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Inspirations: Comic books (Deadpool, X-Men, Spider-Man, The Punisher, Bat Man), video games, concept art and other game artists.
Favorite Games: Prince of Persia (entire series), Doom, Elder Scrolls (entire series), Fable, Civilization, Worms...too many to list, hehe.
Favorite movies: Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Sin City
Favorite music: Rock and Funk. Favorite Bands: Led Zeppelin, Faith No More, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Black Sabbath
Bad habbits: Not playing enough games and excessive swearing.
Future Goals: Become better at what I do...whatever that is. |
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Dogs or cats? Dogs, although I have a cat 
How do you bounce back from a bad day? I just try to relax. Kick back and play some games, watch a good movie, have a pint and hang out with my wife.
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What's a good day? Getting stuff done. Having a feeling of accomplishment, nothing is as bad as feeling like you've done nothing all day. |
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 Let's start at the beginning, how did you become an artist and as you became an artist,
did you ever imagine it would be for games? |
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I've always drawn and I've always loved video games, for as long as I can remember, but I never wanted to do it for a career. Not only did I think it was impossible to do this for a living, I thought games were developed by a hand full of people in someone's basement. I became a little more educated on the subject when the time came to really "focus on a career." I went to school in Fredericton, NB, took a very small general course in 3d then moved to Vancouver, BC. Eventually after doing some small contract jobs, I landed a job as a game tester.
While I tested games I would come home and work on my personal projects until late in the night and drink far too much coffee, coke and red bull. I took people's advice and began to specialize in character art, the work of Reinhard Claus and Mario Ucci really inspired me to do this. I hard work paid off, I became an artist for a casual games company, continued to improve in my own time and eventually landed the job I have now making characters full time for games. There were a lot of twists in the road, but i can't imagine doing anything else now.
Now,
when I see my work running around in a game, it gives me a "warm and fuzzy feeling" when I see my work in action. This is really what it's all about. Weeks of plugging away at a model and tedious tweaking can all be made worth it when you get to shoot your model in the face
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How in the world do you come up with your ideas? Upbringing? TV? Games? A little elf
tucked beneath your table? Where?! |
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That's not an elf under the table! Honestly, it's a mixture of things that influence my ideas. I'm always looking at people's concept art and 3d work online, reading comics, watching movies and playing games. When all of those things come together, I somehow manage to pull something half decent out of it. Even as a kid I was scribbling out crude looking monsters and was attracted to the horror genre. I think that my mentality just matured (I use the word mature very lightly) and evolved into what it is now.
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How were you, a full time artist, able to complete a fantastic entry without even
needing a one week extension? Magic? Or is there something more to it? |
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Sleep really is overrated. I was really excited to work on the first contest hosted by GameArtisans, I had just finished off Thrull and was eager to start work on a new baddie and this opportunity seemed like something that was right up my alley. I tried to follow my schedule as close as I possibly could and was very fortunate to have a slower period at work. Usually when I start a new character, if it is for a competition, I try to lay down basic scheduling that will give me some free time to relax and also give me a little wiggle room towards the end to do some final tweaks. Committing to a subject always helps too. Because of the support on the forums I had enough feedback on my initial sketches to just take my idea and run with it. Once it got finalized and I was set on making that character, making the character in 3d went by quickly. Plus, yeah, I'm a Lvl. 12 Wizard.
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Is the competition subject and specs important to you, or do you simply enter to
express yourself? |
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The subject is definitely the most important to me. If a subject grabs my attention, I'll definitely jump at the occasion to create something for it. The specs set for the competitions compliments the subject for me, as it gives me guidelines to work with and sets a deadline for me to manage my time properly. I think a lot of my personal projects fall to the back burner, like a lot of artists, and the competitions motivate me to finish something on time and have a finished product worth showing off.
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What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough or
when you are feeling down? |
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Like I mentioned above, just by surfing around on my free time and checking out other people's work, flipping through an art book or comic or playing some games usually really gets me in the mood to create a character of my own. Seeing something I really like can start to get the gears turning in my head, I start thinking about different ideas and, even though it may be months down the road and a sketchbook of doodles later, I'll start to put the idea into 3d. I'm sure like every other artist tons of these ideas just kind of evaporate (I can't count how many conversations I've had that start with "I'd really like to make..") but some either stick around for a while or stay very prominent until you start working on it.
If I'm feeling down about a certain project, losing interest or hit a bump in the road it's always helpful to get a fresh set of eyes on the character. Either by asking friends personally or throwing it up on the forums. If that doesn't work, I just take a break. Sure, playing Saint's Row for half an hour isn't necessarily productive but it allows me to come back fresh and probably be more productive than I would have been.
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What would be your advice for aspiring game artists out there and what type of training
do you think would be helpful in becoming a successful game artist? |
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Never stop trying, never stop learning and have fun. Nobody's first few models are great, I know mine were disgusting. Everyone needs to start somewhere and with every model you create, you become better at what you do. It may take a few attempts and some harsh feedback, but eventually it will all come together. Soak in as much knowledge as you can about your craft and apply it to the best of your ability. Have fun with what you're doing, it will always show in your final piece. Just by browsing the forums you can spot pieces that someone made "because they had to" and the pieces someone made "because they wanted to"...and besides, if you can't have fun doing it, is it worth doing?
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Was there someone, or some thing that helped make you who you are today and is
there someone you would like to thank, or at least give a shout to? |
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There's a bunch of things, really. First, my wife Veronica, who has been very supportive, understanding and patient with me and my work schedule. She has been with me from one end of the country to the other and been by my side through the highs and lows of not only my entire career but a decent chunk of my life. My friends from work, the forums and college...practically all I have learned has been from staring at other people's work for hours on end and aspiring to reach their level (and I'm still trying!) That combined with their input has helped shape me not only into the artist I am now but also the artist I will become. Thanks to Fred for setting up GA and the competitions, BHG and Red Bull
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Your work in this competition was an inspiration to all! Thank you for your time, and I hope to see more of your work on GameArtisans.org in the future!
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