Art Tutorials

JP, thanks for taking the time to talk with us again! It’s been a number of years since our last interview. What have you been up to?

Yes, it has been some time since Epilogue interviewed me last and a lot has been going on. One of the main things that happened for me is that I moved to California and started working for NCsoft, the game company responsible for Lineage, Guild Wars, and the soon-to-be released Tabula Rasa. I started at NCsoft as a concept artist and then later on became the Art Director of our LA division– mainly working on Tabula Rasa. One of the other new things I’ve been up to is finalizing the recording of a Gnomon Workshop art training DVD series. I also got married and will be a dad come January, so I’m psyched about that :)

You recently became the Art Director at NCsoft. Can you give us an idea of what your responsibilities are as an Art Director?

Well, I am new to Art Directing, and its been a roller coaster ride for me. I’ve learned a lot. I think one of the main responsibilities is making sure the art is up to specs for the product and making sure the client’s needs are met. Depending on the project, it’s important for the Art Director, and his or her team, to be able to present a unique vision (or visions) for new projects and insure there is consistency in style and quality once in production. This will range from color keys to environment mood paintings to character and creature designs– in other words anything visual.

What is the most challenging aspect of directing other talented artists?

One of the most challenging things for me is to practice patience. All artists work at different speeds and with different techniques. The challenge is to harness their talents collectively and be able to channel that into the style and quality of the project. One of the things I try to stress to many artists starting out in the game industry is that they need to be flexible with their style. Like film, the gaming industry is always pushing the envelope in technology in the areas of creativity, realism and detail, so concept artists who can push those 3 things in their work will be better prepared for the needs of the industry. So a good balance of style and quality is always best, and that is the challenge for both AD and concept artist.

Before your move into the video game industry you were a successful freelance artist with numerous book covers under your belt. Do you still find time to do illustration work?

Sure, I make the time. I still do covers when I can, and I will continue as long as work comes my way. I am very glad to be able to do both concept and illustration.

Was it a difficult transition from freelance artist to “company man�?

The transition was very hard, you just don’t get the free time to explore your own art, and your social life gets pushed to the side at times. Weekends are all you have to spend time with your family, its a tough deal. At some point, sooner then later, I will once again return to freelancing and pursuing my own projects, but over all it’s been a great learning experience.

As a concept artist, do you find it difficult to continually come up with new ideas and unique concepts?

Being a concept artist is a lot of fun when you are given free reign over your designs, but when too many cooks get at it, it’s a bad situation and many revisions can crush your starting idea. I don’t know why but I’ve always had a bottomless pool of ideas. I don’t consider my ideas or concepts to be anything grand, just my own. I try to use as little reference as possible to insure that. The ideas just never stop, my mind keeps producing them, for good or worse.

You have a Gnomon instructional DVD coming out soon. Can you give us a little preview?

Sure, the DVD will be out soon, I’m still finalizing it as we speak. All the video recording is done. The series will most likely be 3 DVD’s and will go through the step-by-step process I use to do an illustration. These techniques deal with creating an image purely from scratch, with the aid of only your imagination. All artists in game, film or the illustration fields will hopefully find this most useful. The tools range from traditional markers, to oil paints, to Photoshop. I am very excited about it and looking forward to it’s completion very soon!

What other great things can we expect from you in the future?

Well, as I mentioned I’d like to go back to freelancing. Art Direction is fun and maybe I will do that again on some later project of my own. For now, I want to do my own graphic novel, and push my art skills, and get better at drawing and painting. I think I have a few decent years of creating art left in me :). I’m really looking forward to some time for myself and family, and hopefully meet up with you and the Epilogue gang again sometime soon at Dragoncon.

Thanks as always, Chad. Epilogue is still the premiere place to find the best fantasy art, sci-fi art, and horror art on the ‘net. I’ll will be back to posting shortly.

Check out more of JP Targete’s art at http://www.targeteart.com and get a copy of his art book, Illumina – The Art of JP Targete