Monday 17 September 2012

BioShock Infinite art book in the works


Dark Horse Comics has announced plans to publish a comprehensive art book for BioShock Infinite early next year, tying in with the game's planned release.

BioShock Infinite, developed by Irrational Games, won over 75 editorial awards at E3 2011, including the Game Critics Awards’ Best of Show.



In The Art of BioShock Infinite, fans are invited delve deeper into the world of  the game and the city of Columbia — the fabled floating metropolis built by the US government in the late 1800s to serve as a floating world’s fair.

This deluxe hardcover features production designs and concept illustrations focusing on main characters Booker, Elizabeth, and Songbird from the highly anticipated BioShock® Infinite video game. See the evolution of the Heavy Hitters, the populace of Columbia, the Sky-Hook, Vigors, airships, and much more.

The Art of BioShock Infinite, due for relase in March, also features an introduction from BioShock Infinite creative director Ken Levine.

In this first-person shooter game, due for release in February 2013, the player assumes the role of former Pinkerton agent Booker DeWitt, who is sent to Columbia to rescue Elizabeth, a young woman imprisoned there since childhood. He develops a relationship with Elizabeth, augmenting his abilities with hers so they may escape from a city literally falling from the sky.

DeWitt learns to fight foes in high-speed Sky-Line battles, engage in combat both indoors and amongst the clouds, and harnesses the power of dozens of new weapons and abilities.

BioShock Infinite is in development for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation3 computer entertainment system and Windows-based PC.

• For more information on  BioShock Infinite visit www.bioshockinfinite.com.

Wednesday 12 September 2012

Create your own Cyborg!

Art © Oliver Wetter
Sci-Fi Art Now contributor Oliver Wetter has created a Cyborg Tutorial for the new Advanced Photoshop Magazine.

"This image of a cyborg that matches the style of my Android Legacy piece, is a workshop I've done some weeks ago for the 100th issue of the Advanced Photoshop magazine, a truly memorable number," he says on his blog.

"I was really glad about being asked to create a cyborg image," He says. "This year I made some progress on digital painting techniques and found it easy to apply these to photo manipulation works as well."

The issue not only includes Oliver's tutorial but 100 photoshop tips too.

Advanced Photoshop offers easy-to-follow and exciting tutorials in every issue. They are written by Photoshop experts and cover digital painting, photomanipulation, photo editing, new media, typography and graphics.

Buy Advanced Photoshop Magazine Issue 100 here

• Read Oliver's full post on the creation of the Tutorial on his blog here

Tuesday 11 September 2012

IlluXCon Symposium returns in November

The Fifth Annual IlluXCon Symposium - the only US convention exclusively dedicated to fantastic art - wil take place on 8th-11th November 2012 at the Altoona Heritage Discovery Center - 1421 12th Ave Altoona, PA 100601.

As ever, IlluXCon will welcome artists, students, collectors, and fans to a four-day celebration of the field.

IlluXCon features the largest gathering of fantastic art and artists in the world. The 2012 show will feature nearly 60 artists in the main exhibition, with many more included in the IlluXCon Showcase. Several hundred original paintings and drawings will be on display at the show, along with demonstrations, lectures, round tables, art director portfolio reviews, and small group workshops.

Moe Info: www.illuxcon.com

 

Artist Paul McCaffrey takes on TMNT' 'Fugitoid'

The Fugitoid
Sci-Fi Art Now contributor and British comics comic creator Paul McCaffrey is the artist on the latest issue of IDW's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Microseries: Fugitoid.

Also available digitally as well as in comic shops, the story centres on Fugitoid, a Mirage Studios character co-created by the founding fathers of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.

This comic Is a one-shot, released as the eighth issue of IDW's TMNT "Micro-Series" line written by Paul Allor and introduces Fugitoid to a new era of readers, the strong familial themes in his story and his personal connections to the TMNT. The adventure leads the new 'Fugitoid' to Earth, and stands to affect the Turtles’ future in an unexpected and crucial way.

The story serves to set up an upcoming TMNT ongoing story arc, and writer Paul Allor has nothing but praise for Paul McCaffrey's art.

A page from Fugitoid, drawn by Paul McCaffrey
"Paul does a really amazing job with action sequences," Allor told Comic Book Resources news. "He's able to make sure you know where everyone is, what's happening and what the stakes are for each character. He's a masterful storyteller in that regard.

"He's also fantastic at the character-acting part of the job," he added. "He's able to pick just the right body language, the right expression to tell you everything going on inside a character's mind. That's why one of my favorite moments was the scene... between Honeycutt and his wife, as they have an important conversation. It's a quiet, domestic scene, and Paul nailed the emotions behind it, the interaction of these two characters.

"The Fugitoid is an early creation of Mr. Eastman and Mr. Laird, pre-dating even the Turtles," he says of the character. "In the original continuity, he was a scientist named Professor Honeycutt who becomes trapped in a robot body and finds himself on the run from intergalactic factions. Eventually he hooks up with the Turtles and hijinks ensue!

"In the IDW continuity, Dr. Honeycutt is working for Krang before deciding to defect. The new IDW continuity is focused so strongly on family and moral questions of right and wrong, the proper use of violence and peace and how to do the right thing in such an imperfect world. Our new iteration of Dr. Honeycutt fits into these themes quite well."

"!We seem to have been getting generally positive reactions," says Paul of the book, which marks only his latest foray into US comics, having also worked on the Men of War mini-series for DC Comics.

A page from Fugitoid, drawn by Paul McCaffrey
Paul McCaffrey graduated from Newcastle Polytechnic (as was) with a BA in graphic design. Since then, he's mainly worked in the area of children's educational illustration, so he's done a lot of work you'll never see for books you've never heard of. Some of this can be seen on his web site or or his agent's web site.

Over the past few years, his comic strip work has appeared in UK indie titles such as Omnivistascope, Violent! and Zombies Vs Robots: Adventure. When he's not scribbling away, he makes music with The Phase 4). (Also atwww.last.fm/music/The+Phase+4).

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles digital comics are now available to fans outside of the US, including the UK, Australia, the Channel Islands (Jersey and Guernsey), Ireland and New Zealand.

The comics will be available in the TMNT Comics app, the IDW Comics app, Comics by comiXology apps for iOS and Android, or online at read.idwpublishing.com

- Paul McCaffrey's web site: www.coroflot.com/paul_mccaffrey

- Read a 2010 interview with the artist on the SciFi Art Now blog

- Read Paul Allor's interview about the Fugitoid comic on Comic Book Resources

 

Saturday 8 September 2012

SciFi Postcard Book to be released in January 2013

Sci-Fi Art Postcard Book
Just through my door yesterday: an advance copy of the Sci-Fi Art Now postcard book ILEX asked me to compile earlier this year.

With a cover by Patrick J. Jones, it features some art used in the Sci-Fi Art Now book and other illustrations - 30 gorgeous SF-inspired postcards in total.

The artists featured are: Larry Blamire, Matt Gaser, Rian Hughes, Stuart Jennett, Paul McCaffrey, Aaron Jasinski, Patrick J. Jones, Michael Kaluta & Lee Moyer, Tom Kelly, Yigit Koroglu, John Malcolm, Sergey Musin, Nemons, 2012 Hugo and Chelsey Award-winning John Picacio, Neil Roberts, Steve Sampson, Smuzz (who I'm working with on the Crucible comic), John Sullivan, Dave Taylor and Oliver Wetter.

My thanks to them all for being part of this spin-off, which is set to be published in January and looks absolutely fantastic! Thanks also to editor Tim Pilcher and the ILEX team for creating another great book.

The collection is one of a series of Postcard books published by ILEX, which have been well received and sold very well in the UK. They include:  

Army Camp! 30 Postcards That Do Ask and Do Tell! - A riotous introduction to the unintentionally homoerotic side of military life. Classic images date from between 1914 to 1946, when armies everywhere were crying out for fit, toned men to join up, bond together and make the world a better place.  

Fantasy Art - Includes art by Robert Chang, Matt Dixon, Raymond Swanland and Matt Gaser featuring modern twists on traditional themes such as dragons, orcs, fairies and adventurers.  

Lovelorn - 30 of the very best in cult romance comics of the 1950s. From Brides in Love and Romantic Hearts to G.I. Sweethearts and Romantic Adventures there are dozens of romantically quirky postcards ready for you to send to your beloved!  

Tales of Terror - 30 of the scariest, most bizarre and downright strange horror comics covers. These pre-code horror comics make an ideal gift and are perfect to send chills in the post, or to simply keep and laugh at the uncanny covers. Each cult postcard includes the title, artist, publisher and publication date on the back.  

Tattoos: 30 Postcards to Colour and Send - A fun, interactive postcard set includes 30 of the coolest designs by top manga artist and tattooist, Jian Yi. All the designs are clear line drawings of everything from fairies and flowers to dragons and tigers, and are easy to complete and colour, before wowing friends and family with a piece of original art through the post.  

Vampires: 30 Postcards - Artists from different backgrounds and cultures share their versions of the vampire in their chosen medium. Each postcard includes the titles, artist, publisher and publication date on the back.  

More about Sci-Fi Art Now on its dedicated blog here
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...