Artists | The Download Munkey

Military Tuesday : Virtual Aircraft Website – Illustrations and Wallpapers by Jerry Boucher

December 01st, 2009

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The Virtual Aircraft Website is home to military aviation illustrator Jerry Boucher and showcases his portfolio of aviation related artworks. I wrote this post more than a year ago and didn’t get a reply from Mr Boucher to grant permission to use his artwork here back then – might be something wrong with the contact form on his website so I’ve decided to just post this article. All images presented here are still copyright Jerry Boucher, of course

What makes The Virtual Aircraft Website stand out from the websites of other aviation artists is the choice of subjects Jerry Boucher chooses for his works.

Italian Fiat Br. 20 bombers of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF) bombing China in 1938

Comparatively lesser-known aircraft comprise the majority of his recent artwork and a selection of these works are also available for download as 1024×768 wallpapers. The captions for each wallpaper identifying the squadron and pilot is a nice touch too.

Heinkel He 51 flown by the future Luftwaffe General der Jagdflieger (General of Fighters) Adolf Galland as part of the Condor Legion sent to Spain in 1938.

I also appreciate the fact that instead of portraying the aircraft in each piece with generic paint schemes and pseudo-historical markings, Jerry Boucher has painted each plane in the exact colours, insignia and serials of actual planes flown by real pilots.

Fokker E. III flown by Ernst Udet, the second highest scoring German ace of WWI and later Chief Air Inspector General of the Luftwaffe.

A Lend-Lease Hurricane IIb in Soviet service

A tank-busting Junkers Ju 87G1 Stuka armed with twin 37mm BK 37 cannon

While modern aircraft (especially fighters) do not share the highly-visible and often flamboyant and individualistic paint schemes of their WWI and WWII predecessors in this era of low visbility schemes and stealth technology, the additional effort of replicating the exact looks of WWI and WWII planes really makes a big difference to any enthusiast who has more than a passing interest in military aviation.

Werner Molders in a Messerchmitt Bf 109D in Condor Legion colours. He was the previous General der Jagdflieger before Adolf Galland, who was appointed to that post after Werner Molders’ death in an airplane crash while travelling back to Germany for the funeral of Ernst Udet.

Download these wallpapers (and others) or view the gallery of Jerry’s other works at the Virtual Aircraft Website. Prints are also available for purchase.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
John Wallin Liberto’s WWII Military Aviation Art
Fighting High – WWII Allied Aviation E-Magazine

Art Friday : Magna Carta II

November 27th, 2009

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Wallpapers and character concepts from Magna Carta II (the RPG series, not the historical legal document) featuring the unmistakably distinctive style of Korean artist Hyung Tae Kim – note the extremely detailed costumes and shoes and of course, his trademark female character designs, all with excessively well-proportioned figures.

Wallpapers are now out at the official Korean and Japanese sites for Magna Carta II with Hyung Tae Kim’s characters superimposed on environmental concepts for the game.

Three styles of Juto & Zephie

The separate character (2D, 3D and SD) and environmental concepts can be found in the fansite kit at the official Japanese site and more artwork can be seen at an unofficial Hyung Tae Kim fansite @ www.hyung-taekim.org or at Chae Ji Yun’s blog where there’s several high-resolution versions of the same character concepts from the fan site kit. BTW, www.hyung-taekim.org and Chae Ji Yun’s blog are two of the many recommendations from artist Leonid Kozienko’s personal web site (well worth a visit if you’re into glorious eye candy )

Download the wallpapers from the Korean and Japanese sites for Magna Carta. The fan site kit is only available at the Japanese site though (scroll to the bottom and click on the button that says 規約に同意してダウンロードする ).

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Endless Saga Concept Art & Wallpaper
Magna Carta (Korean RPG) Wallpapers
White Wolf Publishing’s Exalted Wallpapers
Rumble Roses Fan Art @ Ryu’s Form Site
My Favourite Pepper Project Entries

Tags: Art Artists Games Recommended Wallpapers

Art Friday : The Weird and Wonderful World of Afu Chan aka aznmextofu

October 30th, 2009

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Afu Chan or aznmextofu @ deviantART has a knack for conjuring up some of the most wildly fantastic artwork that I’ve ever laid my eyes on – quite reminds me of several of my dreams in the past, only much weirder, more violent and most definitely much more fascinating and intriguing

One of my favourites is Fishbones Attack – a tie wearing horseman lets loose a blast from his shotgun on the rolling gunmen-infested deck of a ship with giant fish (tuna?) leaping into the air in the background. Also notice the nice little detail where the rear hoof of our horseman’s black charger has stomped on the left hand of one of the fallen gunmen. And that unfortunate guy’s probably isn’t dead yet because his face has just turned very red All very odd which makes Afu’s stuff so interesting.

Something’s about to turn real ugly soon as these two girls stand by patiently with weapons loaded and ready to ROCK!

Street Fight 07 – a martial arts movie-like scene set in the streets with the ragdoll-like agility of Matrix.

A day out in Zombie City

Street Fighter II done in Afu’s distinctive style.

The Lugaidh Brothers and Sisters – a band of unconventional pugilists with totally unkungfu-ish sounding names From left to right : Frank, Stephanie, Cindy, Paul, Monica, David and the guy up front is Lugaidh himself. The word Nepenthes is also the genus name for the carnivorous pitcher plants.

Swordfights in the sky – City of Violence – ever seen a punch so powerful that it breaks a passing airliner into two – Bruce Lee’s famous one inch punch doesn’t even come close

More chaos in Fight Back to School,

… in a forest with Daruma dolls hanging from the trees (Heaven & Earth),

… and in a church with walls pockmarked with bullet holes (Battle Royal 08). The funny thing is no one seems to have managed to hit and shatter any of the stained glass windows yet

Check out more of Afu Chan’s fantastic artwork at deviantART.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:

Warrior Epic Concept Art and Wallpapers
Kai (Ukitakumuki) – Concept Art for Nuclear Dawn and More!
Zeno Clash Concepts & Screenshots
Kal Online Wallpapers
My Favourite Dominance War III Wallpapers

Tags: Art Artists Recommended Samurai Zombies

Wallpapers Wednesday : Dominance War IV

October 28th, 2009

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A small selection of my favourite wallpapers from this year’s Dominance War IV art competition. The general theme for most of the entries takes on a decidedly darker and more morbid feel than previous years’ works with a host of imaginative infernal or mechanical implements of death and destruction being entered for Dominance War IV.

There’s a total of 29 wallpapers in all but I’ll just feature my favourite five – you can check out the rest at the Dominance War website. The selection below also exhibits a personal bias towards 2D concept art – hence the total absence of any of the wallpapers featuring the 3D entries – they’re not bad of course, just that I prefer 2D

I’ve attempted to provide links to the Dominance War IV entry page and personal website for the artist of each of the featured wallpapers below for those interested in exploring further

Tu Bui @ 2buiart.com (DW IV page)

Fedor Losev @ feddark.deviantart.com (DW IV page)

Huang Guang Jian @ hgjart.com (DW IV page)

Chung Yee Ling @ syncmax.deviantart.com (DW IV page)

Simon Dominic @ www.painterly.co.uk (DW IV page)

Download these and other Dominance War IV wallpapers. The champions and other entries for Dominance War IV can also be viewed here.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
My Favourite Dominance War III Wallpapers
Project Coo! Wallpapers
LeoArtz.com – In Art We Trust
Artzmania – Free Arts E-Mag

Tags: Art Artists Recommended Wallpapers

Art Friday : Steve Argyle’s Wallpapers Galore!

October 16th, 2009

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What better way to introduce a yet unfeatured artist here at The Download Munkey than to overload your senses with lots of delicious eye candy Let’s just say all this is a brillant masterstroke by artist Steve Argyle to win the hearts of new minions (as he affectionately refers to the subscribers of his mailing list like me).

With his recent release of 65 wallpapers featuring 55+ different pieces of Steve’s awesome work for the likes of Legend of the Five Rings, Magic : The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons, I’m pretty sure hordes of new minions will be eagerly flocking to his website and mailing list

A preview of some of my favourite wallpapers.

Chuda Ruri of the Snake Clan from the Legend of the Five Rings.

A gigantic samurai gets his moustache cleaned in Return of the Shogun.

The Kaiu Wall which guards the Crab Clan from the beasts beyond.

Nightlife in Scorpion City.

Don’t like samurai? How about some Star Wars instead? Perhaps Darth Vader suits your taste better

There’s more in the Star Wars section including an awesome Rohlan Dyre commissioned for the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide, a Star Wars RPG supplement.

Maybe, sci-fi’s not your cup of tea? Good old fantasy should do the trick then, like this lithe Naya Battlemage from the Shards of Alara expansion set for Magic : The Gathering.

Age of Tyranny (above) and Dwarf Barbarian from Dungeons & Dragons.

This small selection of artwork is just the tip of the iceberg – there’s plenty more eye candy at Steve Argyle’s official site. And if 1600×1200 wallpapers are not enough, you always have the option to purchase prints of your favourite artworks

Check out Steve Argyle’s official website or head down right to the wallpaper collection.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Mini Ninjas Demo Impressions
Urban War Wallpapers : Cyber Samurai!
Afro Samurai Wallpapers
The Art of Phil Wohr – Halo Wars & More!
Pablo Vicentin’s Concepts for Lone Wolf : Flight from the Dark