Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/916056
32-feet long, 20-feet wide and 15-feet high. It was then hard-coated, painted, cut into twelve pieces and transported to Seville, Spain, where it was reassembled over three days on location in what remains of the medieval Seville Royal Dockyards, which dates from the thirteenth century. Game of Thrones has been an experience that leaves me speechless. It has been full of riches beyond my imagination and also been more punishing than any other job I have had. That said, it has had many, many more highs than lows. Most of all, it has taught me the value of loyalty. Without the members of the Art Department coming back year after year, there is no way we would be able to tackle the amount of work that we do in the time that we have. We are work colleagues who have become like family, and without the continued support of Paul Ghirardani, the Supervising Art Director of Northern Ireland, Tom Martin, our construction manager, and Rob Cameron, our set decorator, we would never have made it through. The Art Directors Christina Moore, Hauke Richter, Phil Elton, Nick Wilkinson, Brendan Rankin, as well as our chief concept artists Nick Ainsworth, Kieran Belshaw, Philipp Scherer and Jessica Sinclair, together with every other member of the team, have all enriched the world of Game of Thrones beyond expectation. In my office, there hangs a Game of Thrones poster of Jon Snow with "I am the Watcher on the Wall" written below. That is how I have thought of my job, and the job of the Art Department. We have been here, lucky enough to bear witness to how this extraordinary beast of a television show has been created, and have been able, even in the simplest of scenes and in biggest and most complicated set pieces, to make a small contribution to its success. ADG A. THE SILENCE: Detail of drafted elevations. Drawn by Hauke Richter. B. Frozen lake concept with the Night King. Concept drawing by Philipp Scherer from a Lidar scan imported into Modo and then rendered in Photoshop. C. Creating the frozen lake, Wolfhill Quarry, Belfast Art Director: Nick Wilkinson. D. The finished set being shot, Wolfhill Quarry, Belfast. E. Location photo of the amphitheater in Italica, Spain. F. Interior Dragon Pit. Concept drawing by Kieran Belshaw, a rendered Maya model merged with location photos and finished in Photoshop. G. Skull of Balerion. Concept drawing by Nick Ainsworth, modeled in ZBrush and rendered in Keyshot. H. Sculpting the skull, Titanic Studios, Belfast. I. Skull reassembled on location in Seville, Spain. Photos by Deborah Riley E F G H I