Alex Ries (Developer)

Alex Ries is a concept artist from Melbourne, Australia. He did not work for Unknown Worlds Entertainment during the development of the first Subnautica, but was employed after commenters on his DeviantArt page said that his art looked like it would fit in Subnautica. After contacting Unknown Worlds Entertainment he was hired to work on the game in the role of creature design. He made a majority of the designs for the creatures in Below Zero.
Notable among Alex Ries' art is his fictional species of alien creatures; the Birrin as well as detailed descriptions of their planet and the local fauna.
Alex is also keen on paleo-art and natural history, artwork of this type can be found here.
Alex confirmed on Twitter that he has returned to work on Subnautica 2https://twitter.com/alexriesart/status/1735718765416026241.
== Trivia ==
* Alex has been interviewed about his work on Below Zero by YouTubers on multiple occasions.
** YouTuber 1 Up Nerdcore interviewed Alex over general details about his work on the game, and his life. The interview can be found here.
** YouTuber Curious Archive interviewed Alex, specifically over many of the creature designs that were ultimately scrapped from the game. This interview can be found here.
* Early screenshots that were revealed for Subnautica 2 feature creatures with designs that are reminiscent of Alex's style and designs, suggesting he's already begun work on concept art for the game.
==Artwork==
File:Penguingo (BZ).jpg|Pengwing (Final design)
File:AlexRies-PenguinFoot (BZ).png|"Alien Penguin Foot Detail"
File:Alex penguins3.jpg|Pengling variants
File:AlexRies-PenguinVariants (BZ).png|"Alien Penguin Variants"
File:Alien Penguin B (BZ).jpg|"Alien Penguin"
Alex-ries-alex-penguinsc.jpg|Early "Alien Penguin"
Alex-ries-alex-penguins.jpg|Early "Alien Penguin"
File:SquidShark 06 (BZ).jpg|Squidshark 06 (Final)
SquidShark03.png|Squidshark (Early)
File:EarlySquidshark (BZ).jpg|Squidshark design (Early)
File:Brute Shark (BZ).png|Brute Shark
EQyYXFFVAAEqOBt.jpg|Early Bruteshark
Arctic ray concept.jpg|Arctic Ray
Alex-ries-alex-titanholefishb.jpg|Titan Holefish
File:Alex titanholefishsymbiote3B (BZ).png|"Titan Holefish Symbiote 3" (Final design)
Alex-ries-alex-sketchesfeesh.jpg|Unknown Fauna
File:Alex seal01B (BZ).png|Pinnicarid close-up
File:PinnicaridBody (BZ).png|"Pinnicarid Info Sheet" (Final design)
File:Pinnicarid-Alex Ries (BZ).jpg|"Pinnicarid"
File:Alex sealVARIANTS02 (BZ).png|Color variants of Pinnicarid C
File:EarlyPinnicarid (BZ).jpg|Early Pinnicarid sketch
Alex seal01.jpg|Later Pinnicarid sketch 
Snow StalkerF.jpg|Final Snowstalker
Snow Stalker 1.png|Early Snowstalker
Snowstalker A.jpg|Snowstalker A
Snowstalker C.jpg|Snowstalker C
Snow Stalker D.png|A later Snowstalker design
Arctic Peeper F.jpg|Ice Peeper final design
IcePeepers1.jpeg|Unused variants #1
IcePeepers2.jpeg|Unused variants #2
IcePeepers3.jpeg|Unused variants #3
IcePeepers4.jpg|Unused variants #4
Arctic Peeper C.png|Earlier Ice Peeper design
Alex Shark crustacean.jpg|Final concept art
Chelicerate.png|Initial design, prior to being elevated to Leviathan status
Alex-ries-chelic03.jpg|Mouth details
Alex-ries-chelic01.jpg|Early design for the Void Chelicerate
Ventgarden.jpeg|Ventgarden concept art
Alex-ries-alex-ventgardenx01.jpg|Ventgarden Body Details
EWPlpHpUwAI4XiY.jpg|Ventgarden Interior Biosphere
EWPlpHsU0AAbH5r.jpg|Ventgarden "Central Plant" Details
E1ryfzjVoAAnrfX.jpg|Ventgarden Apical Organ
E1ryfz7UUAICvHC.jpg|Ventgarden Foot Details
E1rxvkRVcAE3LRO.jpg|Early Ventgarden Sketch
Shadow Leviathan.jpg|Shadow Leviathan final concept
ShadowLeviathanFront.jpeg|Front view
Alex leviathan016.jpg|Near-final concept 
Shadow Leviathan 2.jpg|Earlier version of final 
Alex-ries-alex-leviathan012.png|Earlier version
Alex-ries-alex-leviathanmouths01.png|Alternate mouth designs
Shadow Leviathan 5A.png|Intermediary design
Shadow Leviathan 5B.png|Ditto, mouth open
Shadow Leviathan 3.jpg|Scrapped alternate design choice
Shadow Leviathan 3A.jpg|Head shots of scrapped design
Shadow Leviathan 3B.jpg|Ditto
Shadow Leviathan 4.jpg|Older concept
Alex-ries-alex-leviathan0b.png|Early sketches
Alex-ries-alex-leviathan02b.png|Early sketches
Shadow Leviathan 0.png|First Shadow Leviathan concept
Ice Worm 1.jpg|Ice Worm final design head-shot
File:E1c9osLUcAAiAmm.jpg|Final body design
Ice Worm 2.png|Ice Worm final head variants
Ice Worm 3.png|Earlier Ice Worm design
Ice Worm 4.png|Earlier still
Ice Dragon Concept.png|Ice Dragon 13A
Icedragon2.jpeg|Ice Dragon A
Icedragon3.jpeg|Ice Dragon 11A
Icedragon4.jpeg|Frontal art of the Ice Dragon
E2oSoSRVkAIgbIk.jpg|Ice Dragon eye concept
E2uitO-VkAAZyws.jpg|Attack concepts
E5g52KHVgAYqj6R.jpg|Alternate attack concepts
Icedragonsketch.jpeg|Ice Dragon early sketch
File:Grabsquid (BZ).jpg|"Pygmy Crabsquid" (unused)
Sea Monkey.jpg|Sea Monkey
SrAoPY8.png|Earlier Sea Monkey head design
File:Cheeky Creature 1 (BZ).jpg|"Cheeky Creature Variants" #1 (unused)
File:Cheeky Creature 2 (BZ).jpg|"Cheeky Creature Variants" #2 (unused)
TriopsConcept.jpg|"Triops"
TriopsConcept2.jpg|Triops variants
Alex SeaMonkey.png|Trivalve
Trivalve creature concept.jpg|Trivavle variants
Globefish.jpg|"Globefish" (Adapted into Trivalve) 
Alex-ries-alex-smallfish06.jpg|"Small fish 6" (Unused)
Alex-ries-alex-smallfish07.jpg|"Small fish 7" (Unused)
Discus Details.jpeg|Final Discus concept art
Discus Alts.jpeg|Discus alternate designs
File:Alex-ries-alex-brinewing01.jpg|Brinewing
Alex exotic weapons02.jpg|Brinewing infosheet
Alex-ries-alex-brinewingdetails.jpg|Brinewing details
NOOT NOOT.jpg|Noot Fish
Alex-ries-alex-smallfish04.jpg|"Small Fish 4" (Partially unused)
Alex shark cryptosuchusb.jpg|Cryptosuchus final concept
Cryptosuchus.png|Cryptosuchus
Cryptosuchus 123.jpg|Crypotsuchus alternate designs
Predators.jpg|"Predators" (partially unused)
Alex-ries-alex-shark-bullldogtrapjaw.jpg|"Bulldog Trapjaw" (unused)
ERD26DmVAAApLq7.jpg|Bulldog Trapjaw mouth details
File:Alex-ries-alex-arrowray.jpg|Arrow Ray
Alex-ries-alex-arrowray02.jpg|Arrow Ray variants
Small Arctic Fauna.jpg|Several small fauna species (unused)
ES 1JOxUEAIElO2.jpg|Feather Fish
Alex-ries-alex-rainbowfish3.jpg|"Rainbow Fish 2" 
Alex-ries-alex-rainbowbug.jpg|Rainbow Bug (unused)
KiteWing.jpeg|Kitewing Skyray
E0e8nCtVIAEOn3X.jpg|Alternate design for the Kitewing
EQyXGowUcAAwGrs.jpg|Kitewing behavior
EQyXGobU4AAcytE.jpg|Alternate Kitewing behavior
Subnautica Small Fish 3.png|"Subnautica Small Fish 3" (unused)
File:Crested ReaperAlex (BZ).jpg|"Crested Reaper" (unused)
File:Shard 01 (BZ).jpg|"Shard 01" (unused)
IceBreakerRies.jpg|"Ice Breaker" (unused)
Alex Ries Thalassacean.jpg|"Thalassacean" (unused)
Alexriesshardrunner.jpg|"Shardrunner" (unused)
Alexrieslightspinner.jpg|"Lightspinner" (unused)
Electrogami.jpg|"Electrogami" (unused)
Alex-ries-alex-fauna-predators-shockstarb.jpg|"Shockstar" (unused)
Alex-ries-alex-fauna-predatorsa.jpg|Predators A (unused)
Alex-ries-alex-fauna-paintedjellywing.jpg|"Painted Jellywing" (unused)
Various Predators Concept.jpeg|"Predators Various" (unused)
Alexriesfraug.jpg|"Small fish 02" (unused)
Ascenderworm.jpg|"Ascender Worm" (unused)
E1chDPIVUAEqQXq.jpg|"Gardener Eel" (unused)
Ventspider.jpg|"Ventspider" (unused)
SandSpear.jpeg|"Sand Spear" (unused)
== References ==
Category:Artists
Category:Subnautica: Below Zero Team