Celebrated concept artist Alex Ries, who has been designing creatures and aliens from Subnautica: Below Zero to the denizens of the hollow earth in Godzilla X Kong: The New Kingdom, just launched a crowdfunding campaign for a coffee table art book, Other Worlds: The Art of Alex Ries. Besides creatures from fantastical alternate versions of Earth, many of his creations hail from deep space, so you’ll also get a look behind the curtain at films like Warriors of the Future and the worldbuilding of The Birrin Saga. Incorporating real-life animals into fantastical designs, Ries is a master of creating bizarre creatures that look like they could actually exist, because they come from a place of informed speculative biology.
Spike Trotman’s Iron Circus Comics is returning to Kickstarter to publish Other Worlds: The Art of Alex Ries, which marks the first ever collection of personal and professional artworks by Ries, featuring iconic art from Subnautica: Below Zero as well as many never-before published pieces. The 300+ page hardcover will include forewords by Jamie Beswarick and Greg Broadmore, and extensive commentary from the artist himself. Other Worlds: The Art of Alex Ries will be available via Kickstarter.
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“This book is the culmination of decades of work, passing through traditional illustration, concept art and even sculpture,” Alex Ries said in a statement. “I have filled it with works that have marked important creative moments not just in my professional but personal life. This is a culmination of my life as a creative person thus far that I will be able to actually hold, and the kind of book I always loved as a child: creatures, machines, and life from other worlds.”
“With a unique imagination, a timeless sense of wonder, and a detailed grounding in reality that gives it all life, Ries’s creatures and worlds light a lasting spark within the viewer,” added Iron Circus Founder C. Spike Trotman.
Ever since his youth spent in the vast, rural expanse of South Eastern Australia, Ries has explored his sense of connection to the natural world and fascination with science. Explorations of the diversity of life on Earth, the possibilities of life beyond it, and the pressing themes of conflict and reconciliation between civilization and the natural world have come to define his work as an artist. Ries’ sublime work on Subnautica: Below Zero allowed him to use his knowledge of real-world marine life to create biologically plausible extraterrestrial creatures, while The Birrin Saga, his major personal work, explores the alien planet of Chriirah and tells the story of this world and its inhabitants.
You can see a short, exclusive preview from the book below.
