Over the five years Thomas Elliott was a full-time member of Games Workshop’s art team, he created rich and sinister art for both the Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Age of Sigmar universes, including the epic cover art for the third edition AoS core rulebook. Wargamer spoke to him about his new freelance career, and his own, grimdark science fiction setting Eskaton – and its far-off future as a miniature wargame.
Elliot has “been drawing and painting for money since graduating from Art school about 10 years ago”, he tells Wargamer. However, he says “I wouldn’t consider myself a true professional until I started working as part of Games Workshop’s in-house art team in 2018”.
He’s worked on both Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Age of Sigmar, and while he’s produced some excellent art for various Warhammer 40k factions – the gnarly Tyranid Hive Tyrant, below, is a great example – he’s been much more prolific creating art for the Mortal Realms.
“I had the honor of doing lots of Battletome covers for Age of Sigmar”, Elliott says. “I consider all these paintings highlights”, he adds, as they “are big illustrations that define peoples relationship with their miniature collections”. His Blades of Khorne, Ogor Mawtribes, and Daughters of Khaine covers are among his favorites.
If he had to pick just one high point from his time in the GW studio, it would be the cover art for the Age of Sigmar third edition core rulebook. “Growing up I looked up to the art of Warhammer”, Elliott says. “The Warhammer artists of the early 2000’s would be a strong influence in my work”, he adds.
“I wouldn’t be where I am without artists like Paul Dainton, Adrian Smith, Karl Kosinski and Alex Boyd“, he says, so “I couldn’t believe I was getting the opportunity to do a cover for an edition of Warhammer!”
As well as the GW crowd, Elliott cites influences such as the vehicle and mecha artist Yoshiyuki Takani, creature creator Yasushi Nirasawa, surreal hellscape master Zdzisław Beksiński, realist Great War artist Fortunino Matania, “and of course Frazetta”, the grandfather of commercial fantasy art.
Elliott went freelance in August 2023, though he still produces occasional pieces for GW. The shift to being his own boss has allowed him to devote more time to another passion project that’s “been brewing in my mind for over 10 years” – Eskaton, his original grimdark science fiction universe.
“When I was fresh out of art school I wanted to do dark sci-fi illustrations but didn’t want to simply do 40k fan art”, he explains. He “figured it would be easier to do epic battle scenes and big illustrations if I had pre-established characters and narratives”. Before long an original universe had begun to grow, and he’s “been adding to it ever since”.
In Eskaton “space travel is imperfect, technology has plateaued”, and “the colossal distance between worlds means planets once inhabited become forgotten”. There’s no equivalent to the Imperium of Man, because “a cohesive empire is impossible” – an expedition into unknown space might discover an alien culture “only to find out they are human colonies, isolated and left to evolve on their own”.
With every world isolated, there are lots of overlooked corners “where dark, beautiful and terrible things grow and flourish”. As an artist, “it’s a sandbox for whatever mad characters and environments I can imagine with infinite scope for expansion”.
“I try and work on it every day, even if it’s just spending an hour or two sketching after work”, Elliott says, adding “where most people like to go on holiday” he spent his last vacation “in my home studio working on an Eskaton battle scene”. He cites Arnold Schwarzenegger as a major influence: “he’s not your typical artist but his drive and total dedication to whatever goal he is applying himself to is a huge inspiration”.
Elliott’s work so far has focused on ‘Neo-plasia’, “a toxic death world where millions live on board walking mining facilities ruled by a totalitarian regime”. A “horrific mutagen” gives the oppressed inhabitants of the world an opportunity to rise up, which soon escalates into “a global conflagration of violence”.
It wouldn’t be a grimdark sci-fi setting without an answer to the Space Marines – and on Neo-plasia, that’s the Agori. Elliott says they’re “my favourite thing created for Eskaton so far… 20 foot tall cyborg warriors who wield anti-tank guns like rifles”. He enthuses: “when other forces would be falling back under fire they dig in and let the opposition know they are here to stay”.
The Neo-plasia phase of Eskaton “will be released as a glossy hard back art book and a range of high quality 75mm miniatures through Mindwork Studios”. Elliott’s dream is to create a whole shelf of books “each telling the story of a separate planet with its own cultures, characters and narratives”. Elliott and Mindwork Studios are even in “the early stages of preparing our own skirmish game based in the Eskaton Universe”.
The recent breakout success of Trench Crusade – a miniature wargame based on an original setting by concept artist Mike Franchina – is a cause for hope. “It’s great that a game based on a single artist’s vision has done so well”, Elliott says.
“Popular culture has been regurgitating the same IP’s for decades”, he muses, adding: “I think we are starved of original settings and people are excited to see new, unfamiliar and imaginative worlds”.
We’ve got our fingers crossed for Eskaton: we want to see more of it. If you want to keep up with the project, you can find much, much more art on both Elliott’s Instagram, and on his website, where you can sign up for his newsletter to get news about the project.
Warhammer 40k has been the guiding vision for the grimdark aesthetic for some time, a situation that the risk-averse film and AAA videogame industries seem unlikely to challenge. It’s exciting to see true successors to 40k emerge, and there’s something poetic about them gaining traction thanks to the gaming and miniature painting community.
Games Workshop manages to attract phenomenally talented staff, and it’s always good to see what they get up to after they leave the firm, whether that’s Warhammer TV presenter Louise Sugden’s Rascal goblins, or John Blanche’s Morderin warrior women miniatures.
Source: Wargamer
