Roman Hladik, Lead Artist at 2K Czech, talks about two more pieces of art today built right from the game's engine. I'm sure by now you'll recognize these two faces.

This is an arranged screenshot created directly in editor tool. It's a simple image with Vito and Joe. They don't really like visits by the photographer -- which is why they look so annoyed.

This is another arranged screenshot created directly in editor tool. Joe's in this picture -- of course you know him by now -- and he's wearing his favourite clothes -- a comfortable sporty jacket and his Hawaiian shirt. Joe doesn't like clubby suits.

Source: 2k Games

Roman Hladik, Lead Artist at 2K Czech discusses how the team goes from quick sketch to a final, more polished piece of art.

Here is an example of how we realise our concept art by Mikulas Podprocky, another of our character artists. First we make quick sketches to capture the mood and composition. Then we select some to work up to ingame quality – not everyone can relate to rough drafts so easily, so by creating these dramatic images we tell a story that everyone who has ever seen a crime movie can understand (plus we set a benchmark for the art quality of the final game!). Working from the sketch Mikulas poses models using our ingame editing tool then touches up the details using Photoshop to create the final look.

In the picture Vito is taking cover in a side street. As you can see Vito has a tough job and sometimes he takes a hit, he is angry to be injured and hiding. He could choose to be a dock worker of course, but I’m sure you don't want to play game where the only gameplay is to carry crates! ;) So Vito has to sometimes endure a little pain for you…

Source: 2k Games

What were your inspirations when you started creating concepts for Mafia II?

I don`t remember exactly. It wasn`t just one thing. I like the era, design of fifties, old movies. So this all was inspiration. Based on this I made my own vision about Mafia2. Our game won`t be strictly realistic, we want to have strong atmosphere in it so we have to stylize rough facts. Work with them but distill only the important and interesting stuff of them.

Who are your favorite artists? Can be any type of artist…comic books, traditional painters…anything.

I like Frank Millers comic books. His drawings are really amazing and stories are dark romantic and breath-taking. Also I like impressionist paintings and one picture by Amadeo Modigliani, Sleeping nude.

Roman Hladik, Lead Artist at 2K Czech, shows off some of the Mafia II concept art and gives us some insight into what went on behind the scenes to create each design.

This is a moodboard of Joe Barbaro, Vito’s best friend. A moodboard like this isn’t necessarily taken from a scene in the game, it is created to communicate Joe’s personality to everyone on the Mafia team – a picture speaks a thousand words. Here we see that Joe is a gregarious young gangster enjoying his life of dirty money. The girl on Joe’s lap definitely isn’t his girlfriend (if you get my meaning). The author of this sketch is Jiri Svetinsky, one of our character artists.

Another moodboard of Joe by Jiri. This is Joe’s flat in Little Italy, he likes to party and keep his neighbours up all night. Joe himself sleeps through the day, usually with some of his “girlfriends”. Maybe this scene is the morning after the night shown in the first sketch?

Source: 2kgames

What is your role on the Mafia II team?

I am responsible for all AI features to be completed in the proper quality and proper time. This is a good manager-answer, right?

What is your most favorite thing about your job?

It’s great when a person can see how a game gets created from the very beginning and even better is if a person can contribute with his own ideas or feedback. I am really glad that I can be part of this project with all these great people.

What is your least favorite thing about your job?

Maybe waking up in the morning (I find waking up before 9am rather weird) or the coffee machine that sometimes forgets to return the coins properly.

Two more Mafia 2 concept arts from 2k games.

As a lead mission designer, what is your mission at 2K Czech?

My main responsibility is to ensure that the final look of all the missions of Mafia 2 is as best as possible. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to stick to fixed regulations and, if possible, try to reach all the goals that have been set. In practice this means that I am primarily in charge of assigning tasks to each of the designers from my section, and I also need to make sure the first drafts they create can be used and look as best as possible. Naturally, I take care of what the missions should look like concerning both visual and gameplay aspects. In case any problems emerge, I try to resolve them immediately so that the time spent on production is as effectively used as possible and that the things do not have to be reworked several times. If something is unclear, I immediately go discuss it with my seniors, mainly with Pavel Brzák – the lead designer – and Petr Mikša – the game producer.

New official concept arts were published by 2k Games .

Two more Mafia 2 concept arts from 2k games . Watch and enjoy.

Recently 2kgames posted 2 fresh artworks, They say it straight from 2k Czech. They know how to intrigue people.