This is a drawing I’ve wanted to do for a while now, so after the amazing yet unexpected response to my Shadow of the Colossus and Half Life 2 artwork, as well as the upcoming release of Halo 5, I thought it might be a good way to end this series (although I’m sure what to call it yet – guy vs. big things?).
I’ve always been a big fan of the Halo series; for me, there are few moments in gaming better than driving a speeding Warthog back to base with the flag, with a friend on the turret and the entire enemy team charging behind. I remember playing online for hours after school with friends, either struggling through the campaign on Legendary, messing about on custom games and forge, or sometimes even winning in multiplayer. It’s a game which appeals on many levels, with satisfying gameplay for both casual and hardcore gamers and a variety of things to do as mentioned above, but it also features a compelling Universe with a fair amount of depth for those interested in the story. Despite being heavily influenced by other works of science fiction, such as Aliens and Ringworld, Halo has gone on to establish an identity of its own, from its large array of human/alien vehicles and weapons to the Master Chief himself. These now-iconic designs helped to define a series which has had a lasting impact on the first-person shooter, and I wanted to reflect its huge variety through this artwork.
There were a few difficult choices to make when drawing it, a lot of it to do with who should be included and where. Should the Arbiter be on the UNSC's side, despite only changing allegiance towards the end of the second game? Captain Keyes is in the lineup, but he can also represents Admiral Hood and Lasky, rather than having several undefined figures in the line-up. The only major omissions were the Prophets and the Didact; they were originally in the enemy lineup but didn’t really fit, and I thought having just the infantry enemies would make more sense. Saying that, I couldn’t resist including the Gravemind’s tentacles creeping in. There was also no room for the Brute Prowler, surely to no one’s disappointment.
Limiting the colour palette to be in keeping with my previous game pieces was also tricky, but eventually I managed to limit each faction to a few colours or shades. I quite like how it works as two halves, and it really shows the how distinct both armies are in the games. The Infinity in space was facing the wrong way not long before going to print, so I'm glad I noticed it before someone inevitably calling me out on it!
The sizes are slightly more approximate than the last two posters, partly because they vary over the games, but there’s nothing glaringly inaccurate (that I can see, anyway!). Similarly, the styles also change depending on the game, particularly something like Chief’s armour. I went with his Halo 2/3 look, mostly because I don’t think his latest armour has been around long enough to be as iconic. A lot of it is based on Halo 3 designs, which I think it’s a nice middle-ground in terms of aesthetics – but it’s also my favourite in the series, so personal bias might come into it!
Sadly I don’t have an Xbox One, so for the first time in many years I won’t be playing the new Halo game on its release day, although both myself and former Spartan friends seem to have very little time for gaming at the moment. But instead of lamenting the loss of childhood and facing the gaping chasm of uncertainty that is the future (Oh God…), I drew a picture!
This will probably be the last piece of artwork I do for a long time while I focus on my final year of university and filmmaking projects. Since I don’t have much time to run an online store like I used to, and I thought it’d be nice to do something special, I’m selling it as a very limited edition. Only 50 of these will be printed (numbered and signed), on super high-quality paper at 75x41cm. It’s available here, but probably not for long! It won’t be printed again before the year 2552.
I’ve always been a big fan of the Halo series; for me, there are few moments in gaming better than driving a speeding Warthog back to base with the flag, with a friend on the turret and the entire enemy team charging behind. I remember playing online for hours after school with friends, either struggling through the campaign on Legendary, messing about on custom games and forge, or sometimes even winning in multiplayer. It’s a game which appeals on many levels, with satisfying gameplay for both casual and hardcore gamers and a variety of things to do as mentioned above, but it also features a compelling Universe with a fair amount of depth for those interested in the story. Despite being heavily influenced by other works of science fiction, such as Aliens and Ringworld, Halo has gone on to establish an identity of its own, from its large array of human/alien vehicles and weapons to the Master Chief himself. These now-iconic designs helped to define a series which has had a lasting impact on the first-person shooter, and I wanted to reflect its huge variety through this artwork.
There were a few difficult choices to make when drawing it, a lot of it to do with who should be included and where. Should the Arbiter be on the UNSC's side, despite only changing allegiance towards the end of the second game? Captain Keyes is in the lineup, but he can also represents Admiral Hood and Lasky, rather than having several undefined figures in the line-up. The only major omissions were the Prophets and the Didact; they were originally in the enemy lineup but didn’t really fit, and I thought having just the infantry enemies would make more sense. Saying that, I couldn’t resist including the Gravemind’s tentacles creeping in. There was also no room for the Brute Prowler, surely to no one’s disappointment.
Limiting the colour palette to be in keeping with my previous game pieces was also tricky, but eventually I managed to limit each faction to a few colours or shades. I quite like how it works as two halves, and it really shows the how distinct both armies are in the games. The Infinity in space was facing the wrong way not long before going to print, so I'm glad I noticed it before someone inevitably calling me out on it!
The sizes are slightly more approximate than the last two posters, partly because they vary over the games, but there’s nothing glaringly inaccurate (that I can see, anyway!). Similarly, the styles also change depending on the game, particularly something like Chief’s armour. I went with his Halo 2/3 look, mostly because I don’t think his latest armour has been around long enough to be as iconic. A lot of it is based on Halo 3 designs, which I think it’s a nice middle-ground in terms of aesthetics – but it’s also my favourite in the series, so personal bias might come into it!
Sadly I don’t have an Xbox One, so for the first time in many years I won’t be playing the new Halo game on its release day, although both myself and former Spartan friends seem to have very little time for gaming at the moment. But instead of lamenting the loss of childhood and facing the gaping chasm of uncertainty that is the future (Oh God…), I drew a picture!
This will probably be the last piece of artwork I do for a long time while I focus on my final year of university and filmmaking projects. Since I don’t have much time to run an online store like I used to, and I thought it’d be nice to do something special, I’m selling it as a very limited edition. Only 50 of these will be printed (numbered and signed), on super high-quality paper at 75x41cm. It’s available here, but probably not for long! It won’t be printed again before the year 2552.
I just wanted to thank anyone who’s liked, shared, or bought anything I’ve done in the past. I never expected my artwork to receive any attention (and especially not to reach the front page of DeviantArt and Reddit – still getting over that) so it’s really nice to know that people think it’s worth checking out!
Thanks for reading,
Andrew
Oh also, this just happened to be the file size:
Thanks for reading,
Andrew
Oh also, this just happened to be the file size:
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