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Home CONCEPT ART Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag Concept Art by Donglu Yu

Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag Concept Art by Donglu Yu

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Donglu Yu’s Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag concept art is stunning. She collaborated with the talented Raphael Lacoste and Martin Deschambault to create this colonial rendition of the Caribbean island countries. The process started by traveling to Havana, Cuba, to capture the essence of the colonial setting.

Released by Ubisoft in 2013, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is set during the early 18th-century Golden Age of Piracy and follows pirate captain Edward Kenway as he sails the Caribbean aboard his ship, the Jackdaw. The game’s world spans real historical locations, including Havana, Nassau, and Kingston, all reimagined through richly detailed colonial architecture, sun-drenched coastlines, and dense tropical jungle.

Donglu’s Black Flag concept art captures this range beautifully. Her paintings of Havana’s winding colonial streets show sunlit stone arcades, wrought-iron balconies draped in flowering vines, and bell towers rising above red-tiled rooftops, grounding the game’s fictional pirate world in a believable Caribbean setting. Elsewhere, her sweeping coastal vistas depict hidden coves, jungle-fringed beaches, and dramatic cliffside inlets that hint at the freedom of naval exploration central to Black Flag’s gameplay.

A recurring theme throughout this collection of Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag concept art is the sea itself, both above and below the surface. Several pieces explore the game’s underwater diving sequences, portraying sunlit cave systems, coral-covered shipwrecks, and sunken ruins where players could search for treasure. Other paintings capture more dramatic story moments, from pirates fleeing a grounded shipwreck on a storm-swept beach to a torch-lit dungeon scene and the opulent staircase of a colonial mansion filled with guests.

Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag Concept Art Gallery

Here is a selection of the amazing pieces done for the project.

Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag concept art of a colonial hillside street in a Caribbean town with red-tiled roofs, palm trees, a domed church, and tall ships in the harbor

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Panoramic Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag concept art of a colonial Caribbean port town at sunrise, with a domed cathedral, mountains, and sailing ships in the harbor

Sunlit colonial arcade with stone archways, hanging lanterns, and pirates walking through Havana, Cuba

Narrow colonial street in Havana with wrought-iron balconies, flowering vines, and a distant bell tower

Black Flag concept art of colorful colonial Caribbean building facades and cathedral towers set against a fortified stone wall

Architecture module studies of colonial Caribbean houses with tiled roofs, shutters, and courtyards

Diver exploring the sunlit underwater ruins of a sunken colonial fort

Pirate diver swimming down through a sunlit underwater cave surrounded by rock and greenery

Sharks and fish swimming through an underwater cave with sunken ship wreckage on the seafloor

Underwater shipwreck with tangled rigging and masts resting on a coral-covered seabed

Pirate diver exploring a sunken ship wreck strewn with scattered treasure chests and gold

Ghostly underwater shipwreck with torn sails drifting in murky deep-sea light

Black Flag concept art of pirates running along a stormy beach past a shipwreck grounded in the shallows

Pirates leading a captive woman through a torch-lit dungeon with iron gates and chains

Grand colonial mansion interior with a red-carpeted staircase, chandelier, and formally dressed guests

Two pirates walking through tall sugarcane fields toward a distant stone watchtower

Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag concept art of colonial-era ships anchored in a fortified harbor at duskAerial view of a rugged coastal cliff with a hidden sandy cove and small boat below

Aerial view of a lush tropical bay with a crescent sandy beach and turquoise water

Dramatic rocky cove with towering cliffs and a small ship sailing through the narrow inlet

Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag concept art of a tall ship sailing into a dramatic sunset over a rocky coastline

Weathered colonial bell tower overlooking a coastal town with red rooftops and rising smoke

Grid of colonial rooftop and building concept sketches for a Caribbean town

Aerial Black Flag concept art of a hillside colonial town with terracotta rooftops overlooking green farmland and a bell tower

Crumbling colonial ruins and a stone watchtower along a rocky coastline

Pirates paddling a small boat past overgrown jungle ruins with a stone tower

Weathered stilt houses and huts along a misty jungle river at dawn

Lone pirate walking through a rundown wooden shanty village street

Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag concept art of a tall ship anchored in a foggy fishing village harbor

Colonial villagers gathered near a stone bell tower and ruined wooden structures in a sunlit valley

Beyond this project, Donglu has also worked on acclaimed game titles such as Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, Assassin’s Creed Project Legacy, Assassin’s Creed III and Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

All images used with permission of the artist. © Ubisoft Entertainment. All rights reserved.

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