Sam (Samwise) Didier and Chris Metzen were, to my mind, artistic rockstars, when I was growing up. My best friend from the age of 9 introduced me to Warcraft 2 when we were in school and I loved it. The art, the world that had been created, the giant sea turtle, and the annoyed units when you clicked on them repeatedly.
When Warcraft 3 came out, I wasted no time in getting my hands on a copy. Before even playing the game, I spent a LONG time just flipping through the manual staring at the artwork of the character and icons. It was in there that I learned of Samwise and Metzen. And it was their work that really inspired me to draw. I didn’t do art at school, but I would practice by trying to copy their drawings from that manual.
After replaying the game and it’s expansion recently, I wanted to revisit those drawings that inspired me, and so many others, back then. In this post, it’s the Warcraft art by Samwise. Sam Didier was the art director, concept writer for W3, and even did some of the voice acting.
Warcraft drawings…
Below are just some of his illustrations for Warcraft characters, like the death knight, mountain king and, one of my favourites, the troll witch doctor. You can see more of these on his DeviantArt page.
More on his DeviantArt page
I’m surely not the only one that had a bunch of Warcraft art wallpapers by Samwise as a background on my computer at some time, especially as World Of Warcraft and its expansions were being created.
Want more art by Samwise?
Didier has also just released his new book Brutal: The Art of Samwise. So if you are a fan of his work, you’ll definitely want to get your paws on this! Below is a video of him taking you on a flip-through of one of the artist proofs.
You can follow his work on Instagram, Artstation and DeviantArt
If, like me, Blizzard’s artists across their various games really tickle you, you might want to grab yourself a copy of The Art Of Blizzard released in 2013.
And if by some strange chance you haven’t played the original Warcraft 3 yet, do yourself a little favour. Nearly 20 years since it’s release, it is still a lot of fun to play.
If you’re looking for tutorials to up your drawing game, take a look through the Learning section of the site. I’ll be adding more there soon.
Full Disclosure: This post does contain affiliate links, so should you make any purchases through them, as an Amazon Associate, I might get a small commission. This doesn’t affect the price for you in any way, but it does help me to keep creating content here for you.
