Axtlan's OST Art Covers
Cover work for World of Axtlan, Axtlan Sirocco, Axtlan The Rats, Axtlan Formation, and Axtlan Wars. This project collects early sketches, composition tests, and the final Unreal renders used for covers, website images, and banners.
I was trying to make each album feel different without losing the same Axtlan world behind them.
The Year One OST covers together. Different albums, same world.
Final cover for World of Axtlan. The broadest view of the setting before the faction albums split away from it.
Final cover for Axtlan Sirocco. Trying to keep the coast, weather, and movement readable before anything else.
Final cover for Axtlan The Rats. Dense, improvised, and built out of a city that never really stopped being used.
Final cover for Axtlan Formation. Heavy, controlled, and meant to feel like it was placed there to stay.
Final cover for Axtlan Wars. Pulling the larger conflict together without making it look like only one faction owns the world.
Base sketch for the first cover. Just enough to find the main direction.
Setting up the composition and lighting. Still moving the large shapes around.
Wireframe and lit view. Checking the structure before the final materials take over.
Nanite and Unreal rendering check. Testing the virtual shadows, runtime textures, and path-traced result.
Another base cover sketch. Looking for a different balance before committing to the layout.
Working out the second composition and lighting pass. The image is starting to hold together here.
Wireframe and lit view for the second cover setup. Mostly checking depth and scale.
Another Nanite and Unreal check. Making sure the technical pass still supports the cover instead of becoming the cover.
Base sketch for the next album image. Rough, but the main movement is already there.
Setting the layout and lighting again, this time around a different focal point.
Wireframe and lit view. Checking where the scene is too empty or too crowded.
Nanite and Unreal rendering pass. Testing shadows, textures, and the final path-traced read.
Base sketch for another cover direction. Keeping it loose until the scene says what it needs.
Working out the layout and lighting. Trying to keep the faction mood without overloading the image.
Wireframe and lit view. A practical check before the final render.
Nanite and Unreal rendering check. Mostly looking for problems before the final output.
Base sketch for the last cover set. The landscape is doing most of the early work.
Selected landscape area for the interface and final cover framing.
Setting up the final layout and lighting around that landscape.
Shader complexity view. Checking where the scene is becoming more expensive than useful.
Final Nanite and Unreal check with virtual shadows, runtime textures, and the path-traced result.