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BlizzCon Charity Auction expands online
Blizzard is breaking out some pretty incredible and exclusive loot from the depths of its vaults for this year's BlizzCon Charity Auction, and you don't have to be at the convention to participate. Proceeds from this year's auction go to Children's Hospital of Orange County -- and Blizzard has lined up quite the collection of items to bid on. This year, the auction will be expanded online for those interested in bidding to help raise money for charity. Included in the items available are pieces of art from various Blizzard titles, including the amazing Alex Horley painting from Warlords of Draenor, a still from the Lords of War series by Laurel D. Austin and Charles Lee, the cover art for War of the Ancients by Glenn Rane, and many other prominent pieces of art from various Blizzard franchises. And if you're looking for something to place on a shelf, several of Blizzard's Holiday Exclusive pieces are also up for grabs as well. To check out all the pieces, head to the official BlizzCon Charity Auction page, and keep your eyes peeled -- the online auction begins on November 5, and continues until November 14.
Latest issue of ImagineFX features Blizzard art and more
Whether you're a fan of Blizzard's vast array of art from all of its franchises, or you're an artist wanting to know more about the process behind it all, this month's issue of ImagineFX magazine is definitely worth picking up. The December issue features workshops by Samwise Didier and Laurel D Austin, as well as exclusive art by Alex Ross, Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell, Craig Mullins, Alex Horley, and many more, all topped off with a cover image of Jaina Proudmoore by Glenn Rane. One of my top reasons for purchasing collector's editions of Blizzard games has always been the art books included in those editions. You don't really think about the sheer amount of artistry that goes into designing an expansion when you're simply wandering around in game -- but the art books provide that behind-the-scenes glimpse of development. Blizzard has some truly talented artists on staff, and the ImagineFX issue is another place to get a look at all the hard work that they do. You don't need a subscription to pick up ImagineFX, you can simply purchase a single issue on their website if you'd like. And for the sake of convenience, the magazine is available in both print and digital versions -- so there's no need to wait for shipping, either. Learn more about the issue on the official website, or go ahead and order your issue today.
Blizzard releases official concept art gallery
For the last few years, I've been using the Sons of the Storm website and various Blizzard artists' DeviantArt galleries to get my Blizzard concept art fix. As of this evening, it seems Blizzard is taking a step toward consolidating all of this artwork into one public place. Blizzard.com We're pleased to announce the grand opening of our new Concept Art gallery, highlighting the myriad characters, environments, and other artwork we create during the development of our games. We plan to update this page regularly with a wide variety of never-before-seen pieces of art reaching all the way back to Blizzard's early days, so be sure to check back often! source Early days is right! There's artwork in the gallery that predates StarCraft and the early Warcraft games. Go check out Blizzard's concept art gallery, it will be time well spent.
Sons of the Storm to appear at BlizzCon, unveil another member
The Sons of the Storm is a kind of artists' collective connected with Blizzard -- they're responsible for the majority of the concept and game art coming out of Blizzard, from the Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo series. They count Samwise Didier and Chris Metzen in their ranks, along with many of Blizzard's most popular artists. And apparently their ranks are growing -- on their latest website update, they have posted a new group picture, along with a mysterious "eighth son" that they say they will introduce sometime later, possibly months after BlizzCon. From left on the picture above, you can see Samwise Dider, Chris Metzen, René Koiter, Travis Thammer, Glenn Rane, Peter Lee, Mark Gibbons, and the Eighth Son, who a commenter over at Blizzplanet speculates may be Wei Wang.Speaking of BlizzCon, the Sons site also says that all of the seven current sons will be signing at the convention, so be sure to bring your TCG cards, Warcraft novels, art books and anything else these guys may have worked on. We're sure there'll be a line, but if you're willing to brave the wait, you might get to meet some of the most creative minds behind Blizzard's beloved universes.
New Lich King stein for getting your drink on
When the weekend comes, there's nothing better than kicking back, gathering up some friends (online or in meatspace) and getting your game on. Well, if you're the World of Warcraft player who already has just about everything there is to have, there's a new item on the market. Blizzard and 3 Point Entertainment are offering a brand new Wrath of the Lich King themed stein for your frosty weekend beverage enjoyment - or for just sitting on a shelf. Your choice. The previous two steins for the Alliance and the Horde, with artwork designed by Glenn Rane and Samwise Didier, sold like wildfire at BlizzCon last year. Considering that, it's likely the base $90 model will do well among the devoted Blizz fans who absolutely love to collect game memorabilia. Of course, If that's not cool (read: expensive) enough for you, there's also a $175 limited-edition model which is signed by Alex Horley, the artist who designed this new bit of functional collector's kipple. If you're into decorative steins and can afford it, be sure to get your order in soon; they ship them in late April/early May. This mere mortal will stick with her beloved (read: cheap) coffee cup.
3 Point Entertainment releases Horde and Alliance beer steins
A company called 3 Point Entertainment has apparently been contracted by Blizzard to make some WoW steins -- yes, tired of drinking your ale out of a plain old authentic German stein? Now you can drink it out of a Warcraft-branded, Horde or Alliance themed WoW stein. As much beer as we drink, we can't exactly say we're stein connesseurs, but these look pretty well done to us. Each one features a bas-relief illustration from two artists who've done a lot of work for Blizzard, Glenn Rane and Samwise Didier, and they're made by a company called Ceramarte, apparently a big player in the "beerware" business.They'll set you back a whopping $79.99, though, which seems pricey (although it's been a long time since we went stein shopping, so maybe that's a bargain). Think we could drink our mead out of something a little cheaper, maybe a Thunderbrew-branded sippy cup?
Samwise and other artists hold book signing
Today's the day for Blizzard art news, it seems -- next Saturday, Blizzard is holding that Art of Blizzard benefit show, but this past Saturday, Samwise Didier and a few other Blizzard artists stopped by the Barnes and Noble in Huntington Beach, California to sign copies of Upper Deck's The Art of the Trading Card Game book.Glenn Rane is the other artist sitting next to Samwise (who you may also recognize as the frontman for L70ETC), and also in attendance were Tom Bava, Randy Gallegos, Terese Nielsen and Justin Sweet, along with Ben Thompson, who we're told was a big part of putting the book together. I suppose it's too much to ask for Blizzard to leave sunny Southern California sometime to do these signings and meet some of us who aren't lucky enough to live there? It is? Oh well -- at least it keeps them close to their real work.%Gallery-17698%
