Image credit: Craig Mullins, Age of Empires III. Developed by Microsoft Corporation’s Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios. Release date 2005.
Craig Mullins is one of the world’s leading illustration and concept artists. He began his career studying at Art Center College of Design where he focused on Product Design and Illustration, and graduated in 1990. He did a short stint at Ford Motor Company, and during this time was introduced to digital art making techniques. Following graduation, Mullins began completing commissions for architects and theme parks. In the late 1980’s, Mullins was introduced to the image-editing software Photoshop, and by 1994 much of his work was created digitally. During this time, Mullins developed his highly detailed, fluid style combining intense contrasts and dynamic colors. Mullins matte paintings and concept art has been used for numerous film productions including The Matrix Revolutions (2003), Armageddon (1998), Apollo 13 (1995), Interview with the Vampire (1994), Forrest Gump (1994), Jurassic Park (1993), Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), among others. HIs art has also been featured in popular video games such as BioShock 2, Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Fallout 3, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Age of Empires, Need for Speed, Mass Effect 2, and more. In addition to concept art, Mullins work has been featured in books, creating covers for When Gravity Falls (Arbor House, 1987), A Fire in the Sun (Doubleday, 1989), The Exile Kiss (Doubleday, 1991), etc. Today, Mullins continues to create concept art for groundbreaking projects, as well as composing new masterpieces using traditional mediums such as oil paints and watercolor.