The Zastava 101) badass and you've got a truly memorable portfolio. Check out more of the talented concept artists painterly work after the break!

The Children's Book-Esque Art of Annette Marnat

(Via)

Upon first finding the work of Annette Marnat I was instantly hit with a rush of nostalgia, as books I once grew up with instantly flashed before my eyes. While Annette Marnat's work does not necessarily reflect a particular artist, the vintage feel of the colors and beautiful brush strokes of each figure struck me as something I would have found in books I read as a child. The feeling of warmth that each piece gives can only be described as the love put into each and every one of Marnat's pieces.

Of course my initial "children's book" reaction was quickly acknowledged as seen by a few pieces after the jump. While Annette's website may be in French, it's quite easy to navigate  and can be found over here. Hit the jump for a few more instances of here amazing work.

Trevor Moore's 'Pope Rap'

 

While the announcement of the Pope's retirement was a bit of a surprise for millions, the massive influx of Pope jokes was more than a given. Even with the large magnitude of sub-par, "the Pope likes little kids lolololol" jokes, Trevor Moore of Whitest Kids U' Know fame managed to pull out above the rest with 'The Pope Rap'. I can hardly comprehend the amount of hate Trevor is destined to receive after creating this masterpiece, but for people such as myself this is truly a godsend.

Coinciding with the motherf*ckin pope, you can pick up the song along with an entire album on March 26th in Trevor's debut album, "Drunk Texts To Myself". Can't say I'm not a little bit excited for more Trevor Moore comedy, the man is a genius.

HIdeo Kojima's "Rising" Trailer

Since the E3 demo I got my hands on last year, I've been waiting at the edge of my seat with anticipation for the official release of Metal Gear Rising: Revengence. The game is an absolute blast and anything that our lord and savior Hideo Kojima puts his hands on receives the King Midas treatment. Honestly though, it feels like it's been quite sometime since I've had the chance to play a truly original and fun AAA title, which Revengence fills with it's long sharp sword.

To celebrate the games launch, Kojima has edited this trailer himself to showcase the wild ride we're all in for. No doubt about it, this is the best trailer for the game to date and it's made even more excited to sink more time into the game. The game is out now and I highly suggest you pick it up, it's all around blast.

Worth Checking Out : Riot

While I initally mistook this title as a new entry from the Superbrothers (Sword & Sorcery), it turns out that these Florence based developers were only inspired by the distinct visual style of the pixel artists. In attempt to create a comprehensive simulator based off of real life events, the indie dev team is hoping to offer two distinct perspectives and moral issues that make up a modern riot.

The devs currently have a campaign on Indiegogo to help fund the completion of the project and cover licensing, software and living expenses. Considering how cool the visual style and concept of the game is already, I'd recommend dropping this project a few bucks to help these devs reach their meager $15,000 goal. Check out the Riot Indiegogo page for more details.

AJ Hateley's Thirty Days Of Gaming Project

(Via)

UK based illustrator A.J. Hateley set out to create an original set of tribute pieces to some of the best gaming franchises out there, and knocked it out of the park. Mixing her specialization in illustration for publishing and love of videogames, A.J. created a series of truly clever, subtle book covers dubbed as the Thirty Days Of Videogames Project.

Whereas many other illustrators typically slap the name of the game on their illustrations, you truly have to appreciate A.J.'s more indirect approach, capturing the essence of each game and encapsulating them into a single image and a few words. This series kind of made me wonder about how much work and thought goes into coming up with a book cover, and awakened a new appreciation for the illustrators and designers involved in such a process. Check out a few more samples from her set after the break. These designs can be purchased over on her Redbubble page for those inclined.

The Art Of Talros : Mech Wonderland

(Via)

Talros (Aka Daniel Graffenberger) is one of the many artists to have been inspired by the iconic ship design of Relic's Homeworld, an award winning scifi game that was lauded for it's incredible art direction, music and gameplay back in 1999. Many scifi concept artists we've had a chance to talk to in recent memory have listed Homeworld as one of their influences for getting into the field, and in Daniel's case he's incorporated the unorthodox design language of the title into his own style, resulting in some truly cool designs.

Based out of Berlin, Daniel's current work is mainly from a hobbyist/freelancer perspective, but at this rate I wouldn't be surprised to see him break into the industry. Check out more of his industrial design goodies after the break.

Dragon's Crown - Breathing New Life Into Forgotten Genres

Vanillaware has been responsible for some of my favorite games in the last decade or so, bringing us games like Odin's Sphere and Muramasa: The Demon Blade, which were all unified by a beautiful, painterly art style and side scrolling gameplay with modern RPG elements.

First announced at E3 2011, Dragon's Crown is an ARPG which will bring back a long forgotten genre, the traditional side scrolling beat em' up. Featuring a total of six classes- Fighter, Amazon, Elf, Sorceress, Wizard and Dwarf, this game will feature multiple branching paths, deeper gameplay and dozens of secret areas, as well as online play to boost replayability and some gameplay aspects reminiscent of Demon's Souls.

Art Director and founder of Vanillaware George Kamitani returns yet again to deliver a visually stunning looking title, which could be best described as a painting in motion. His philosophy has remained the same over the years, shunning ever changing industry trends and continuing to embrace the 2D games he loved to play growing up. Dragon's Crown represents a project that Kamitani thought up in 1997 following the release of the cult Sega Saturn hit Princess Crown.

Having grown up in the arcades with plenty of exposure to classic Capcom titles like Knights Of The Round and Dungeons & Dragons: Shadows Over Mystara, it just feels good to know that some passionate devs are bringing this genre to a new generation. Check out a full art gallery featuring the stylized protagonists and world of Dragon's Crown. Get hype.

The Art Of Fred Augis : Remember Me

(Via)

Parisian concept artist Fred Augis just recently released a series of concepts created for DontNod's Remember Me, a title we've featured rather prominently over the last few months. Fred provided a variety of character designs for the various protagonists, including the main heroine called Nilin, whereas Paul Chadeisson focused more on fleshing out the dystopian, surveillance state world via his environment concepts.

Fred also posted a few of his personal concepts, showing off his affinity for the scifi genre, which you can check out after the break! The Capcom published title is set to release on May 2013, with an interesting 'memory remix' mechanic that we're looking forward to experiencing.

DOOMED: A Biological Cartoon!

Well over a year ago a quirky animated pilot was released for Guillermo Garcia Carsi's nature mockumentary 'DOOMED', fast forward to today and we're treated with the short in it's entirety. The over-the-top mock-doc does a fabulous job at setting the stage with a cast of absurd animals that haven't quite hit a useful point in their evolutionary cycle. I can't help but feel awful for the 'inverted hedgehog'; while it might not be a real creature, the fact that someone developed a concept for the creature is somewhat concerning.

Bungie Unveils The World Of 'Destiny'

Bungie just unveiled the concept for Destiny, their upcoming 'shared world shooter,' and it looks like they've delivered on the hype they've built up around this project. Part sandbox, part shooter, part MMO and multiplatform in ways that have never quite been attempted.  The entire concept of this game is rather mind bending, but exciting for it's refusal to adhere to any particular genre.

Following a ten year narrative arc, the game will attempt to craft a persistent universe that will keep player constantly involved and immersed in a seamless gameplay experience with plenty of social media connection as well. The entire idea evokes memories of playing Journey, except with an infinitely grander scale and an engrossing scifi world. We're looking forward to hearing more about this one. Check out some awesome concept art from the Bungie folks after the break.

J.Viewz Playing Massive Attack's 'Teardrop' With Vegetables

Definitely had to check the calendar a few times to make sure it wasn't April, although I'm still on the fence about this one. J.Viewz (Jonathan Dagan) is known as a bit of a tinkerer in regards to his approach to creating music, but this definitely raised some eyebrows. Harnessing the power of vegetables into MIDI signals seems like a stretch, but if he actually did manage to rig this entire setup, this performance is pretty damn genius.

The 365 Animation Project By Brothers McLeod

Akin to how photographers embark on 'photo a day' endurance projects to test their creativity, creative collective The Brothers McLeod (Greg & Myles) are embarking on an animation journey over the next 11 months to craft a film, one second a day.

The above video features the work done in January, and the duo will be releasing a new one every month. Following their motto of 'one year/one film/one second a day,' we should end up with a very abstract short by 2014. Like their Facebook page to stay in the loop regarding their updates.

The Golden Bird

This very unique stop motion short was created by UK-based animator Cat Bruce.  It tells the story of a boy on a journey for a golden bird, after an initial brief encounter in the middle of the night.  However, things are not always what they seem.

The style and textures  are quite interesting, and looks as if she used the scraps from a variety of arts & crafts projects.  It works well, and really provides a whimsical look to a rather bizarre plot, which was based on a Brothers Grimm story.  One of the longer stop motion shorts I've come across in a while, I can't even imagine the time and effort put into such a piece.

Wolf Smoke Animation Reel : China's Best Indie Animation Studio?

We're glad to hear that the talented folks over at the independent Chinese animation studio known as Wolf Smoke are still at it. They've definitely faced some challenges, including having a few of their videos taken down on Youtube for questionable reasons after getting hundreds of thousands of views.

The studio has been around since 2006, but they definitely burst into the scene with Kung Fu Cooking Girls and Little Big War, which you can check out after the break. They also created Bat Man Of Shanghai for DC and Cartoon Network as part of their DC Nation animated shorts.  Considering the rarity of established Chinese animation studios with international appeal, I truly hope to see this team prosper for years to come.

The Art Of Taemin Park

(Via)

Taesi (Taemin Park) is a South Korean illustrator who caught our eye via his work on Riot's League Of Legends MOBA. Having started off as a fanart artist on the forums, Taemin progressed up to being a freelance contributor to the game, offering designs for skins and splash screen art for characters.

Taemin also regularly contributes to a variety of other MMO's and App store titles, including Galaxy Saga (Which is pretty fun). With an affinity for creating some truly badass female warriors, Taemin has carved himself out a pretty good niche. Check out more awesomeness after the break!

C'est La Vie

Simone Rovellini's short essentially throws together an adorable array French cliches.  It's the day in the life of a young woman, Henriette.  It's just all so incredibly pink, frou-frou, lacy, ribbony... Essentially, every single item on the stereotypical girly-girl's list is checked off.  Twice. All done in good fun, and incredibly tongue-in-cheek.  Though narrated in Italian, we found the English subtitled version.  Enjoy!

Head Over Heels

While we typically gear towards more up-and-coming artists and animators, I couldn't help but post this awesomely understated stop motion short, 'Head Over Heels.'  Oscar-nominated Timothy Reckart's tale is that of a husband and wife, clearly married for quite some time.  Living in a strange gravity vs. anti-gravity house that travels through the air (space?), they go about their day-to-day lives.  Until when day, when their house "lands," and they hope for the opportunity to be together on the same side of things.

Mike Diva's 'Grind House Anthem'

Ever wonder what kind of magic would come out of mashing 50 Grindhouse movies together? Of course you have, don't even kid yourself. Using clips from 50 movies, Mika Diva and friends have put together an amazingly catchy electro-beat that I can't help but tap my toes to. After being sucked into Grindhouse Flix's catchy marketing scheme, I jumped over to their website to have a look and I was actually pretty impressed with their selection. If you're in an overly violent mood, I definitely suggest heading over dropping a few dollars to fulfill your needs.

Music Video Roundup : Mouth, Pissed Jeans, Coldcut, Indian Wells, WIXIW

Quite a lack of music videos this week, but let's make up for that with a roundup. The recent stream of submissions has brought us some truly bizarre, amazing tracks and remixes, coupled with some even more baffling music videos. In order:

• Niel Cicieraga took it upon himself to create the most disturbing rendition of Smash Mouth's groan inducing Hey Now, You're A Rockstar I've probably ever heard, reducing the typically saccharine track into a primal fever dream, complete with nightmarish distorted Shrek visuals. Prepare yourself mentally, it's mesmerizing and absolutely incredible.
• Pissed Jeans' Bathroom Laughter fulfills our fantasy of watching those annoying late night shovelware hawkers get a taste of their own medicine. Consider it a cathartic treatment for years spent desperately wading through adtopia at 3AM for some quality programming. Director Joe Stakun makes them feel our pain.
• Wimbledon 1980 by Indian Wells was crafted both visually and aurally using vintage footage from they heyday of Wimbledown. A downtempo look at a golden age long gone, directed by Italian director Valentina Dell'Aquila.
• Coldcuts The State We're In is a re-release from the English music duo's 2006 album, 'Sound Mirrors.' Japanese Salarymen become the medium for delivering messages about breaking out of conformity and standing up.
• Experimental rock trio WXIW deliver a dark, abstract turn into a world of frustration, a player unable to land that slam dunk, perhaps a reflection of the bands own turbulent development over the years.

Weaponized Creatures By Zoonoid

(Via)

Konstantin Maystrenko (Zoonoid) is a Moscow based freelancer with an ongoing thematic element in his portfolio, weaponized creatures. From riot shield wielding bats to melee augmented bears, Maystrenko's mind has turned a whole slew of creatures into scifi weapons of mass destruction in this slick concept series.

Like many other Russian concept artists, Konstantin has worked at Nival Online (Russia's Blizzard) on projects including Allods Online and Prime World, the latest MOBA style offering from the Russian juggernaut. Check out more of his awesome creations after the break!

Let's Talk About Something More Interesting Feat. Matt Damon

The charmingly awkward ladies from Youtube channel LivePrudeGirls just recently had a star studded breakthrough, getting a chance to interview Matt Damon. In a futile attempt to promote his Water.org charity, Matt gets caught in an attention seeking crossfire between the two starstruck interviewers. Let's just say that things spiral out of control quickly.

Wildstar - Meet The Dominion

Carbine Studios' Wildstar continues to perplex me with it's interesting direction. Aside from it's very appealing, highly stylized art direction, the developers are layering some really interesting gameplay on top of the traditional class system, called 'paths.' This path system will offer interesting perks based off your preferred style of gameplay, rewarding players who prefer combat over say, exploration. In a way it's similar to how Guild Wars 2 asked questions during character creation to customize your play experience, but it's shaping up to be a little more in depth.

The latest promo video offers some truly charming, amazingly well animated goodness, offering a perspective on the world of Wildstar through the eyes of a rather villainous sounding Dominion officer, dropping hints about races and some motivations behind colonizing the galaxy. It looks like the folks at Carbine have put a great deal of thought into fleshing out their world, and we really look forward to learning more about this universe. Wildstar has yet to receive a release date, but we're hoping to get a chance to play it sometime in 2013.

'What The Hell Happened to Aliens: Colonial Marines?'

If you have been paying any attention to recent gaming news, you have more than definitely spotted at least one article utterly destroying Sega and Gearbox's Aliens: Colonial Marines. For a game that's been in development for over 7 years, this might already take the cake for 2013's biggest gaming disappointments. I seem to distinctly remember the excitement I held for the game's release, it finally looked like a return to form for Aliens, but it looks like things fell apart. No one is quite sure what happened during the game's development quite yet, but something catastrophic definitely occurred at some point. Some developers that we know have hinted at the fact that a good chunk of the game was outsourced to Timegate studios (The developers of Section 9) while Gearbox focused on developing their own IP's, so we're wondering if there is any correlation.

This comparison video shows quite a bit of footage from the the pre-release that garnered a lot of my (and many others) excitement, while comparing it to the god awful release build that seems to enjoy dropping a massive sh*t on any hopes I had for the IP. Probably the biggest surprise out of this is just how much they changed in terms of atmosphere, why the hell would you remove fog, god dammit! I can't even begin to fathom why this game took such a dramatic change for the worst and I'm not quite sure I even want to know. This might just be another case of gameplay target footage created by the company versus reality, an ongoing bad practice in the game industry.

James Blake - Retrogade

   

There are very few songs I can confidently say I wish were longer due to overall quality of composition, James Blake's newest single Retrogade is one of them. Honestly, I can't quite recall any other music I've listened to over the past week since the single's release, it's just far too mesmerizing. James Blake's distinct "post-dubstep" style vibrates your very existence with each and ever pulsating beat while accompanied by some of the most unique and hauntingly beautiful vocals in current-day music. Retrogade is a song that definitely digs it's way into your ear canal and refuses to leave, pushing you to listen to it "just one more time".

Accompanied by this newly released music video by director, Martin de Thurah, which follows a wandering biker/astronaut through a surreal backwoods "dance", this is definitely a single you don't want to miss.

The Vibrant Art Of Hiroyuki Takahashi : Visual Caffeine

(Via)

Feeling a little dazed and confused today? Well take a gander at the bright, amazing art of Hiroyuki Takahashi (Aka 3Eyes-Taka and Slipper-Taka). The Osaka based artist's work explodes off the page with his choice of poppy, vibrant color schemes and his Harajuku in a blender fashion sense, derived from experiences with fashion design, music video conceptalization, street art and motion design work (That's deserving of a dedicated post itself, stay tuned) coming together to create a truly vibrant art style.

Personally, I definitely appreciate designers who can juggle and control this many elements on a page and keep the images harmonious, not an easy undertaking to say the least. With clients ranging from just about every artistic medium, Hiroyuki's strong style has definitely left it's mark in Japan. Prepare for a healthy infusion of visual stimuli after the break!

RoboGal's Weekly Cute Mixtape 2.0! All Alpaca Edition!

I took a quick break last week, but I'm back with another edition of the revamped Cute Mixtape! After some adorable inspiration from a recent VICE video, I've added another member to my list of cute and funny creatures: the alpaca.

Not to be confused with the llama, though both are native to South America, the alpaca is smaller and is typically bred for their fuzzy warm wool (commonly known as 'fiber'), whereas llamas are typically bred as pack-carrying animals. Fun fact: You can crossbreed the two, to create the fuzzier, less tasty cousin of chorizo, the 'Huarizo.' Unlike most hybrids in nature, the Huarizo is a breedable, sustainable mix.

Deal with it.

I think there's a code out there somewhere that states that doe-eyes, long eye-lashes and a slightly derpy face are one of the pinnacle trifectas of the awesomely adorable cute factor. Unlike llamas, which are fairly large and therefore menacing, alpacas look like the sweet pocket sized version. And lest we forget, anything pocket size is cute by default.

The alpaca has also brought us to another amazingly cute, if imaginary, animal, the Arpakasso. Mind-blowingly cute, to the point of being unbearable, this awesome stuffed little guy can be found online, so that you may too find your sheepish looking friend. More alpacas, huarizo's and Arkapasso goodness after the break!

Ghost in the Shell Gets The FPS Treatment

(Via)

Earlier yesterday the first public trailer for Ghost in the Shell ARISE hit the web and with four fifty-minute episodes, it's certain to be quite a doozy (wow, that word pained me to type). As fans wait patiently to find out whether or not the new chief director, Kazuchika Kise will provide another amazing entry into the Ghost in the Shell universe, a second announcement will give them even more to chew on. During the Production I.G. presentation, South Korean developer, Nexon, announced it's work on an upcoming online FPS set in Masamune Shirow's universe. Whether or not this is actually good news is yet to be decided, but judging from Nexon's past work it could go either way.

I'll definitely be first to admit that I'm skeptical with Nexon, Ghost in the Shell is a tricky IP and I'm not quite sure Nexon will find the talent to do the series justice. With the half-assed F2P FPS Combat Arms it's hard to imagine this turning out well, but I'll hold my judgements. The game has been described to emphasize heavily on hacking and will allow players to customize their body, talk about vague.

Other than the fantastic concept art released, all we know is the game is set for an early 2014 release for Japan which means we'll most likely see this title localized never. For a few more pieces from the games announcement hit the jump, the art is definitely fantastic.

Spectral Motion's Animatronics Work For Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters Is Impressive

The folks over at Spectral Motion just released quite a bit of test footage regarding the development of animatronics for a troll called 'Edward' in the Hansel & Gretel. Inspired by the level of fidelity that Guillermo Del Toro managed to achieve with the Hellboy franchise (The making of Hellboy II is one of the best I've ever seen), director Tommy Wirkola decided to go with the same company that worked with Del Toro. Following Gustav Hoegen's stellar animatronic work on Prometheus, I wouldn't be surprised if the medium makes a major comeback over CG in years to come.

On a side note, Edward was probably the only redeeming feature that the film had to offer, after going to a screening for that awful, awful movie. Did you know that Hansel (Jeremy Renner, Hawkeye in The Avengers) had steampunk diabetes, called 'the sugar disease' in the movie from eating too much candy? Part of my brain died in that theater, but hey..At least I got to experience some truly amazing animatronics created by a passionate group of folks. Derek Mears manned the final animatronic suit in the feature.

FreddieW Might Be Done With The Harlem Shake

I don't care what you think, the Harlem Shake is genuinely one of the best video memes to hit the internet. I cancertainly understand that some are already getting a little burnt out, but you have to admit that the community has continuously found some amazings ways to push the video craze a little further. Freddie Wong on the other hand has had enough and he's letting everyone knowing in the only way possible, with another Harlem Shake video.

Ghost In The Shell ARISE Trailer

Production I.G. is back and this time with something that fans have been waiting for quite some time. Rumblings have hinted towards a new Ghost in the Shell series for a while but it looks like the rumors are finally becaming a reality. Today, during Production I.G.'s press conference the first trailer for Ghost in the Shell ARISE was released, showcasing some incredible animation. The OVA series follows series lead, Motoko Kusanagi, and will be released in four separate fifty-minute episodes. As a huge Ghost in the Shell and Production I.G. fan I can't wait, it's been a long time coming.

The Industrial Wonders Of ASTGraphics

(Via)

ASTG (Aka Dangerdrop) is a Japanese industrial designer based out of the Kanagawa region who just recently started combining his love of machinery with illustration to create some truly cool illustration work. Whereas his previous line of work typically entailed mechanical engineering design, the artist has just recently started to branch out into a more personally rewarding, creative field.

Whereas the anime characters that inhabit his concepts and illustrations are nothing out of the ordinary, his mechanical designs truly show the type of functional understanding that an industrial background can bring to the table. Check out more of his concepts and illustrations after the break!

Why Are We Not Home Yet?

Reminiscent of a glitched out version of Kubrick's 2001, George Fasswald's Why Are We Not Home Yet is an exercise in motion graphics using software like Cinema4D, Aftereffects and Realflow. These types of bite sized projects, held together by a loose narrative or abstract concept can be used to market the motiongraphers abilities to companies looking for ident artists.

Check out a few other samples of the Austrian artists work after the break.

Bravest Warriors Brings Forth The Friendzone (Episode 9)

I always feel awful when I miss the release of a new episode of Bravest Warriors, but here we are again! Episode 9 hit the internet last Thursday and it's filled to the brim with jokes and friend zones. I'm actually really excited to see where this series heads, as each episode seems to imply something big is on the way. Even if the series ends up mostly shorts, I really do appreciate the side story being developed throughout each episode.

Tom Law's Eyes

A kid afraid of the dark: Not a real novel idea. We've all been there a time or two (or a million... Sorry, Mom and Dad). Our imaginations can be our worst enemy. That, or E.T., because screw the nighttime scene in the field and that scream. Terrifying... Anyways, I digress.

Animator/artist & CalArts alum Tom Law pieced together the perfect, and perfectly adorable, scenario of the kid who's afraid of the dark. Annoying his sister with his rampant lamp switch-on's, he becomes increasingly afraid of eyes seen in the dark.

But he's just being an imaginative little kid... Right? It's a short and sweet animation, but funny and well done, especially since Law did it in one weekend!

Beyond

Created by Johannes Powell, Beyond is a hand animated projection mapping video created over 9 days, using hundreds of vector cubes created in Illustrator, and animated using Aftereffects and Maya. These visuals will eventually be projected onto a 3D surface to create a fully immersive experience mixing 2D and 3D into a seamless experience.

While we wait for the actual projection mapping video to come out though, full screen and kick back. The glitch track in the video is by Vaetxh : 'Crumbling Shuffle' by Detroit Underground Records. Check out Johannes' 2012 showreel after the break!

Hoodie Allen - "Cake Boy"

Hoodie Allen returns following the smashing success of his All American album, one that could be equated to the power of social media to bring underground rappers to the light. Since posting his somewhat hilarious 'James Franco' music video sometime in 2011, we've been hooked on the rappers special formula of light hearted lyrics and a definite appreciation towards his fans. As a thank you for the overwhelming support he received on his album, he's been working round the clock to deliver a free album to fans, dubbed Crew Cuts (February 20 release).

Cake Boy is the first single off the album, an audacious track about having your cake and eating it too produced by renown producer !llmind (Kanye West, 50 Cent). Prepare for a large dose of kaleidoscopic cake montages and cutoff jeans.