Interview With Moni Jay 2013

I was recently given the opportunity to have my first interview this week, conducted by aspiring journalist and writer Moni Jay. And here it is. Enjoy.

               

Interview with Freelance Concept Artist, Clayton Barton

1.      How did you get started as a concept artist? Share a little bit about yourself?

Concept art was something I fell into because I liked to draw. I figured if I want to draw and I want to paint I could get into illustration for books and games. Originally I wanted to do art for comic books, but the demand for artists in the comic industry has declined in the last few years, so instead I worked hard on improving my skills and concentrated on my own artwork.

2.      What are the challenges that an artist would normally face when starting a freelance career, and how did you overcome them?

When starting out, there are a lot of freelance artists who may become discouraged, generally because they don’t know what to expect. A lot of freelance artists will often do work for companies literally for nothing for the opportunity of getting their name and artwork out there. But after a while you’ll say to yourself, ‘hey I should be getting paid for the effort I put into this project, even if the project is never released.’ So eventually I started writing my own contracts, which is something a lot of professional freelance artists do.

3.      There is a lot of advice on concept art forums about what a successful portfolio looks like. What would be an ideal portfolio if you were in a position to review someone else’s work?

Your portfolio shows off your skill and shows that you can work with a variety of styles. A client may ask for something more stylized or they may want something more simplified, or maybe even something more realistic depending on the project. The artist has to be prepared for anything, especially a freelance artist because they have to get work wherever they can and on many different projects in different industries.

4.      The life of an aspiring artist is a relentless learning process. Artists inspire each other all the time on online communities such as Deviant Art and concept.org. Outside of online sites, where else would a young artist be looking for inspiration?

There are a lot of art courses and tutors that can teach and inspire young artists. But my best suggestion would be Gaming conventions, or any kind of art convention, whether its Comicon or BlizzCon, and there are often open seminars that are held where an aspiring artist can learn and be inspired by other artists. Conventions are a good source of information and networking in the industry.

5.      Now with huge blockbuster games in production what is the competition like in the concept art industry at the moment?

There is always competition in any industry. There are big-name artists out there with excellent skill who constantly get work. If your new to industry it can sometimes be hard for you to break through, but at the same time there are smaller companies who provide opportunities for young freelance artists.

6.      The concept art industry is forever changing. How important is the concept artist’s role in the future?

A concept artist’s artwork often determines the overall design and look of a game, a movie or a character. They can determine the environment, and how the characters look in that environment. As the artist you are creating an entire world from your imagination.

7.      How would you see 3D art evolving in the next five to ten years?

Artists will always be needed in the industry, but that doesn’t mean the methods and the tools in which they use won’t change. Programs like ZBrush, 3DSMax and other programs that produce digital media provide new methods of design, and are becoming more popular and more effective in the industry.

8.      You have been a freelance concept artist for a few years now. What was it that made you decide to be a teacher, and how would you manage both.

What I like about teaching is I see how my knowledge can help other people. When I acquired a certain skill, naturally I wanted to share my knowledge with aspiring artists, so when I was offered the opportunity I immediately took it. They work hand-in-hand and I will often draw and paint in my classes and students would learn from the outcome of the artwork, so it was easy for me to balance art and tutoring.

9.      On November 13, 2012, THQ reported that they had defaulted on a $50 million loan from Wells Fargo. One month after the company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, all THQ's properties were auctioned off individually. It was estimated that over 1.09 thousand employees subsequently lost their jobs. How hard will it be now for artists to get a job when up against so many professionals all vying for work in the same industry?

Many employees would have possibly gone into teaching and tutoring, some may have acquired work in other companies. An optimistic way of looking at that situation is a large company can break down into many smaller companies, and this actually provides more jobs and opportunities for artists wanting to get experience in the industry.

10.  After working on projects such as the iphone game ‘Speed Blazers’ and a full 3-D simulation game for Occupational Health and Safety in the workplace, what does the future hold for you?

After working on various projects, I would see them all as a beginning of something larger. I look at all projects as a learning experience to prepare me for the future. The Occupational Health and Safety game was one of the first projects I worked on with a team of other artists. I met challenges I had to overcome, such as working to a schedule and working in a team environment. Speed Blazers was the first iphone game I worked on, and during its development I felt I was a part of the company and that company’s future.

11.  If you had to go back in time and tell the young Clayton Barton two important things, when he was first getting started, what would they be?

Don’t be a hermit. Remember the other important things in life like friends and relationships. You can hide away in a basement drawing and painting all day, and have no life outside your work, but networking and communication is important. An artist’s inspiration is acquired by seeing the world.

12.  If you had a message to share with other talented artists, what would it be?

Be dedicated to yourself and your work, especially if you’re an aspiring artist. The more time and effort you put into developing your skill the better you’ll get, and the better you are the more you’ll want to do it.

Thank you very much Clayton for your time, and now I ask at the end of our interview where can people go to find out more about your work?

My email is, claytonbarton.art@hotmail.com and blog is, claytonbartonartBlogspot.com.au.

http://www.claytonbartonartist.com/

The Technique Solidifies

My poor blog, how I have neglected you. But alas, I have been working away diligently into 2013, with just a couple things to show for it. It's been an interesting start to the year, with a few personal realisations coupled with growth and understanding as I transit into a more mature, grounded adult and begin to know and understand myself as an individual even more so then I did before.

But who cares! We want to hear about the art.

The art, oh the art. Well actually it's going pretty well, and I'm enjoying the comfy ride for now to be honest. Whatever it was I stressed over, colour, value, anatomy, etc, although it's still not the definition of perfection, it seems to have sunken in through practice and dedication. Until that is, my feathers are ruffled by the realty that there is still such a gargantuan smorgasbord of things still left to learn, great powers still yet to be harnessed.

There's a few main paintings I've been working on, I just need to kick my ass into gear to see those finished (which I'll post when they're finely completed). Besides that it's been lots of character designs and a bit of practice here and there. Character designs that I've been coming up with during my class demos. I feel now that I have a very solid work flow, one that I am comfortable and happy with.

This work flow, for me, was something I needed to figure out for myself. I could have emulated someone else, but my belief is that an artists workflow has a lot to do with their personal style. Because it takes a while to develop a technique that you're truly comfortable with, a technique that you know 99% of the time you'll be able to execute with confidence. Which really, when you think about it is so important when it comes to working in a studio or as a freelance artist. You don't want to be sitting there trying to figure out how you're going to construct your idea, that should be the easy part, the idea itself is what you want to be focusing on. Well, later on at least, once you've got those fundamentals down. In the end, the fundamentals, the technique, the work flow, these are all just tools that you're able to use to present an idea. Know how to use the tools, and your only obstacle then is, figuring out the idea you want to construct with them.

So workflow, and technique. Pretty much the same thing. But for now, how did I solidify it? In my opinion I believe it had a lot to do with me being able to simplify the complications of drawing, colors, values, painting and rendering in my mind. I took some of the stress, and importance off of me to try to understand more and more about this stuff, and just accepted that the knowledge I have is enough, and now I need to use it; I need to put it into action. Because otherwise at what point would we ever say that we've learned enough, now lets start to create!? We wouldn't because we're artists, and every artist knows this journey is always expanding as we continue to climb to greater heights. But in realizing that, we need to do something with our growth, with that ever expanding knowledge. And in doing this, the knowledge begins to come, not so much from an outside source, but from within, we start to teach our selves through experience. Occasionally, we'll go back to second hand knowledge, to studying the world around us and refreshing our minds with the information that outside sources provide, it'd be foolish not to. If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten. But again, there comes that time, when alot of learning comes from within, tying all that we know in together with ourselves.

Goblin Huntress

Simone

Tentilize

Assassin Wizard

http://www.claytonbartonartist.com/

Space Marines

Made up these new concepts for the Luna marines I’m going to use in my next 3D scene. Someone needs to fruitlessly fight off the hideous Muntkey I posted a few months back. I’m thinking I’ll go the third one; it does after all seem to be the choice of the people.

Space Marines

I noticed my motivation and drive recently slipping away as the all too tempting yet subtle procrastination began to take up more and more precious hours of would be productivity. I just didn’t feel like doing any art work. Ah yes, this battle is known to many creative souls, the battle to keep up the energy and motivation to constantly create, a battle that must be won if one hopes to keep a job in that which he loves most. But it’s always so hard to push yourself when you just aren’t in the mood to do something.

Here’s what I discovered though. Is that, if one does bite the bullet and really sit down and just push themselves to do the work or practice they know they need to do, that drive and motivation slowly starts to regenerate, at least in my experience. It’s odd, and it kinda sucks because in a way you need the right kind of motivation in the first place in order to express your creativity, but I do have a theory. I think, at the end of the day, as people, we want to conserve energy. We want to be lazy in other words, doing only the things that need to be done and not the things that should be done. Ideally, that’s the way we work, at least biologically. But, the brain can be tricked into overcoming this. How? Well by sitting down and literally forcing yourself to do something, after a while your brain will stop resisting and actually want to do it. Your brain will stop resisting because it wants to take the easy way out, it wants to be lazy and just go with the flow, so it’ll do as it’s told after a while. The brain says to itself, “hey, this guy keeps on drawing despite thinking he doesn’t want to… He actually does want to, and he’s being stubborn, so I’ll accommodate that and stop resisting, cause that’s the easier alternative.”

Okay. It’s a bit of a crazy way of looking at it, but it seems to work for me and maybe for you (if you too happen to be going through a dry patch). Once I jump in the deep end and just get into it, sure I’m not gonna suddenly change my mind over half hour or even an hour, give me a night though, or a couple of days and I’ll be right in the zone again. Our brain, basically loves to do what it does most. So if you haven’t drawn or whatever in a while, you’re not gonna feel like it until you do (or that sudden burst of inspiration you’ve been waiting months for eventually rocks up).

Enough ranting. And onto some awesome news! Getting a new PC 4 times more powerful then the PC I have now, meaning 4 times the resolution and 4 times the polygons! A much needed upgrade that has been on the agenda for a while now. This also means more video tutorials aswell, especially over the Summer break. So keep a look out for those.

Until next time.

http://www.claytonbartonartist.com/