This is fan art

If you like this Aussie artist’s work you’re in good company. Rockstar themselves have praised his stylised, distinctive pieces often based on GTA. You can find more of his workhere.

Why fan art?

If I love something like a TV show, film or game, I’ll draw it. It’s like my inspiration. I’m a HUGE gamer and get really hooked on the big titles. Then I get this craving to make artwork out of it.

How long would you spend on a typical painting?

A character by itself with no background could be done in less than five hours, I think. But if I was to make a fully detailed picture with background and character it’d take me 10-20 hours depending on how many characters, cars or objects I added. My biggest artwork, Grand Theft Auto Tribute, took me a few weeks to create, mainly because it had almost 30 characters in it.

What is it that appeals to you about the genre?

It’s the strong ideas and great character design that draw me in. For instance, Fallout 3 – all the busted up weapons held together by duct-tape, the dirty sunset vibes and grungy scenery. It offers so many opportunities for a piece of art!

Above: Click to see enlarged version

How do you choose which games to recreate?

It’s always the characters I’ve enjoyed playing. I get so into the story of a game and tend to really like the characters themselves. Especially characters that have been in a series of games so you’ve got to know the history of them, like in Metal Gear Solid. Snake is one of my favourites because it’s like you’ve seen his whole life.

And how do you create your pictures?

I use Adobe Photoshop CS3 and my handy Wacom Graphics Tablet. Couldn’t live without it!

When you’re making a game-related image, do you like to recreate it perfectly, or perhaps put your own artistic slant on it?

I usually like to keep the outfits and look the same. Facial features I try my best to match, but I love to make it seem more natural or fluent. Some people call it cartoony but I like to see it as adding more character to the image.

What’s your job?

I’ve got a job working as a graphic designer for a newspaper. It’s a great job! Graphic design is actually what I do in life. I design things such as logos, posters and covers.

What games do you think look the best, art-wise?

If I had to choose one title, I’d definitely have to say Grand Theft Auto IV. It has such good scenery, great skylines, sunsets and vibes! The characters are so cool, and Liberty City is designed so well.

Above: Some of the coolest GTA IV fan art ever. Click to see an enlarged version

Above: A tribute to GTAheroes of legend.Click to see an enlarged version

Here are some more of Patrick’s pics…

Above: Click to see an enlarged version of this Red Dead Redemption tribute

“I’ve never really created ‘dust’ in any of my pics so it was pretty interesting to give it a crack! This pic was mainly to get me hyped for the game! It took longer than my usual pics, about 16 hours I think. All done in Photoshop CS3 apart from the sketch.”

Above: Click to see an enlarged version

“After playing Fallout 3 I just had to make some artwork on it! This is basically what my character looks like in the game – like Jason Statham. This took about 15-20 hours using Photoshop and a Wacom Graphics tablet.”

Above: Click to see an enlarged version

“This would definitely be one of my favourite and most enjoyable pieces yet. I’ve really learnt a lot of new tricks from making this one. It took around 20 hours using Photoshop CS3 and a Wacom Graphics Tablet (my saviour).”

South African artist Warren created the ace Chun-Li piece we’ve detailed below in a step-by-step process. Even more of his pieces can be foundhere.

What made you want to paint game-related fan art?

I’ve been quite the gamer most of my life, so it was always something close to my heart. What got me started was Udon Entertainment’s Street Fighter and Darkstalkers tribute art contests.

What is it that appeals to you about the genre?

The artists working in the gaming industry are a mighty bunch, so I often find a lot of inspiration from their work, particularly with their character designing. I’ve totally loved giving my own fresh take on a strong character when I’ve had the opportunity.

What methods do you use to create your characters?

That would be Photoshop CS3, with my A4 Wacom Intuos 3. Definitely a must in this digital age! I keep my approach in Photoshop quite simple: very close to how I would go about it with more traditional mediums.

Are there any characters that you still want to paint?

Quite a few actually. Particularly Naomi and a Metal Gear Mk. II from MGS4, Taki from SoulCalibur, and one of those sexy nurses from Silent Hill.

What’s your job?

I’m a freelance illustrator, creating art for whatever my clients need. It mostly ends up being short bursts of storyboard work for TV commercials in South Africa.

What games do you think look the best, art-wise?

The ones that stand out the best in my mind would be the general art behind the Final Fantasy series. Heavenly Sword and Mirror’s Edge had some real solid art.

What is it that attracts so many fan artists to Street Fighter and Chun-Li?

Well, Street Fighter has been around for ages now, so we’ve all pretty much grown up with it, loving it all the way through. As for Chun-Li, I think that’s because she was pretty much the very first Asian babe to become world-famous for kicking some serious ass – and hey, we’ve loved her for it ever since!