Brainstorm's Diablo Event Unleashes A Host of Horrors and Heroes

Lennart Verhoeff

The bad-ass artistic minds behind the Brainstorm collective knock it out of the park yet again with their month-long redesign challenge, this time reinterpreting the iconic imagery, classes and titular adversary of Blizzard Entertainment's classic dungeon-crawling series Diablo. Many of the results this past week impressively (if predictably) skew across the spectrum of sci-fi action, though a majority of the pieces submitted retain the distinctive gothic-horror flavor of the original.

Brainstorm mainstay Chen Nambiarooran (previously featured for his impressive 'Darth Vader' series) returns with some downright devilish-looking creature and class designs, joined by the likes of Luis Lashido, Tomaislav Jagnijc, and Lennart Verhoeff's impressively menacing profile portraits. It's all there and more, right after the break!

Nesskain's Harry Potter Comic Tributes Are Phenomenal

We've spotlighted Nesskain’s aptitude for tackling dreamy, atmospheric subjects and otherworldly coloring before, and his fan artwork for J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series are certainly no exception.

His tribute strips, one for each of the seven books in the series, easily ascend to the heights of some of the very best Potter-related fan art out on the web to date. Every panel is infused with an aura of high adventure, brilliantly-rendered cerulean pallets and dynamic composition that makes every page feel definitive and climactic.

It should come as no surprise that the story of "the boy who lived" has inspired whole mountain-ranges of fan art since its debut in 1997. But Nesskain's are just leagues ahead of what I've seen lately, reminding me a lot of Kazu Kibuishi's work on the 2013 re-release covers.

Scholastic Books would do well to offer him a license to adapt the entire series. These panels are proof alone he would do the books justice. Check out the rest of the pages after the break (the caveat of spoilers should go without saying). Nearly each one is better than the last.

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.

Meder Taab's 'Legend Of Korra' Art Is Drop-Dead Gorgeous

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The Legend of Korra is hands-down one of the most thoroughly satisfying animes I've watched in recent memory. Korra, much like its predecessor Avatar: The Last Airbender, is one of those few miraculous animated shows manages to deftly tackle emotionally difficult and complex ideas in a way that feels both nuanced and easily-accessible.

Institutionalized prejudice? Egalitarian fascism? Depression and the struggle to define a self-identity? If Korra was only meant to be a cartoon show, its creators sure haven't been acting like it. That's why fan-art for the series, like Meder Taab's amazing countdown posters for the final season, get me so excited. Pieces like these make me appreciate Legend of Korra so much more, not just for what it is for but also for what it's capable of being.

A fun-loving, sci-fi fantasy martial arts romp with endearing characters, brilliantly choreographed fight scenes, thought-provoking villains, and revelatory meditations on life, identity, and self-acceptance if you'd only look beneath the surface. I'll be sad to see it end.

Check out the rest of Taab's series after the break, and if you haven't already, go give A:TLAB and TLOK a watch-through! You won't be disappointed.

Luke Parker's Cyborg Ninja Covers Are Amazing

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Luke Parker is a UK-based comic artist whose pulp comic-infused illustrations proudly take after the dark angular aesthetic of Mike Mignola. He's also an avid Metal Gear fan, having completed a series of comic covers dedicated to Gray Fox, Olga Gurlukovich, and the ever-evolving Raiden.

The attention to detail and visual callbacks are proof of not only a love for the history of the franchise but the cultural maturation of comics as an artistic medium. The yellow frayed edging, the layers of wear-and-tear scratching, the "Luke Paker" comic code stamp. Not to mention the hilarious Metal Gear quotes embossed on the cover. There's a lot to love about this series. Poster-size prints are available through GameTee. Check out the rest of the series, including some sick-looking variants, below the break!

Impressive Movie Posters by Yura Shwedoff

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Yura Shwedoff is a traditional painter and concept artist from Moscow who's created an absolutely stunning series of alternate posters for television, movies, animation and video-games.

Shwedoff's paintings emphasize some of the most iconic imagery of his subjects, from Peter Weller's jutting chin in Robocop to Sylvester Stallone breaking down into tears in Rambo First Blood. Out of all his posters, I'd have to say his renditions of Hotline Miami and True Detective are my favorites. See more of his collection after the break!

Attack on Titan Gets The Intro It Deserves

Before I get into things, there are small spoilers in this animation, so watchers beware, if you've been out of the loop with Attack on Titan you should probably look into that, it's honestly the best thing to happen to anime in years. 

 

Like any quality series, Attack on Titan has spawned a massive fanbase over the past few months, and with every fanbase comes amazing fanart, but this is on a whole different level. Animators Arc & Mairi have put together this fantastic animation, which cleans up the original intro sequence. That's right, you can start laughing now, it was a really great pun.

With the series just passing it's halfway point for the season, I'm interested to see what else the Attack on Titan community releases because it's going to take a lot to live up to this.

The Art Of PurpleKecleon

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PurpleKecleon, who also goes by the names of Papaya Kitty and Melanie Herring is  an incredibly talented illustrator with an excellent grasp on color theory and an interesting tale regarding her career. While she initially attended the Maryland Institute of College and Art for close to two years, the housing market crash of 2008 cut her education short when she could no longer acquire a school loan, which eventually led her on to a successful solo career. It's been an increasingly common sentiment that art school costs are spiraling out of control, and that an education doesn't amount to much these days (Check out Noah Bradley's thoughts on the matter).

That aside Melanie's work is truly fun and painterly, and she keeps herself busy with some large scale fan projects like the Pokemon centric PMD-Explorers, which have helped her hone her skills in illustration, writing and world building. Check out more of her awesome works after the break!

Farbenfre & The Fan-Art Of Doctor Who Season 7

“I am not a Dalek. I am human.”(Via)

If you've been following the site for a long time you'll know one fact: I'm a tad obsessed with Doctor Who. Being British, I've been watching the show since the moment I came out of the womb. The newest season of the rebooted Doctor Who, Season 7 (or Season 34 overall) is a great starting off point for new fans, even with the emotional goodbye to the long-time companions Amy & Rory you won't feel lost or confused. It was a high quality season with plenty of twists, turns and entertaining one liners. Yet as you imagine, the dedicated Dr Who fanbase can always be relied on to deliver awesome fanart. I recently discovered Deviantart user Farbenfrei, otherwise known as Jessi.

Jessi has decided to do a impression drawing in sketchbook after every new episode of Doctor Who and the results were pretty damn awesome. I discovered her page whilst searching for something else Dr Who related, a happy accident. The watercolour for the first episode of this season, Asylum of the Daleks, rivals some of the official art I've seen conveying the emotional twist that was portrayed at the end of the episode (you've had over a month to watch the episode, so no spoilers excuses!). Check out the others after the jump and make sure to check out Jessi's Deviantart page for some amazing drawings of Sherlock, Howls Moving Castle and much more.

The Dark Knight Rises Gets Some Amazing Fan Posters

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Have you ever looked at an artist's work and thought "Hire that man/woman, major movie studios!" We feature a large amount of great independent artists on this blog that have a better idea of what the fans want then the studios. This is the case for Messenjah Matt, an artists I stumbled upon recently. He has a number of posters and designs that he has made for fun and use on forums, websites and other such mediums. He has recently finished a set of Dark Knight Rises posters that really put some of the official posters to shame. Check out the collection after the cut because it might just help for the torturous wait until the film is released.

Miyazaki Films : Reimagined By Crimson Daggers

Ponyo! (Via)

The films by Hayao Miyazaki are some of the most beautiful, mind-blowing animated films of all time. I've never finished any of these films unimpressed, Arrietty included. As a tribute to the ongoing legacy created by Studio Ghibli, the concept art group Crimson Daggers (run by Dave Rapoza) set up a challenge for artists to re-imagine a Miyazaki movie poster. The results, that you can see for yourself here, are absolutely kick ass!

8 more after the break!

My Little Pony Superheroines

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As much as we've made fun of "bronies" and others who are way too obsessed with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic on our podcasts, I still like those cute and colorful ponies. Part of it is nostalgia from my own childhood, and part of it is just simply because, well, they're cute and colorful. That's a RoboGal winning combo right there. Deviantartist milkydayy has come up with some rather awesome illustrations of human superheroines, each inspired by a different Pony character done in the style of Alphonse Mucha (Possibly rolling in his grave right now). 5 more after the break!

James Bond In: Only The Good Die Twice

The good, the bad and the Connery (Via)

I remember reading an idea for the new Bond film that was very similar to this idea. The idea was that the name "James Bond" is a code name passed down from generation to generation, and would explain different actors in a truly British, Doctor Who style way.

This artwork by deviantart user ninjaink describes the story which involves the original Cold War era James Bond (played by Sean Connery in a returning role), who has gone rogue and become the head of SPECTRE, with the current Bond being tasked by MI6 to stop him before he can initiate a global thermonuclear war. That's a movie I would watch, and this is one beautiful poster for a movie that we are likely never to see.

Fan Made Super 8 Poster Is Super

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I'm SUPER hyped for the film. Seriously, I can't wait for the flick, I love J.J. Abrams. Of course, I'm also a huge fan of Steven Spielberg and Drew Struzan's poster art. This poster, in the style of, still doesn't have a source but is one of the best fan made posters I've seen in years. It's beautiful, I would hang it on my wall for sure.