第三类概念设计师

曾经的美术不及格学生

Jeremy出生在新西兰，19岁那年，他搬到了澳大利亚。那个时候他就打定了做一个画家的主意。不过和最初在纸上画画不同，Jeremy的第一个创作工作是为别人画招牌画。“画招牌是很早之前的事了。”Jeremy回忆说，“不过我的基础功都是在那时打下的。最早我是想做个书籍插画家，那时我是《选择你的冒险》的超级粉丝，而且很喜欢各种封面画，画家里像Boris Vallejo和Frank Frazetta等人，都对我影响很大。”

然而在学生时代，Jeremy的画功并不算好。因为绘画训练不够，他的美术成绩一度不及格。“不过我很喜欢画技术类的东西，而且在这上面还得过几次奖。所以我父亲把我带到了当地的一家建筑公司。那个时候，我还以为建筑公司的工作就是设计各种漂亮的房子，谁知他们把洗手间、小卧室，以及混凝土地基之类的设计图给我看。这些东西对我毫无吸引力，所以我要求先尝试下美工的工作。于是他们让我做一些简单的招牌画工作，并让我在这学习CAD绘图软件。”

从招牌画到概念设计

Jeremy从此开始为一些小公司设计T恤logo之类的图案。老板还让他去做油漆喷绘，为一家店面的机器龙上色。后来他就直接开始专攻各种喷绘了。这对Jeremy来说是非常好锻炼的机会，“因为我受到严格的期限要求，还要去对付那些麻烦的客户。如果哪一点出了问题，我还很可能要全部重来一次。”Jeremy说。“要知道，当你在一辆巨大的坦克机车上出了错，没可能有机会重来的，所以我必须谋定而后动。这是一份很有趣的职业，它教你成为一个万事通，你不得不同时胜任设计、建构、上色以及安装工作。”

之后，Jeremy协助公司运营了位于Noosa的招牌工场，当时他的大部分时间都是在为机车、轮船、商店等等喷绘上波浪、鲨鱼、海豚…“有一次很奇怪的经历，当时我正在为Mooloolaba的一个高层建筑安装一个美术招牌，结果一个烂掉的鸭梨扔到了我头上。我当时就想，我的作品不至于这么烂吧，尽管我承认之前那里的确有个很棒的海报。”

绘制招牌的工作让Jeremy走遍了世界各地。其中最棒的一次工作，是为圣安德鲁的Chateau Elan酒店喷绘汽车，我们在那里享受了两天两夜的公开酒会和免费高尔夫。不过在工作之余，Jeremy还会接一些制片公司的活，画画插画，做一些动画等等。“我正是在自由接活的时候发现了LIightWave 3D，当时我已经迫不及待地想换工作了，因为无休无止的涂料气味已经让我的身体越来越糟。”

和3ds Max、Maya等普遍采用的软件不同，Lightwave 3D虽然功能强大，却并不是非常普及的创作工作。对于为何从Lightwave上手开始3D生涯，Jeremy说：“对游戏开发而言，Lightwave的序位的确比较靠后，不过在电视制作领域却非常普及。我接活的制片公司当时有Lightwave v5的安装拷贝，所以我顺便借了过来。如果客户只是需要飞出的logo或者旋转的物体，我的能力便足以应付了。结果最后有人需要做一个动画角色，就是那个时候，我完全陷入了Lightwave中。从故事版到实际的导演工作都让我非常着迷，我想大概是到了v6.5版本，我才最后放弃了Lightwave。”

从招牌画和3D工作中抽身后，Jeremy专职成为了一个概念艺术师。他之前的职位，是澳大利亚THQ公司的高级概念设计师。虽然因为经营不善，THQ公司不久前倒闭了，但Jeremy仍然和我们分享了在那的工作经历。“在THQ的工作一般是伴随着咖啡和email开始的。公司里有一个很大的咖啡机，我几乎对它上了瘾，那煮出的咖啡真的非常美味！接下来，我们所有的概念设计师会在一个小小的，暗暗的角落坐下来，分享最近美术圈的一些链接，或者是游戏作品的片段。”

在一些早上，艺术总监召集整个美术部门开会，大家彼此会分享正在进行的工作，确保所有人步调一致。THQ还有一个任务管理软件，所以大多数时候，所有人都清楚当前的工作进度。“在公司里，我的主要任务是角色设计，不过也会做一些其他的事，所以会有很多乐趣。”

谈到THQ公司的倒闭，Jeremy也显出了几分无奈。“的确很可惜，和那么好的公司和作品（《星球大战》系列游戏）告别。我们之前的一年都在全力制作游戏，无论是外观还是体验，我们最后的作品都非常棒，而且能成为这个顶级大作的一部分，公司所有人都感到很高兴。无论是THQ集团，还是我们的客户都是如此。我想最后倒闭的原因是因为澳元升值，而且以现在的环境，海外发行商大概也不会再向澳大利亚投资了。当然公司无疑还有其他的问题导致了最后的结局，但背后都逃不开经济环境变坏的牵连。”

在这之前，Jeremy获得了几家其他公司的邀请，他甚至考虑过出国工作。“但在澳洲的生活很快乐，所以我最后决定就在家乡建立一个小工作室，接单做一些概念设计。现在工作室已经筹备完了，我也不会再有过去必须上班的时间限制，这是一个让人感到兴奋的新开始，我也希望今后做更多电影方面的工作。”

现在回过头来看，引领Jeremy和过去告别并走上概念设计道路的，其实是在哥本哈根的一次3D艺术节上听到了朱峰的讲座。在谈到朱峰时，Jeremy说：“峰的确是很重要的激励。其实最初去那次3D艺术节的动机，是想学更多3D知识，以及结交一些朋友。”

“在参加那次讲座的前天晚上，我在哥本哈根玩到很晚，喝了很多当地的啤酒。所以第二天的讲座我还迟到了，只找到了一个靠边的位置坐下。在听朱峰的那次演讲前，我完全没想到有那么棒的设计师专门画那些厉害的东西为生。朱峰画画的速度和他的天才，当场就让我完全拜服了。”

就好像是眼前忽然一亮，Jeremy感到这正是他的菜。“为《星球大战》游戏做美术设计，这个事情在我看来简直好得不现实，但在当时却直接摆在了我面前。我想随着全球媒介的爆炸式发展，概念设计这个工作出现在我的职业选择雷达上只是时间问题。当然朱峰的讲座对我的确造成了非常大的影响。回家后的一周内，我就买了个手写板，并开始投入数百个小时来学习Painter，就连我妻子都为这事感到有些惊愕。”

对Jeremy来说，从3D到2D的职业转变并非想象中那么简单，不断的练习、练习、再练习，并一次次把自己的作品出来，就是Jeremy成功转型的路径。这里几乎不存在任何捷径。

成功转型的路径

“从技术上说，从写生和临摹照片得来的坚固艺术基础是我创作生涯的第一步；之后招牌画的工作让我学到了颜色间的互相作用——因为这工作天天都需要混合各种颜料。但是我对解剖学和构造学的了解仍然很有限,所以最初我的数字创作仍着眼在画插画和临摹照片上。然而很快，我意识到概念设计需要更多才华，不仅仅是凭素描，或者照着杂志模仿就OK。所以之后我开始在网上参加各种竞赛以及小型的无偿创作，从中发现了提高效率的办法，并在脑子里建立了一套清晰的形态库。最终，我的作品水准不断提高，并且吸引了越来越多手握巨资的客户。这是一条不断前进的学习曲线，为了画一幅让自己满意的作品，我也一直不惜花费数周时间。”

Jeremy的概念设计主要集中在场景设计和科幻题材上。对于自己的场景设计，Jeremy说：“实际上这是花时间最少的创作。我还希望探索出一种更传统的技术，或者用不一样的笔刷，在每天吃中午饭的时间就能画出一张场景。至于科幻，从很早开始，我就被斯皮尔伯格和卢卡斯电影里的想象力深深吸引了。还是小孩时，我就梦想能创作出让人们能在其中探索的世界。实际上，我很想画一个关于虚拟世界的图画小说（graphic novel）。就像人们说的那样，一切皆有可能，创作可以给我们一个真正开启想象力的机会，我现在所在的娱乐产业让我用到了自己的一部分想象力，但是去做科幻或者其他类似的图画小说，那会需要更多想象力。”

实际上早在2007年，Jeremy曾在一堆草稿本上画过一个故事，不幸的是2010年一部上映的电影和他想到的情节几乎完全撞了车，这个故事也就只好一直待在那堆稿纸上了。“也许等我人老珠黄，我会真格的写一个故事… 可恶，现在我不是已经很老了吗！（笑）”

Wacom + Photoshop

作为曾转战在3D和2D领域的画家来说，这两者之间的关系，对Jeremy来说到底是怎样的呢？对这个问题，Jeremy解释说：“我想如果有3D创作背景，当然会对2D创作带来很多帮助。3D创作可以在各个角度看到物体，对画家形成完好的透视感也裨益良多。另外3D环境下的贴图和灯光渲染可以完好地转换到2D创作中，尤其是在Photoshop的分层环境下。至于我自己的创作，实际上我已经超过7年没有使用过任何3D软件了,虽然我会经常接触3D网格化完成的概念场景，或者处理某些3D截图的工作，但职业层面来说，我的确只用Wacom和Photoshop就够了。”

“I developed a faster working method and a library of shapes in my head that seemed to work. Eventually my portfolio started to improve and attract more lucrative clients. It’s an ongoing learning curve and I’m always striving for an image that I’m happy with for more than a week.”

Hi Jeremy! By the sounds of it you’ve had quite an interesting artistic career so far – from signwriter to concept artist in ten years! Could you tell us a bit more about this journey and your experiences along the way?

Wow, sign writing seems like so long ago now... but it turns out that it gave me a solid, traditional

art foundation. I actually wanted to be a book illustrator from an early age. I was a fan of the “choose your own adventure”books and loved the cover art. Artists like Boris Vallejo and Frank

Frazetta inspired me too. I could draw ok in school, but mostly failed in art as I lacked the discipline to follow instructions. I did, however, enjoy technical drawing and finished the subject with a distinction, so my father took me to a local architect firm. Up until that point, I was under the impression that the job was all about designing fancy buildings, but instead I was shown plans for toilet cubicles and concrete foundations. This didn’t appeal to me so I set my sights on becoming a graphic artist. My first job was doing bromide paste ups and learning CAD graphics software.

I then went to work for a small company where I designed surf t-shirts and logos. After a while the boss introduced me to the airbrush and asked me to paint a robotic dragon on a shop sign. I ended up specializing in airbrushing and painted on pretty much everything. It turned out to be great learning curve for me as it taught me the discipline I needed. I had to work within tight deadlines and deal with difficult clients, plus if I made a mistake I pretty much had to start again.

There’s no undo when you make a mistake on a big bloke’s bike tank so I learnt to be careful and think ahead. It’s an interesting profession as it taught me to be a jack of all trades. I had to design, construct, paint and install the signage.

I ended up helping run a sign shop in Noosa, which was great, but I spent most of my time airbrushing waves, sharks and dolphins on every truck, boat and shop imaginable. One of the strangest experiences was having a rotten avocado thrown at my head while installing a huge artists impression for a new high-rise development in Mooloolaba. I remember thinking, “Surely my art isn’t that bad?”although, I don’t blame them as there used to be a good pub there.

Sign writing took me all over the world and I got to work on some great projects. I think the best job I got to work on was doing the vehicles for Chateau Elan, in Saint Andrew’s Bay, where they put us up for two nights with an open tab and free golf. Anyway, while doing my day job, I was also freelancing for a production house doing graphics and animations for commercials and documentaries. This is where I found out about LightWave 3D. I was keen to make a change in career as the constant fumes from airbrushing had made me very ill.

It’s interesting because in my experience, LightWave is one of the lesser-used software packages and doesn’t quite have the same prominence as 3ds Max or Maya in today’s industry – was it a conscious choice for you to use it, or was it just a case of LightWave being the first 3D software you stumbled across?

LightWave seems to have taken a back seat in games development especially. Although at the time it was used extensively in TV broadcast production. The production house had a copy of LightWave v5 so I gave it a go. If an advert needed a flying logo or spinning object, I would just learn enough to do that. Eventually an animated character was needed and I was hooked from there. I really enjoyed doing everything from storyboarding to directing. I think I stopped using it at about v6.5

You now work as a senior concept artist for the Australian arm of THQ, is that right? What’s a typical day like for you there? And are you allowed to share anything about what you’re working on at the moment or is it all top secret?

Yeah that’s right, but unfortunately the studio closed a few weeks ago. A typical day started with coffee and emails. We were lucky enough to have a big coffee machine, which I became addicted to – delicious! All of us concept artists sat together in a small dark corner, so we shared the latest art links and game trailers.

Some mornings the AD would call an art meeting where we would talk about our tasks and make sure we were on the same page. We used a task management application so we mostly knew what to get on with. I mainly worked on character designs for this project, but did a bit of everything so it was fun.

Wow, I’m really sorry to hear about the closure of your studio – how did that come about? And where do you see your career going from here? Freelance work or do you have a position at another studio lined up?

Thanks, it was a shame to say goodbye to a great studio and all that work for sure. We were a year into production and the team was really happy to have created something that looked and played really well. We were all excited to be part of such a cool title and were close to alpha so it came as a shock. THQ Corp. and the client were pleased with what we were doing, but ultimately I think it was down to the Australian dollar. It’s just not as viable for overseas publishers to invest here anymore given the current climate. There were no doubt other factors behind it, but that’s just the way of the industry.

I’ve had a few offers at other studios and considered moving overseas, but I’m pretty happy here right now so have decided to build a small studio at home and do freelance concept work. It’s going well so far and the studio is almost finished so it’s an exciting time. Now that I don’t have full time restrictions, I’m hoping to do some more film work. On your website you mention attending a seminar by Feng Zhu as a kind of turning point in your artistic career. He’s an artist that a lot of people mention as being an inspiration for them and we’ve been lucky enough to feature his work in the pages of 2DArtist. What was it about the seminar that so captured your attention? And if you hadn’t attended, do you think you’d still have found your way to 2D?

Feng is an inspiration for sure. My initial intention for attending the 3D festival was to learn more about 3D and do some networking. I had gone out the night before in Copenhagen and had a few too many local beers so was feeling a little rough. I was late for Feng’s seminar and had to sit in the aisle. Up until that point I had never realized there were actually people designing this cool stuff for a living. I was blown away at the speed and talent of this guy.

Something just clicked and I thought“, yeah, this is for me”. The thought of creating art for IPs such as Star Wars seemed too good to be true, but somehow attainable at the same time. I think that with the expansion of global media, it was only a matter of time before concept art appeared on my radar as a career option. But there’s no denying that Feng’s seminar had a huge impact on me. Within a week of returning home I had bought a tablet and was learning Painter. To my wife’s dismay I spent hundreds of hours on that thing.

It seems behind every great artist there’s a very understanding spouse! So how did you make the transition from 3D to 2D? Was it just a case of practice, practice, practice and then shopping your portfolio around?

[Laughs] That’s true! I think technically I had a fairly solid art foundation through simply drawing from life and painting from photos. Signwriting helped me learn how color worked as I had to mix all my paints, but I had limited knowledge of anatomy or composition. Therefore my digital work started out more as illustrations and emulating photo references. But I soon realized there was more to being a concept artist than simply drawing ok and copying from magazines.

There was so much still to learn, so I started doing challenges online and small unpaid collaborations. I developed a faster working method and a library of shapes in my head that seemed to work. Eventually my portfolio started to improve and attract more lucrative clients. It’s an ongoing learning curve and I’m always striving for an image that I’m happy with for more than a week. Onto the art! Which I could look at all day, by the way – I particularly love the landscapes as there’s just something so beautifully peaceful about them. But landscapes aside, your work seems to lean towards the sci-fi and fantasy genres – is this a conscious decision on your part or something your work requires of you? It’s definitely a popular subject within the industry and I often wonder what it is about sci-fi and fantasy that so attracts people. Perhaps just the sheer number of potential possibilities and the ability to push your imagination to the limit and beyond?

Thank you! It’s funny you should mention the landscapes as they took the least amount of time. I wanted to explore a more traditional technique and use some different brushes so tried to get one finished each day in my lunch hour at work. I’ve always loved sci-fi though and I think films by the likes of Spielberg and Lucas captured my imagination early on. As a kid I used to dream about creating worlds for people to explore. Actually, I’d love to create a graphic novel set in a virtual world.

Like you say, the possibilities are limitless and I think it’s that opportunity to really use my imagination that interests me. Working in entertainment allows me to do this to a degree so it’s a good match. With that said, the stuff I paint at home is quite contemporary so there’s a love for that too.

What can I say; I’m a sucker for a beautiful landscape! I’m curious about this graphic novel you mentioned – do you have a plot worked out or is it still just floating around in your head as a vague idea? I spent about a year developing a story in my spare time back in 2007. It was just a rough plot; a bunch of notes and doodles spread out over a stack of sketchbooks. Trouble is the story I was writing was very close to a movie that came out last year so it’s back to the drawing board. Writing is something I don’t do all that often but when I do, I really enjoy it. There’s something about watching a story unfold. Developing the characters is the fun part. Maybe I’ll get around to it when I’m old and gray... damn that’s now! [Laughs].

Coming from a 3D background, do you find yourself calling on your 3D skills in your work much nowadays? I know lots of 2D artists will mix elements of 3D into their pipeline and vice versa. Or is it Photoshop and a Wacom all the way?

I think it definitely helps having that background as you’re used to seeing your objects from every angle and get a good idea of how perspective works. I think the texturing and lighting processes used in 3D can translate to 2D quite well too, especially with software like Photoshop where layers are used. As for my work, I haven’t used a 3D application in over seven years, although it’s common for me to be given a 3D mesh environment from design or an in-game capture to paint over. But definitely Wacom and Photoshop for me!

And one whimsical question to round things off: if you were stranded on a desert island, what would be the one thing you couldn’t live without? Sketchbook? Surfboard? Internet connection?

Well that would have to be my lovely, intelligent wife! But then, the only sketching I’d be doing is SOS in the sand! [Laughs] Kidding, of course. Oh, there’s surf? That’s an easy one; no time for the internet as I’d be on the water all day.