The Art of Mikhail Rakhmatullin

I've been following Mikhail Rakhmatullin's work for awhile now. A Russian artist hailing from Moscow, what strikes me the most about Mikhail is his stylistic propensity for sci-fi fantasy characters with exaggerated stature and colorful costumes that make for memorable silhouettes.

Elongated necklines, broad shoulders, bow-legged posture and gorgeously detailed outfits. His concept work is equally impressive, strong creature and location designs that make for a well-rounded portfolio. Catch more of his work after the break.

The Art of Bloodborne

It's finally here. The Gothic-horror hack n' slashing action-RPG Bloodborne is finally here. The spiritual successor to Hidetaka Miyazaki's previous franchise, the Souls series (Demons Souls and Dark Souls),  Bloodborne thrusts you into the role of a demon hunter ensnared within the towering monoliths and choked alleyways of ancient city besieged by a mysterious disease that transforms the weak of will and mind into monstrous abominations.

One of the most highly-anticipated titles to come out on the PS4 this year, the pre-release reviews for the game have joined together in almost unanimous choir of praise for the relentlessness and depth of its combat and the gorgeous creepiness of its art-style, owed entirely to the part of From Software's in-house roster of talented concept artists.

From Software is a very mysterious company, trying to find a list of credits of concept art and direction contributors to their latest gaming opus has been about as perilous as contending with the fell-beasts of Yharnam. We were able to track down the names of four artists attached to Bloodborne's macabre aesthetic; Lead Environment Artist Hikaru Wada, Senior Environment artist Marcos Domenech, Character Artist Max Puliero, and Senior Technical Character Artist Eduardo Mosena.

We'll try to hunt down more names to properly give these guys the due credit that they deserve, but in the mean-time check out our selection of concept images released throughout the game's development below the break. Enjoy!

An Interview With Brandon Liao: Professional Concept Artist

Recently, I had the opportunity to correspond with Brandon Liao to talk about his recent Patreon success, career aspirations, advice to rising artists and his mecha combat-suit of choice. A professional concept-artist with just over three years of industry experience, Liao was until recently a contract artist for Riot Games' most successful (and only) title League of Legends.

After leaving the company in September of last year, he set up his patreon funding page and struck out on his own as a full-time freelancer. We've featured Liao's work in the past before, so it was a terrific privilege and opportunity to speak with the man behind the Cintiq. Enjoy the rest of the interview after the break!

Tell us a little about yourself! Also, If you could pilot any robot/mecha what would it be?

I was born in Pasadena, California but grew up a little closer to Long Beach. Art has always been a hobby and it wasn't until the end of high school that I decided to pursue art as a career. I've been working as a concept artist officially for about 2-3 years. It's been very educational; I've learned new skills that I never thought that I'd get the chance to practice such as 3D modeling and texturing. It's also been very rewarding. I've worked on both video games and a couple of short films and it's been quite the adventure experiencing the different work flows. If I had to pilot a mech, it would be Chamber from Suisei no Gargantia.

The Art of Jupiter Ascending

The Wachowski's latest major sci-fi epic Jupiter Ascending releases this friday, and the lackluster promotional campaign leading through this last week is worrisome to say the least. The film's premise was already a gamble to begin with; A galaxy-hopping-DNA-wolf-elf-assassin-princess-space-opera starring Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum? Hell, stranger things have found success. Though it also doesn't help that Warner Bros.' final trailer for Jupiter commits the cardinal sin of revealing that your movie can be adequately condensed into the space of three-minutes.

Original production schematics of the "Abrasax Clipper"

No matter how you feel (or don't feel) about the film's premise or promotion, one thing that  is unquestionably awesome about it is it's superbly audacious art direction (sort of like Syd Mead meets Final Fantasy) speared by a team of the Wachowski's long-time collaborators and a host of other industry professionals (many of whom have worked previously on such films as Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Man of Steel).

Warner Bros. knows the selling point of the film's release is going to be visuals; that's why they've launched this miniature online gallery showcasing some of the film's production art and costume designs. Check below the break for some of the choicest images from the selection and drop by the site itself to see the rest!

Brainstorm Breathes New Life Into The Dark Lord of the Sith

Klaus Wittmann

Darth Vader. Savior-turned-slaughterer of the Jedi Order. The Dragon of Darth Sidious. A name synonymous with the labored exhale of a respirator and the silhouette of a hooded executioner marching through the smoking chasm of a laser-blasted airlock door. From the moment he premiered on-screen in 1977, Darth Vader had captured the collective imagination of popular culture at large with his unpacifiable ruthlessness and impenetrable aura of unwavering stoicism.

Vader has been re-imagined so many times it almost seems like a rite of passage for any fledgling Cintiq art-padawan. So when the Brainstorm page announced that they were hosting a month-long community challenge to re-interpret the fallen Jedi Knight and the Imperial Storm troopers, I knew we were in for something special.

And I wasn't wrong; Out of the hundreds of illustrations submitted, these are but a few of the most jaw-dropping entries to be submitted this month. The Force is strong with this post.

The Art of Minovo Wang

Minovo Wang is a concept art machine, plain and simple. The bar of quality throughout his work is so consistently high, combined with the almost otherworldly speed he updates with new illustrations, it's profoundly intimidating. A professional concept artist born and based out of Shanghai, the major subjects of Wang's paintings up until recently have been hastily rendered junk-cobbled automatons with retro-futuristic insignia floating through the ether of space.

But from the outset of this year his body of work has shifted to that of sartorially savvy mercenaries stomping through terra-formed outer colonies and portraits of cybernetic matriarchs with gazes so sullen and fierce they could give Sharbat Gula a run for her money. I've drafted this post over three times and it never gets easier choosing which of his illustrations to feature. This guy's definitely getting a redux down the line.

Neil Blomkamp's Abandoned 'Alien' Concepts Reveal A Great Film That Never Was

If I could sum up my relationship to the Aliens movie franchise in two words, they would be "affectionately turbulent". The entire series has bobbed and darted at each end of the spectrum of quality, from Ridley Scott's masterful 1979 original and James Cameron's superb if tonally divergent sequel, to the series' last two sequels (and one prequel) that charitably run the gamut between 'scattershot' and 'unfortunate'. So when I saw these concept art pieces posted by Neil Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium) related to a supposedly cancelled(?) spec-sequel helmed by the man himself, my heart broke a little.

Hello Mother.

Part of me is stubbornly holding out hope that this is all just a stealth-promotion campaign to drum up and demonstrate public support for his own iteration in the franchise, much like the 'leak' of the Deadpool sizzle-trailer that coincidentally led to the film finally be green-lit after witnessing the hype. At least, that's what I imagine this is when you have sheepishly implicit remarks like , "[20th Century Fox] didn't even know I was working on it haha...Woulda rocked. Was a mental stroll into the world Ridley Scott created...maybe I'll go back to it ....love the world". 

Check out the rest below the break. Shouts out to Meredith Woerner of io9 for breaking the story!

Abandoned Toy Story 3 Concepts Reveal a Fate Worse Than Sid

Remember that one scene in Toy Story 3 when Woody and his pals were being  rapidly sucked into the gaping molten hell-mouth of an industrial incinerator? Yeah, it could have been worse. The production of the third installment in the Toy Story franchise dates all the way back to 2004 (just five years after the release of Toy Story 2). Despite this, the final film would not see the light of a projection booth until 2010. So what happened?



In 2005, Pixar were in the midst of a "conscious uncoupling" from Disney. However, Disney still contractually retained the rights to create sequels to any of Pixar's properties produced during their initial 7-year contract, albeit complying with Pixar's right of first refusal. The contested film in question? None other than Toy Story 3.

A proxy animation-house named Circle 7 Animation (derisively nicknamed "Pixaren't") was created in 2004 to helm this new project. Few details emerged regarding this incarnation of the film; only the plot to rescue a malfunctioning Buzz from being decommissioned at a Taiwanese recall factory. Well, the concept art for that version has surfaced just in time for the holidays, and they are terrifying.

Special thanks to comicbookmovie.com and kudos to reddit user oz27varela for uncovering and compiling this treasure trove of production art!

Brainstorm Community re-imagines Tony Stark as a "Steam-Punk Iron-Man"

Jason Kang (via)

I first discovered the Brainstorm Concept Art Community Group via social media a few weeks back. The thing that struck me the most about the group's atmosphere was in how inviting they were to artistic newcomers of all degrees of technical skill and aesthetic temperament. As soon as I saw the results of the group's last major community event, "Steam-Punk Iron-Man", I knew I had to shine a spotlight on them.

This project turned out a wealth of varying reinterpretations and re-imaginings of the venerable "Genius-Millionaire-Playboy-Philanthropist", from Jason Kang's Rockwellian portrait pictured above, to Giby Joseph's Pyromaniacal snow-trooper,  Cheung Chung Tat's Iron-Gojira and Daniele Orlandini's phantom-like aviator, there's a wealth of inspiring creativity and familiar weirdness just below the break!

The Art of Blizzard's Overwatch - Arnold Tsang

Hanzo (via)

Undoubtedly by now you've heard at least something about Blizzard's new multiplayer-shooter Overwatch. If not, allow me the extreme pleasure to introduce the company's newest IP in over 17 years. An impressive looking free-to-play team-shooter with heavily Capcom-inspired character roster and Pixar-esque aesthetic, Overwatch players are thrust into the roles of either the titular peacekeeping force or their mysterious mercenary counterparts in a battle for intergalactic supremacy.

The game is schedule for an open-Beta early next year, launches with as many as 12 initial characters, and from all appearances looks like a colossal load of fun. Sadly, as is often the case in the games industry, audiences are seldom made aware of the host of talented artists and designers that craft these incredible new game experiences. Awesome-Robo ain't having none of that, so without further adieu I'd like to talk about one artist in particular responsible for Overwatch's look; Mr. Arnold Tsang.



A co-founder of the Candian production house UDON Entertainment, Arnold Tsang is an absolute beast of an artist known for his contributions on such titles as Capcom Fighting Evolution, Firefall, and Realtime Studio's tragically-ambitious APB. His eye for creating sartorially impressive characters in dynamic situations is matched only by his aptitude for color composition and visual hierarchy. Born in China, Tsang is now based out of California and has worked for Blizzard for over four years as a lead character artist. Check out more of his Overwatch concepts after the break, including a smattering of his previous APB work!

The Atmospheric Concept Art of Christopher Balaskas

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It's been a couple weeks since we've gotten a chance to feature an artist here on Awesome Robo, things have been unfortunately crazy for all of us. Today, when I stumbled upon the work of Christopher Balaskas' work I knew it had to be shared. Balaskas' work has an amazingly grandeur scale, showcasing both the natural world and an advanced future.

Each of Balaskas' created worlds showcase a deep understanding of it's topography, creating a vivid environment one can build from. Rather than providing a piece of the world, each piece makes it clear that there's more to the world behind the scenes. After the break is more of Christopher Balaskas' work, if you like what you see I definitely recommend heading over to his DeviantArt page in order to get the full view along with loads of more of his beautiful work.

"BEACON" - A Sci-fi Roguelike With Body Horror?

(Via)

I've been an avid admirer of indie developer Monothetic ever since they released their first non-commercial mod project Black Snow in 2012. With its hope-crippling atmosphere and Carpenter-esque horror aesthetic, I've been patiently chomping at the bit to see what this young studio has to offer for their first commercial title. It looks I won't have to wait much longer as Beacon, a sci-fi horror Roguelike, is tentatively slated for release later this year. The game sounds like your average top-down action RPG, with one exception...

As in all Roguelikes, when you die in Beacon, you’ll be sent back to the beginning of the game, losing any weaponry and items you might have picked up along the way. However, rather than losing it, the DNA you harvested in that life is sent back to your personal clone bay (one of the few pieces of your ship still functioning), and spliced together with your own for your next life. This adds a level of  permanence to Beacon, as each subsequent life will stack more harvested DNA on top of what you had before, resulting in stat augmentations and (in extreme cases) full-fledged physical mutations. Be warned, however; not every mutation will be a positive thing.

If implemented correctly, this DNA element could result in a slew of compelling gameplay variations. A top-down action game that rewards trial-by-fire tenacity à la Diablo and Hotline Miami, balanced with a permanent trait bonus system that becomes deadly if left unchecked? Sign me up. Check out more of the mock-up concept art after the break!

The Art Of Shinku - Mechatopia

(Via)

Shinku is a Tumblr user who's been on a scifi kick since he started, and doesn't seem intent on stopping anytime soon. And the best part is, he's improving with every piece he does. Ranging from some truly creative scifi suit concepts to more environmental pieces, I get the feeling that Shinku is definitely employed in the gaming industry to some extent, but simply choosing not to share that information publicly.

Not that I blame him, being a concept artist on a popular project can lead to a lot of unwanted attention (Not a good thing if you're an introvert). Sometimes it's cool to just be anonymous and let your work speak for itself. More of Shinku's scifi goodies after the break, folks!

"Edge Of Tomorrow" Concept Art Reveals Some Surprising Details

Edge Of Tomorrow has been out for two weeks now, so it seems safe to finally pull the curtains on some concept art. It's been slowly trickling out, with some massive releases by industry concept artists Kev Jenkins and Tim Browning, who have worked on features including World War Z, 47 Ronin, Thor 2- The Dark World just to name a few. For anyone wondering, the movie was pretty decent- kind of resembling a mashup of Groundhog Day and Starship Troopers, in the best way possible.

Some of the early concept art revealed some truly curious information, including this pitch image above with a different name- All You Need Is Kill. This prompted a little research, which brought up some truly surprising information about the origins of Edge Of Tomorrow's intriguing concept.

Concept Art From The Canceled Live Action "Akira" Movie Surfaces

(Via)

Interesting. In a strange turn of events, it seems like fledgling director Ruari Robinson, best known for 2013's Last Days On Mars and the amazing Blinky™ short was set to direct an adaptation of Akira that unfortunately never made it into production. Originally intended to be produced by Leonardo Di Caprio's Appian Way and Warner Brothers as a two feature project (Perhaps meaning that it would draw from the manga source material as well), the feature ran into development hell with rumors of script problems, incredibly tight budget restrictions and other problems.



Following some creative differences with Warner brothers Ruari decided to depart the project, leaving us to speculate what caused the departure. After looking through the work that Ruari oversaw for the Akira adaptation though, it seemed like he was planning a surprisingly loyal take on Otomo's groundbreaking manga/feature. Concept art seemed to indicate that Chris Evans would take on the role of Kaneda with Joseph Gordon Levitt playing the tortured Tetsuo. That aside the designs stuck pretty close to the originals including Kaneda's iconic light bike, which I'd like to think would be hailed as 'f***ing genius' by ad placement executives on the project.

While we're left to speculate what could have caused the project to die on the vine I'm guessing it probably had to do with deviating too far away from the source material, which seems to be a common predicament with adapted films. Do people really want to see a live action adaptation of Akira? While the initial reaction would probably be a hell yes, the reality is that a botched adaptation would be most likely in the hands of Hollywood 'idea men,' who seem to always see it fit to deviate from something that was never broken to begin with. If you're craving your Akira live action movie just watch Chronicle instead, an underrated gem featuring the same archetypes present in Otomo's classic.

The Art Of Svjeeta

(Via)

Svjeeta (Jiří Světinský) is a professional concept artist hailing from the Czech republic, where he currently enjoys working as a freelancer for Volta, one of the biggest concept art outsourcing houses in the world. As both a concept artist and modeler, Jiří originally worked at 2K Czech, Warhorse gaming and Kuju where he created titles including the latest installments of Silent Hill, Mafia and Top Spin franchises before moving on to Volta. 

Employing a painterly brush stroke style to his work, most of his pieces possess a pleasant traditional style that I really enjoyed. Despite using some photobashing throughout some of his pieces, he does use the technique in a way that's secondary to painting, effectively masking the source material in a non-distracting way. Check out more of Svjeeta's concept art and illustration goodies after the break.

Making Of "The Verge" - An Epic Scifi Concept Piece

In order to celebrate the launch of Lightfarm's 3rd studio based in Rio De Janeiro, the group created a timelapse of a massive scale, planetary sci-fi painting using just a few of the techniques that the group has up their sleeves. Ranging from CG creation to extensive matte painting, the video offers a really awesome in depth look at every step of the process. If you're a concept art especially, you might pick up on a few tricks while watching this video.

The entire project was inspired by a concept piece by Andre Freitas called Rama and the Monolith, which you can check out after the break alongside the final version and a few gorgeous stills from the making of process.

The Art Of Zoonoid Redux

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I just love Zoonoid's work. A relatively low profile artist hailing from Russia, Konstantin Maystrenko has been on a freelance path for close to 3 years following a stint at the countries Blizzard equivalent, Nival Online. And he's taking advantage of all that free time by pumping out amazing work and improving piece by piece, no question about it. After all this time of curating art posts on AwesomeRobo I'm genuinely curious about the Russian art education system and the colleges concept artists attend to get into the career path, because the artists there truly have a little something 'extra' from the get go.

I attribute it to a heavy fine art focus before even touching the stylus, because the design decisions and color understanding (He's up there with Zedig) present in someone like Zoonoid's character designs are just stellar. Mix that fine art aesthetic with the tastes of a modern concept artist, and you get one heck of a great combination.

Konstantin has been on a character concept artists path, and hasn't strayed from that path since he began. While most of his initial designs when he started posting online were really cool scifi/anthropomorphic blends, he's been venturing off in different directions as of late with excellent results. Bizarre alien entities packing heat, sentient and ornate golems, flora gone amok and mercenaries with a soft side, his designs show a great level of creativity with some excellent, tight technical execution. Check out more of his awesome character designs after the break.

"VIRTUS" - Hong Kong Takes A Stab At Scifi

Hong Kong based FX house Fat Face seems intent to throw their hat into the independent scifi project with VIRTUS, a proof of concept film that might become a reality relatively soon. It's a rare treat to see scifi projects emerging from Chinese territories, which seem to be more enamored with exporting historical and fantasy projects abroad more than anything.

With the small taste that the trailer seems to offer, we're given a glimpse of what appears to be a heavy duty factory robot going berserk, at which point a special squad is sent in to take care of the issue. The quality of the visuals in the trailer was cinematic and impressive, and after looking at the robot designs it became pretty clear that they probably came from the mind of one of China's most influential concept artists.

The Art of Johnson Ting - Neo Japan 2202

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Johnson Ting is a Malaysian concept artist whose portfolio consists of futuristic helicarriers, armor-clad desert marines, re-imagined Marvel heroes and writhing biomechanical mecha à la Evangelion. His most impressive and well-known body of work however is probably his 'Neo Japan 2202' series, a collection of thematically connected pieces set within the titular far-east metropolis where private police androids and renegade drones clash in a hail of gunfire and neon lights.

Johnson is currently collecting fan input with the intention of turning the Neo Japan illustrations into a 200-plus page book complete with new artwork, posters, in-world documents depicting a fully fleshed-out backstory and possibly a soundtrack CD! After what I've seen of his work so far, I sincerely hope this becomes a reality. Check out more of this awesome series after the break!