Red Dead Redemption 2 released in 2018 and is still one of the most graphically detailed games ever made. This is made even more impressive by the fact that Red Dead Redemption 2’s world is not a linear campaign of graphical set pieces, but a massive open world with a consistent quality throughout. Landscape shots of the different environments from RDR2 can look like photographs of real locations.
These serene and stunning locations help build the atmosphere of Red Dead Redemption 2’s open world, but they are sometimes not the only thing necessary to interest potential customers in an action Western game. So Rockstar used a series of stylized key art portraits for the games' cover art and advertising campaign. These portraits are reminiscent of old Western movie posters and help to convey the grittier tone of RDR2’s story.
This art style has stayed consistent since the first Red Dead Redemption and is a recognizable element of the series. Fans of Red Dead Redemption 2 have even recreated their own characters using this official art style, and now a talented artist on Reddit named mikesartwrks has shared their recreations of some of the official character portraits. The paintings depict perhaps the series' three most central characters, John and Arthur, who are the protagonists of the first and second games respectively, along with Dutch, the leader of the outlaw gang they are all members of.
Looking at mikesartwrks’ previous posts on Reddit reveals that they have a propensity towards striking character portraits against bold backgrounds, which lends itself perfectly to recreating Red Dead Redemption’s official artwork. While the Arthur and Dutch paintings are inspired by RDR2’s key art, the portrait of John is taken from the cover art from the first Red Dead Redemption. This iconic character pose appears in RDR2’s campaign and has also been recreated using Red Dead Redemption 2’s in game photo mode.
Having these three paintings in a uniform style and on the same sized canvas does lend them a sense of synchronicity. The Reddit user could complete a portrait for every member of the Van der Linde gang, as key art for each character was released by Rockstar as part of the advertising campaign for the game. These character portraits allowed fans to speculate about each gang member and their position in Red Dead Redemption 2’s Van der Linde gang hierarchy.
In the comments under the post, mikesartwrks hints that they might paint Micah next. The Reddit user also states that they would be interested in venturing outside the main cast of RDR2's gang members and painting Landon Ricketts, the retired legendary gunslinger who featured in the first Red Dead Redemption.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.