Photoshop
CREATE A DEMONIC VIDEO GAME COVER
Discover the process masterful battle artist Thomas Elliott followed to create an epic shot for Doom: The Dark Ages
Doom has been a massive inspiration throughout my career. I love the blending of sci-fi and organic elements with religious imagery, everything looks heavy and badass, and the soundtracks always gets me in the mood to paint.
So it was a dream come true when Bethesda contacted me to work on the cover for its latest title, Doom: The Dark Ages. This was going to be a big project and time was tight, so efficiency was the name of the game.
The Dark Ages takes the franchise in a new direction with an overtly fantasy setting. The Doom Slayer has his classic array of guns but is now accompanied by a shield and mace. Stressing the fantasy aspect of the game through the cover was important, so right off the bat we looked at the work of classic fantasy artists like Frank Frazetta to inform the composition and flavour. We briefly toyed with the idea of doing an oil painting for a real retro fantasy vibe, but time wasn’t on our side so we went for full digital.