As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Santa Monica Studio, we are bringing back the clock to some of the most memorable art from God of War – an art that helped define the creativity that made up our studio. From the house of thought that artists are with us today to many of the most famous writings of our time, we have asked each of us to choose their own piece of the most inspired of the God of War that makes the most impact on them or the frame. Most of these contain never shared background sdetails … and certainly some you probably never knew.
Charlie Wen – Former Artist
("Kratos Legendary Napkin Design" – God of War)
It should be a boat sketch I did when I first caught up with who Kratos would be.
After moving on to a few bits of the main character, I was making more sense of who Kratos was, and he came prepared for lunch / design – armed with multiple pens, and even a brush pen. As thoughts began to flow, I realized that I didn't have a sketchbook – a good restaurant that had napkins. The idea of Kratos came to me who needed to get out of my head on paper (or pants) – he had wide straps wrapped around his arms and chains around him. The nipples were immediately filled by Kratos flying in the air with two blades. I remember passing through several lungs until I realized that 90% of Kratos' finished design came from that lunch. As for the clip art, most of them may have been paralyzed in a jean pocket and eaten by a wash … but thankfully, not all of them are.
Cecil Kim – Former Artist
("Suicide Bluffs – God of War")
I did this episode at the beginning of the God of War 1, which means we knew Kratos would step out of the cliff early in the game. What a sad start to the game! I also remember that we tried to emphasize how spiritually beaten you lead to this point. I remember that (maybe a team of designers, David Jaffe) were telling me that Kratos was not going to push himself into the original plan. (I had no idea what had happened before this. It was Zeus' final battle at the end of the game!) That is why you see the short trail leading up to the left side of the boat in my work of art.
Also, we were a small art group at the time; Ken Feldman, who was in charge of this degree, also sat down with me and shared his challenge of building all areas with the graphic limit we had. So there are no trees! I needed the right angle to show everything, so I made all the stones in a shape, instead focusing on the dark, cool tone of the place. Unfortunately, you don't see this view in the first scene but you feel and smell the same air when you know what I mean!
Scott Seeto – Former Artist
("Icarus" – God of War II)
Eventually I have to go with Icarus. The first: it's always fun to design a character that's crazy and show us in their features and pose. It may not have been the main character but it was fun to do! Second: I am satisfied with the outcome of the illustration. Sure, some things could have been better done, but over time, I enjoyed it. Third: it's hard to see and it didn't fit into the game I don't think. As part of his frustration, at first I thought of him carrying a cat that was not always there as a pet (it must have been quite a night when I thought about it)! I would like to add, my time as a concept artist for God of War was a huge blast!
Andy Park – Former Artist
("Kratos vs Poseidon" – God of War III)
I will have to say the illustration of the concept I made of the first great God of War 3 commander, Poseidon, was special. I remember getting the start of a water-based behemoth that the god of Poseidon would transform into thinking what a fun challenge it would be to face. However, as I let my imagination go along with things like this kind of creature attacking Kratos in a few big ways I found myself thinking, "How are they going to get rid of one of these things?" something to design but something to make the environment of 3D Gameplay, and with the limitations of the PS3 platform engine.
Well, it was fun to name a great character like this who's never seen a God of War, if not even a whole line of PS3 games, but it might have been more fun to see an amazing team and make this a reality in the game. A special shout out to Max Ancar doing a character made of live water! Poseidon was definitely my favorite drawing I had to make during my long walk with the French God of War.
Erik San Juan – Former Artist
("Amazon Hero" – God of War Ascension)
At the time of the pre-production of God of War: Ascension, the idea team had a "blue" design month in which we would throw crazy ideas. With Kratos' mysterious attack on the fate of God of War 3, we knew we wanted to give him an attacker – a new hero who would seek him out. Not unlike the latest entry in the series, we thought she had a secret daughter and started drawing ideas on how she would look. Some of the ideas we cast over here used Artemis as a focus on the same rage and revenge as Kratos – even though he was a magical Centaur!
Shown here is only my contribution to the team with a tattoo design on his face. As soon as we know we are bringing back Kratos in the Prequel, these projects will soon evolve into the Amazon Hero we see in Ascension. Santa Monica Studio is a great place to make art and I will always carry such wonderful memories of my time working with such amazing artists.
Luke Berliner – Currently, Lead Artist
("Canyon Bull" – God of War: Ascension)
I made this idea eight years ago when I first joined the Santa Monica Studio on God of War: Ascension, I was so proud of it that I felt like I was finally starting to understand what makes something work in a God of War game. Flash forward today and this image is hanging on the wall as you enter our inner space. I go about it every day. Looking at it now years ago I see how much I've grown as an artist at Santa Monica Studio and it's exciting to see how our games have evolved.
Joe Kennedy – Currently, Top Artist Artist
(“Hunter” – God of War 2018)
The team chose the comedy version of "The Hunt" because it was the right tool to simultaneously see parts of gameplay and storytelling. The event is a God-sized vertical warp that I had the freedom to imagine how Kratos and his son, Atreus, would embark on this new journey. It was great to see the concepts shown in The Hunt maintain integrity throughout the development process and the team helped to see it in the final game.
Yefim Kligerman – Currently, Psychologist
(“Old” – God of War 2018)
I chose this idea of Ancient Period because it shows a different take on the beast that we are. I was able to assemble some curves to break up the solid stone paintings, and to investigate the personality of this magical creature. The former has always been a great desire to work on it because it has to be one of the oldest in the world, a magic-enabled living and acted as a reminder of prayer.
Annis Naeem – Former Concrete Artist
(“Helheim” – God of War 2018)
I struggled to get Helheim's views and empathy until this piece was so important. The short was that it would be very cold and sensitive but it would not be frozen. The walking dead is grouped together in a bridge, stormy looks, columns / gates. Some of the artwork in the painting was inspired by Zdzislaw Beksinkski and how he paints super bony buildings.
Jin Kim – Former Artist
("Helheim Hræsvelg" – God of War 2018)
Part of my impact on this project was in the greater Helheim area. For that reason, I chose the art of the eagle that is tied to the top of the Holheim monolith because the eagle is a more expressive creature. The objects depicted in this shot represent almost everything that happened in Helheim from the Sea of Knives to the cold weather created by the eagle with its huge wings, huge monoliths connected with the bridges that the dead walked on and on. I personally liked this thing because I had been working on this site for a long time and I thought how cool it was to have a cold version of hell coming back then.
The group back then had a problem with the decision on how to eagle appear in the local area, and I remember when they finally brought the task of guessing the situation to me to be an eagle in the center of Helheim, I was so excited to paint. It was really fun to see everyone's reaction when we showed this concept to people. It also sounds like a good collaboration with other artists because of some of the artwork that the other artists created, and it was really fun to associate them with one image. This was a great ending to all the Helheim-concerting action for me.
Dela Longfish – Present, Concept Artist
("Draugr" – God of War 2018)
Draugs was one of the first characters I've ever worked on. Knowing this was a character we would see almost everywhere in the game we explored several looks of what they could be. I eventually got the impression of a character with his dead body but it was an illegal return on his pure love of spirit. To keep adding to that, I make their bodies break and break, selling the idea that you are no longer in the world of the living.
Abe Taraky – Present, Concept Artist
("Týr" – God of War 2018)
When Kratos and Atreus discover this flooded area, they are taken aback by the overcrowding and destruction of the temple. Supporting these two themes, I was convinced that every design choice would add to this double standard. A good example of this is the monolithic Tyr statue that sits at the entrance to the temple. Its large jewelry shield, weapon and armor, stands separately on the large chest with flames enclosing its helmet. Initially, this helps the player question the environment and wonder, what kind of god built such a temple and why was it destroyed?
Vance Kovacs
("Call From the Animals" – God of War 2018)
The PlayStation Experience graphics collection was special to me. Specifically, this one, as it was intended to kidnap a boy during a period of intense beauty and inevitable death.
Jose Cabrera
("Fay & # 39; s Funeral" – God of War 2018)
The reason is that it has somehow helped me connect with the loss of my own mother, which happened when I was young, and I had prevented that memory from becoming something I didn't even care about. Working on this piece made me miss him. I think many developers had their own personal moments during development because the game touches on very specific threads here and there.
Be sure to hit the PlayStation store where we have a special Santa Monica Studio show, featuring sales on many of our PlayStation 4 games, and a tour through our history. And you can now watch our full feature documentary, Laure Kratos, on your free PlayStation console, via the PlayStation Store too.
Thanks again, your unwavering support over the last 20 years has truly changed us.