http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0bIFEKmxsU
Written interview with Samwise Didier: http://gamingillustrated.com/samwise-didier-interview/
This was a great way of getting into the mind of a concept/3D modeling artist since this video shows the steps that the lead art directer at Blizzard Entertainment "Samwise" takes in order to come up with an idea for a character. It was really inspiring to see him draw a sketch onto paper and then hear his comments on it. Samewise is a very down-to-earth person who enjoys the company of people and has been a visual representative for Blizzard since 1991. In his interview he was asked who he planned to influence with his artwork and Samwise replied that he personally did drawings for himself for the fun of it because he enjoyed it so much. He said he wanted others out there to keep their passions of art with them and maybe eventually land a job doing what they love the most in life. Judging from his answers it is very clear that he cares about people in general and hopes that they can be happy in life, similar to the way he is. He also stated that artists shouldn't ever be concerned about how "perfect" or "realistic" their work is even if they think their perspective is off. He believes that Blizzard would not be what it is today if everything was made in the image of perfection of realism. In order to make something worth while it has to be unique and even unique to one's artistic style. He is basically saying that one should not give up on one's self, and instead embrace one's unique style and perception of a piece of art. The interviewer asked him another question that struck my fancy, and that was "who do you (or any game company) look for to hire?" Samwise replied that they look for the top three things which are, just has to be a great artist, play/have interesting in the games, and in his own words "just being an awesome person." He stated that these types of company don't care as much for amazing college backgrounds, but just being a talented passionate artist. Samwise also said that if someone was looking for a job in this particular field they should practice drawing what they love and what they are interested in, even if it's from a game. He explained that to make one's self better, one should even create characters that are similar to a certain game they love but they could tweak them into being their own creation with a background story to them that they find interesting. I myself am conspiring ideas for a video game I wish to make in the future, a dream you might say. Seeing videos like this helps me bring together my ideas on how to approach something like this as an artist by first designing the characters on paper and then transferring them into the digital world where they will come to life. I have ideas spinning in my head filled with characters that have similar characteristics of characters in games that I have come across, but these are my own and I only wish to take ideas and make them into something I can be proud of. I plan to post pictures of my character sketches and eventually a short video/cinematic of my ideas.
