Hello everyone! This week features 
dinmoney and 
KahzeArt!
--------------------------
Interview with
Have you ever studied Art at school or University? Are you self taught?
Yes, I have some art training, but majority of learning was done on my own. Lots and lots of practice.
How do you become a concept artist? What appealed to you the most about being an artist?
Originally I started drawing to make comics, but i fell in love with painting and character design. I still work on my comics when i have time, but my day job is concept art.
How do you get ideas to create your character designs? What is your inspiration?
My original inspiration was Blizzard Art when i was a kid. The game manuals would be full of character sketches and art, I wanted to be able to draw as cool as that one day. Now, I take inspiration from all over: nature, history, other artists, movies, tv, anime, games. Basically anything I see that looks cool, I keep it in mind and add it to my art.
What is the process you usually go through when creating your characters?
I have a walk through of my process that can be found in my gallery: fav.me/d7fm288
What is the main software you use then drawing and painting? And what would you recommend for learning artists? Know of any cheap/free software for newbies?
I use Photoshop Cs6, but anything Cs4+ is good. There are some cheap programs out there, but Photoshop is the industry standard, so the sooner you start learning it, the better. It is a very expensive program, so look into getting a copy through your school, B&H Photo has good deals on tablets as well as deals on Photoshop sometimes.
What would you consider the fundamentals for painting concept art? What do you find the most important to consider when drawing or designing your characters?
Anatomy, Design, and Soul. Use your knowledge of the human form to make the character body and stance believable. Be creative with your designs, and think about functionality. Lastly, give your drawings life, try to get emotion and soul into your art.
Tell me about you current projects? What is your Samurai Genji comic about? What inspired you to create that comic?
I can't say too much about the projects i am working on, other than I am doing character designs, environments, and illustrations. My comic, "Samurai Genji" is a classic revenge story that takes place in a fantasy feudal japan where people are eating people. You can read it online at Tapastic or Ink Blazers.
Is there any advice you could give to learning artists? Is there any learning materials, artists, books or references you would recommend?
DRAW DRAW DRAW!!! As much as you can, make time for it. When you can't draw, be thinking about drawing. Look at people's body structure and clothing fashion. Study light phisics and colour, always be thinking "why do things look the way they do?" If you want to take classes i would reccomend Life Drawing, very helpful if you wish to get into character design. Other than that, be proffessional, meet your deadlines, network, and most importanly, have fun!
Interview with
Have you ever studied Art at school or University? Are you self taught?
I studied Film and Animation at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. I consider the game-art and painting side of my portfolio to be self-taught but still influenced by my studies at school.
How do you become a concept artist? What appealed to you the most about being an artist?
Though I am a concept artist currently, I worked mainly as a 3D Environment Artist at Insomniac Games for two years. But how do you BECOME a concept artist? Its like asking how do you become a working professional in general, and it is a huge question. I would say that the best way to become a professional artist is to take each piece you make very seriously and allways give it your best shot. Don't get lazy! Make the best work you can NOW, and start building an image of your idol-self (yourself if you were someone you looked up to). Start getting an idea of and being the mega-you as soon as you can and you'll be on the road to securing your career. You'll see that a career is really the product of several well intentioned steps towards defining your ultimate self. As far as portfolio goes (because everyone allways has questions for that) you should research the studios that inspire you and start targeting your work towards them. Dont make fan art! Make origional pieces that cause you to stand out from the crowd to the studios you are trying to appeal to and don't forget about the creative process! Thumbnail all of your ideas before you make your final piece. Trust me, an organized approach to art making makes all the difference. Research - > thumbnail - > rough painting - > Final painting.
What appealed to me most about being an artist? Doing what I love every day - creating worlds and telling stories. Any art form is a career of exploration and adventure, and I find that discovering worlds and characters with my mind is a fascinating experience. Everyone should do it! I think sometimes that this kind of internal exploration is perhaps an uncommmon and undefined form of meditation.
What is your inspirations for your concept art work?
Good question! Its what I call Sight Tracks. Sight tracks are individual music tracks from bands and albums that I LOVE. They are often motivating songs that springboard my mind into playing imagined movies and stills that are inspired by lyrics or the movement of the music. Many of my ideas come from what I imagine to some of these tracks. I mainly listen to metal bands like Hammerfall and Amorphis, and also some electronic like Mind.In.A.Box. and Hybrid. The best thing about sight tracks is that anyone can do it. Next time you are listening to music, try to visualize a movie starring your original character and setting. Really try hard to see it as clear as day! When I come up with something awesome I keep coming back to that moment in the track for more! I can't get enough of it.
What is the process you go through when starting a piece of work till it's final state? Do you use thumbnails or speed painting?
Thumbnails. Speed painting I haven't done much of, but if I am feeling like an organized person that knows something about making art (sometimes I just want to screw around on a canvas) I'll thumbnail... keeping in mind that the thumbnails I make are quick images made to present the spectrum of ideas. If you visit all of your ideas as fast as possible in a presentable manner, you can do no wrong. Thumbnailing is really the act of failing as fast as possible so that you can find the best idea sooner. Think about it!
How do you start your little designs or sketches? Such as your pieces: 'Skuther Iterations' and 'Building Thumbs, Flora Thumbs'. Do you normally design using thumb sketches? Why use thumbs?
Like I said, thumbnailing is the act of failing as often as you can. Every piece of art in the entire world can be thought of as a failure - NOTHING IS PERFECT! So really, thumbnailing just allows you to get every idea you have out of you so that you can determine which one or which combination of your ideas fails the LEAST! And then you move forward with it and know that you did your best to find and express the final idea that you have! I realized thumbnailing was important when a concept artist I was working under as an intern a few years ago forced me into it. I used to be a guy who just made final paintings and NEVER thumbnailed. Thumbnailing streamlined my process and made me an organized creative and I'm happy to say that my time doing so especially isn't wasted because the idea that I end up running with is usually never my first thumb drawing! Also, if you're planning on being a concept artist - get used to understanding that thumbnailing is your job. I'm serious. You thumbnail all the time as a concept artist it is the MOST important thing to understand.
What is the main software you use? And what would you recommend for learning artists? Know of any cheap/free software for learning artists?
Photoshop and Maya. Maya is a common 3D package that can be downloaded for free at students.autodesk.com. I would reccomend these products to anyone as they are the industry standard.
What are the most important points to think when drawing or painting art? ( Eg. is composition important? Creating atmosphere? Dynamic?) What would you say the fundamentals are in concept art?
Conceptart fundementals are all of those things. Every aspect of a painting from atmosphere to composition to rendering are important but above all of them (perhaps) is design. As a concept artist, you are a designer. That is to say, the title of the job REALLY IS concept designer (I dont know when it was replcaed by concept ARTIST), and you need to realize that Concept Artists really just draw thumbnails all day! Thats actually what they do the most! Rare is the mindblowing finished render you see on deviantart and art-station. Students of this need to understand that being a concept aritst is to create compelling designs that function, tell the right story and tone, and grab the right kind of attention... and that reaching those designs is to create many little sketches. Thumbnails! All hail thumbnails. If you are a concept artist that is what you do. Get it allready? HAH!
How often do you practise drawing or painting?
Every day I can.
I noticed quite a lot of sketches in your gallery is grey scale. Why sketch in grey scale?
It is something I picked up from other artists... IT is easier to determine the right values of an object or a scene if you do it in grayscale and THEN use blending modes on different layers to apply color without destroying or manipulating the grayscale image after its worked out. The key here is to work as quickly and efficently as possible. You make your grayscale image and then apply color on layers above it using those blending modes and you do that by actually filling the above layers with solid colors and using masks to mark them down on the image. This process comes from situations in which an art director would come over to you and say, "hey that rocket looks pretty cool in red as you have it... but I wanted to see it in blue!". If you have your color masked into the image as a color layer blend, then all you need to do to make your art director happy is to paintbucket blue into your layer and - wa'lah! It's blue. See what I'm getting at?
How do you create the texture in both your 2D and 3D work? For example, your 'How to train your Sandworm' and 'TEXTURE LISCIOUS'.
Those are both very old images from when I used to paint in a very unmethodical way. LOL. Back then I used photos for my texture and I would actually grab images that were anything from a sandy beach, to a metal panel from cgtextures.com, to bannanas to texture my images. (Just kidding, I never really used Bannanas).
Is there any advice you could give to learning artists? Is there any learning materials, artists, books or references you would recommend?
dinmoney and KahzeArt! --------------------------
Interview with dinmoney
Have you ever studied Art at school or University? Are you self taught?
Yes, I have some art training, but majority of learning was done on my own. Lots and lots of practice.
How do you become a concept artist? What appealed to you the most about being an artist?
Originally I started drawing to make comics, but i fell in love with painting and character design. I still work on my comics when i have time, but my day job is concept art.
How do you get ideas to create your character designs? What is your inspiration?
My original inspiration was Blizzard Art when i was a kid. The game manuals would be full of character sketches and art, I wanted to be able to draw as cool as that one day. Now, I take inspiration from all over: nature, history, other artists, movies, tv, anime, games. Basically anything I see that looks cool, I keep it in mind and add it to my art.
What is the process you usually go through when creating your characters?
I have a walk through of my process that can be found in my gallery: fav.me/d7fm288
What is the main software you use then drawing and painting? And what would you recommend for learning artists? Know of any cheap/free software for newbies?
I use Photoshop Cs6, but anything Cs4+ is good. There are some cheap programs out there, but Photoshop is the industry standard, so the sooner you start learning it, the better. It is a very expensive program, so look into getting a copy through your school, B&H Photo has good deals on tablets as well as deals on Photoshop sometimes.
What would you consider the fundamentals for painting concept art? What do you find the most important to consider when drawing or designing your characters?
Anatomy, Design, and Soul. Use your knowledge of the human form to make the character body and stance believable. Be creative with your designs, and think about functionality. Lastly, give your drawings life, try to get emotion and soul into your art.
Tell me about you current projects? What is your Samurai Genji comic about? What inspired you to create that comic?
I can't say too much about the projects i am working on, other than I am doing character designs, environments, and illustrations. My comic, "Samurai Genji" is a classic revenge story that takes place in a fantasy feudal japan where people are eating people. You can read it online at Tapastic or Ink Blazers.
Is there any advice you could give to learning artists? Is there any learning materials, artists, books or references you would recommend?
DRAW DRAW DRAW!!! As much as you can, make time for it. When you can't draw, be thinking about drawing. Look at people's body structure and clothing fashion. Study light phisics and colour, always be thinking "why do things look the way they do?" If you want to take classes i would reccomend Life Drawing, very helpful if you wish to get into character design. Other than that, be proffessional, meet your deadlines, network, and most importanly, have fun!
Interview with KahzeArt
Have you ever studied Art at school or University? Are you self taught?
I studied Film and Animation at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. I consider the game-art and painting side of my portfolio to be self-taught but still influenced by my studies at school.
How do you become a concept artist? What appealed to you the most about being an artist?
Though I am a concept artist currently, I worked mainly as a 3D Environment Artist at Insomniac Games for two years. But how do you BECOME a concept artist? Its like asking how do you become a working professional in general, and it is a huge question. I would say that the best way to become a professional artist is to take each piece you make very seriously and allways give it your best shot. Don't get lazy! Make the best work you can NOW, and start building an image of your idol-self (yourself if you were someone you looked up to). Start getting an idea of and being the mega-you as soon as you can and you'll be on the road to securing your career. You'll see that a career is really the product of several well intentioned steps towards defining your ultimate self. As far as portfolio goes (because everyone allways has questions for that) you should research the studios that inspire you and start targeting your work towards them. Dont make fan art! Make origional pieces that cause you to stand out from the crowd to the studios you are trying to appeal to and don't forget about the creative process! Thumbnail all of your ideas before you make your final piece. Trust me, an organized approach to art making makes all the difference. Research - > thumbnail - > rough painting - > Final painting.
What appealed to me most about being an artist? Doing what I love every day - creating worlds and telling stories. Any art form is a career of exploration and adventure, and I find that discovering worlds and characters with my mind is a fascinating experience. Everyone should do it! I think sometimes that this kind of internal exploration is perhaps an uncommmon and undefined form of meditation.
What is your inspirations for your concept art work?
Good question! Its what I call Sight Tracks. Sight tracks are individual music tracks from bands and albums that I LOVE. They are often motivating songs that springboard my mind into playing imagined movies and stills that are inspired by lyrics or the movement of the music. Many of my ideas come from what I imagine to some of these tracks. I mainly listen to metal bands like Hammerfall and Amorphis, and also some electronic like Mind.In.A.Box. and Hybrid. The best thing about sight tracks is that anyone can do it. Next time you are listening to music, try to visualize a movie starring your original character and setting. Really try hard to see it as clear as day! When I come up with something awesome I keep coming back to that moment in the track for more! I can't get enough of it.
What is the process you go through when starting a piece of work till it's final state? Do you use thumbnails or speed painting?
Thumbnails. Speed painting I haven't done much of, but if I am feeling like an organized person that knows something about making art (sometimes I just want to screw around on a canvas) I'll thumbnail... keeping in mind that the thumbnails I make are quick images made to present the spectrum of ideas. If you visit all of your ideas as fast as possible in a presentable manner, you can do no wrong. Thumbnailing is really the act of failing as fast as possible so that you can find the best idea sooner. Think about it!
How do you start your little designs or sketches? Such as your pieces: 'Skuther Iterations' and 'Building Thumbs, Flora Thumbs'. Do you normally design using thumb sketches? Why use thumbs?
Like I said, thumbnailing is the act of failing as often as you can. Every piece of art in the entire world can be thought of as a failure - NOTHING IS PERFECT! So really, thumbnailing just allows you to get every idea you have out of you so that you can determine which one or which combination of your ideas fails the LEAST! And then you move forward with it and know that you did your best to find and express the final idea that you have! I realized thumbnailing was important when a concept artist I was working under as an intern a few years ago forced me into it. I used to be a guy who just made final paintings and NEVER thumbnailed. Thumbnailing streamlined my process and made me an organized creative and I'm happy to say that my time doing so especially isn't wasted because the idea that I end up running with is usually never my first thumb drawing! Also, if you're planning on being a concept artist - get used to understanding that thumbnailing is your job. I'm serious. You thumbnail all the time as a concept artist it is the MOST important thing to understand.
What is the main software you use? And what would you recommend for learning artists? Know of any cheap/free software for learning artists?
Photoshop and Maya. Maya is a common 3D package that can be downloaded for free at students.autodesk.com. I would reccomend these products to anyone as they are the industry standard.
What are the most important points to think when drawing or painting art? ( Eg. is composition important? Creating atmosphere? Dynamic?) What would you say the fundamentals are in concept art?
Conceptart fundementals are all of those things. Every aspect of a painting from atmosphere to composition to rendering are important but above all of them (perhaps) is design. As a concept artist, you are a designer. That is to say, the title of the job REALLY IS concept designer (I dont know when it was replcaed by concept ARTIST), and you need to realize that Concept Artists really just draw thumbnails all day! Thats actually what they do the most! Rare is the mindblowing finished render you see on deviantart and art-station. Students of this need to understand that being a concept aritst is to create compelling designs that function, tell the right story and tone, and grab the right kind of attention... and that reaching those designs is to create many little sketches. Thumbnails! All hail thumbnails. If you are a concept artist that is what you do. Get it allready? HAH!
How often do you practise drawing or painting?
Every day I can.
I noticed quite a lot of sketches in your gallery is grey scale. Why sketch in grey scale?
It is something I picked up from other artists... IT is easier to determine the right values of an object or a scene if you do it in grayscale and THEN use blending modes on different layers to apply color without destroying or manipulating the grayscale image after its worked out. The key here is to work as quickly and efficently as possible. You make your grayscale image and then apply color on layers above it using those blending modes and you do that by actually filling the above layers with solid colors and using masks to mark them down on the image. This process comes from situations in which an art director would come over to you and say, "hey that rocket looks pretty cool in red as you have it... but I wanted to see it in blue!". If you have your color masked into the image as a color layer blend, then all you need to do to make your art director happy is to paintbucket blue into your layer and - wa'lah! It's blue. See what I'm getting at?
How do you create the texture in both your 2D and 3D work? For example, your 'How to train your Sandworm' and 'TEXTURE LISCIOUS'.
Those are both very old images from when I used to paint in a very unmethodical way. LOL. Back then I used photos for my texture and I would actually grab images that were anything from a sandy beach, to a metal panel from cgtextures.com, to bannanas to texture my images. (Just kidding, I never really used Bannanas).
Is there any advice you could give to learning artists? Is there any learning materials, artists, books or references you would recommend?
Get bridgeman's life drawing and a good atlas of anatomy book that you can learn the human form from. Then go out and practice life drawing! Draw nude models as often as you can! Understanding form in real life is the best thing you can do to becoming a better artist. I should really do it way more often than I do and I will eat my own advice starting tonight! Time to copy from life. See you out there!
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Thank you to the artists for letting me do an interview!
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Thank you to the artists for letting me do an interview!
