The Download Munkey : Tracking the Treasure Down …

Kerem Beyit is one fine researcher of dragons masquerading as an illustrator (or vice versa). Either way, Kerem’s gallery is one that you definitely should not miss especially if you’re a dragon researcher (or a fantasy art fan).

A set of ten magnificently illustrated dragon heads will certainly grab your attention when you enter his personal gallery at his official website (www.theartofkerembeyit.com) – from the common red dragon commonly depicted in fantasy games and books to a majestic gold dragon.

© Kerem Beyit

My favourite is the black dragon (below) – I just love those glowering eyes and that air of thinly concealed malice

© Kerem Beyit

If you can’t get enough of Kerem’s fantastic dragons, there’s always the freely downloadable wallpapers of these fabulous beasts to grace your desktop in various resolutions from 800×600 to 1600×1200 and 1920×1200.

© Kerem Beyit

Intricate details and stunningly realistic lighting effects are a hallmark of his works and this trio of his latest personal artworks is no exception. Check out the glistening sheen on the armour and ornately decorated shield of the Dark Knight below.

© Kerem Beyit

© Kerem Beyit

And over here, we introduce the world’s finest armoured high heels modelled by this charming half-elf archer, courtesy of Kerem.

© Kerem Beyit

You have to see the original artwork of Dragon Mage (above) in its high resolution glory to appreciate the subtle differences in the fiery glow reflecting off different objects in this beautiful piece – dragon hide and scales, stone outcroppings and of course, the lovely dragon mage and her metal staff.

Other than his beloved dragons, Kerem has also produced commissions for various companies like Jordanian comics publisher Aranim Media Factory. I don’t have the permission from Aranim to post them up right now but you’ll defnitely want to take a look at his intensely dark and broody takes on Richard Lionheart and Saladin in his Jobs galleries.

Check out the galleries or download tutorials, wallpapers and avatars at The Art of Kerem Beyit.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Fantasy Art – Paizo Style!
Dan LuVisi’s Portraits of Movie Characters & More!
Dragon Fellow (Movie + Lyrics)
Dungeon & Dragons Source Book Wallpapers
Game Book Covers @ Mithrandir’s Gamebook Grotto

Today’s site of the day is a collection of links to artists both traditional and digital, from established industry professionals to lesser known creatives and all good!

Russian artist Leonid Kozienko (aka elfa on CGSociety)’s official site at loeartz.com boasts a staggeringly impressive list of artists conveniently categorized for your perusal (and will probably take at least a month to check out the portfolios of each artist listed too).

I haven’t gone thorough the entire list yet, but I have already bookmarked over 70+ links to check out in the coming months and you can be sure that there will be more than a few whose works will be featured here in the near future.

Meanwhile, check out Leonid Kozienko’s links over at LeoArtz and his portfolio @ CGSociety.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Fascinating Illustrations from Art. Lebedev Studio (Russia)
Artzmania – Free Arts E-Mag
2DArtist Magazine Lite Editions
Vektorika Magazine
Tracking Your Favourite Deviants via RSS

A selection of concepts from Isotx’s fascinating Iron Grip universe as seen in their RTS-FPS offering Iron Grip : Warlord. This richly detailed steampunk-ish universe specially created for Isotx’s Iron Grip series of games draws so many constrasting influences from the past, present and future that it’s incredibly diffcult to pigeonhole the world of Iron Grip as being defined by any single time period.

Below are just some of the combat scenes featured on the offcial Iron Grip : Warlord website.

© Isotx, Inc

There’s a Herran Legion General of the invading Fahrong Army in Napoleonic dress (complete with the trademark bicorne hat) and scale armour (!) on horseback leading a line of the dreaded Herrad Legionnaires in gasmasks and armed with WWII bazoookas.

© Isotx, Inc

Armour of the elite Herrad Legion is distinctively WWI (also note Prussian-style spiked pickelhaube helmet) together with the inclusion of kneepads and the occassional ancient/medieval helmet – note 11th century Italo-Norman helmet influence (inset).

© Isotx, Inc

Confederate troops with WWII-vintage bolt-action rifles and a S54 Scarab which looks suspiciously like a British Daimler Dingo armoured car (right) on the advance supported by a trio of the spiderlike steam-powered walker tanks aka Arachs in the background. The above artwork by Slawomir Maniak.

© Isotx, Inc

Concept art for the Confederate S75 “Ontos” tank by Keith Thompson. More concepts of the vehicles of Iron Grip at his personal website (yep, the same awesome Keith Thompson I wrote about some one and a half year back after a tipoff by the mysterious e)

© Isotx, Inc

The varied arsenal of the Atelian militia (the faction that you play as in Iron Grip : Warlord) – there’re revolvers and assault rifles, a Praetorian heavy machine gun (top left) which resembles a man-portable Browning M1917 machinegun and even an antiquated Gamonov Autofiring Handgun not unlike one of those early firearms (a flintlock possibly?) modified to load from a magazine.

© Isotx, Inc

A motley militia of poorly-armed and equipped Atelians illustrated by Slawomir Maniak. Of special interest is the foremost character (probably an Atelian warlord because of his better equipment) wearing a helmet partially inspired by that worn by a Roman murmillo gladiator (either that or the morion of a Spanish conquistador).

Check out more fantastic artwork from the official Iron Grip : Warlord website, devinatART, grab the wallpapers or explore the world of Iron Grip. There’s also a demo for Iron Grip : Warlord – more on that in the near future.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Keith Thompson’s Macabre Mechas
Killzone 2 Concepts
AT-43 Concept Art & Wallpapers
Command & Conquer : Red Alert 3 Units – Past and Present Inspirations
Metal Gear AC!D 1 & 2 Concept Art

A series of wallpapers from Korean art collective, Project Coo!. I don’t know what’s exactly Project Coo! is all about although I do know that the members of this collective include bombay, KEI, laziel, Maggi, milktea, NAKBE, NOX, oro, U’s and Yueciel.

A myriad of styles are represented from the requisite busty female anime character to Maggi’s hip fashionista (fourth from top) and Yueciel’s bright pink and saccharinely cute vectors.

© Project Coo!

Found Project Coo! entirely by chance after visiting Maggi’s Harem from the archives of the Elderly’s now silent Forbidden Forest. If you’ve ever seen the concepts for the MMORPG Granado Espada : Sword of The New World, you’ll definitely recognize her works from the intricate detail of their clothes and elaborate hairdos

Download these wallpapers from Project Coo!.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Magna Carta Wallpapers
Korean MMORPG Wallpapers (I) – Soul of the Ultimate Nation
Endless Saga Concept Art & Wallpaper
Warrior Epic Concept Art and Wallpapers
Luminous Arc Wallpapers

When it comes to paintings and illustrations of armoured fighting vehicles, the first name that comes to mind for me is always Jody Harmon

Jody Harmon has illustrated a range of armoured fighting vehicles spanning the history of these vehicles from the early efforts of the British with their Mark IV tanks to the mighty modern tanks in service today.

© Jody Harmon

A British Mark IV, Hyacinth, stuck in a captured German trench. A photo of this exact incident was taken on 20 Nov 1917 and can be found at gwpda.org.

© Jody Harmon

Modern tanks (from top to bottom) : M1 Abhrams, Merkava IV and T-90.

There’s alsoa lot of works of armoured fighting vehicles in action from World War II to the Korean and Vietnam wars to the recent Operation Iraqi Freedom.

© Jody Harmon

Of course, the galleries wouldn’t be complete without a piece on the most famous armour vs armour conflict in history, the Battle at Kursk of August 1943.

© Jody Harmon

Famous proponents of armoured warfare who shaped armour design, strategy and tactics and feature prominently in the galleries include General Guderian, probably one of the best-known pioneers of armoured warfare, Waffen SS Tiger I tank ace Michael Wittmann and General Israel Tal who led the development team for the Merkava I in 1970.

© Jody Harmon

If you’re an armoured vehicle enthusiast like me, you’ll definitely not want to miss out on Jody Harmon’s other works at www.jodyharmon.com. And while you’re at it, you might even want to pick up a limited edition print or two

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Steve Mumford’s Baghdad Journal
Motofumi Kobayashi – Japanese Military Artist
Waltz With Bashir – Award-winning Animated Documentary
War and Game – Military History Blog
Pobediteli : Soldiers of the Great War