_Vo on July, Cecil Kim, the leading artist of the GOD of War series, came to Moscow. He is engaged not only in video games: he began to work in the Hollywood studio Imaginary Forces and put his hand to the films " People in black " And " Show Truman ". The concept art began to engage in Square USA and managed to work on _Parasite Eve And Final Fantasy IX . Since August last year, he left Sony Santa Monica and became co-founder and creative director of the design studio Section Studios -one of the key in Los Angeles. Since 2002 he has been teaching in California in Otis College of Art and Design , V Gnomon School of Visual FX (since 2010) and in Art Center College of Design (since 2011).
Cecil Kim did not come to Moscow as a tourist, but on the initiative of the educational center Scream School . In the capital, the artist for the first time arranges an exclusive master class for the developer team Allods Team , which is now working on the "game of the future" SkyForge . Gambling could not miss such a chance and decided to talk with the artist.
[Gambling.ru] tell us in a nutshell about the topic of your master class.
[Cecil Kim] I talked about the basics: how the concept art is used in AAA games and how the illustrations differ in production and post-production. The concept art is important not so much to create a picture as such as for the inspiration of developers-it may well bring to a fresh thought. Today I showed how to draw from scratch and work out a sketch. We worked for three hours, and during this time I managed to throw a couple of drawings. Then the listeners showed me their sketches and 3D models, and I advised in which direction they could be developed further.
► The first sketch. A CG-image is made on it, which the artist then processes again.
[Gambling.ru] tell me why you decided to draw for video games? This is a conscious choice, or it happened? Why not do architecture, for example?
[Cecil Kim] About architecture – it's you to the point. Honestly, I always wanted to be an architect, the human ability to create such beauty amazes me – I mean the final, tangible, result. But the games are much more fun and curious! Not in the gameplay, no. I don’t really build anything, but I, imagine, have unlimited spaciousness for creativity, and I can do anything.
[Gambling.ru] how to start drawing for video games? Can you advise something to a novice artist?
[Cecil Kim] Yes, the same as for other spheres. The main thing is: beginner artists often criticize themselves. Say, there are full of great artists around, I will never achieve their level. As I said, the concept art is not done for art, but for developers. And so that the 3D artist understands your creative plan, it is not necessary to be a bosch. It is important to understand what the team needs. To develop skills, just look at your previous works and try to improve the result regarding you, without looking back at other artists.
[Bullet]] If you make the decoration entirely in CG, it turns out not very beautiful, so small details in the background are finished manually.
[Gambling.ru] Cecil, how does the concept art differ from other genres of fine art? He has features?
[Cecil Kim] The concept art, unlike elegant arts, should always have a task and meaning. With illustrations, the story is the same, but the artist has freedom there and everything comes down to art for the sake of art – the creative process is entirely, from the sketch to the finished result, the artist himself controls. The concept is created for the client, and first of all you need to understand what is required of you. You can bring something from yourself, but it is worth always remembering that you work by order. At all stages, you must consult with the customer and take into account the capabilities of the designer team. It is important not only https://sister-site.org/spicy-jackpots/ to draw well, but also to know who your client is, in which direction the project is developing.
[Gambling.ru] here you drew art, and what is happening to him further? Show the team and begin to work on a new one or gradually develop the initial result?
[Cecil Kim] As soon as the picture is approved, it will go to the 3D artist. He takes key points from the concept and is not obliged to repeat the drawing exactly. Sometimes the images are not enough: the drawing is created with one perspective, and it would be nice to inspect the location from the other corner with a 3D artist. You have to make several sketches, and that is why you need to constantly contact the artist – it is not necessary to draw a complex canvas, there are enough couples of five -minute sketches.
► from the concept – to video art. Illustrations often look much brighter and appetizing the final result.
[Gambling.Ru] Yes, I saw a couple of art to God of War: Chains of Olympus. You seem to help Ready at Dawn, and the drawings were very different from the finished result.
[Cecil Kim] Between the development of God of War 2 and God of War 3, I had only two months of free time, and I was asked to help with Chains of Olympus. I worked with Carlo Alellano from Ready At Dawn, and although we made the concepts beautiful, the game looked much easier: the Attica market was originally planned to be closed, and there were much more interesting details in it, but the final result was still impressed.
[[Bullet]] Little Kratos is not drawn by chance: it is easier to catch the scale of the location.
[Gambling.ru] Suppose I started to engage in concept art. That I should never do? What will be the most terrible mistake that I can make?
[Cecil Kim] I don’t know how in Russia, but in Los Angeles, the entertainment industry (amazing!) Very cramped. There are a lot of gaming companies, but everyone knows each other. In any case, artists often communicate with each other. It is important to control yourself. You constantly meet other artists, and sometimes it happens to work with people more professional and talented than you. Of course, you have to listen to criticism-you need to treat it easier, relax, have fun and draw something useful. But it is better not to criticize others, and indeed to be a pleasant person, because we all cook in the same industry.
[Gambling.ru] Cecil, what video game do you consider the most stylish with a visual point of view? I noticed that you have a tribe-illustrations for Shadow of the Colossus.
[Cecil Kim] Oddly enough, Shadow of the Colossus, I do not like as much as ICO. I like that the game is abstract. There is no complex plot in it, you know almost nothing about the characters, but in some unknown way you are interested in everything until the very end. Most of all I am impressed with how the locations are made – in the ICO there is simply an amazing game with the light. Using simple visual techniques, the artist made an excellent picture.
[[Bullet]] Be in Shadow of the Colossus Optimus Prime, he would look like that.
[Gambling.ru] Your opinion about the game industry from the point of view of the artist?
[Cecil Kim] The industry is constantly changing. The economy is developing, new platforms appear, trends are changing, and in this stormy stream it is extremely difficult to predict the future. I started working on God of War ten years ago, and then we focused primarily on the Japanese gamdesign – Onimusha and Devil May Cry. They did so well!
I sincerely wish Russian Gamdev to develop my playing culture: you have a huge audience in the country! Now the business model is similar to Chinese-there are too many online games with monetization. I would rather like to see new projects.
[Gambling.ru] and how do you organize your workplace? Are there any things that help to tune in to a working mood?
[Cecil Kim] I think that if I have come to work, you need to sit down and give out the result. I go to the office, something clicks in my head, and I become an extremely creative person! Music helps a lot, and before work I like to discuss films or other games. To some extent, this helps to understand who you are.
[Bullet]] And here the process of creating a sketch is demonstrated: first the composition is determined, and only then can you make a pencil sketch.
[Gambling.ru] what is the most strange fact about you that you can share with our readers? For example, in one of our interviews Paul Kissa (former game designer in Delphine Software, now works in Vector Cell) replied jokingly that he was sleeping in the coffin.
[Cecil Kim] Does it really sleep?.. Let's better about me: I like to play in the sauna. I play on the iPhone until it overheat and isnd down. Three or four times a week I am worried in the sauna and never forget to take a mobile phone.
[Gambling.ru] and finally: what question in the interview usually annoys you most?
[Cecil Kim] There is one question that everyone is asked, not only the press: how much time I spend on the drawing. The answer is always the same – this, damn it, depends on the drawing itself! Sometimes a few hours, sometimes a whole month. Then the thought leaves me – why do they ask about it why it is so interesting to know this particular? I came to the conclusion that they just want to be measured with brushes.
