Concept / Digital Art - Daniel Dociu

I always loved the idea of being thrown into an extremely abstract, strange world, abandoned by all human beings. A world, just filled with gigantic building-like complexes and enormous empty space that surrounds you. Built by someone or somewhat, but you have no idea by who or what. You look at that never-ending horizon, consisting of infinite structures, spaces and paths, but you're completely alone. And, on the other hand, you may assume that this world must have been populated once, because the surfaces and buildings don't seem to be "naturally" created. Nevertheless, they're just there now. And you're the only living being at all who is left and free explore this world.

This abstract "dream" is a basic scenery which has always aesthetically and conceptually inspired me. This post about Daniel Dociu and the next one, involving a specific short movie, are basically motivated by that "dream" of mine. And I think some others will follow.


New Worlds..
I started to draw and design things on paper at a very early age. There were two essential themes that I always referred to. Monsters and robots. I'm still fascinated by both of them.
And when you're trying to create such beings, it's almost inevitable to find appropriate environments and new worlds they can live in. I've always been driven by creating such new utopian spaces in my mind until now.
This passion for utopias, fantasy or science-fiction themes in general, had an enormous influence on my creative activities and studies in scenographical design as well.

Films..
My other great passion have always been the movies. Surrealistic, sci-fi like ones in particular.
Especially when you're personally involved in filmmaking as I was, you're always becoming a part of a new world. It doesn't matter if it's a fiction or nonfiction story the filmmakers want to tell, you are creating a unique atmosphere, set in our everyday reality or an artificial one. As a production designer, I experienced both of them. Nevertheless, it's always about creating a new world.

And then, this one artist..
When remembering all the films, exhibitions, galleries and museums I've seen and visited in my life, there are countless artists that touched my heart. But there hasn't been one so far who really seems to have stolen some of my oldest, deepest and, unfortunately, unrealized dreams. Until now. About one or two months ago, I discovered some works of conceptual artist and video game lead art director Daniel Dociu.
Born in Cluj, Romania, he graduated as an industrial designer. He found his way to the United States in 1991, and from there into the world of video games. He has worked for many companies, including EA Games, Microsoft, Wizards of the coasts and for the last few years he has been at ArenaNet in Seattle.
It wasn't just awesome to look at them. It was really breathtaking.
The landscapes, the buildings, the creatures and the whole atmosphere and the worlds he created, combining all these elements, overwhelms me again and again. Especially because they literally regenerate my two big interests, new worlds and films, which I described in the beginning.
My creative roots mainly consist of drawing in its pure version. When I looked at Dociu's works for the first time (and ever since then), my hands immediately began to itch and indeed, I sat down and started to draw again after quiet a long time.


Actually I don't want to write too much about all the statements Daniel made on several websites. I just want you to present my selection of his pieces of work, which, by the way, was a really, really tough thing to do.


All the shown pictures below are copyright 2012 Daniel Dociu.

see them also on

www.tinfoilgames.com