From Lyon, France, Cedric Payravernay is a freelance concept artist and the subtle industrial fantasy elements in his work will blow you away. He’s been in the gaming industry since 2000 and has done work for big names like Cryo, The Adventure Company, Ubisoft, and Atari.
Some of his more notable projects include Dark Messiah of Might and Magic and Dishonored. Cedric spends most of his time designing characters and morphologies for Arkane Studios’ Dishonored 2.
He also worked as a freelance illustrator for the TV series, Section Zero, produced by Luc Besson (The Fifth Element, Taken, Lucy). It is a sci-fi thriller by César-nominated writer and director Olivier Marchal. It came out earlier this year.
Check out the collection below. Each image links back to the gallery of origin. Enjoy!
Some of the illustrations and concept work here are from Dishonored and as I’ve mentioned, the industrial fantasy elements are subtle. Some are obviously not so subtle.
I initially thought it steampunk or maybe dieselpunk but there is no steam-powered technology here and the era is wrong. Instead, you have magic that surges like a current through an industrial world that resembles a dirty version of 1940s Europe, and in a style similar to that of American artist, Normal Rockwell.
There is no denying Cedric’s talent, and I love the realism in his work. It only further enhances the science fiction elements.
Cheers!

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Woelf Dietrich
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These pieces are very Norman Rockwell-ish but with a gritty, urban twist. I love it!!
I know, right. I love the whole realism with SF elements as if it’s as natural as the sun coming up.