Stretch Goal - hire Justin Sweet to make portraits.

[Gyges]

I guess i could support it as one of the really sick stretch-goals.

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I have to say that the Icewind Dale 2 portraits really sparked my imagination and I found myself building characters around those portraits that I might not otherwise have thought up. I am all for Justin Sweet he is awesome.

 

My favourite was probably this one.

 

That is actually Jason Manley's work, he made the Icewind Dale I portraits.

They do have a slightly similar style though

 

Whoops lol. I do like this very much.

 

 

She was one of my mages in a playthrough. :D I vastly prefer the Icewind Dale portaits to Baldur's Gate and I love the Borean Dwarf concept art <3

Edited October 1, 2012 by Moonlight Butterfly

[Karranthain]

Whoops lol. I do like this very much.

 

 

She was one of my mages in a playthrough. :D I vastly prefer the Icewind Dale portaits to Baldur's Gate and I love the Borean Dwarf concept art <3

 

Easy to make that mistake

 

I like that mage portrait too, really evocative.

[Archmage Silver]

I'm Archmage Silver and I support this Stretch Goal Proposition.

[Karranthain]

And here's more :

 

[dlux]

I will lower my pledge if Justin Sweet does the portaits. lol ^^

 

As a concept artist he is okay and the scenes are detailed (there are much better artists though in my opinion) but defintely not as a portrait artist.

[Death Machine Miyagi]

Whenever I play Baldur's Gate, I have to immediately download and install the Icewind Dale portraits. Simply the best PC/NPC portraits out there.

 

I support this motion wholeheartedly.

 

EDIT: Actually, make that less-than-wholeheartedly. I liked the Icewind Dale 2 portraits, but prefer the Icewind Dale 1 portraits. Didn't know the latter were done by Jason Manley until it was just posted above.

 

What is he up to these days?

Edited October 2, 2012 by Death Machine Miyagi

[hideo kuze]

I will lower my pledge if Justin Sweet does the portaits. lol ^^

 

As a concept artist he is okay and the scenes are detailed (there are much better artists though in my opinion) but defintely not as a portrait artist.

 

While I also like BG portraits, IWD portraits are far more artistic and story/lore evocative than the first.

They inspire both fantasy and history in themselves.

Edited October 2, 2012 by hideo kuze

[LordCrash]

I would like to throw in the legendary Michael Komarck, one of the best fantasy artists out there.

 

You can see some of his amazing artworks on his webpage. Definitely worth a look, espacially for portraits!

 

Examples:

Game of Thrones: http://www.komarckar...ccg_agot04.html ; http://www.komarckar...ccg_agot05.html

Anachronism: http://www.komarckar.../ccg_ana19.html ; http://www.komarckar.../ccg_ana10.html

Warlord: http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_wl03.html ; http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_wl12.html ; http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_wl04.html

The gathering: http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_mtg23.htm ; http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_mtg03.htm ; http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_mtg08.htm

 

Example of the Game of Thrones calendar:

Edited October 2, 2012 by LordCrash

[Malau]

Jason Manley, ex-BIS/Troika concept artist

 

I'd like to add that Jason Manley is related to Massive Black which had recently got a successful Kickstarter game project Zombie Playground.

[dlux]

I would like to throw in the legendary Michael Komarck, one of the best fantasy artists out there.

 

You can see some of his amazing artworks on his webpage. Definitely worth a look, espacially for portraits!

 

Examples:

Game of Thrones: http://www.komarckar...ccg_agot04.html ; http://www.komarckar...ccg_agot05.html

Anachronism: http://www.komarckar.../ccg_ana19.html ; http://www.komarckar.../ccg_ana10.html

Warlord: http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_wl03.html ; http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_wl12.html ; http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_wl04.html

The gathering: http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_mtg23.htm ; http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_mtg03.htm ; http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_mtg08.htm

 

Example of the Game of Thrones calendar:

 

Very nice! This is what I like too!

 

Much much better than Justin Sweet.

Edited October 2, 2012 by dlux

[Piccolo]

I would like to throw in the legendary Michael Komarck, one of the best fantasy artists out there.

 

You can see some of his amazing artworks on his webpage. Definitely worth a look, espacially for portraits!

 

Examples:

Game of Thrones: http://www.komarckar...ccg_agot04.html ; http://www.komarckar...ccg_agot05.html

Anachronism: http://www.komarckar.../ccg_ana19.html ; http://www.komarckar.../ccg_ana10.html

Warlord: http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_wl03.html ; http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_wl12.html ; http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_wl04.html

The gathering: http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_mtg23.htm ; http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_mtg03.htm ; http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_mtg08.htm

Not bad... but I really prefer Justin Sweet's style.

[LordCrash]

I would like to throw in the legendary Michael Komarck, one of the best fantasy artists out there.

 

You can see some of his amazing artworks on his webpage. Definitely worth a look, espacially for portraits!

 

Examples:

Game of Thrones: http://www.komarckar...ccg_agot04.html ; http://www.komarckar...ccg_agot05.html

Anachronism: http://www.komarckar.../ccg_ana19.html ; http://www.komarckar.../ccg_ana10.html

Warlord: http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_wl03.html ; http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_wl12.html ; http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_wl04.html

The gathering: http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_mtg23.htm ; http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_mtg03.htm ; http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_mtg08.htm

Not bad... but I really prefer Justin Sweet's style.

 

Life would be boring if everybody had the same taste.

 

What I like at Michael Komarck's art is the combination of the "artistic" background and setting and the relatively realistic approach when it comes to portraits and people at all. I would like to see PE in a rather realistic (not necessarily photo-realistic) art design and therefore Komarck would be a perfect fit. Sweet's art has that blurred, shady and "old-school" style which perfectly fits to the games with the old infinity engine but for a new game with HD graphics and background (as already confirmed) his style is a little bit too old-school in my opinion. And I particularly don't like Sweet's overemphasis on muscles and skin, looks a little bit like "cheap" covers of metal cds or dime novels.

Edited October 2, 2012 by LordCrash

[Archmage Silver]

There's always the chance they'll bring in some less-known artist with great talent, but a lot depends on how the PE art style develops. I'd still like to see Justin do the portraits, but I won't complain if Obsidian decides to go with someone else, as long as the artist can match the general art style of the game and maintain high quality througout the portrait set.

[Blarghagh]

I don't know the artist but the pictures on the first page - while technically well created - are extremely cliche and boring. I assume the love for him is based on something other than those pictures because they make him look like a poor man's Frazetta. Those Kormack pictures are much more interesting - he understands composition.

Edited October 2, 2012 by TrueNeutral

[Archmage Silver]

I don't know the artist but the pictures on the first page - while technically well created - are extremely cliche and boring. I assume the love for him is based on something other than those pictures because they make him look like a poor man's Frazetta. Those Kormack pictures are much more interesting - he understands composition.

The artwork on the first page isn't really reflective of his full work - see this.

[Karranthain]

I don't know the artist but the pictures on the first page - while technically well created - are extremely cliche and boring. I assume the love for him is based on something other than those pictures because they make him look like a poor man's Frazetta. Those Kormack pictures are much more interesting - he understands composition.

 

Well, honestly I find those Kormack works rather generic; there's little point in discussing taste however, so I'll just post another of Sweet's work

 

[Sugarjaye]

I think portraits in general would be awesome, it just doesn't neccarally have to be Justin Sweet who does them. There are some amazing artists out there

eg . Michael C Hayes

or Dan Dos Santos

 

 

Christiane Vleugels

 

I guess my point is that his work is amazing, but there are some really talented traditional artists out there and it would be a shame to overlook them.

[hideo kuze]

I think one of the things that makes Justin Sweets art so interesting is that he doesn't simply aim at making an illustration, he does it and makes look as if it was a real painting, as if it was a painting done by a in-world artist portraiting a contemporaneous person or event.

[cyberarmy]

I would like to throw in the legendary Michael Komarck, one of the best fantasy artists out there.

 

You can see some of his amazing artworks on his webpage. Definitely worth a look, espacially for portraits!

 

Examples:

Game of Thrones: http://www.komarckar...ccg_agot04.html ; http://www.komarckar...ccg_agot05.html

Anachronism: http://www.komarckar.../ccg_ana19.html ; http://www.komarckar.../ccg_ana10.html

Warlord: http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_wl03.html ; http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_wl12.html ; http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_wl04.html

The gathering: http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_mtg23.htm ; http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_mtg03.htm ; http://www.komarckar...m/ccg_mtg08.htm

 

Example of the Game of Thrones calendar:

 

Wow, he really got nice works there;

 

[Lady Evenstar]

What I like about Sweet's portraits is that they suggest character without saying too much. The player can interpret the character represented by the portrait as they choose.

 

One thing I dislike about the IWD portraits is that far too many feature weapons that may not be used/usable by the character I intend to play. Perhaps PE won't restrict weaponry by class, but I'd still rather portraits focused on the person rather than their gear. A few portraits with conspicuous weapons are fine, but IWD portraits featured far too many swords and daggers in my opinion.

 

As for who should do the portraits, I'd recommend looking in-house first.

[Karranthain]

What I like about Sweet's portraits is that they suggest character without saying too much. The player can interpret the character represented by the portrait as they choose.

 

Indeed, they tell a story, but one that leaves a lot to our imaginantion - and this, I think, is really important for portraits.

 

One thing I dislike about the IWD portraits is that far too many feature weapons that may not be used/usable by the character I intend to play. Perhaps PE won't restrict weaponry by class, but I'd still rather portraits focused on the person rather than their gear. A few portraits with conspicuous weapons are fine, but IWD portraits featured far too many swords and daggers in my opinion.

 

As for who should do the portraits, I'd recommend looking in-house first.

 

I personally didn't mind if my characters used different weapons than the ones that were on the display, but I can see why someone would.

 

 

But what do you think about this piece? There's a sword visible, but it isn't pronounced; adds a bit of flavour to the character but isn't very restrictive. What do you think?

[Wolfenbarg]

Not a fan of that style at all. I feel like there's too much detail missing. I prefer the more defined portraits from Baldur's Gate.

[Karranthain]

Since monks have been anounced :

 

[Vargr]

I'll add my voice to this. Loved the art in IWD I+II far more than BG I+II.