Research (artist research, design theory) - Paul Richards Interview and Website

Paul Richards, concept artist from Seattle, WA, USA.

Worked at 3D Realms, id Software, Vigil Games, Blizzard Entertainment among others.
Website: www.autodestruct.com

Interview with Skillpoint School (link)


Key Points

• Other important skills that helped him - time management, communication (verbal, written), managing expectations (own and others), knowing when to and not to be vocal.
• Choose to work with good people - pushing you, holding you to higher standard. People make the difference.
• Making sound effects when you pitch stuff - fun
• There are 'hacky' solutions
• Teaching to learn
• The rendering is far less important than the idea - or it SHOULD be. 
• Still a big focus on 'prettiness' of an image rather than concept
• Likes to get in on brainstorming phase - gets input and becomes a driving force.You determine your level of involvement - don't just get tasks; make them, shape them, steer them in ways interesting to you.
• Prove that you are a mind, not a wrist.
• Visual style vs ideas: delivery of ideas through sensible and enjoyable methods. So visual rendering style doesn't. Don't quite understand this one, come back to it later.
• The better solution is always out there - elusive.
• Thumbnailing is idea mining and idea refining
• Presenting a few odd-numbered thumbs rather than a page full of thumbs. Whittling down to 3-5 max.
• Artist's block or lack of inspiration - find something personal to shoehorn into it. Use it as an excuse to work on composition, tones or colour, or your knowledge of the subject matter. Find a part of it that interests you and gain something out of it. Then get out quick and move on to the next task!
• Having ideas and expressing them clearly and eloquently is key.
• Let yourself flounder and flop - it's ok to be human.

Suggested further reading:

• 'The Art Spirit' by Robert Henri
• Andrew Loomis
• 'Drawn to Life' vols. 1 and 2 by Walt Stanchfield
• Industry peers can teach you a lot too

'Thumb Wars' information resource (link)

A long article/resource that deals with the idea of making thumbnails

The Enemies of a Concept Artists and Overcoming them with Thumbnailing

• Internal Enemies
• Uncertainty/Don't know where to begin - 
• Overconfidence - first idea not always best. Thumbnailing organic process, can yield new and interesting results.
• Fear of Commitment - Throwaway images - ideas that don't please you can be thrown away.
• Fear of Failure - risk free to be daring in this phase. Small scale experiments can fail - little time lost. Variety of options for client = hedging bets, back up plan.
• Pressure to Impress - not showpieces. Visual brainstorming. Communicating bare bones info.
• Sloth - tiny, fast, can do them anywhere. Don't approach with same mentality as finished work. Don't need to bogged down with detail and polish. Big shapes, silhouette value, basic readability. Works small = works big.

• External Enemies
• Deadlines - use to structure time. Thumbs and selection process alone and with client help to keep a fluid process and remove unexpected rejections.
• Misleading/Contradictory Direction - verbal communication can be insufficient - thumbs help you and AD to figure stuff out visually before committing.
• Vague/General Direction - opportunity in disguise. Thumbnailing a blue sky opportunity to create many viable solutions. A window to pitch designs. Giving client what they asked for in timely manner, you also have license to improvise.
• Crappy/Mundane Subject Matter - See as challenge - how can I make more interesting, how can I learn from this, improve memory, try new technique? Also trying to make the design not suck, you show the client what they don't want which can be helpful to them.
• Media - use a tool that will help not hinder the thumbnail step. Work small and boldly, don't be precious.

Your ideas and opinions are what make you a good concept artist, not just your ability to exist within a production pipeline. While you may still be in the service, thumbnailing lets you have your say in a non-aggressive way. 

Media: beware of too much freedom - infinite undo and infinite canvas space. Try moving on to a new design rather than constantly editing. Experiment with permanence.

Basic training: Daily rituals for practicing doing it. Concious effort over time becomes subconcious.

"Conscious effort inhibits and jams the automatic creative mechanism."-Maxwell Maltz

Drawing Fundamentals and how they relate to Thumbnailing

Organisation of canvas - suggests a more cluttered approach during the drawing process. Can always uncrowd the drawings later on.

Silhouette - See design as a whole, not as indivudal parts. Does it have interesting cuts (ins and outs)? Squint test - can you still tell what it is. An angle or pose that conveys information - the shape of a claw.

Point of View - choose one that sells your design by making it look dynamic and provides information. Scale cues to show size when necessary.
But hold on - surely the design should be judged on the idea and objective shape itself, not on how well it's presented?
Is it about emphasising the design you'd most like to see refined and playing down the others?

Readability and use of Detail - Strong silhouette + intelligent distribution of detail. 'Snipe' detail into specific places - put where it counts (focal points). Too much will overpower.
Thumbnails: the more detaily ou put early on, the easier taking it further will be. But look mostly at the big stuff - can imply detail as mental notes for later. Detail areas and rest areas.

Connections/Transitions/Caps - good places to put detail. Detail in these areas will add plausibility.

Connections where two similar parts meet

Transitions where one thing stops and another begins

Caps - where a shape terminates

Where muscles end and begin, where a tree meets the ground, where a pole ends, etc.

Rhythm, Gesture, Points of Origin - 'Flow' - Do lines of rhythm lead eye through image, to the focal point(s)? Repetitive detail patterns originating from a distinct point to contribute to flow.

Paul states that the beast head below has four points of origin for rhythmic detail.

I always saw lines of flow as things that should lead us to the focal point and keep the eye within the form - but obviously following this blindly would result in no spikes or outstretched limbs for fear that they would throw the eye away from the design!

If we reverse the direction of eye motion that the arrows seem to show in the image below, we generally have lines that lead us to the head or face of the creature or vehicle designed.

Maybe it's about more LOOSELY controlling the eye instead of doing a full-scale plan of how to intricately lead the eye

Proportions - Playing with the relative scale of different aspects as a way to explore a design. Nudge it as far as it will go before looking ridiculous. Experimenting with 'filling a bounding box' to really push you to enlarge or reduce proportions

Big into Small, Thick into Thin - Variety creates Interest - areas of interest. Contrasting shapes, tapering shapes, varied shapes.

Asymmertry, Symmetry - avoiding a mirrored look - creates variety and interest

Psychology of Shapes - the impression given by shapes. Soft shapes vs angular ones, etc.

Psychology of Value - some local value cues can add character to thumbs. Don't need to do intricate light and shadow though.

Materials - physical makeup of design. Variety of material will increase visual interest. Don't need to address in detail now, but can keep in back of mind and imply in thumbs.

Functionality - Does it look like it could serve it's intended purpose? Don't need to make it perfect in thumbnail, but avoid making choices that would cripple the functionality.

Imperfections - 'fuck it up a little'. Wear and tear, wrinkles, etc, in functional places gives a sense of history, character.

Fuel

Visualisation - Daydreaming, internal dialogue. Try to start with something in mind's eye, even if vague/simple. Put on paper and will spur other ideas and on the fly thinking. Vision will change and branch. New solutions will present. Gone left? Go right. Gone concave? Go convex. Round>pointy. 'To increase variety I should...' what?

Observation, Memory - Active vs passive, visual vocabulary Build a mental library - visual library. Studying photos, drawing from life, and active observation.

Reference - the real thing. Find a balance. Don't want to put too much time into it during thumbs. Less happy accidents if you stick really close to  (or get contaminated by) reference. 'Imaginative approximation' rather than absolute accuracy. Consult it later.

Inspirational images - Riffing on vs ripping off. Taking what you need and leaving what you don't. Interpret it, don't copy it.

Plan from the head, draw from the gut. Use 'tactical strikes' but don't hesitate to act on instinct.

Further reading

• http://timvandevall.com/understanding-comics-by-scott-mccloud/

Things to explore further

• Flow in design
• The red highlighted bit about visual style vs ideas above