Burnichus Sicarius - Loading screen made by VLEK
Because I'm a pretty big fan of the support items (since I always play the support role) I laid eyes on VLEK, an workshop artist well-known for his passion for wards design. Probably the best wards you have in your inventory are created by him, so let's take a look at his work.
Hello VLEK! It is my pleasure to talk to you today about your work. Can you tell us something about yourself? From where did all the workshop thing begin?
My name is Vladislav Yegerev, known as VLEK on Steam. I started drawing when I was four years old. Then I went to an art school at the age of eight. I almost didn’t finish it because of my lack of patience. Next, I went to an art college and after graduation, I moved from my small town to the "northern capital of Russia", Saint Petersburg. I studied at the academy for 6 years, with a year of preparatory courses before that. That's where I learned 3D modeling.
My professor noticed that I wasn't bad at modeling and he invited me to work at a studio where he was a game designer. I was hired as a modeler and texture artist. I started with creating different sorts of planes and tanks for projects that were developed by that studio.
So, about the Workshop... It all started from my favorite game: Team Fortress 2. Back in 2010, there was no such a thing as Steam Workshop, but Valve introduced a way to send your own items for TF2 via an official blog’s page called "Contribute". That’s how I received my first self-made item in 2011. Afterward, I tried to broaden my skillset: starting from stickers for CS:GO and straight to a full item set for Dota 2’s event called New Bloom in 2015.
I was really proud of it at the time, but I couldn’t stop laughing at it just one year later. Now I find it a bit silly, I guess that’s because I’ve gotten more experienced since then. I really liked this idea for Meepo and didn’t want to let it go, so I decided to rebuild it from scratch, you can see it HERE. The new version seems much more detailed, interesting and fitting.
Which was your first item and how did you feel after you submitted it?
Right after the Meepo set, I started my work on a Shadow Shaman ward.
I was actually surprised to find it was accepted in the game. That was just my second attempt - I thought - and yet it was already in the game! That boosted my hopes and motivated me to start working more on the Dota 2 Workshop. I’d noticed that wards were not that popular in the Workshop so I decided to start making them on my own. As it turned out, they were rarely accepted in the game so I switched to creating full item sets, just as anyone else.
Which was your most popular set and which one do you love the most?
I haven’t created that many sets up until this point, but I can already name my favorite. That’s a Spartan set for Undying, Deathmatch Dominator, which I’ve also recently updated with new a golem model.
If we can include wards, I could say that the most challenging one was the Techies ward, because of its animation.
I spent a lot of my heart and soul into that entry and in my opinion, it didn’t go to waste. By the way, it was inspired by the Techies concept art. I modified it a tad and improved it in some ways to make it a worthy ward. I love it!
Techies`s ward progression.
What do you love about your job and what do you hate?
"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." – Confucius.
Being an artist it’s a great deal to earn money doing something you love. I have a great passion for my work, adoring both the process and the result of it. Workshoppers have a free time schedule (I’d work all day if it wasn’t for my family) and I love the idea of contributing something artistic to one of my favorite games!
What do you think about the feedbacks you receive? Do you count them?
It’s always a pleasure to receive positive feedback, but negative comments may also be useful if they tell what’s really wrong with the item in question. The Steam Workshop has a chart showing how many people voted for the item, against it, or simply didn’t care. This feature is one of the aspects which help me determine whether my idea turned out great or is a piece of…
I've seen that you have many wards. Do you have a passion for making them?
Wards! Yeah, I love them. It’s really fun to create both models and unique animations for them.
My dream is to make a ward after every single Dota 2 hero. Some wards of this kind are already in the game, but I made it a challenge to make a new one that’s better and easier to recognize. Sometimes I make wards without any reference. Like a pretty snail-ward I made.
Primarily I try to work as a modeler and artist, but recently I’ve started becoming a concept artist as well. And it has turned out pretty well: my latest submission, the Witch Doctor set, was accepted.
From where did you take inspiration for your sets/wards? What was on your mind while you were working on them?
The ideas just keep on coming on their own. I always carry around a notepad to write down everything that strikes me. It’s working really well as I can make sketches and turn them into digital images later.
The progress of Witch Doctor weapon.
Are you working on a set right now? Can you tell us something about it?
Do I have any set in development? Sure, and not just one. Currently, I’m working on two sets: for WD and Bloodseeker. There are also seven new wards in progress. Some of them are half-way through, others are almost done. Something is going to be published in the Workshop soon.
Thanks for your time VLEK and don`t stop creating such wonderful items!
Don`t forget to vote and support VLEK`s work for more awesome sets and wards.
Another eight sets were submitted this week but seven of them are in fact resubmissions. The only new set it's for Timbersaw.
Chopper Knight
Inspired by the feats of bravery committed by the knights of Dota 2 (Dragonknight, Omniknight, etc), Timbersaw created for himself a mechanical body in which he will not be afraid of trees ever again.
I personally love this new metal Timbersaw and I think it deserves your attention. You can vote for it here.
The others seven sets were made by Mikaka, a very talented workshopper that resubmitted some of his sets after he made some changes. We already presented to you all of them but if you want to take another look, you can them on his Steam Workshop page.