© 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
