Ryan Hewett at The Game Awards

On December 10^th2020, The Game Awards took place, hosted virtually by the event’s founder and producer, Geoff Keighley. The annual awards ceremony honoured the best video games of 2020 and the ‘Future Class’, a group of individuals who represent the intrepid and innovative future of the gaming industry. To honour the ‘Future Class’, Ryan Hewett was commissioned by Geoff Keighley to create a visual interpretation of the face of the trophy presented at the awards ceremony.

Hewett in his studio, 2019

Hewett’s paintings, which frequently feature abstracted and fragmented figures, are strongly reminiscent of the multiverse represented within the gaming world. The commission therefore brings life to the initiative that underpins The Game Awards by reimagining the appearance of the trophy presented to the winner. The trophy itself is an impressive sculpture piece that displays a metallic winged figure. When conceiving the painting, Hewett asked himself what this figure might look like what it might represent in order to create an ‘avatar’ of the trophy.

Hewett's commission for The Game Awards, 2020

The commission triggered Hewett’s return to portraiture; the artist believed a female face would best represent the trophy’s likeness. By experimenting with the bold lines of the original sculpture, Hewett employed undulating gradients and areas of impasto paint to create a vivid and multifaceted portrait. The work exemplifies Hewett’s more streamlined artistic style of the last year, which smoothly combines detailed brushwork with planes of paint, thickly applied with a palette knife.

Scroll down to watch Ryan Hewett talk in more detail about the artistic process behind his commission.