Steve Burg

Heavy Turbulence...

2012-01-27T09:27:00.000-08:00

A 3D render that I modified a bit to work as a still image.
This is a frame from an animated scene...

Under the Rings

2012-01-27T07:10:00.000-08:00

An illustration put together from 3D elements...

2012-01-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

A fusion powered interplanetary craft has anchored itself to a tiny moon orbiting a massive gas giant.

The ship will use the ice from the surface as fuel to continue its voyage.

View of the Xeelee Ring

2011-12-31T20:06:00.000-08:00

The "full view" on this is fairly large (or at least I hope it is). But few subjects beg for a high res image as much as the immense alien structure at the heart of Stephen Baxter's mind-stretching book "Ring".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_%28Stephen_Baxter_novel%29

And very few subjects are as challenging to visualize. A full appreciation is only possible from reading the novel, but you may notice there are entire galaxies that appear in front of the Ring. This is due to the immense scale of the artifact - it is as wide as a hundred galaxies.

The structure is composed of a single strand of "string" - a defect in space-time - that is being woven from the crushed debris of countless whole galaxies. The mysterious Xeelee have been working on this project for quite some time - for several billion years in fact.

What is the purpose of such a monstrous construction? The Xeelee intend to use the Ring to initiate a "Kerr Metric" - in effect a doorway that exits the Universe. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerr_Metric

You may wonder at the reaons they undertake such a task, but I won't spoil the book!

So who are the Xeelee? They are the oldest sentient race in the Universe - and one of its greatest mysteries. But as one character states with regard to the Ring: "...that they have the audacity to even dream of such a device!"

Incidentally, those small points of light in the background aren't stars. The Ring occupies an immense empty void, and those lights back there are whole galaxies on the far side...

That's why I like science fiction...

Up the Ridge...

2011-12-31T20:02:00.000-08:00

Rovers explore the frozen moon of a large gas giant similar to Jupiter, presumably in another solar system...

Across the Ice...

2011-12-29T17:52:00.000-08:00

A 3D image - of something I'd like to see for real!

Some "Ancient" Traditional Artworks...

2011-12-29T16:54:00.000-08:00

A couple of concept paintings from earlier in my career. Acrylic, roughly 10"x16"...

From the 1997 film "Contact". A large command ship is pulled through the ocean during the movie's climax...

The Drej Fortress - a large alien spacecraft designed for the animated film "Titan AE"...

3D environment WIPs...

2011-12-21T11:03:00.000-08:00

Some recent 3D tests. I've been experimenting with some matte painting techniques lately...

Best seen in "full view" - there's a fair amount of detail.

A Few Paintings...

2011-12-03T19:17:00.001-08:00

2011-11-24T06:36:00.001-08:00

A quick comp done in Photoshop...

Recent Photoshop Sketches...

2011-11-21T08:26:00.001-08:00

These are done fairly quickly, and are mainly an excuse to try out some new techniques...

3D Environment Work-In_Progress...

2011-10-31T21:58:00.001-07:00

Looks nicer in full view...

Another view...

Search...

2011-10-31T21:54:00.000-07:00

Photoshop painting...

Archeological Survey

2011-10-30T09:55:00.000-07:00

Looks like this survey ship has found something...

Full view looks best on this one...

Landing Craft

2011-10-27T16:36:00.000-07:00

This is a Photoshop painting that I've played around with for a little while...

I recommend looking at the image in full res...

Digital Painting - "Convoy"

2011-10-16T22:58:00.000-07:00

Recent Paintings...

2011-10-16T16:49:00.000-07:00

2011-10-09T19:00:00.000-07:00

A few quick speed paintings done not long ago...

Exo-Planets...

2011-10-09T18:48:00.000-07:00

Some recent science fiction images. These are 3D based, with a lot of painting to achieve the final result.

There's a lot of detail, so they're best seen in the full view...

Meanwhile, Outside the Ship...

2010-09-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

This is a cropped version of the image. The full version is posted here:http://steve-burg.deviantart.com/

I consider this kind of a "failed experiment" - but it's still interesting enough to post...

Steel Trees

2010-09-11T11:42:00.000-07:00

A futuristic city catching the afternoon light...

The Traverse

2010-09-11T11:38:00.000-07:00

It is like a glacier, but it's really not a glacier...
In fact it might not be a natural formation at all. But whatever it is, the explorers shown must cross over...
I was a bit inspired by the abstract backgrounds that Syd Mead often puts into his paintings.

This image and some of the others here are also posted in my gallery on Deviant Art: http://steve-burg.deviantart.com/

The Long Ascent

2010-09-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

This is a 3D render with some painting done on top of the image. The tiny figures were painted at a much larger scale, then reduced and integrated into the terrain.

I haven't the slightest idea what this enormous structure is!

Chasing the Storm

2010-09-11T11:28:00.000-07:00

This is a fanciful aircraft based loosely on the AH-60 Black Hawk helicopter fuselage.

It was fun to paint the clouds using the Photoshop Smudge tool in combination with some jittery custom brushes.

Some Recent Paintings...

2010-08-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

Here are a few personal works from mid-summer of 2010:

I recommend zooming in, there are some small details in these!

A smuggler's landing zone seen by moonlight...

A surrealistic bit of tech environment design...

A futuristic cityscape speed-paint...

A subterranean sci-fi ruin found by explorers...

Castaway

2010-08-08T22:09:00.000-07:00

My lifelong fascination with wrecked spaceships shows no sign of letting up.

Abstract Space Sketch

2010-08-02T08:40:00.000-07:00

I've always loved John Berkey's art and every once in a while I try and do something inspired by his work. This is my latest humble attempt - a very very quick speed painting (less than 1 hour)

Seven Months Later...

2010-08-01T22:46:00.000-07:00

This is my first post in quite a long time. Work has been quite demanding on my schedule, so there hasn't been much time for personal work. But I thought I would post at least a few recent images, just to keep from getting rusty at this...

"The Red Obelisk"

"Night City"

"Strange Engines"

"Strange Engines" (detail)

"Abandoned City"

Fusion Powered Spacecraft

2010-01-19T12:13:00.000-08:00

Fantasy is great, but what will real spaceships look like? That’s what I was aiming for when producing these images – the proverbial "serious spaceship" design…

If we ever want to go anywhere farther than our own moon, we’re going to have to get serious about propulsion! A nuclear fusion powered craft is what you really want for traveling around the solar system in a reasonable amount of time (weeks as opposed to years).

Dumping excess heat and shielding the crew from the exhaust radiation are key challenges inherent in a fusion drive – hence the large shield/radiator at the rear of the craft…

“2001”: a Space Odyssey” was a major influence on the “look” of the ship, particularly the crew module at the front.

For those of you interested in such details, the 3D model is about 900,000 polygons...

Red Balloon

2009-12-20T14:29:00.000-08:00

Like it says...

World Below...

2009-12-20T14:25:00.000-08:00

A bit more "Tiberium" artwork.

These are views underneath a huge platform structure that supports a future city, shielding it from a harsh and poisonous environment...

As with a lot of the design work on "Tiberium", I modeled and lit many of these elements in 3D. This allowed for a high degree of consistency in our concept art and the final in-game assets.

The views shown here are more or less "straight-out-of-the-box" 3D renders, with minimal retouching. An additional layering of detail would be painted in to achieve a richer look in the concept artwork - when time allowed for it (quite often it did not!).

Here I MUST mention - We had a great art team: Jeff Hua, Ino Karella, Takeyoshi Sato, Jason Park, Raj Rihal, Kevin Swartz, Kenrick Leung & Chris Miller producing concepts, producer Jon Grall, and the project art leads: Jason Priest, John Decker, Ken Bishop, Robert Coddington & Billy Brooks... I'm sure I've forgotten people but it's just my brain damage and certainly not intentional!

The Tower...

2009-12-15T20:27:00.001-08:00

An immense alien structure dominates the Tiberium ravaged wasteland that has spread over much of Earth's surface... silent, enigmatic - its origin and purpose a complete unknown...

These early concepts - generated primarily in 3D - helped to unlock the visual signature for this post apocalyptic science fiction world.

The Tower was to have served as an iconic landmark in the game, not unlike LOTR's Mount Doom. It was the Dark Place where the Bad Guys came from...

It's not advisable to get too close!

The Mediterranean Sea Floor, littered with abandoned ships... another environment study...

Still More "Tiberium" Visuals...

2009-12-13T20:20:00.000-08:00

Two more images randomly chosen from the colossal archive of concept art lurking on my backup drive...

Both images feature large airborne cargo ships - one of many background elements developed for the project.

The illustrations are elaborate 3D setups, doctored up in Photoshop.

A Quiet Town...

2009-12-06T16:45:00.000-08:00

There's a story here, but don't ask me what it is!

Unfinished WIP Environment...

2009-12-06T16:42:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what this will look like when it's completed, but it seemed kind of interesting in its present "empty" state.
I start a lot of images, set them aside, then return to them at a later date - hopefully with a more objective take...

More "Tiberium" artwork

2009-12-06T16:36:00.001-08:00

Wow, there's a lot of artwork from this project in the files!
This craft is the main transport for the player. It was designed entirely in 3D, as a fully articulated geometry...

"Tiberium" Armor Viz Dev

2009-12-06T16:11:00.000-08:00

This was the player character for an ill-fated game project. There were a lot of iterations during a hectic 3 week push to design this character...

I worked on "Tiberium" for several years, and sadly it was canceled well into production. There's so much artwork, it's hard to know what to do with it, but I expect I'll post a few more examples now and then...

Last Light

2009-12-06T11:21:00.000-08:00

A quick color study

A Weekend Job...

2009-12-06T11:19:00.001-08:00

An illustration for a proposed video game.

This image incorporates a lot of photo reference, which I generally try to avoid - but with a tight deadline, it's a big time saver...

I kind of like the background on its own, so here it is...

Sci Fi Vehicles

2009-12-04T22:43:00.001-08:00

Watch Tower

2009-12-04T22:28:00.000-08:00

... a very quick sketch

Space Structure

2009-12-02T23:34:00.001-08:00

Abstract Forms

2009-12-02T22:16:00.001-08:00

Robotic Machine

2009-12-02T21:23:00.000-08:00

Some Vehicles...

2009-12-02T19:25:00.000-08:00

I did warn everyone that I have a large backlog of material...

Landscapes

2009-12-02T18:02:00.000-08:00

Iterations

2009-12-01T20:57:00.001-08:00

The same basic sketch, finished in 2 ways...

A Quick Doodle

2009-11-24T08:42:00.001-08:00

Quick Experiment...

2009-11-22T20:18:00.000-08:00

More Mechs...

2009-11-22T18:37:00.000-08:00

Mech Sketch...

2009-11-21T23:21:00.001-08:00

This and other mechs are also posted over at the Nuthin' But Mech blog. They're just quick sketches done in Photoshop...

Landscape Sketch

2009-11-18T21:53:00.000-08:00

... no fantastical elements in this one

A Simple Landscape...

2009-11-18T16:14:00.000-08:00

I had some photo reference for this, but the image is entirely painted.

Another crash site... or two...

2009-11-17T20:35:00.000-08:00

... Which I admit is a favored theme for me...

A few stragglers... 2D & 3D

2009-11-16T21:58:00.000-08:00

A few more here...

2009-11-16T19:56:00.000-08:00

While I'm at it...

2009-11-15T19:34:00.001-08:00

Here are a few more sketches, most of them recent. I have a fairly huge backlog, and these are being picked at random, so please bear with me. And I promise it will not be 3 more years before the next update!

Well It's About Time

2009-11-15T19:12:00.000-08:00

Considering it's been something like 3 years since I put anything up, it seemed like high time to post a few items...

These are just a random assortment of "speed-paint" sketches done in Photoshop.

A Stubby Ship...

2006-02-11T20:07:00.000-08:00

Flight Line

2006-02-09T01:42:00.000-08:00

Another little doodle...

Last One For Now...

2006-02-05T23:00:00.000-08:00

I made a tree brush 1200 pixels high, so the trees took about 15 seconds...
But the horse took longer than the whole rest of the image...

A Few More...

2006-02-05T22:49:00.000-08:00

These are miscellaneous Photoshop exercises...

And Some Stuff From and Upcoming Book...

2006-02-05T22:24:00.000-08:00

These are much more finished pieces, and many elements were made in 3D. They were created for a book: "Concept Design 2" from Design Studio Press, which has a lot of artwork from a lot of REALLY good concept artists. Check it out at www.designstudiopress.com...

More Stuff From the Vault...

2006-02-05T21:58:00.000-08:00

I have a sizeable backlog - so I'll post it in manageable chunks for now...

Recent Digital Sktches

2006-02-05T20:37:00.000-08:00

This is a random slection of recent artwork - as I just get this thing started...

Online Sketchbook

2006-02-05T20:18:00.000-08:00

This is where I will put random digital doodling and other recent artwork - I'll make this up as I go...