PAINT ICONIC KEY ART FOR BLIZZARD

Senior vis-dev artist Will Murai talks about the process and challenges of assembling Blizzard’s most beloved heroes into an epic illustration

- Will Murai

BlizzCon celebrates all of Blizzard Entertainment’s games. Every year, thousands of people tune in to hear about Blizzard’s game announcements, expansions, upcoming storylines, and more.

One of the central aspects of Blizzard games is the characters. Their story arc, drama and challenges are the bonds that help connect the player to the games’ universes. The goal of the key art is to portray characters from Blizzard’s games. Each one had to have their own sentiment and personality, combined with the expression of the event’s energy and excitement.

These characters are lovingly developed by their respective game teams and my job is to paint them in their best light, respecting and honoring their creative essence. That includes having regular communications with the art director and the teams’ leaders to ensure the characters’ souls are represented in the key art.

Due to health concerns, this year’s event was unique: the first Blizzcon held in any online format. With that in mind, I needed to make sure the composition looked good in multiple formats: from small magnets to gigantic LED panels.

How I create…

A MASTERFUL COMPOSITION

1  Layout sketches