At the Edge of the Forest - A Community Fan Art Retrospective, Part 1

[Patrick Carlson]

At the Edge of the Forest - Wild Encounters in The Long Dark

Deep into Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel, The Road, the father speaks to his son about a distant place, some two hundred miles away “as the crow flies.” But in their shattered world, there are no crows, and haven’t been for a long while. “Just in books,” the son says to his father, from whom the boy gets a solemn confirmation: “Yes. Just in books.”

Pictures, thoughts, and fragments, all in conversation with each other, inspire a shared experience of fictional worlds like The Road or The Long Dark. To see the many pieces of fan art, music, and storytelling that have emerged from The Long Dark’s community over the last three years speaks to this phenomenon. It’s precisely this conversation that makes community creations so compelling. They can act as a bridge to other points of view—other worlds where crows fly and bears threaten us on the edge of places we think we know, but whose stories we haven’t encountered yet.

As we all look to our August launch, please enjoy this collection of fan art, created and submitted by The Long Dark’s community. And we’ll be sharing additional collections over the next three weeks - keep an eye out for them!

 

“Hunting,” by Steam user cousin

 

“Let me in,” by tumblr user Mr. Vmyatina

 

“Scamper,” by Steam user Riverside|hck|

 

"Old friends," by Hinterland Forums member @kopfstoff

 

"Day 30," by Steam user cmdragonfire

 

"Campfire with the Old Bear," by Danielle Tyler

 

Fan art by Matt Jordan

 

"Rabbit Snare," from Steam user Sleeper

 

Fan art by Heather Norcott

 

Fan art by Kate Laudrum

[Miniwizard]

Wow, some beautiful pieces of art there! 

[Rusty_Old_F250]

The amount of talent in the TLD community is staggering, some good stuff here!

It's hard to pick a favorite, but I think the one with the wolf in front of the camp office is my favorite

Sam

[aurora]

Amazing, they all are fantastic.

[Patrick Carlson]

On 7/7/2017 at 7:21 PM, Rusty_Old_F250 said:

The amount of talent in the TLD community is staggering, some good stuff here!

It's hard to pick a favorite, but I think the one with the wolf in front of the camp office is my favorite

Sam

Matt Jordan's piece? Yes, he really captured the location well, along with the loping stride of the wolf. 

[Carbon]

 So well done, all of them. My particular favorite is Heather Norcott's piece; it's a bit removed from the overall art style, but she has certainly captured a moment.

 Great work everyone.

[Audr3m]

Absolutely amazing ! Congrats to the artists ! 

[DIXON390]

Here is what I like about this fan art, it isn't sexual or depressing like most other fan art.

[scuttlebum]

These are all gorgeous!

"Campfire with the Old Bear" in particular warmed my heart

[Lonelyloper]

They're all amazing 

[Kamtcha]

Fantastic ! I really like the Riverside|hck|'s one, so true and speaking !
Special mention to Mr. Vmyatina for the bear's expression 🐻

[KingPotato]

wow what a beautiful forum i found myself nicee❤️

[Hazimux]

Hi,

I assume it's okay for you if i use the bear one as my wallpaper. But if it's not fine for you just dm me!

 

[Pontchartrain]

If I were to do a children's TLD here is my attempt at the Bear! Enjoy

[Dogelsagod]

Looks really good.

[Adrielle]

I’d like to share this painting I did with acrylics, inspired by this game! I love this game and always loved how creepy it felt walking in the dark with just a flare 

[xanna]

Wow, that's awesome

[Leeanda]

Great picture.👍😊

[conanjaguar]

Kinda sad that this thread is more or less dead… maybe I’ll do some digging on Steam and see if there’s anything good.

[Admin]

On 4/28/2023 at 1:07 PM, Adrielle said:

I’d like to share this painting I did with acrylics, inspired by this game! I love this game and always loved how creepy it felt walking in the dark with just a flare 

This is beautiful. Thank you for sharing! 

[hozz1235]

On 9/26/2021 at 5:34 PM, Pontchartrain said:

If I were to do a children's TLD here is my attempt at the Bear! Enjoy

The arrows in the butt may shock the children a bit

[hozz1235]

On 4/28/2023 at 2:07 PM, Adrielle said:

I’d like to share this painting I did with acrylics, inspired by this game! I love this game and always loved how creepy it felt walking in the dark with just a flare 

Nice!  And, welcome to the forums, @Adrielle!