Into The Pixel 2011: PlayStation Artists Honored

Today, the Academy of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (AIAS) and the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (ESA) announced the winners for the 2011 [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
collection, the only juried art exhibition that brings together experts
from the traditional fine art world and the interactive entertainment
industry to display and discuss the art of video games. We’re excited to
share that art from four exclusive PlayStation titles have been chosen
to be included in this year’s list of winners – [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].
The ITP has selected only 17 pieces of art to be included in this
prestigious collection, so this is a true honor for SCEA and our
developers.
Check out the art below to see the winning pieces from our SCEA developers as well as a few words from the teams.
UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception


“The Pelican Inn” by Andrew Kim
Naughty Dog, Inc
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Everyone at Naughty Dog is extremely proud to have one of our
artist’s works of concept art accepted into the Into the Pixel 2011
exhibition! This is the first time we’ve had a piece of art selected and
we couldn’t be happier for Andrew Kim and his piece, The Pelican Inn! I
caught up to Andrew after giving him the great news and wanted him to
say a few words about his art and the honor of being selected for the
Into the Pixel 2011 exhibition.

“The Pelican Inn is one of the first scenes you’ll see in
UNCHARTED 3, where Drake will toughen up his fists for the first time.
It’s a compact space with mostly drunken brutes and hustlers. What a
perfect place to start a brawl!
When I was first introduced to this level, I was amazed at how a
typical London pub has so many stories contained within itself. The mix
of vibrant colors from the stained glass and muted colors of antique
furniture with all kinds of stuff behind the bar, old frames, and
personal messages on the wall… wow, I really could picture so many
things that might have happened in this pretty small, compact space. We
decided to give the pub a boxing theme, as it seemed a perfect fit to
have Drake and Sully brawling in a small pub that has been historically
patronized by boxers and boxing fans. It definitely was lot of fun
decorating the place under that theme. I paid lot of attention to the
details knowing that we wanted to show a very authentic looking pub yet
very suitable for our game world.
Having said this, it’s a tremendous honor to be recognized by Into
the Pixel. As an artist, it’s always very fulfilling and proud when my
work is liked and appreciated by an audience and such competition like
Into the Pixel just adds that much more magnitude to this honor.” - Andrew Kim

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One


“Oktonok Cay Cannery” by Dave Guertin
Insomniac Games
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Insomniac Games is extremely proud to have one of our long-time
Principal Artists featured in the 2011 Into the Pixel exhibition. David
Guertin has been with Insomniac for over a decade, and drew the original
concept sketches of one of PlayStation’s greatest heroes, Ratchet. This
marks the second time he has submitted artwork to Into the Pixel and
the second time one of his pieces was accepted into the exhibition (His
first, the Viper Caverns from Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest For
Booty can be seen [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].
You may already be familiar with Dave Guertin’s work. He creates
many of the concept art pieces for the Ratchet & Clank series, and
he conceptualized, created and painted the box art for all of the
Ratchet & Clank Future games, as well as many of the Ratchet &
Clank magazine cover that you’ve seen. If you’ve been a fan at all of
the Ratchet & Clank series, you’ve no doubt been exposed to his
paintings over the years. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and see
some of his non-Insomniac related work, check out his and fellow
Insomniac Principal Artist Greg Baldwin’s side project called
CreatureBox at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

“Inspired by childhood summers along the New England
coastline, Oktonok Cay serves as our ravaged seaport in Ratchet &
Clank: All 4 One. Continuing the franchise tradition of exploring vast
unique locations, we sought to capture the history and character of a
weather-beaten seaside village. Complete with winding docks, alien sea
life, and a bustling cannery, the area encourages players to find their
“sea legs” while clobbering a host of menacing creatures along the way.
Into the Pixel continues to represent a broad range of spectacular
video game illustration year after year. From gritty realism to unique
stylization, ITP has always displayed a great respect for the many
visual facets of our industry. I feel extremely fortunate to be included
in 2011′s collection alongside so many artists I admire.“ - Dave Guertin

Killzone 3


“Stahl Arms” by Jesse van Dijk
Guerrilla Games
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“‘Stahl Arms’ shows the main base of operations for
Killzone 3’s prime antagonist, Jorhan Stahl. It’s remote location allows
for secret testing of powerful new weapon technologies. The
architecture of the complex is predominantly industrial: the dark,
segmented sections contain the production facilities, while the lighter,
yellow-banded sections house the R&D departments. To underline the
commercial nature of Stahl Arms as an organization, part of the
structure serves as commercial office space.” – Jessie vanDijk

God of War III


“Cronos Battle” by Tyler Breon
SCEA’s Santa Monica Studio
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We are absolutely thrilled here at Santa Monica Studio to have a
piece in this year’s Into the Pixel 2011 art exhibit. A well deserved
congratulations goes out to Tyler Breon, character artist, who created
Cronos Battle, the piece that was selected. We are very proud of Tyler
and the exceptional work he continues to do here at the studio.

“The Cronos Battle is another one of those epic scenes
that doesn’t exist anywhere but in God of War’s insanely over-the-top
universe. A monster larger than a mountain with a temple chained to his
back attacking you while you try to kill him in the middle of a ravaged
wasteland as enemies sprout from his skin…how could that not be
awesome? Plus he’s your grandfather so it’s really twisted.”
“God of War defines the word epic and working on this game moment,
for me, defined our studio. There is no quit in the Santa Monica Studio
vocabulary and I have nothing but admiration for all of the hard work
everyone on our team put into making this battle completely
unforgettable. Thank you!”
“Finally, like any artist, I appreciate having my work liked by
others! Receiving this award from Into the Pixel is a great honor, and I
look forward to doing it again.” – Tyler Breon