The Download Munkey : Tracking the Treasure Down …

© Ben Stokes

A look at some of Ben Stokes’ creative outputs, who’s probably better known as Dimensional Holofonic Sound or D.H.S to techno fans. His track House of God or one of its many remixes has been played by DJs for two decades now, check out its music video at Youtube, also directed and animated by Ben Stokes himself. Or listen to the track itself at Junodownload.

© Ben Stokes

Also check out the music video for Steel Pulse and Damien Marley’s No More Weapons directed, shot and animated by Ben Stokes. Look for the video labelled Music Videos Part 1 at the Video section of his official website at holofonic.com or at YouTube – you definitely can’t miss the reggae vibes or the animated silhouettes of soldiers moving onscreen (reminds me of the Massive Entertainment animated production logo in the game World at Conflict).

© Massive Entertainment

My favourite work from Ben Stokes is definitely the ultra funky Drum Attack video released in 2003 consisting of multiple video clips of drummers doing their thing and expertly chopped and spliced together into a delicious two and half minute mini-mix, not unlike how hip hop DJs mix in different records at lightning speed like DJ Spinbad (or Aquasky for that matter, who crammed in 150+ records for a 5 minute mini-set for Annie Mac’s show on BBC Radio One in Jan 2006).

© Ben Stokes

Karate chops! Wait, have those got anything to do with drumming?

© Ben Stokes

Ends with a visual of Clyde Stubblefield who played the drums for James Brown’s Funky Drummer.

The quality of the Drum Attack video posted at Youtube is rather crappy so you might want to check out a clearer version at the website for Ben Stokes’ label Tino Corp or the Video section of holofonic.com where a longer 3 minute version of Drum Attack awaits in the Other Works video (fast forward to 2:34 mins).

Enjoy!

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Audiotool – Virtual Music Production Studio
Links to Direct Downloads for Selected Annie Mac 5 Minutes Mixes
Promo Video for Gayle San’s .Network Audiovisual Livemix Compilation
Tony-B Machine – Flash Toy for Creating Early 90’s Techno/Electro
Be Your Own One Man Band

Concepts from the canned guerilla-inspired console game Revolution by Concrete Games which was a subsidiary of THQ until it was closed down in January last year. First read about this game from Joshua James Shaw’s blog where he showcases artwork done for the game together with his personal portfolio.

© Concrete Games / THQ

Reminiscent of games like PopTop’s sunny dictatorial sim Tropico and of course, Avalanche Studios’ Just Cause, Revolution is set similiarly in a tropical country governed by a highly decorated dictator and his oppressive military regime.

© Concrete Games / THQ

Of course, a game with a title like Revolution would be incomplete with the rebels – some are depicted here wearing military fatigues emblazoned with the Marxist red star or with caps in the style of Fidel Castro’s. Surprisingly, there’s no depiction of the rebels wearing Che Guevara’s famous beret, given that the iconic mugshot of Fidel’s comrade is plastered on countless T-shirts worldwide in real life.

© Concrete Games / THQ

I like this piece highlighting the contrasting appearance of two very different warlords – the one on the left with his two henchmen wearing sneakers and sunglasses probably hail from a large town or city whereas the other is dressed like a fighter based in a rural town or in the jungle with a more practical and longer ranged rifle slung on his back. Both do wear extravagant accessories, probably to set them apart from their followers.

© Concrete Games / THQ

The Watch-Dogs – looks like to be a well-equipped CIA paramilitary types (see these photos of Hot Toys’ 1/6th CIA Commando) or simply mercenaries.

© Concrete Games / THQ

Another set of miscellaneous concepts – a Roman Catholic cardinal with the scarlet zurchetto and black cassock, a heavy armoured SWAT-style trooper and a machete-wielding cowboy(?).

© Concrete Games / THQ

For those who can’t get enough of the artwork for Revolution, Unseen 64 has a great selection of concepts done by other artists for the game, including this unequal faceoff between a fearless protester and a entire squad of riot police supported by an armoured car and snipers on the rooftops.

© Concrete Games / THQ

Goverment tanks and artillery securing the entrances to the airport.

© Concrete Games / THQ

The same airport up in flames after rebel “liberation”.

© Concrete Games / THQ

More concepts from the Unseen 64 gallery.

© Concrete Games / THQ

Mother’s Mercy – A heavily adorned rebel M1A rifle modified with a carrying handle. Comes with rusty bayonet (or is that dried blood on the blade?)

View more of these concepts for Revolution at Joshua James Shaw’s blog and at Unseen 64 (Part I and Part II).

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Concepts & Wallpapers from Iron Grip : Warlord
Waltz With Bashir – Award-winning Animated Documentary
Modernized M14 Rifles
A Second Look @ Jagged Alliance 2 Mod 1.13 v 1.0.0.687

Caught the website for The Art of Games off Kekai Kotaki’s blog (he’s the concept art lead for ArenaNet’s Guild Wars 2). This Italian exhibition showcases 14 artists, some whose artwork will be instantly recognizable to gamers. Perhaps you’ll even discover the names behind some of your favourite concept art like I did

Well-known artists like Craig Mullins have been delivering quality concept art for computer games for years – The Art of Games showcases his more recent work for Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties and the iconic Master Chief from Bungie’s Halo – but I have seen some of his fantastic stuff for the Myth series (also by Bungie) published a decade back.

While many of these artists have been featured on the web through art and occassionally, game magazines, there’s a couple of artists who are entirely new to me (or I haven’t been looking hard enough). One is Alessandro Taini who is the artist behind several gorgeous concepts of the fiery redhead Nariko from Ninja Theory’s Heavenly Sword and the other is Jim Murray – I’m not too sure which games some of his artworks were commissioned for, but it’s all good

And of course you shouldn’t miss out on Kekai Kotaki’s incredible fantasy art and character designs at the The Art of Games and his own site at www.kekaiart.com – especially if you’re a fan of Guild Wars 2’s character designs.

For those who like to collect digital art, check out the press kit (look under About > Press Kit). There’s a trio of works from the press kit that I like a lot – Craig Mullins’ Master Chief, Stephen Martiniere’s Spring (apparently a book cover) and this artwork titled MEDIUM_Armor_F.tif (absolutely no idea by which artist or for which game – sorry!).

© Craig Mullins

© Stephen Martiniere

It’s not often that you encounter exhibitions that celebrate the art of computer games yet it’s surprising that they don’t seem to receive much attention through the mainstream gaming press. Really strange since the graphical and visual aspects of games nowadays are often their main selling points.

Check out the The Art of Games. The website is available in English, French and Italian.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Into the Pixel 2006 – Computer and Video Game Art Exhibition
Age of Empires III : The Asian Dynasties Wallpapers
John Wallin Liberto’s WWII Military Aviation Art
The Art of Phil Wohr – Halo Wars & More!
startdrawing.org – Asia’s Drawing Portal

High-resolution, high-quality limited edition prints of rifles, light machineguns and pistols in service with US special forces units.

© Dogfight Ink

A Mk 48 Mod 0 7.62mm machinegun derived from the M249 SAW

© Dogfight Ink

Prices vary from 49.95 USD to 79.95 USD and the weapons illustrated include the Mk 14 Mod 0 (above), a modernized M14 in service with the US Navy SEALs, the Mk 12 Mod 0 Special Purpose Rifle and FN SCAR-L (Mk 16 Mod 0).

© Dogfight Ink

There’s also a couple of prints showcasing the accessory kits for the SOPMOD M4 and Mk 18 Mod 0, the former also available as a more wallet-friendly lithographic print

© Dogfight Ink

See more previews or purchase these US Special Forces weapons prints and other prints at Dogfight Ink.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
David Andro – Military/Police Illustrator (GIGN, GIPN, RAID, etc)
Alliance of Valiant Arms Wallpapers
Alfa Anti Terror Demo Impressions
De Lisle Commando Carbine
Weapons in Ghost Recon : Advanced Warfighter 2

Saw some concepts from Tham Hoi Mun’s (aka numioh) deviantART gallery (featured here not too long ago) which were conceptualized in Alchemy (free!) before being painted over in Photoshop. (sorry, this one’s not free )

For those who prefer a more hands-on approach, there’s also a video demo of Alchemy by Andrew “Android” Jones (more here) recorded at the Digital Conference of Creative Elite (DCCE) in Shanghai.

While I’m no artist, Alchemy feels very different from any drawing or painting application I’ve played around before as it doesn’t try to fully emulate the traditional drawing and painting tools and process (try and find the Undo button ). You can simply use Alchemy to sketch and draw but its beauty lies in its ability to quickly inject randomness into your ideas through a variety of create modules which are essentially shape and line generators. Applying one or more alter modules which further process and add effects to your input allows you to realize your imagination on digital canvas in a lot of different and interesting ways.

The above was done in 2 minutes by someone with zero artistic skills (namely me) and Alchemy with the Pull Shapes and Mirror modules Amazing, isn’t it?

My first attempt with Alchemy to draw an Ork Warboss from Warhammer 40,000

While Alchemy is still in alpha, you can try it out by visiting and registering at www.al.chemy.org. Alchemy is currently available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Android Jones – Musical Art & Much More
Fun Drawing Tools For The Masses
Create Your Own Graffiti Masterpiece with Graffiti Studio 2.0