Based on the research I have done, it became obvious to me that each job application I will hand in has to be tailored to that specific position. The portfolio needs to show that I am aware of that specific company's art style and other requirements. For instance, if I want to apply to a game developing company that specializes in car racing games then my portfolio has to show that I can create outstanding race tracks and the surrounding environment.
I am a huge fan of Blizzard Entertainment's games, so it makes sense to start creating work that matches their style. Although, I did create one work before which was based on one of their concept drawings: my "Haunted House" image. Because of this previous Warcraft work, I have already some experience and understanding of their own, unique style. Now, I plan to further that knowledge, hoping that one day it might just get me that desired position.
I was aiming for an area of their "World of Warcraft" game that is rich in color, has all sorts of interesting shapes and textures as well. I am a huge fan of creating architectural pieces, so it got me thinking that I could re-create one of the many cities found within the game. Their cities have barely been re-created in realistic CG as well, so this might even be interesting to the Warcraft fan community. I know for a fact that everyone's craving for more, realistic representation of the scenery found within the game, but this need has barely been satisfied.
The game's graphics (due mostly to the aging game engine's limitations) is not exactly the most realistic thing you ever saw, although that has never been the goal with Blizzard. They always value style and feeling over realism, but it never hurts to try and keep that specific style and try to blend it with the more modern technical opportunities available today.
That said, I went ahead and posted a thread on the biggest World of Warcraft community out there,
MMO-Champion.com. I have asked the fans which city they would be most interested to see and I had suggested my top 3 favorites, which was Silvermoon, Stormwind and Dalaran.
Out of these two, my favorite so far was Silvermoon, due to it's strikingly emotional color palette. As you can see on the images, it uses all different shades of red, orange, soft white, brown and it even has vegetation which gives it's visual style good contrast.
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| Silvermoon |
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| Silvermoon |
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| Silvermoon |
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| Silvermoon |
Stormwind was appealing because it's just pure, human architecture with a bit of twist added to it. Warcraft style is all about non-linear, unperfect curves, shapes etc. I am really inspired by the medieval architecture style and all its details and adding that extra style to it, makes it all the more interesting. Why Stormwind falls behind Silvermoon on my list though is because of it's colour palette. It lacks that extra "kick", which Silvermoon has, because it uses mostly common, "everyday life" colours.
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| Stormwind |
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| Stormwind |
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| Stormwind |
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| Stormwind |
Third option was Dalaran, which is failry similar to Silvermoon. It has these very interesting shapes and silhouettes. It is a blend between human... and maybe a bit of sci-fiction elements. It has that bit of alien feel to it, but you still feel that it's a human settlement. It is also a floating city, above the skies as you can see on the image and it's color palette is very intriguing as well. It mostly uses shades of violet, brown, blue and red.
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| Dalaran |
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| Dalaran |
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| Dalaran |
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| Dalaran |
So far, Silvermoon is my choice but I will wait for some feedback from the community and I will also read up on the history of these cities, as there is rich lore behind all of them. Maybe I can incorporate some sort of story element, or one of these cities will become more interesting to work on because I learn something new about them. We'll see.
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