Shel Dorf http://www.sheldorftribute.com/ founder of Comic-con http://www.comic-con.org/ passed away this week in San Diego.  I had the pleasure of meeting Shel many years ago; he was a frequent guest of TAG (Tuesday Art group) that many game, film, comic and illustration industry vets attended. He was a kind gentleman and always eager to help people starting out in their careers.  He will be missed.

http://www.fox5sandiego.com/news/kswb-shel-dorf,0,658394.story

Beckett Massively Online Gamer’s latest issue celebrates the top 10 most influential women developing MMOs.  Rosie Rappaport, Art Director for Free Realms was recognized, along with two others from SOE: Torrie Dorrell and Laralyn McWilliams.

http://www.massiveonlinegamer.com/news/1-latest-news/246-beckett-celebrates-top-women-of-mmos- Previous to art directing Free Realms, Rosie was art director for EverQuest and contributed to the art development of several other SOE titles. She recently spoke at Austin GDC on creating and maintaining the Free Realms style across all media.  Rosie is also featured in the EverQuest 10th anniversary Collector’s Edition book http://everquest.station.sony.com/eq10th/#book Great work Rosie!

This past Thursday at Mt Saint Antonio College, Marshall Vandruff opened a show of sketchbook art titled “Intimacy on Paper” http://www.mtsac.edu/instruction/arts/gallery/exhibits/2009-10/IntimacyonPaper.pdf . The show features Vandruff’s work and work of former students, including SOE’s Dok Whitson who is senior concept artist for EQ2.  The exhibit will run through October 15^th.

There are over seventy original pages on display, including many not seen before in print.   Dok Whitson is showing three large pieces of personal work, also never seen before.

Image © Dok Whitson

Last week I participated on the ‘Creative Careers in Casual and Mobile Game Industries’ panel discussion at the UCSD Career Showcase event http://dac.ucsd.edu/index.cfm?vAction=cgd

The event was designed to promote interest in their new casual game development track in the Digital Arts Center

The panelists, comprised of software and game development professionals, discussed technologies, trends and markets in casual gaming. I discussed SOE’s incorporation of 2D casual games within a casual 3D MMO environment on the title Free Realms.

http://www.freerealms.com/whatIsPlay.vm We’re looking forward to seeing the work from students that complete this new program.

SOE hosted eight art interns across our studios this summer.  Students came from The Art Institute of California-San Diego, The Art Institute of California-San Francisco, Brigham Young University, and Academy of Art University in San Francisco.  They integrated with the teams and worked on assets involving illustration, character art, rigging, environment art, and UI elements.  Some substantial work was done that will be used in our games, for example the DCUO mentor/intern combo in SOE Austin rigged over 38 NPCs. They are returning to their schools for the next semester with some industry experience under their belt and SOE was introduced to some great new talent!  Our internships run for 10 weeks during the summer and openings are typically posted after February. The posting appear on our careers page which can be accessed via SOE Art Portal http://www.soe.com/artists/ – click the ‘Work at SOE!’ link.  I wish best of luck and success to all our interns as they complete their academic programs.

“Legends of Norrath” concepts created by one of this summer’s interns

Comic-Con starts on Thursday this week at the San Diego Convention Center.
 

With the Con set to begin, FOX 5 news interviewed DC Universe Online Visual Director Mat Broome.  He talks about his passion for comic books and shares thoughts from 20 years experience in the business as a penciler/writer/creator.

Be sure to look for Mat and the other SOE artists and developers at the Con at the SOE booth located at 5201.  We’ll be showing DCUO, Free Realms, and more! 

About a year before the launch of EverQuest II, the team lost one of its most talented and well-loved members: Rick Johnson.

Rick died of cancer on November 19, 2003.  We created two tributes honoring him.  There is a spread in the EverQuest 10th Anniversary book showing his work along with quotes from friends on the team; and for Legends of Norrath Storm Break, Michael Komarck and Roger Chamberlain created a special card in remembrance of Rick.  The card is titled: Legend of the Past.  It adds him into the world of EverQuest as a great storyteller and master of lore regarding the fascinating beasts and creatures of Norrath.

 “Rick Johnson was the best of us, in every way. And his passing remains a deep loss for everyone. But it’s not all about sadness; to this day, he still brings smiles to faces.”

-Dok Whitson

“From great storytellers come the giant beasts of legend. They trample through our dreams like spells cast by a mighty wizard”.

The EverQuest 10th Anniversary book is now available.

Guests at the recent Fan Faire in Las Vegas had the opportunity to get the book signed by cover artist Donato Giancola, Larry Elmore, and others associated with the book’s production. This collector’s book reveals insider detail on the history of the EverQuest franchise. It features art on every page, including every expansion cover from both EverQuest and EverQuest II along with great work from Legends of Norrath and some concept work shown for the first time. It was a great experience going through ten years of art and selecting the best images for this collection!

Anniversary book cover art – Donato Giancola

SOE is hosting eight art interns across our studios this summer.  These internships (ten weeks long) give students an opportunity to work in a real game development environment creating assets for several of our titles.  Not only does the experience benefit students, it also helps SOE provide an opportunity for its full time artists to mentor an emerging talent, preparing themselves for senior artist roles.  This year’s intern selections come from schools across the western US.  There are four from The Art Institute of California-San Diego, all of these students come directly from the SOE mentor program that we run with the Art Institute. There are two students from Brigham Young University, one student from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, and one from The Art Institute of California-San Francisco.  I’m looking forward to seeing the talent and energy they bring to SOE this summer.

Monk armor created by one of last summer’s Vanguard interns

We just got our copies of EXPOSÉ 7 from Ballistic Publishing.

SOE has more selected for publication in this international digital art annual than any other game company!

The number of pieces selected has more than doubled from last year’s volume.

There were ten pieces chosen that were created for Legends of Norrath (including one that received the Award of Excellence in the Fantasy Femmes category); and three from PoxNora.

The chosen entries were:

From Legends of Norrath:

Lyrirae Oakwynd – Michael C. Hayes, Art Director: R. Chamberlain (Award of Excellence)

Crested Mistmore Shield – Steve Argyle, Art Director: D. Herring

Bayle – Derek Herring, Art Director: R. Chamberlain

Dagda Icefury – Derek Herring

Favor of the Dead – Derek Herring, Art Director: R. Chamberlain

Firebolt – Derek Herring, Art Director: R. Chamberlain

The Forest Guardians – Graciano Lucas, Art Director R. Chamberlain

Thythus – Lius Lasahido, Art Director: R. Chamberlain

Optocolypse – Kerem Beyit, Art Director: R. Chamberlain

One Way to Settle – Ray Toh, Art Director: R. Chamberlain

From PoxNora:

Master Axeman – Bryan Rypkowski

Siege Monger – Jakob Kaspar, Art Director: Bryan Rypkowski

Eager Cyclops – Bryan Rypkowski

In addition, SOE was well represented with five pieces selected for Exotique 4, the international digital annual for character art

The chosen entries were:

From Legends of Norrath:

Legacy of Thorn – Derek Herring

Chant of Flame – Kieran Yanner, Art Director: D. Herring

Cyndra – Thomas Sincich, Art Director: R. Chamberlain

Battle of Kithicor – Steve Argyle, Art Directors: D. Herring, R. Chamberlain

Neriak Brawler – Dante Fuget, Art Director: R. Chamberlain