Xavier Marquis... damn cool artist. He's currently a concept designer from Guerilla Games, and one of his biggest project has been Ubisoft's Killzone 2. I was already enamored by the gritty art style seen in the initial Killzone 2 trailers, which gave audiences a taste of the 'next-gen' Playstation's power - and I was fortunate enough to pick up the old June 2007 issue of ImagineFX which had the guy as a featured artist.It's a shame that technology will make these trailers look... quaint/tame in a matter of a few years. Still, one can always look at these clips and have some degree of fun.
Sample of Yoji's Metal Gear ArtThe industry's emphasis on 'media res' - or having the concept artwork (coupled with strong lighting, composition, etc.) reflect the final result of whatever it is a company is trying to achieve, so yes, I have much to learn.
In future post, I'll be dealing with Concept Design 101, what to avoid, and what you could do.
Also be sure to check out (as of post time) Xavier's older works:
Xavier Marquis' Unupdated Webpage
Cool Killzone Trailers
The man takes a lot of inspiration from anime, and that his favorite artist is Metal Gear Solid's Yoji Shinkawa. He states that whenever he wants to find inspiration, he need only look at his idol's artbooks. He claims that they both adhere to the idea of 'cliche +1' (which brings me back to my previous post on Space Marines and Supersoldiers)"You can make something totally new and amazing, but with around 90 per cent based on common references" Pretty good words to live by as a concept artist.
I'm SO following you on this journey... what you're doing is VERY exciting to THIS old fan. =)
~ Evan "The Cassman" Cass
If only more 'fans' can share my enthusiasm with the project. Ah well, most people always take and take without giving back. Thanks Cass! Your comment is most appreciated!
The Killzone stuff is great, this should be a movie !!!
Awesome work on a great project! Keep it in there and will be interested to see the outcome...
Just one word of note though - Games Workshop owns the copyright to the word 'Space Marine' so just be careful with any publishing names because of IP...
Keep up the great work!