Behind the scenes of
The 4 Winds foundational art
Get behind the scenes and discover how we collaborated with digital artist Flora Silve on two key pieces of artwork for our brand, symbolizing our spirit of adventure in the gaming world.
1
The concept
From the very start, The 4 Winds team was inspired by the spirit of adventure in our own lives, and we were inspired by how the winds carried the early explorers around the world. We were taken in by the romance and excitement of it all. Those sailors returned home as heroes, laden with riches and resources from the vast new trading routes and markets they discovered, such as the Silk Road.
We want to reintroduce the age-old tradition of imagining new worlds into a gaming industry, that has lost much of its spirit of exploration and discovery. When we think about it, The 4 Winds' main goal is to bring people, and the world, together by playing games, but at the moment, there are around 40 percent of the global population who are left out. The digital age of gaming must move north, south, east, and west, wherever the best opportunities exist.
We wanted to transform these ideas into the strokes of a digital brush, and we found the talent we needed in Concept Artist and Matte Painter Flora Silve (you can check her portfolio on ArtStation). The two piece of art you'll be seeing will be heavily featured in our full website, when it launch soon™.
We want to reintroduce the age-old tradition of imagining new worlds into a gaming industry, that has lost much of its spirit of exploration and discovery. When we think about it, The 4 Winds' main goal is to bring people, and the world, together by playing games, but at the moment, there are around 40 percent of the global population who are left out. The digital age of gaming must move north, south, east, and west, wherever the best opportunities exist.
We wanted to transform these ideas into the strokes of a digital brush, and we found the talent we needed in Concept Artist and Matte Painter Flora Silve (you can check her portfolio on ArtStation). The two piece of art you'll be seeing will be heavily featured in our full website, when it launch soon™.
«Publishing is based on culture. We wanted to show off our in-depth knowledge of local culture in Russia, Turkey, and the Middle East by concentrating on topics that are seldom discussed in the media.»
Ugur Ulger
Brand & Project Manager
2
The artist: Flora Silve
A CG environment concept made by Silve for the Game of Thrones: Winter is coming game trailer
Silve is an illustrator and concept artist based in Montpellier, France. She began her studies there with a bachelor's degree in architecture before shifting her focus to special effects in film and video games. She has always been interested in drawing and the arts, so studying computer graphics expanded her skill set and allowed her to work on professional productions.
She spent two years in Manchester as a Concept Artist at RealtimeUK, where she worked on a variety of video game trailers and cinematics, as well as several TV shows. Sea of Thieves, Runescape, Sky Kingdoms, Paladins, Subnautica, Game of Thrones and War of the World are only a few of the IPs where her work can be found.
She spent two years in Manchester as a Concept Artist at RealtimeUK, where she worked on a variety of video game trailers and cinematics, as well as several TV shows. Sea of Thieves, Runescape, Sky Kingdoms, Paladins, Subnautica, Game of Thrones and War of the World are only a few of the IPs where her work can be found.
3
The main foundational artwork: Exploration
An early work in progress of the Exploration piece before additional details were added
Our foundational art's key purpose is to represent our company's guiding principles. The 4 Winds are all about assisting others in their discovery of Opportunity Markets, with a focus on three main regions with obvious artistic and cultural themes: the Arab world, Turkey, and Russia.
We wanted to highlight our enthusiasm for discovery, sailing, and the trade winds (and that's how our company name came to be). We also wanted to get away from the negative aspects of the 15th century's Age of Exploration by focusing on modern-day expeditions led by explorers including Felicity Aston, Jacques Cousteau, and others. We're not here to conquer, but to help others explore new gaming worlds and frontiers, to dispel myths about distant lands, and, above all, to introduce new games to new players.
We wanted to highlight our enthusiasm for discovery, sailing, and the trade winds (and that's how our company name came to be). We also wanted to get away from the negative aspects of the 15th century's Age of Exploration by focusing on modern-day expeditions led by explorers including Felicity Aston, Jacques Cousteau, and others. We're not here to conquer, but to help others explore new gaming worlds and frontiers, to dispel myths about distant lands, and, above all, to introduce new games to new players.
«As I started with the key art, I made a few CG compositions with different lighting options to choose from. I selected my favorites and quickly painted over them to give a first sense of what the colors and mood could be for each one.»
Flora Silve
Concept Artist & Matte Painter
The initial work rendered in blender to discover the best composition that portrayed exactly what we wanted. We eventually went with B2 albeit with some slight changes to the horizon, the islands, and so on.
Silve's three choices were all very colorful and had a joyful feel to them. They reminded her of playing Sea of Thieves with her friends, and once we saw the colors applied, we decided to go with the theme of Exploration.
She then got down to serious work on the Exploration piece, preparing the base in CG by adding buildings and vegetation. Having a render to paint over is always a nice starting point because you don't have to worry about perspective, lighting, or composition, and you can concentrate on colors, textures, and the overall mood, according to Silve.
She then got down to serious work on the Exploration piece, preparing the base in CG by adding buildings and vegetation. Having a render to paint over is always a nice starting point because you don't have to worry about perspective, lighting, or composition, and you can concentrate on colors, textures, and the overall mood, according to Silve.
The colors picked for the work are highly influenced by our brand guidelines, mainly what we call T4W Purple (#7125e9) and T4W Pink (#de37c5), but this didn't limit the rest of the extended palette
Painting digitally isn't all that dissimilar from painting in person. Silve picks a brush, a paint, and then gets to work. Digital painting software, on the other hand, provides a plethora of possibilities to experiment with, making it much easier to manage. When she paints, the colors aren't a major issue, because she knows they can be changed later. One thing she keeps in mind is to get a good range of different colors the filters can react properly.
Layer organization was crucial for these broad and complex items. Silve had groups for every element of the composition: the sea, the cliffs, the vegetation, the sky, the houses, the vessels... Even the sails were strewn about at this stage. This encouraged her to handle each of the groups individually, making it easier for her to correct colors and values, and it eventually resulted in adding our company's sigil, or symbol: a compass rose.
Silve reworked the composition to create a sense of adventure and added some life and buildings near the boat, including partners and friends waving goodbye to the explorers. Even though it's very subtle at first glance, the logo on the sails blends in extremely well.
Layer organization was crucial for these broad and complex items. Silve had groups for every element of the composition: the sea, the cliffs, the vegetation, the sky, the houses, the vessels... Even the sails were strewn about at this stage. This encouraged her to handle each of the groups individually, making it easier for her to correct colors and values, and it eventually resulted in adding our company's sigil, or symbol: a compass rose.
Silve reworked the composition to create a sense of adventure and added some life and buildings near the boat, including partners and friends waving goodbye to the explorers. Even though it's very subtle at first glance, the logo on the sails blends in extremely well.
«Our foundational art was all about showing the kind of production we can aim for with our partners, but also showcases our experience as cultural ambassadors from our region.»
Nazih Fares
Head of Communications & Localization at T4W
The Exploration piece from another angle, showing a view from the right side of the islands.
The island on the horizon was added at the last minute. We wanted to make a call out to Opportunity Markets in the Exploration piece, though we prioritized showcasing the three regions or nations in the secondary key art (which we will discuss later).
Originally, the island was bare of any features or buildings, as you'll see in the animation below. We wanted to create a cultural portrayal of Russia, the Middle East, and Turkey on the far-flung island, as a suggestion that the ship's ultimate objective was to deliver the goods and explore.
Thankfully, these three parts of the world are linked by history and cultural influence. The architectural similarities of some landmarks reference the exchange of culture, literature, and trade between these parts of the world.
Originally, the island was bare of any features or buildings, as you'll see in the animation below. We wanted to create a cultural portrayal of Russia, the Middle East, and Turkey on the far-flung island, as a suggestion that the ship's ultimate objective was to deliver the goods and explore.
Thankfully, these three parts of the world are linked by history and cultural influence. The architectural similarities of some landmarks reference the exchange of culture, literature, and trade between these parts of the world.
A quick animation of how the work evolved and the addition of the details on the islands
4
The secondary art:
Arrival
Arrival
The preliminary sketch for the Arrival piece
The secondary artwork was primarily created to decorate our website when it was still under construction. Instead of three separate pieces, we thought we'd go for one big piece that could be broken up for various uses. The idea was to construct a second main piece of art that represented the three Opportunity Markets as if they were a single, newly discovered archipelago.
The inspiration for the three regions was represented as a mix of architectural landmarks, traditional sceneries, animals, and so on. This began as a panoramic image of The 4 Winds ship approaching these new lands, with one island representing each country, or area, we are focusing on.
The inspiration for the three regions was represented as a mix of architectural landmarks, traditional sceneries, animals, and so on. This began as a panoramic image of The 4 Winds ship approaching these new lands, with one island representing each country, or area, we are focusing on.
An early work on lighting in Blender to find the right natural colors for the Arrival piece
The suggested frames for each part were chosen to showcase each island's unique flair, as you can see in the art-in-progress section below. Each was designed to have a prominent color from our brand's color scheme while still matching the Exploration piece.
We then realized that including famous landmarks along each island's theme would make the sketch too busy from the original perspective. Our team suggested that we pan the camera higher to a roughly 45° high-angle wide shot, which would give more space to work on the islands.
Our first concern in representing each of the three cultures was to not make a nationalistic argument. While many of our team members are from the Middle East, Russia, or Turkey, we collaborated on identifying classic emblems of each country that had a neutral background and that showed a good representation of the countries or regions without resorting to clichés from western media. The result of this brainstorming session was a set of buildings and landmarks that would fit together on a single island, and we ended up creating an inspiration board for Silve to work with that you can see below.
We then realized that including famous landmarks along each island's theme would make the sketch too busy from the original perspective. Our team suggested that we pan the camera higher to a roughly 45° high-angle wide shot, which would give more space to work on the islands.
Our first concern in representing each of the three cultures was to not make a nationalistic argument. While many of our team members are from the Middle East, Russia, or Turkey, we collaborated on identifying classic emblems of each country that had a neutral background and that showed a good representation of the countries or regions without resorting to clichés from western media. The result of this brainstorming session was a set of buildings and landmarks that would fit together on a single island, and we ended up creating an inspiration board for Silve to work with that you can see below.
The Middle East
North Africa
Our picks were the Great Mosque of Samarra, the Martyrs' Memorial of Algeria, Egypt's iconic Pyramids, and Oudaias Kasbah and Ait Ben Haddou in Morocco
The Levant
We decided to go for the world famous Lebanese Cedar, the building style of "Old" Beirut, a mix of Ottoman and French colonial influences and Syria's temple of Palmyra or Krak des Chevaliers and Margat.
The Arabian Gulf
Getting away from the contemporary landmarks of the Gulf such as the Burj Khalifa, we wanted to show the more traditional side of the region. This was represented with Old Jeddah's Bait Baeshen and Bait Sharbatly, the Fujairah Fort, traditional houses with wind-towers and, finally, the wonderfully evocative Dhow ships.
Russia
The tone
We wanted to get away from the cliché of portraying a Russian island as a land of snow. For that we showcased its diverse flora, and parts of the country that non-Russians would not think of, like traditional Koch ships.
Saint Petersburg
The architectural complexity of this city made it a prime candidate to showcase as a landmark. We chose the Rostral Columns, the Hermitage, Saint Isaac's Cathedral, The Admiralty Building and also the buildings of Nevsky Prospekt.
Moscow
It wouldn't be a painting of Russia if it didn't feature two of Moscow's most famous buildings: St. Basil Cathedral and the Kremlin's towers. Their colors really blend well with our color palette.
Turkey
The tone
The nation of Turkey is much more than its most famous city, Istanbul. Sitting across two continents, we wanted to showcase the diversity of cultures in the country, but also its diverse fauna and flora.
Major cities
Istanbul's Maiden's Tower on the shore and the Blue mosque are easy catches to those familiar with the country. But the rest of the island is inspired by other parts of the country.
The historical side of Turkey
Cappadocia is such a magical place, with its fairy chimneys, the hot air balloons - which we turned vintage - but also the region's buildings. We also showcased the Trojan horse found in Canakkale Square as well as the traditional Ottoman era caique ships around the shores.
The initial composition work in Blender as well the landmarks and buildings that would be added later on
The end result ended up becoming a much larger piece than anticipated, a 25 : 6 landscape ratio of inspirational art. This made the CG part even more important, to facilitate the painting at the end. As Silve needed to picture very specific buildings, she modeled them all in Blender. While it took some effort, in the end, it was time well used!
Perhaps the most fascinating thing to paint was the ocean. Depending on the depth, surface, and lighting, water responds to light in various ways. Silve had a lot of fun experimenting with colors and brush strokes as she worked to express translucence and the waves. She also had to be aware of the need to reflect light, especially from the vessels. There was a lot of water to create because of the camera's orientation. Since the islands could be visually busy, she wanted the ocean to be a neutral place to balance the final piece.
The vegetation was also difficult because she couldn't do it in CG in a precise manner. Russia with its pine and larch trees, Turkey with her wild maple, Turkish hazel and Cretan date trees by the shores, the Middle East's Lebanese cedars in the mountains, some palm trees by the shore, and fig or olive trees around the green patches, it was all a serious challenge. Silve made extensive use of the lasso tool and experimented with color variance in her brush controls, causing the brush to paint in random patterns, giving diversity to all of these elements.
Perhaps the most fascinating thing to paint was the ocean. Depending on the depth, surface, and lighting, water responds to light in various ways. Silve had a lot of fun experimenting with colors and brush strokes as she worked to express translucence and the waves. She also had to be aware of the need to reflect light, especially from the vessels. There was a lot of water to create because of the camera's orientation. Since the islands could be visually busy, she wanted the ocean to be a neutral place to balance the final piece.
The vegetation was also difficult because she couldn't do it in CG in a precise manner. Russia with its pine and larch trees, Turkey with her wild maple, Turkish hazel and Cretan date trees by the shores, the Middle East's Lebanese cedars in the mountains, some palm trees by the shore, and fig or olive trees around the green patches, it was all a serious challenge. Silve made extensive use of the lasso tool and experimented with color variance in her brush controls, causing the brush to paint in random patterns, giving diversity to all of these elements.
The Arrival piece evolves from CGI to the first layers of painting
«I want to thank you guys for this opportunity and the trust you placed in my work. It was very pleasant working with your team and I am happy with what we produced together»
Flora Silve
Concept Artist & Matte Painter
We hope that you have enjoyed learning about our thought process in creating this key piece of art for our brand. This was also a way for us to showcase our skillsets, our experience in the various region, and how we can apply these concepts in games that you would like to publish in Opportunity Markets.
We've long championed the concept of incorporating misunderstood customs and cultures into games in order to truly engage with gamers who have been alienated for years. It doesn't have to be a full overhaul of a game, a simple nod can be just as effective. We'll start there, making the best games in the world accessible, downloadable, and affordable in every region where our ships sail.
We've long championed the concept of incorporating misunderstood customs and cultures into games in order to truly engage with gamers who have been alienated for years. It doesn't have to be a full overhaul of a game, a simple nod can be just as effective. We'll start there, making the best games in the world accessible, downloadable, and affordable in every region where our ships sail.
The finalized Arrival piece in all its glory.