CG Persia

With its epic environments and warrior creature designs, we thought we?d kick off our new games issue of ImagineFX by looking at the art of Guild Wars, ArenaNet’s formidable fantasy computer game. Daniel Dociu, Kekai Kotaki, Kristen Perry and many more key artists tell us how they’ve helped shape the Tyrian world and all its inhabitants.
From Guild Wars to Legends of Norrath and beyond, we speak to the award-winning artist Lucas Graciano on his work for the online-only trading card game, World of Warcraft and God of War. StarCraft 2 concept artist Luke ‘Mr Jack’ Mancini leads a workshop in painting an epic alien battle, and Fantasy Flight Games man Igor Kieryluk takes on someone else’s design concept to startling effect in his workshop.

We’ve also invited Kevin Chen to design a space opera princess, Robh Ruppel turns a street into a compelling game location, and Daryl Mandryk works through a dynamic game art concept from initial sketches to finished action scene.
As if that wasn’t enough, we continue our series of Painter 12’s highlights, with Simon Dominic exploring its special effects, and before you check out your new favourite software and hardware releases in our reviews section, Polish artist Maciej Kuciara leads a workshop in creating lifelike cloudscapes that you’ll be able to use again and again.
As well as the Q&A and news sections, the studio profile and regular reader galleries (not to mention the bucket-load of goodies on our free DVD) and you?ve got another cracking issue of ImagineFX on, and hopefully in, your hands.

Guild Wars: We speak to the artists behind ArenaNet’s online opus to discover how it’s become such a fantasy phenomenon.

Luke Mancini: The Australian artist shows us how to get close to the action with this vivid clash between two powerful combatants.

Lucas Graciano: From sketching for dollars at theme parks to winning a Chesley Award for video game art, Lucas is full of character.

Robh Ruppel: Turn a street into a compelling game location by following the expert advice of Robh, as he explains how to generate rich, detailed scenery.

Igor Kieryluk: Working within defined rules can be tricky, but Igor shows you how to embelish an existing character with ease.

Kevin Chen: A bold personality and readable silhouette help to make a character memorable.