What do I do on a daily basis… well, usually I start out the day by giving Ted, the better concept artist that sits next to me, a hard time (this usually entails politics, religion, current events, etc and almost always ends with something involving a monkey… can’t explain that one, it is just a routine and everybody needs a routine to function). Once Ted and I finish the morning’s debate which is always completed when monkeys are introduced to the conversation (it’s the routine… don’t question the routine), it’s off to check the concept list to see what I will be working on for the day. Basically we get a list of environments, armor, items, characters, etc that need to be created for the game and we, in the concept department, are the ones that get first crack at designing ‘em.
So, I’ve got my “to do list” and now it’s time for reference hunting. First source we always go to on WAR is Games Workshop’s huge library of books. After 25 years there is a voluminous amount of information on just about every aspect of the Warhammer universe (there’s even mention of monkeys… don’t question the routine) and all the concept artists make extensive use of the Games Workshop materials for every design we do. Next stop is the glorious internet, where information and, most of the time, pictures of just about anything can be found. I don’t know how I functioned all those years without the instant gratification that the internet provides (hey, get your minds out of the gutter… yeah, I saw that smirk… this thing is rated “T”). Now, with my amassed reference littering my cubicle, I begin scribbling on my computer. All the concept artists at Mythic work digitally for the most part to create their concepts. I work from thumbnail to final completely on the computer, using a mixture of Photoshop and Painter (mostly Photoshop…it’s just my preference).
If I’m rolling and things are going smoothly I can knock out 2 full color concepts in a
day or a mess of B&W drawings depending on what the subject requires. This “going smoothly”
I speak of, is a rare event because of the nature of the IP and our desire to make
everything as true as possible to Warhammer… there are a lot of revisions and adjustment
constantly being made to everything in the game.
Intermixed with this, the entire concept team acts as a sort of quality control for the
look of the game… This means, we rummage through other department’s dailies and the
current build of the game looking for things that need to be tweaked visually.
Sometimes this means we create new concepts to better detail the element more thoroughly,
do paint-overs of screenshots to demonstrate how we think something should look in game,
or flat out, in the case of the occasional texture, adjust the thing in question by
painting directly on the in-game file.
Other than that, there is the crusade to get a monkey introduced into the game in some fashion, but so far we are still trying to sneak that one in.
What is your background? College? Has it helped with the job? What was your 1st job
out of school? How long have you been with Mythic?
Wow, you really think people are still reading this after the dissertation I gave
for my last answer… well, OK… I’ve got a BFA in Sequential Art (i.e. yeah I got a
degree in comic books… heck, I even still find that funny) and I have a MFA in
Illustration. I have mixed feelings about higher education in regards to art fields.
The core of it is that you will get out of it what you put into it. If you work hard,
have a certain amount of raw ability and take advantage of every opportunity that opens
for you, you will do great. Do you need a college for this? Some people need the
structure of a formal education and some don’t. All that matters in the end is your
portfolio and some basic business savvy. As long as you never stop learning, you
will pick-up the rest as you go. No one cares about a piece a paper in the end.
That said, I benefited from the structure that college provided. On the flipside,
the aforementioned Ted (the monkey-mentioning, better concept artist that sits
next to me) took the non-art-school-route and we got to the same place (and the
monkey-lover did it with significantly less debt from school loans… the nerve).
The key is to just keep learning and working on your drawing/painting skills
however and where ever you can.
As for my background, I got my BFA in ’97 and my first freelance illustration job a couple months after graduation (Oh, I’m sure I will regret this, but… full page B&W illustration in Way of the Unicorn from AEG). Quickly realized that I was not making enough money to support myself as an “artiste” (god, I hate that word) and got a day job as a graphic designer while I built up my freelance career in Sci-Fi / Fantasy Illustration. It took me a year and a half before I had a steady enough income from freelancing where I could leave the world of day jobs and become a full-time freelancer.
In late 1999, Wizards of the Coast approached me to join their Legend of the Five Rings department as a staff artist and I moved out to Seattle. It was a great experience and I would have happily stayed out there longer, but Hasbro decided that Wizards needed streamlining and the entire department was cut. It was back to full-time freelancing as well as a move back to New Orleans (I needed a change of scenery).
Oddly enough, the layoff at Wizards is what got me my first work on Warhammer. Most of the L5R guys went on to form Sabertooth Games which produces the Warhammer CCGs. Consequently, I had a very convenient foot in the door and Sabertooth became my main client for the next couple of years. After a year or so of freelancing again, it was time for another change and I returned to school to get my MFA and pickup some new tricks.
Once I finished my MFA, the Savannah College of Art and Design offered me a position as an Illustration Professor which I took (please refer to above statement on higher education and a dictionary to appreciate the irony). I was teaching at SCAD and Freelancing as an illustrator when Mythic approached me about working on WAR. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity and I headed on out to Virginia to join the Mythic Team. It will be a year in August that I’ve been at Mythic.
What other titles have you worked on in the past? In what capacity?
Dungeons & Dragons, Magic the Gathering, Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, Vampire the
Masquerade, Werewolf, Rifts, Gurps, Legend of the Five Rings, book cover for
Random House, Sword and Sorcery, and other stuff - my capacity being illustrator,
concept artist, designer, assistant art director, etc.
What was your “welcome to the game industry” moment when it hit you that you were
really making games for a living?
The first time I got to see one of my concepts built and in the game… kind of a cool moment.
What excites you about the Warhammer property? What cool things in the Warhammer
universe do you hope to bring to life?
What excites me about Warhammer?… insane British people (please refer to any mention
of Paul Barnett, Design Manager for WAR, and/or his video diaries) and just the
grim, grittiness of the Warhammer world. I want to play in a fantasy world
where orcs wear skulls for trophies while behaving like road-raging frat boyz,
dwarfs are angry alcoholics, elves are elitist fascists, chaos is everywhere,
and humans are imperialistic fanatics. The cherry on top will be when they
add the monkey… it’s all about the monkey. And no Disney-fied cuteness…
Do you collect Warhammer figures? What army do you play?
Way back when, I played 40k (Dark Angels) and Necromunda (Cawdor). While I still
keep up with all the Warhammer lines, I no longer play or collect. I already spend
enough time indoors painting without adding it to my list of hobbies.
What are your hopes/goals for the game?
I mentioned the monkey, right?
What are your key influences when making the game?
Loads of other illustrators and artists. I’m not saying my work approaches anywhere
near what these guys produce, but these are some guys I check out when I need my
non-existent hair blown back (if I lean my head far enough back and sit in front of
a fan, I can get my beard to wiggle a bit… hey it’s something) - Phil Hale, Paul Bonner,
Brom, Sargent, Scott Fischer, Lockwood, Quinton Hoover, Rick Berry, John Foster,
Lyendecker, Parrish… and on and on.
What games are you playing?
Currently, the only game that I keep playing is City of Villains. It’s a chance to
hang out with some friends that I don’t get to see much of anymore and I really enjoy
the level of customization you can get for your characters. Yes, I’m playing a game
partly because I get to create costumes… I think I need an intervention.
What music are you listening to right now?
Just bought “American Recording Sessions; Cash V” (Johnny Cash is the man) as well
as a bizarre conglomeration of Iron and Wine, Morphine, Social Distortion, and
Sparklehorse (they do a cool cover of “Wish You Were Here” on the “Lords of Dogtown”
soundtrack). Oh yeah, and a great box set called “No Thanks” (all punk from 70’s
thru to the early 80’s).
Is there a recent movie you’ve seen or book/comic you read that you’d recommend
to others?
Superman is definitely worth seeing and any comic by Alan Moore is worth a read.
Currently reading Zinn’s “People’s History of the United States” which is purdy
interesting and giving me more material to argue with Ted about in the morning.
If you haven’t read Quinn’s “Ishmael”, run, don’t walk to your nearest book store…
it will blow your mind… in a good way.
Anything else you want to add?
“We like to call it………. Monkey Torture.” ~kids in the hall
