12.13.08
Posted in Art at 11:33 pm by Justin
Great Tree in Crystalsong Forest • Digital Painting: Corel Painter IX
© BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT
For the past two years, my fellow artists on the World of Warcraft team and I have worked to create Northrend, a new continent in Blizzard’s epic world of high fantasy. We schemed and imagined, sketched and painted, discussed and debated, built and rebuilt, struggled and pored lovingly over every element and detail of the virtual environment: tree, flower, bush, grass, rock, snow, ice, river, waterfall, pond, lake, sky, cloud, fog, light, and stars.
We enjoyed an incredible degree of artistic freedom to dream big, range wild, and bring to life a vast unexplored space. We looked to nature for our inspiration, this astonishing and dangerous Earth, which constantly defies and exceeds the wildest imaginations for its strangeness and beauty. We talked a lot about what we were trying to accomplish — a painted world: an immersive, hand-illustrated three-dimensional landscape that people from all around the world could be drawn into.
We wanted players to feel real sensations and experience sublime emotions as they explored the harsh, cold landscape. We wanted to make them believe. In order to accomplish that, we ourselves had to first believe in the existence of Northrend — conceive it as a real place and imagine ourselves as naturalist explorers and pioneers in the tradition of Lewis & Clark, John Muir, or John Wesley Powell, and historical painters like Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran, Charles M. Russell and Frederic Remington — then summon the confidence and passion required to make it a reality. It meant a lot of hard work and some pretty intensive critiques, but it was worth every minute.
Carnivorous Plants of Sholazar Basin, I • Digital Painting: Corel Painter IX
© BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT
Today marks one month since the game was released, and I am finally making time to post a few more of the concept sketches I had the opportunity to paint as part of our development process. All of these and more are now published worldwide in the art book that comes with the Collector’s Edition.
My other responsibilities as a member of the Environment Art group include painting terrain textures, zone lighting and atmospheric fog, and modeling and texturing plants, trees, rocks, and skies, complete with animated auroras and clouds.
Yes, I believe I do have one of the best jobs in the world. Click on the artwork for enlargements.
REVIEWS + ART
Praise of the highest order — the kind we don’t even dare to hope for — came from Eurogamer:
“Wrath of the Lich King ought to be stale - but it inspires wonder… it takes the bar WOW set for quality in MMOs and casually lifts it far out of reach… Blizzard has brought to bear every ounce of its legendary perfectionism, craftsmanship and attention to detail. It has made the world’s best MMO better… [Northrend] is, by a comfortable margin, the greatest game environment ever created.
Grizzlemaw, The Ancient World Tree • Digital Painting: Corel Painter IX
© BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT
“Northrend swaps madness for lyricism, spectacle for heart-wrenching, melancholy beauty. Its vast zones have been sculpted with infinite care around the non-linear flowering of the quest lines. They have tremendous variation and density of detail, stunning vistas everywhere you look, impressive architecture, and an eerie, haunting quality that will be familiar to anyone who’s visited our own far North, be it Iceland, Siberia or the Canadian Rockies. Even the skies, lit with shifting veils of aurora, are enough to make your hair stand on end (assisted by the atmospheric musical score). It is classic fantasy.
Winter Cemetery • Justin Kunz • Digital Painting: Corel Painter IX
© BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT
“Wrath of the Lich King takes the best-of-breed MMO and improves everything about it. It’s a work of supreme confidence and quality that is twice as fun and ten times as beautiful as classic WOW, not to mention anything else in the genre. But above all else — in the breathtaking sweep of Northrend, in the assured, epic storytelling, in the constellation of brilliant quests — it is a grand adventure. Perhaps the grandest adventure in all gaming. In every sense, Azeroth is still the place to be.”
From Kotaku:
“Northrend is far more than snow. You’ll find rolling hills, steep mountain slopes, ruined temples, and floating cities in the sky — along with a fair amount of snow. Zones in Wrath are gigantic, lovely to look at, and seem a great deal more vertical than what I’m used to in World of Warcraft. Expect to see many breathtaking sights on your first run through the frozen lands.”
Sholazar Basin Interior • Digital Painting: Corel Painter IX
© BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT
From GameTrailers:
“Northrend is a continent that pulses with life. The flora and fauna breathe with whimsical believability, and its environments draw upon a darker medieval palette tinged with Norse influences and architecture… a dreary yet beautiful side to war — an aesthetic that largely describes the expansion and its impressive artistic effort as a whole.”
From Slashdot:
“The size and scope of everything has been ratcheted up, from soaring spires and mountains to massive icebergs to spacious valleys and canyons… you’ll find grassy fields and misty forests gradually giving way to snow, ice formations, and new buildings that are a big step up, artistically, from what was seen in the original game, or even the first expansion… Each zone brings a unique art style…
The Storm Peaks • Digital Painting: Corel Painter IX
© BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT
“There are plenty of spots where the design team clearly said, ‘Ok, let’s set this up so the players will just get here and stare at it for five minutes before remembering what they’re doing.’ If you enjoyed exploring earlier parts of the game, Wrath of the Lich King will blow you away. One of the later zones, Storm Peaks, is exactly what it sounds like; a dark, snowy mountain range in which you’ll find yourself traveling up and down as much as side to side. The absurdly high mountaintops give the area an epic feel, but Blizzard didn’t stop there. Rising up from many peaks are ancient structures, or ruins in some cases. They do wonders for arousing curiosity, and you clearly get the impression that Something Big was here.”
The following is a list of pages that feature my Northrend paintings and drawings in the book, The Art of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. Most of them are environment concepts, but I did a few of the characters and some plants, etc.: 46, 48, 49, 54, 55, 70, 71, 73-75, 85, 86, 96, 97, 100, 107, 114, 115, 118, 121, 124, 132, 133, 142, 143.
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11.05.08
Posted in Art at 9:42 am by Justin
Good. Now that we have the political distractions out of the way, it’s time to get back to what’s really important. Like art.
Coastal Village
Digital: Corel Painter IX
© 2007 Blizzard Entertainment
Now comes the dawn of the Lich King’s dreadful reign. Millions of inhabitants of Azeroth shall witness the frozen wasteland of Northrend, where he has unleashed his undead scourge and its horrors upon the world. Naught but war, plague, sorrow and suffering await as his abominations wreak desolation upon the land. But take courage, and be not faint of heart. We will fight to the end.
I think it is safe to post these two concept sketches on my blog now, as both of them have appeared in public exhibits. A signed, framed print of the above painting was sold at BlizzCon a few weeks ago, as part of a fundraiser auction for a charity called Child’s Play. It was a privilege to be counted among artists in the show like Mark Gibbons, Glenn Rane, Peter Lee and others.
The piece below appeared at Laguna College of Art and Design last year in their first exhibit of Blizzard art. The show was recently held again with all new work, and included two of my Vrykul character concept sketches. All of these and more will be featured in the art book that comes inside the Collector’s Edition of Wrath of the Lich King, available on 11.13.08.
Mountain Glacier Above Howling Fjord
Digital: Corel Painter IX
© 2007 Blizzard Entertainment
Click on the images for enlargements.
***
In the howling wind
Comes a stinging rain
See it driving nails
Into the souls on the tree of pain.
From the firefly
A red orange glow
See the face of fear
Running scared in the valley below.
In the locust wind
Comes a rattle and hum.
Jacob wrestled the angel
And the angel was overcome.
You plant a demon seed
You raise a flower of fire.
We see them burning crosses
See the flames, higher and higher.
Suit and tie comes up to me
His face red like a rose on a thorn bush
Like all the colours of a royal flush
And he’s peeling off those dollar bills,
Slapping them down:
One hundred. Two hundred.
And I can see those fighter planes
Across the tin huts as the children sleep
Through the alleys of a quiet city street.
Up the staircase to the first floor
We turn the key and slowly unlock the door
As a man breathes into a saxophone
And through the walls you hear the city groan.
Outside, is America
America.
See across the field
See the sky ripped open
See the rain pour through a gaping wound
Howling, the women and children
Who run into the arms
Of America.
U2, Bullet the Blue Sky
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09.29.08
Posted in Art at 11:20 pm by Justin
Here are some of my plein air studies from Barrie Mottishaw’s class last semester in the MFA program at Laguna College. We met every weekend at the LCAD studio at the LA Brewery studio and various sites for painting on location. This group was painted at Runyon Canyon Park over the course of four or five Saturdays. The park is situated in the Hollywood hills overlooking Los Angeles, not far from the famous HOLLYWOOD sign.
“It stinks! But it’s a great town.” ~ Angelica Grainamore (speaking about L.A.), played by Meg Ryan in Joe vs. the Volcano
***
Runyon Canyon Study #2
Oil on canvas panel
6 x 8″
2008
***
Runyon Canyon Study #3
Oil on wood panel
12 x 8″
2008
***
Runyon Canyon Study #4
Oil on wood panel
8 x 12″
2008
***
Runyon Canyon Study #5
Oil on wood panel
8 x 12″
2008
***
Just because I’m losing
Doesn’t mean I’m lost,
Doesn’t mean I’ll stop;
Doesn’t mean I would cross.
Just because I’m hurting
Doesn’t mean I’m hurt;
Doesn’t mean I didn’t get what I deserved–
No better and no worse.
I just got lost.
Every river that I tried to cross,
Every door I ever tried was locked.
Oh and I’m just waiting ’til the shine wears off.
You might be a big fish in a little pond;
Doesn’t mean you’ve won.
‘Cause along may come a bigger one,
And you’ll be lost.
Every river that you tried to cross,
Every gun you ever held went off.
Oh and I’m just waiting ’til the firing stops.
Oh and I’m just waiting ’til the shine wears off.
- Coldplay, Lost!
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06.27.08
Posted in Art at 11:35 pm by Justin
© BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT. All rights reserved.
Funeral Pyre: A Taunka Rite
Digital: Corel Painter IX.5
This piece was recently published on the web in the World of Warcraft Northrend Bestiary. It’s one of the early concept sketches I did at the beginning of the Wrath of the Lich King.
Since then, I have painted more than fifty concept illustrations for the project, mostly color environment sketches, to help visualize how the continent of Northrend would ultimately look. It’s like being a landscape painter in a world that doesn’t fully begin to exist until we paint it. I should be able to post more of those pieces later after the game is released.
For now, here’s another one that was also recently published online:
© BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT. All rights reserved.
The Nexus of Coldarra
Digital: Corel Painter IX.5
I have also had the chance to paint about 100-200 textures for the terrain all through the game, and make some trees and various other environment objects. Now I’m painting the wintry skies above the northern land, modeling and animating them in 3D. I like being involved with the art from the early concept phase all the way down to the details on the ground and the character of the sky, lighting, and atmosphere.
I remember as a kid seeing movies, cartoons and video games, and dreaming I could help create something like that––only better: something even more compelling, imaginative, and immersive. I didn’t know exactly how it could be done, but I had the desire and a vague image of what animated paintings could look like.
I had no idea at the time, but there were geniuses like Ed Catmull busy inventing technologies (like UVW mapping and the Z-buffer) that would help make possible the creation of three-dimensional, hand-painted virtual worlds.
I feel extremely lucky to be able to contribute in my small way to this phenomenal game with its rich stories, fascinating characters and breathtaking visuals. I’m deeply grateful for the chance to work with such an amazingly talented, smart, visionary collection of peers, and especially for such an vast and passionate audience who make it possible for us to have such great jobs. For me, it’s really a fulfillment of a childhood dream––the opportunity I never had to work on a Star Wars or Lord of the Rings movie.
* * *
We turn away to face the cold, enduring chill
As the day begs the night for mercy, love.
A sun so bright it leaves no shadows
Only scars carved into stone on the face of earth.
The moon is up and over One Tree Hill
We see the sun go down in your eyes.
You run like a river on to the sea
You run like a river runs to the sea.
And in the world, a heart of darkness, a fire-zone
Where poets speak their heart then bleed for it
Jara sang, his song a weapon in the hands of love.
You know his blood still cries from the ground.
It runs like a river runs to the sea.
It runs like a river to the sea.
I don’t believe in painted roses or bleeding hearts
While bullets rape the night of the merciful.
I’ll see you again when the stars fall from the sky
And the moon has turned red over One Tree Hill.
We run like a river runs to the sea
We run like a river to the sea.
And when it’s raining, raining hard
That’s when the rain will break a heart.
Raining, raining in your heart
Raining in your heart.
Oh great ocean
Oh great sea
Run to the ocean
Run to the sea.
- U2, One Tree Hill
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