Origin Systems Manual Art and Paintings by Chris “Binky” Launius
Those who follow the Ultima Dragons Facebook group will probably recognize these recent photos by Chris “Binky” Launius. Chris has an impressive collection of old sketches and paintings from Origin Systems, and was kind enough to let us host these files here. Many of these images never made their way into final products by Origin. In this collection, keep your eyes open for the unused Ultima Underworld Cluebook art for some excellent, long-lost artwork. Several images from the Ultima Underworld II Cluebook and Ultima VIII Manual didn’t make the final cut, either. There’s also a beautiful, previously unseen, painting by Denis Loubet.
Thus, enjoy! Pull up the images, pore over them, and enjoy reliving a few memories along the way. The Ultima Codex is grateful and deeply indebted to Chris Launius, and everyone who worked on these books and games at Origin Systems (and elsewhere), for these glimpses into the wide and wonderful range of products that Origin produced over the years.
Working on getting the rest of Chris’s stuff online. LOTS of stuff.
Thanks for tackling this, Dungy. Great work!
Albeit I think we need to find a way to paginate galleries…
The “Check them all out” link seems to be miscoded. It is going to the Ultima 7 Design Documents: Items page.
Fixed. I have no idea how that happened.
These are fantastic. I’m intrigued by the Denis Loubet painting. Does anyone know if it was intended for an unreleased game? It looks like it would have made a great back cover.
The date on the painting is 1t84, so it’s VERY early Origin. Sometime shortly after Ultima III, but before Ultima IV. Don’t know what they were planning at that time.