Samwise Didier
| Samwise Didier | |
|---|---|
 Samwise Didier.jpg Didier doing traditional sketching at BlizzCon 2010 | |
| Born | 1971 (age 53–54) |
| 🏳️ Nationality | American |
| 💼 Occupation | |
Sam "Samwise" Didier (b. 1971 in Tustin, California) is the Senior Art Director at Blizzard Entertainment.[1] He is responsible for creating much of the artwork for computer games in the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo series.[2] Amongst the veteran Blizzard employees, Didier has been a consistent artist for many years, his unique style greatly influencing the game art through all of Blizzard's franchises.[3]
Didier's art design style has been described as "a striking, pulp sensibility that may be an acquired taste, but one acquirable on either side of the Pacific, side-stepping polarisation of appeal to either eastern or western audiences."[4]
Work[edit]
Didier began working for Blizzard in 1991, when the company was called "Silicon & Synapse". "I've never worked for another game company," he joked in 2012. "I never want to. I'm going down with the ship."[2]
Didier's work intentionally invokes the spirit of pulp magazines and comic books. "We haven't changed our style since the very beginning," he said in 2004. "The first orc we ever did, in [1994 platform action-title] Blackthorne, was just a little guy chasing after Blackthorne — but we thought, 'Hey, these guys are cool,' so we used that character for our orcs in WarCraft. Artistically, we've always gone for the same sort of goals: we try to keep everything over-the-top, over-proportioned, and really colorful, then we add in as much 'comic factor' as we can."[4]
Didier was responsible for introducing the Pandaren race to the Warcraft series.[2] Among other things, panda icons also appeared accompanying much of Didier's art, and could be seen in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne as the emblem on the Night Elf demon hunter's glaives, his name is written in the Paladin's book, when he casts a spell, and an unused Icon and two Models have the face of Didier's face, visible only in the Map Editor. In Starcraft II there is a multiplayer portrait, containing a "Panda Marine".
In 2017, Didier published an illustrated book of short stories, Grimbeard: Tales of the Last Dwarf.[5]
Personal life[edit]
Didier grew up in Orange County, California.[2]
Cover art[edit]
Swedish heavy metal band HammerFall frequently turned to Didier for album covers from 2002 to 2009. Didier created the album covers for all of their studio albums in this period (Crimson Thunder, One Crimson Night, Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken, Threshold, and No Sacrifice, No Victory) as well as for five other releases (the 2002 EP Hearts on Fire, the 2005 EP Blood Bound, the 2006 EP Natural High, the 2011 single Send Me A Sign, and the 2014 single Bushido).
Didier also created the cover art for Hammerfell lead vocalist Joacim Cans' 2004 solo album Beyond the Gates.
Art books[edit]
Didier has contributed to the following art books:
- 2002 – The Art of Warcraft
- 2005 – The Art of World of Warcraft
- 2006 – The Art of World of WarCraft: The Burning Crusade
- 2007 – World of Warcraft: The Art of the Trading Card Game Vol. 1
- 2008 – The Art of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
- 2009 – The Cinematic Art of World of Warcraft: The Wrath of the Lich King
- 2010 – The Art of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
- 2012 – The Art of World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
- 2013 – The Art of Blizzard Entertainment
- 2020 - Brutal: The Art of Samwise
References[edit]
- ↑ Onyett, Charles (May 19, 2007). "StarCraft 2's Art Design". IGN. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Hamilton, Ian (June 13, 2012). "His doodles turn into video game monsters: Now art director for 'StarCraft II,' Sam Didier has been creating orcs, elves and trolls for Blizzard for more than 20 years". Orange County Register. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
- ↑ Gibson, Sean (2013-03-18). "Sam "Samwise" Didier Discusses Everything Blizzard". Gaming Illustrated. Retrieved 2013-06-14.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "The Art of War: Blizzard's art director, Samwise Didier". Edge (141): 82. October 2004. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
- ↑ Fortune, Ed (Feb 2017). "Coming Soon: Ed Fortune Highlights Noteworthy New Titles" (PDF). Starburst (433): 95. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
External links[edit]
- Profile at Sons of the Storm
- Art Gallery
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