back
The job with Presto was different than my
freelance work in that it was a studio job
and there were more direct input from the
other people in the studio -- but really it is
the same type of work. You have a problem
and you have to solve it through art. You
need to listen to what people want, but you
have to do it your way and find a solution
that appeals to everyone. There is always
office politics in a Studio Job, and Whacked!
ended up being the last game that Presto
produced before they closed shop.


Have you ever been surprised (good or bad) by how a project has
turned out?
I am surprised anytime a project turns out. There are so many
variables that it could go any way. One image that stands out for me
is one I thought up ten years ago called "Vader's Dream." It was a
piece of fan art I did before my career took off. After seeing Star
Wars: Episode I, I was excited with the possibilities of the new
worlds that Lucas had opened up, but kind of disappointed that I
wasn't the target audience. If I had been ten, I bet it would have
been the awesome. But it is funny to think about Darth Vader as a
kid. And not even a particularly smart or magnetic kid--just
absolutely normal among all the Jedi that we never find out about.
So, a few months after I had seen the film I was sick and had a fever
dream of Darth Vader without his helmet surrounded by dead Jedi
and I started to sketch it as soon as I woke up.




Are you naturally drawn to fantasy and science fiction? If so, why?
I am indeed drawn to fantasy and science fiction. You can only draw so many dog portraits before you want
some kind of escape. And believe me, I know what I am talking about. As to why I am drawn to it, I think it has
to do with what fuels me creatively. It has a lot to do with the era I grew up in, when post-Star Wars in the late
seventies and eighties EVERYTHING seemed to be a science fiction or fantasy property, from novels to comics
to film to television. And as kids we soak up our influences like a sponge. And it didn't hurt that there were a lot
of talented people out there at the top of their games, doing new and interesting things.

What is sad to me is that today there is a homogeny to everything, that rather than try new things or tell new
stories our culture is satisfied with bland, text-based book covers, or computer-manipulated photos in everything
from Greeting Cards to Movie Posters. People are so caught up in the horrors of the world or doing their jobs
that they forget why people live in the first place. To connect. To share ideas. To tell stories. To think out of the
box. To explore. To dream.

Especially to dream. With fantasy and science fiction, you can comment on the world but do it from the safety
of an imagined setting. You can dream up anything you want and let it play out. People forget that all fiction, all
media, is illusion and fantasy. Everything is manipulated and distorted for effect, including "Reality" TV and the
News. But people don't seem to have the imagination anymore to want something that looks fantastic or new.

I do, but I am a dreamer.

What tools could you not work without?
My eyes and hands. Everything else is negotiable.

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I also moved 2,500 miles away from everything I ever knew two weeks before 9/11, which had a profound
effect on me and my mood. The word "homesick" doesn't quite do it justice -- it was physically painful to be
so isolated, even though the people I worked with were fantastic. Had my wife moved with me, or if 9/11
hadn't happened I might have stayed, but who knows? My career might be exactly the same.

Everyone I worked with went on to do great things with other companies. Phil and Anne Saunders got
married and moved to L.A. and she ended up a writer/producer for shows like 24, Battlestar Galactica and
Chuck while Phil is one of the best concept artists in Hollywood, working on films like Zathura, John Carter of
Mars, Iron Man and is working on Tron 2 now.

Deadlines: Good for creativity or bad for productivity? How do you respond to them?
You have to respond to deadlines as what they are, the edges of the box you are working in. Any and all
constraints are good for creativity--it forces you to react and adapt. That is why art orders are so important,
you get the description of what people want and it helps you focus on what is needed. Without knowing the
limitations, you could spend weeks focusing on the wrong thing.
Well, a few revisions later, I had a sketch that was almost like a Mad Fold-In, where not only was Vader sitting
in his isolation pod, his head in his hands and surrounded by dead Jedi, but the design of the image was subtly
based on a Jack-O-Lantern or skull, making the teeth of his isolation pod the teeth of some horrible mouth
swallowing his guilt. I drew the image up in pencil, made a photocopy, then markered the copy and painted
highlights with gouache paint. I was so bowled over by it that I sent the image to TheForce.Net and they put it
up on the website immediately. The response was overwhelming.

I got e-mails every week for years based upon that drawing.

When I was in California working for Presto, I decided to revisit the image so that I had something original with
me for the Star Wars Celebration II convention, which was to be my first convention art show that I exhibited at.
Using the digital techniques I learned while working on the video game, I made it more striking -- using color and
contrast and also included a higher level of detail which included more Jedi and more members of the Jedi
Council. Now I missed a deadline to get it approved as a piece of official art, and couldn't sell it at the show, but
I used it as a marketing tool and gave them away. The response was even more overwhelming at that show and
people still love that version seven years after I drew it and ten years after I drew the original. It has lived on in
interesting ways.

When Lucasfilm put out a magazine about Darth Vader the summer that Episode III came out, one of the
illustrations bears a striking similarity in content and design to that image -- right down to the shape of Vader's
helmet and the struts that are holding it, its placement on the page, everything -- so its influence is being felt even
by people who haven't seen the original image. But, that is what happens with fan art of a licensed property --
you either accept it and move on, or go make your own stuff. Hopefully both!
How do you approach a concept illustration? Do you think the project over for a while, or do you jump right in? Concept design, to me, is a three-part process: Inspiration, Investigation, and Fine Tuning. It is all jumping in,
and you think as you go. Sometimes I might mentally build something in my head before I draw it, but for the most part you just have to sketch your way through the fog until it comes together.


Inspiration is usually when you are casting your net, usually loose concept sketches or paintings and lots of research, looking for visual styles or influences. These sketches are not meant to be anything close to the final
product but are supposed to evoke the feeling you are looking for. Investigation is when your idea is starting to take wing and you have to explore all the avenues of this one particular idea. The sketches get tighter and more refined and you start to imagine how it will look as a final product. Again, there might be more research as you are starting to think about textures and patterns -- or if it is a spaceship that is similar to another spaceship, then you find the elements that need to be repeated between the designs to make them of the same manufacturer or culture.

Fine Tuning is the process where you have the shape, you have the elements, now you have to make it in its
final form. The Final Color, Texture and Technique go into Fine Tuning. You still might do a number of versions
of this image with subtle differences so the client can pick the one they like best, but for the most part it is about
finishing it to the point that it either is used as an illustration or someone can take it and turn it into a product.
Modelers, sculptors or art directors may still adjust or adapt the image, but your part in the process is finished.
What is the most difficult assignment you've ever taken on?
Does this interview count? Every assignment is difficult in its own way. That is the challenge of art -- and the
appeal. For me, if it wasn't challenging, it wouldn't be worth doing.