No Mutants Allowed

Brother None

To finally get the last bits of confusion about this cleared up, abbaon supplied us with a few quotes of Steve "MrSmileyFaceDude" Meister:

<MSFD> didn't take the Fallout fans long to find the source photo Craig Mullins used for that concept art
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<MSFD> yeah
<MSFD> they even identified which carrier it was
<MSFD> it's funny because people are extrapolating all sorts of stuff from that identification, as though it has anything to do with the actual game...
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<MSFD> nah, it was in Florida for a while but they sunk it in the Gulf to make an artificial reef
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<MSFD> anyway all we did was ask "Hey Craig Mullins, make a painting of a carrier that's run aground on a river bank in a ruined city" (or something to that effect)
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<MSFD> nah, he's freelance
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<MSFD> he's done stuff for a ton of games
<MSFD> incl. Halo
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<MSFD> he did some stuff for Star Trek for us, too
<MSFD> once the teaser countown is finished you will have seen the entirety of the work he did for Fallout
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<MSFD> anyway we have an in-house concept artist who's done hundreds & hundreds of drawings & sketches & such for all the Fallout stuff
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<MSFD> haven't shown any of that

So Craig Mullins did only 5 pieces of art (assuming we only get one more piece of art), which were done before Oblivion with their in-house artist having done a lot more by now, and which can not simply be assumed directly related to the game (except that Matt noted Capitol Hill revealed something about the location).
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Yellow · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 2:01 Post subject:

It's quite possible that when the teaser is released, a whole album of Mullins work will be released with it (maybe a lot more than 5).

Autoduel76 · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 2:41 Post subject:

Possible, but doubtful. Sounds like he just did a few pieces of very early concept work. The fact that they are saying that they have an in house guy that's done "hundreds" and the tone of those comments suggests that Mullins didn't do all that much.
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King of Creation · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 2:57 Post subject:

I'd really like to see the in-house stuff. Craig Mullins work just doesn't do it for me.
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Sytxferryman · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 5:10 Post subject:

Autoduel76 · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 5:33 Post subject:

I would guess that their in house stuff isn't focused on large environments, like Mullins' is and, for whatever reason, that's what they wanted to show us.

Perhaps they though showing us concept art for creatures, characters and interiors would give too much away about the direction the game is going (for bad or good).

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abbaon · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 6:00 Post subject:

I assume they're showing Mullins' stuff because it's moody and dramatic and actually interesting to the casual observer in a way that this sort of concept art isn't. (Nice hips, honey.)

Vault 69er · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 7:02 Post subject:

As I speculated, it would seem that this art is no more than a hype-builder with nothing to do with the game.
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Angrim · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 9:32 Post subject:

After realising that everything was copied from the Internets, this is kinda reliefing news...

PS. I'm not saying there's something wrong about using someone else's photos in one's art. I personally know a lot of professional (contemporary) artist who does it. But copying everything from one particular website... Jeesh.
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FeelTheRads · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 13:59 Post subject:

Sorrow · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 14:36 Post subject:

They put that concept art on official website and they say that it has nothing to do with the actual game, how logical Rolling Eyes

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craig_mullins · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 14:50 Post subject:

Wow, I am amazed people are looking at these images so closely. At some point Bethesda may release better versions? These seem to be jpeg'd very heavily..

I would have to go back and look through what Bethesda sent me on this job, but as I remember most of the source materials on Stripmall were provided by Bethesda. I was not familiar with the Fallout universe and had trouble "getting it" at first. The capitol was painted on top of a 3-d block model.

This is commercial art, made to illustrate an idea. It is not fine art, nor is it an exposition on my abilities as delineator. Whether or not I could paint some of these objects from scratch is not relevant. What is relevant is it would take more time to do so, and that time could be spent toward the end goal of illustrating an idea or feeling.

The most difficult aspect of repainting from a different angle is the complexity of these objects and scenes. There is a LOT of stuff in there. Constructing them in perspective is very time consuming. The majority of these images are constructed, however.

I prefer not to use photos like this, but I solve the clients problem faster, easier, and cheaper this way. The current method of working in concept/digital mattes is 3-d/photo composites with varying amounts of paint. It has been trending this way for the past few years, and it is very obvious when this technique is used, for better or worse. There is no intent to deceive or misrepresent. If this lessens your respect for work done this way, I completely understand and partially agree. But if I don't use these powerful tools, I will be at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace. I do ask clients if they would allow a more "painted" look and the answer is almost always no. Maybe if I was a better painter the answer would be different.

Given the purpose of concept art there is little reason to reconstruct things that already exist, other than my (or a minority of others) preference, or an artistic machismo. This makes things more expensive for all involved. The time saved can be put into areas that do have to be constructed, which is the great majority most of the time.

Starwars · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 15:02 Post subject:

Duodenum · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 15:45 Post subject:

Your work is awesome, Craig. No need to explain anything. I would love to get all of these concept paintings full sized and framed!

Autoduel76 · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 17:05 Post subject:

You have nothing to apologize for, craig. The artwork is great.

A lot of folks here just like to pick every little thing apart.

As a longtime Fallout fan, I understand how it came about, from a decade of dissapointment but, honestly, its a habit best broken soon because you can nitpick the enjoyment out of anything, whether its deserved or not.
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radnan · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 17:23 Post subject:

FeelTheRads · Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 17:00 Post subject:

Thrawn · Posted: Fri May 25, 2007 21:52 Post subject:

I just want to point out that 75% of the loading images in Fallout 2 had nothing to do with the game and only serve to give you a feel for the world you are about to enter. Case in point:

Sorrow · Posted: Fri May 25, 2007 21:56 Post subject:

Only 25% of the loading screens that you posted have nothing to do with the game.
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