October has been a hectic hay ride through some incredible user work: if you fell behind or hid from the scary surprises we posted on social media, we’ve gathered five of our favorites to get you motivated for the month ahead!

Mathew O – Mothers Milk

Mathew O’s surreal project about O-TECH Industries exploiting the resources of Earth’s few remaining forests is both chilling and beautiful. 

Tim Stephson – Life and Death as Told by Persephone

The tale of Persephone has a number of variations but it alludes to why we have seasons: a deal struck with Demeter leaves her time split between Earth and the underworld. This hourglass is a beautiful interpretation of life spent on earth slowly descending toward death and the underworld. 

Michael Di Lonardo – Into The Upside Down

Michael Di Lonardo casually dropped 5 minutes of gorgeous 4K cinematic footage and we must be stuck in The Upside Down because we’re still head over heels for it. 

Jakob Keudel – THE VOID

This UE4 cinematic, inspired by the work of Simon Stålenhag and supported by Quixel, is dramatic, detailed, and downright gorgeous interpretation of the concept artist’s vision of a bleak industrial future. 

Koola – UE4 – Storm Test

This test is so visceral you can nearly hear it (despite it lacking audio entirely). If this is your first time seeing something created by Koola, we’re gonna need you to go to their Youtube channel right now. There’s no better way to do Koola’s work justice than by appreciating it.

Feeling inspired and want to get started on projects of your own?
Here are 5 SpeedTrees inspired by this month’s roundup! 

Holm Oak

(Games)

With its preference for shade, sand & clay soils, the Holm Oak would appear to be a great candidate for O-Tech’s Mother’s Milk extraction

Apple

(Cinema | Games)

The Apple tree blossoms in the Spring and bears fruit, just as Persephone returns to her mother, Demeter, who then allows for nature’s renewal and harvest until her daughter must return to the Underworld and the cold quiet of her absence brings the dead of winter

Alder

(Games)

There’s a fair amount of biodiversity in the environment of Into the Upside Down, in which our Alder would feel right at home

Scots Pine

(Cinema)

The thick bundles of needles attached to the tiered branches the conifers in THE VOID remind us of our Scots Pine

London Plane

(Cinema | Games)

While the London Plane is a tree well-suited for urban environments due to their tolerance of air pollution, almost no tree is ready to withstand a category Koola storm.