Mondolithic Studios creates oil portraits of virtual world characters
by Mike Schramm 
May 23rd 2008 at 3:30PM
Interesting. There's only a few samples there at the moment, but they'll probably have more when and if business picks up. The style is quite interesting -- it certainly is oil paint, but rather than going realistic, it seems like it's designed more to mimic the actual look of the game, with a few weird polygon angles and designs.
Unfortunately, there's no mention of price at all (you have to email them for estimates), but odds are it isn't cheap. Then again, if you're in search of a one-of-a-kind oil portrait of the character you've sunk so much time into, this just might be worth the money you put into it.
[Via Massively]
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Virtual selves, Odds and ends, Fan art
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ted May 23rd 2008 3:50PM
actually looks like they paint over a screenshot rather than compose the whole thing in oil. Anyone else see that?
Minnow May 23rd 2008 3:50PM
Yes it looks like that to me too...
brucimus May 23rd 2008 3:54PM
Looks like the BELF's are at Target shopping for curtains
Kaiva May 23rd 2008 4:20PM
I agree with the above comments. It looks like screenshots.
Even before WoW was released, it was criticized for it's low polygon counts (a move which turned out in blizzard's favor), but if an actual artist is going to repaint your portrait, why the hell would they have to adhere to painting your character with rough polygon edges, and stretch the background materials and textures exactly as they appear in game.
Why? I submit that these artists aren't as talented as they'd like you to think.
Qix May 23rd 2008 4:23PM
another wow painting not in the wow section:
http://mondolithic.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=81
squeama May 23rd 2008 5:08PM
ya, they aren't that good. Glad I'm not the only one that thinks so.
Hilus May 23rd 2008 7:31PM
Mmm...they lack a "painterly" quality, actually you never see brush strokes, or textures. Also they has no sense of composition at all, too "stiffy". Not very good.
Sin May 23rd 2008 7:50PM
I wouldn't be so quick to write off the skills of the artists. While I agree the works look like direct screenshot-to-canvas compositions and mostly uninspired (they possibly leave it up to the person who orders the painting to compose how they want it to look), the skills of the artists in question are certainly NOT poor.
You can see this by examining the rest of the site. Some of their book covers are instantly recognizable if you're an avid reader. :) And the quality of that work is top notch.
Commissioned work is, by rule of thumb, generally of less detail due to time constraints for most artists. This not only allows the artists to cater to more people, but it also allows for an affordable product provided to the consumer.
Sin May 23rd 2008 7:54PM
Oh, and hello:
http://mondolithic.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=105
:)
Hilus May 23rd 2008 8:45PM
"You can see this by examining the rest of the site."
Precisely. The contrast in execution with the rest of the site shows that the WoW pictures are not good at all.
Jeni May 24th 2008 9:54AM
Uh....you can do that with a screen shot and very basic knowledge of photoshop. Why pay for a painting when you can make yourself a high quality print and frame it?
Now if they actually made your character look like...um...like a screenshot, I'd probably get one. Make the characters look more human and less like you fiddled with some filters in photoshop. I mean...even the stances are exactly like what's in the game. There's no flair.
Jinvasha May 24th 2008 11:35AM
That is so cool >.> They even use the same brand of paint I use.
I agree with number 11, though - If I had one done, I'd want some artistic license taken with it.