Mass Effect - Legion

Personal art of Mass Effect.

The tenth picture featuring Legion

The piece is set in an outside planet location where Legion is covered with falling ashes/cinders and some dirt. Part of his head and armor is smashed and holds scratches

I let myself introducing some changes of my own in Legion's apperance: Generally I tried to give him a bit more haunting and hostile look. A little reminder  that he is not a lamp but one deadly and useful ally.

Song for the mindset: Link

No photo tracing or 3D models were used here. Some elements of the background were overpainted. I also used couple of  screenshots as references and bunch of photo textures. The armor lighting was inspired by the Iron Man render I once saw. The original size is A4 with 300dpi. This is just well you guys know what this is. :)

Mass Effect 3 - Comic-Con

Personal art of Mass Effect.

Teaser of the art that I sent to BioWare for the Comic-Con fan art showcase

I tried to convey the scale between the Shepard and the Reaper and build a picture which would create a sensation of looking at a still image (where you could sense the motion) which could be taken straight from the cutscene/ trailer and something that would work as an advertising poster or banner print.

Few words about the inspirations:
The concept for the lighting came from the pictures of Turbine Hall in Tate Modern Art Gallery in London.  The colors scheme was “implemented” from “The Dark Knight” scenes (which were used as reference).

While you are looking at it you can listen to the song called "An Ending (Ascent)" done by the British musician Brian Eno. Just like I did when I was creating it :)). The track is a part of the record named "Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks". It was a soundtrack made for a great documentary film called "Apollo" ( later retitled to "For All Mankind").

LINK 1 and  LINK 2

The original size is 4000x2250 pixels.
This is the fan and"skills-showing" portfolio art, so no copyright infringement was intended.

Mass Effect - Zaeed Massani

Personal art of Mass Effect.
The ninth picture featuring Zaeed Massani

Originally I wanted to set him in a night club (a slaughter house) but eventually went with a dusty and sultry setting. Zaeed's armor is covered with sand/dirt and a bit of rust (a little homage to that shittty old rifle - Jessie). Even though his original design is perfect I could not resist and made a few changes in his gauntlet (nothing too drastic though). I love his voice, stories. Love him for being so damn nostalgic make my wish he was my relative - I shit you not.

No photo tracing or 3D models were used here. Only some small elements of the background  were overpainted. I also used the ME2 screenshots as references for Zaeed's face and bunch of photo textures. The armor lighting was inspired by the Iron Man render I once saw. The original size is A4 with 300dpi. This is the fan and"skills-showing" portfolio art, so no copyright infringement was intended.

Mass Effect 3 - FemShep E3 Wallpaper

Personal art of Mass Effect.

I had started to create this artwork when the GI cover appeared. It is a loose and conceptual piece in which I have been tryng some new things, I thought I would turn it into a wallpaper on the occasion of upcoming E3 :).The picture shows one possible variation of Femshep look since she is fully customizable; her facial appereance may not suit some players' preferences. The face comes from the portrait I did for practice puropses some time ago. I just used it as a base and redid it by adding some femshep face features. I had browsed the net and found some really inspirational versions of her done by other players so there are propably going to be more Femshep arts in the future.

No photo tracing or 3d models were used here. However two elements in particular were overpainted: namely the galactic map and some space parts (I used the milky way and earth photos. Both were taken from NASA's site). Traditionally bunch of in-game screenshots and some photo textures greatly helped to create this artwork. This is the fan and"skills-showing" portfolio art, so no copyright infringement was intended. The trademarks and logos belong to their respective owners. I do not own them.

Full HD version can be downloaded from my deviantART account
LINK

Mass Effect - Mordin Solus

Personal art of Mass Effect.
The eight picture featuring Mordin Solus

The image presents the everybody's favourite Salarian scientist examining some sort of glowing liquid within a testing tube. The things that I payed the biggest attention to in this piece were the face details and an attempt to render the reflections coming from the enivorment on his armor so I looked for references like shining car body, SW troops, laboratory tools and robots etc (still think I could have done it better though ). The background itself is a result of playing around with different blending modes, some textures, soft and air brushes.

The first concept actually included Mordin holding Shepard's fish and doing some experiments on it. The other one showed a Mordin brewing the moonishine but I resigned from doing them. :)

No photo tracing or 3D models were used here. Only some small elements of the background and tube were overpainted. I also used the ME2 screenshots as references for Mordin's face, arms and armor. The original size is A4 with 300dpi. This is the fan and"skills-showing" portfolio art, so no copyright infringement was intended.

Mass Effect - Jack

Personal art of Mass Effect.
The seventh picture featuring Jack aka "Subject Zero"

I went for a classical model (and very poster like) back pose. Jack is kinda walking off after finished fight (in meant to resemble the last seconds of Deus EX HR trailer ). I took a lot of time to polish up the facial elements and tattoos. You can actually notice that the "human" tatoo at the back and the zipper from none-final version of Jack were added. They look so cool so I had to implement them. I also have conceptual versions with different hair styles.

No photo tracing or 3D models were used here. However I used the ME2 screenshots, model photo references for the hands, back as well as some small elements like stripes/belts. The original size is A4 with 300dpi. This is the fan and"skills-showing" portfolio art, so no copyright infringement was intended.

Mass Effect - Kasumi Goto

Personal art of Mass Effect.
The sixth picture featuring Kasumi Goto

Basically Kasumi is leaning against a metal wall structure with her arms crossed. It is an easy and very universal character's introduction pose which I think suits her .The whole art kinda consists of highly contrast between shadow and artificial light where the first element defines Kasumi's stealthy class and the latter one nicely exposes her outfit materials as well as some background elements. I went for more blue and green tint on this piece even though the DLC had different colors' scheme but I wanted it to be akin to Thane's artwork somehow.

No photo tracing, overpainting or 3D models were used here. However I used ME2 screenshots for references (outfit and facial elements) and textured brushes. I just realized how great the PS dry brush can be in creating material texture. The original size is A4 with 300dpi. This is the fan and"skills-showing" portfolio art, so no copyright infringement was intended.

Mass Effect 3 Teaser Wallpaper

Generally this piece was inspired by the...conversation with Sovereign. Yes, yes in order to create this fan art I had to return to the first part of ME :)
Basically the goal was to create the teaser looking wallpaper where I tried to make Shepard more...human. So looking at his face you can see anger, helplessness, confusion, fear. Whatever he looks at and whatever lies before him is unknown and that is what generates all those emotions he has and eagers the viewer the see it in actual game.
I wanted to put him in a situation where there are no easy choices and he doesn't have ready answers. In my vision Shepard is about to suffer for humanity (but not by dying as that would be too easy). Actually I think it would be cool to have an ending in which there are no decorations, no solemn speeches, no victory celebration(s). Bitter ending where Shepard must sell his soul in some way in order to save humanity (if it is even possible). I guess that would be much more interesting then yet-another-hero-in-galaxy finale. So in this last act the focus is on him since the trilogy is Shepard's story after all.

I also focused on N7 emblem which is dripping with Shepard's blood and rain. I thought of giving it more symbolic suffering and fight meaning.

If you want to you can check out this phenomenal track which helped me to create this artwork. It is called "Ancient City" and was created by Michael Land. It comes from a from breathtaking soundtrack of forgotten game called "The Dig". LINK


As for the technical aspects. A few background elements were overpainted. The image was revised several times as I wasn't content with the final result. One time the artwork looked too corny and had numeous errors, the other time it wasn't appealing enough. I allowed myself to play with an armor and a gun a bit. I thought of a combination between default and collectors' armor. Also the rifle carried by Shepard is running with dirt and mud. Of course a huge number of ME2 screenshots were used as reference as well as some textures to give more believeablitiy. Just like on previous arts I did not use any 3d software neither for modeling Shepard nor for "setting up" the scene.

The original size is over 6000x4000 pixels
This is the fan and"skills-showing" portfolio art, so no copyright infringement was intended.

Mass Effect - Grunt

Personal art of Mass Effect.
The fifth picture featuring Grunt

I tried to catch savage/killer look in that work. As well as to introduce interesting/badass pose (which I find is quite challenging because of Krogans' unique build). It may not be the most interesting image out there but I think it kinda catches Grunts' love to fight.

Just like in Garrus' case there are elements of armor which are worn/destroyed, for instance the chest part which is smashed and therefore it doesn't produce the light.
In the first concept I planned to set Grunt on Tuchanka but being inspired by ME3 trailer I went for atmoshperic outdoor enviroment with blue tint and violent yellowish daylight. I decided to equip Grunt with IM-622 Avalanche aka "Cryo-Blaster". It is a nice "little" toy which tubes produce characteristic blue lighting that I thought would work perfectly for the piece. There are some elements of this image that I am not fully happy with (gauntlets are one of them) but I can't keep on making it forever.

Mass Effect - Thane Krios

Personal art of Mass Effect.
The fourth picture featuring Thane Krios

The whole image is deprived of rich colors, and is kept in a blue tint. I also included some glow and volumentric light. All this was made to emphasize Thane's personality as an assassin.

You can sense some jagged/uneven edges and little "ghosting" elements. This was done deliberately in order to give the artwork the sense of motion. An effect as if the viewer snapped a frame or paused the video and caught Thane in a position in which he is about to use his powers (just imagine him raising hand with biotics powering up).

Mass Effect - Garrus

Personal art of Mass Effect.
The third picture featuring Garrus

I slighty played around with the design and changed shoulder gauntlet. Also the whole armor and sniper rifle were given more worn out (and believable) look. I enjoyed painting his armor and gun ... every single scratch of them. :) Originally the piece was supposed to be more action oriented but the concept changed and ultimately Garrus is presented in a marksman position.

Mass Effect - Shepard

Personal art of Mass Effect.
The second picture featuring Shepard

The very goal behind this was to depict Shepard as a leader. To capture him in a moment of decision (so important for ME games) or inside struggle with the consequences of his actions. The empty gaze and dark gloomy room are to emphasize the emotional aspect of it. The blood and wounds are to show that he has been through battles and skirmishes (2nd important thing in ME games). All in all, the whole piece is less effective in terms of action, but leaves the viewer with something to ponder on.

Mass Effect - Miranda

The reason wihich led me to do more Mass Effect work was simple - I wanted to make one of the best fan art (which would also work as promo or poster art) to be had. Inspiration came from an outstanding Sunshine OST created by John Murphy, and Underworld, which I recommend listening to in order to feel the right vibe/atmoshphere.
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