TR25 Box Art Reimagining: The Angel of Darkness by Nathan
Jun 16, 2021
We’ve been loving the community’s reception of our reimagined series for The Angel of Darkness by community members themselves! Luckily, you’ve only seen half of it and we still have two amazing pieces which includes today’s reveal.
Just like João, Nathan is no stranger to the Tomb Raider community on Twitter. You may have seen his work featured in our monthly fan galleries and appearing on your timelines! We knew his love for vivid colors would be a great addition for our lineup.
Nathan shared a bit of his background with us and how Lara Croft is one of the main characters that influenced his career:
Artist Bio
Hey guys – my name is Nathan Johnson, but you probably know me as @nathansuxx_ on twitter! I’m currently working as a Graphic Designer and am a long-time fan of Tomb Raider. Despite starting to work in the art world only recently, I’ve had a passion for digital art for years. It was always a side hobby throughout school, where I’d be drawing all my favourite badass female characters, from Samus Aran to Chloe Frazer to of course Lara Croft herself. Then once I made it to college, I was certain that this is the career I wanted – so much so that I combined the two things I love for my final exam – art and Tomb Raider. Three years ago I was putting the finishing touches on my box art for the Tomb Raider movie in that exam; fast forward to today I’m creating my own box art reimagining for Angel of Darkness, commissioned by Tomb Raider themselves. A dream come true!
Behind every artist lies inspiration, and we love hearing their thought processes behind their work. Check out what Nathan had to say about this piece:
Artist Inspiration
When it comes to the classics & LAU, I strongly associate them with bright colour palettes, like the jade of Tomb Raider II’s Floating Islands or the luscious red sky of Tomb Raider Legend’s key art. However with Angel of Darkness, it takes a 180 sporting deep blues and purples, along with vivid connotations of thunderstorms and danger.
For my piece, I wanted to combine what makes AOD’s art direction so unique, with the bright colours of not only the other games but also my own artwork. I wanted to find a balance between the light and dark, but not quite to the point where they blend nicely together. I still wanted to keep a clear contrast to maintain a slightly chaotic feel, as if there’s any word I would use to describe AOD, chaotic is definitely the one.
I was quite ambitious going into this one, aiming to create something that feels grand and has the effect of a movie poster. AOD is a very popular game among the community, so I hope this slight detour from the usual dark and gritty representations of the game is perhaps an unexpected but welcome change!
Nathan is the third of four community artists we are featuring this month to celebrate Angel of Darkness so there is still one to go. Be sure to check out João’s gothic and storytelling take on the box art.
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