Pascal Blanche, the senior art director at Ubisoft Montreal, is using the unlimited possibilities of video games to create sci-fi universes that bring his wildest imaginations to life.
Blanche is certainly aware of just how far video games have allowed artists to push their imaginations and expand beyond the limits that exist for artwork on paper or through other mediums.
Ubisoft Montreal is the game studio behind some of today’s more popular video game titles like Assassin’s Creed and Watch Dogs.
Spending so much time working with the gaming powerhouse has only further fueled his passion to create his own worlds inside that limitless digital space.
He explained that his inspiration came from a blockbuster that fueled many sci-fi lovers’ dreams – Star Wars.
The now-iconic science fiction film sparked Blanche’s fascination with space and science, he told The Verge.
He was also largely inspired by the works of sci-fi illustrator Chris Foss, who is best known for his black-and-white illustrations for the original editions of The Joy of Sex, and illustrator Ralph McQuarrie, the designer behind the original Battlestar Galactica TV series and the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
Just one look at Blanche’s portfolio makes it obvious just how much he has picked up from the two sci-fi illustrating greats.
While the works do share much resemblance to the works of Blanche’s role models, they also introduce spectators to a new galactic universe that has been coming to fruition in Blanche’s mind for years.
Originally, Blanche planned to bring that universe to life through animation but discovered that the world of video games was where he truly belonged.
He told The Verge that after he discovered computers the decision was simple.
According to Blanche, video games gave him the ability to “create more living worlds.”
Today, Blanche is continuing to build on his passion of creating sci-fi universes through his project Stardust.
There aren’t many details about the project just yet, but Blanche told The Verge that the idea for the project has been in the back of his mind for ages.
For now, the project just exists as a digital portfolio of stunning galactic landscapes.
All the pieces, linked through the design aesthetics and the futuristic machines making their way through the dark void of space, are clearly different pieces of the same universe.
According to Blanche, the goal was also to just have the ability to create new worlds. The title of being an artist just came along as an additional perk.
“I never really wanted to be an artist,” he told The Verge. “I just wanted to create worlds of my own.”