Awesome Concept Art from Kevin Chin!

Most of us have seen Kevin Chin's artwork in the past, but some of his most recent items are really quite interesting. He's got a few armor sets, one of the new mounts, and a couple of items from the Olympian Bundle. Let's take a look.

Gear Never Looked So Good

Most of the time, gear translated in-game looks okay, whereas the concept art is always impressive. This first piece that Kevin completed is of the latest set of dueling gear available from Diego for arena tickets.

Upon seeing the concept art for this gear, I'd be instantly sold - this would 100% be my new Wizard101 outfit. However, as it stands in-game, the shoulders are a little smaller, the cape is not quite the same, and the outfit as a whole isn't quite what I would expect based on the art. This is why I always love concept art - it's a more beautiful version of the game we all love.

Speaking of gear that looks better in concept form - how about the Hades set? In-game, it's a little small for me, but many players do like it. It's unique to one boss at the end of a very long level 90+ dungeon, so seeing a full set shows that some work has been put into it.

I found the sketches showing additional views particularly interesting here, especially the way the gauntlets cover the hands. If the set is actually done this way in-game, I haven't paid close enough attention. Concept art like this reminds me to look a little bit closer at Wizard101 - you never know all of the details you miss.

Mechanical Birds

Sound like a familiar concept? They're all over Pirate101, but this is the first to come to Wizard. The Gold-Wrought Eagle Mount is a beautiful one indeed, although expensive.

This concept is particularly telling. The detail with the features, saddle, and wings is apparent. Inspiration images for textures, shapes, and patterns are on the right - we've seen these before on Kevin's work, but we don't see them a lot on KingsIsle art. One thing I love in particularly about the eagle is that it looks great as a concept and then was effectively transferred over to the game, looking just as great.

Bundles Need Concepts, Too!

Each part of every bundle has to go through the concept art process - usually several times, one for the building of the model, and one for the card art. Kevin posted his work on the weapon and pet from the Olympian Bundle.

I'm a big fan of how both turned out in-game, and the weapon soon became a prop in Pirate101's Aquila as well. The design is really phenomenal. But then, most of the art that Kevin does is that way. Check out his blog HERE for more work, much of which you've seen featured on Swordroll's Blog! Look back through old "Concept101" posts or Google search "Swordroll's Blog: Concept101" to find other posts - I think you'll see some things you like.

Thanks for reading and see you in the Spiral!