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Brian Thompson谈如何成为出色的游戏美术人员

发布时间:2014-06-12 14:46:48 Tags:,,,

作者:Nielson

在本篇专访中,Brian Thompson(游戏邦注:Big Fish Studios美术总监,曾在《Drawn》系列和《FETCH》等冒险游戏中发挥重要作用)分享了自己的成为一名成功的游戏美术师的职业生涯,以及一些关于如何创造高质量作品的建议。

你成为美术人员以及Big Fish Studios美术总监的路径是什么?你的职业生涯如何形成?

我小时候就喜欢画画。除了跟哥哥和我们的狗疯闹,画画算是我的第二大爱好了。我们喜欢假装成野人,我们因CS Lewis、Silverstein、Sendak、Seuss和Tolkien这种出色的故事人而对冒险产生了热爱。我成天埋头研究这些故事,并画了许多图。我的视觉故事感就是源自这种爱好。

在高中时,我遇到了一些很棒的老师,他们为我指明了艺术方向。我的美术老师为我开启了插画艺术的大门,让我见识了一些杰出的手绘美术技巧。我毕业时仍然不能确定自己的追求目标,但还是进入大学继续寻找。回首过去,我相似正是我早期的信念以及对故事的热爱,让我最终放弃在华盛顿大学的博雅教育,转而申请了艺术中心设计学院的插画和娱乐设计专业。

在艺术中心设计学院,我专注于传统绘画、油画、故事板和视觉开发等领域。这里有世界级的老师授课,伴有繁重的课业。这种经历对我来说是无价的,在此我遇到了许多后来成为我职业合作伙伴和好友的杰出之人。我由此毕业时就出售了一幅油画,并且获得了电子游戏《Spy Kids 2》的一份关于角色设计的工作。我认为自己已经算大功告成,但这种情况持续了3个月左右,现实打击让我意识到自己必须有一份真正的工作。我开始接手多种关于娱乐设计的工作,例如迪士尼授权的插画,以及滑雪游戏的概念设计。最红后我在Santa Monica的一家插图工作室Picture Plane Imaging落脚,在此我真正领教了商业插画及工作室日程方面的情况。这两年过得很美妙,之后我又动身去了奥克兰与我妻子会合(她那时刚完成在密尔斯学院的硕士学位)。我获得了概念美术师的工作,并成了一个小型游戏创业团队Pirate Games的美术负责人。但我在游戏方面所做的工作实在不算多,所以我的作品集中多数插画和故事板作品。一年后该公司陷入了经济困难,我们夫妻二人就考虑迁回西雅图组建家庭。

当时碰巧有位好友在Surreal Software参与一个项目,他们需要一名场景概念美术师。我就接了这份工作,之后两年就为一款名为《This Is Vegas》的大型游戏效力。我的职业生涯在Surreal这里才真正算是获得突破。在美术总监Wayne Laybourn(游戏邦注:现在是Big Fish美术总监)的指导下,我成了那里的领导并第一次开始成为管理人员。我与一些杰出的美术师和成员共事,并迅速获得成长。我女儿在2010年12月出生,我开台觉得有必要进行一些改变,并投身于一些更为家庭友好型的项目。当时有一名之前的同事Jeff Haynie联系我为Big Fish Games做一份外包工作,我当时就应允下来。这是一份有趣的工作,主要是为Big Fish旗下游戏《Mystery Case Files》进行角色设计和绘图。我在两份工作之间奔忙,但我也确信这两份工作都做得很开心。我全力以赴并获得了回报,Big Fish的Pat Wylie后来联系我担任一个新项目的美术总监。

第一年过得艰难,此时我要掌握如何招聘一支团队以及之后如何领导他们。游戏设计在身份和故事方面出现了一些问题,它似乎走错了方向。此时我与Chris Campbell组成的团队需决定修复当前游戏的问题还是用6个月时间制作一款新游戏。我们选择制作一款全新的游戏。大约在6年前我主导和参与了4个项目的设计,它们分别是《The Drawn Adventure series- The Painted Tower》、《Dark Flight》、《Trail of Shadows》和很棒的手机游戏《Fetch》。我很幸运能够与这样一支由很好的合作伙伴Chris Campbell、Peter Yiap、Sean Richer、 Hamzah Kasom Osman、Soi Che、Rebecca Coffman、Michael Baran、Ryan Hoaglan所组成的梦之队共事。在《Drawn》系列中,我们很幸运又有了出色的程序员Rachel Weil入伙,而《Drawn 3》以及《Fetch》开发早期,又得到了出色的绘画师Ted Galaday。

Team-Fetch2(from bigfishgames)

Team-Fetch2(from bigfishgames)

游戏美术人员的日常工作如何?它与美术总监的职责有何不同?

这里并没有一个统一的标准。这种日常工作可能受到许多因素的影响。例如在一个项目初级,我们就是处于“蓝天”阶段,也就是试验时期,并围绕天马行空的理念进行讨论,绘画和探索。此时我们通常会有一个游戏类型和故事的计划,但这种规划很松散,并且如果在发生新理念时也可以进行更改。这个阶段我会尽量确定游戏风格,并与Chris合作完善游戏设计和故事。Chris通常会首先布置好机制的基本框架,而我大部分时间则是思考故事元素,有趣的场景和美术风格。但是,我们也会有组织地交换和分享这些任务。

我们团队的一个独特之处在于,我们真的很团结。Chris、Peter和我都是领导,但大家都会出主意,并且在项目中都有各自的投入。我们都知道出色的理念可能来自任何时间任何出处。优秀团队的标准就是能够抓住灵光突现的时刻并着手行动。

当我们确定核心机制、视觉风格和故事的基本轮廓时,我们开始创造一个概念证明或原型,确保我们的理念完善并与同事、其他股东包括管理层交叉审核这些想法。这里需要考虑包括项目是否符合我们的整体作品风格、目标用户以及风险等因素。如果一切顺利,我们就会进入制作阶段,也就是真正开始创造游戏。此时我会有一个关于视觉风格和游戏感觉的可靠想法,将会对此制作一些关键美术内容、故事板和色彩脚本等,这将形成美术小组的指导方向。

HYdrantconcept(from bigfishgames)

HYdrantconcept(from bigfishgames)

之后我会开始为动画师(Rebecca和Mike) 、插画师(Hamzah和Soi)布置美术任务。对于插画任务,我会与美术人员坐下来一起讨论关于游戏的“场景”或“关卡”的任务。我通常会为场景创造一个色彩概念草图,并列出一些必要的玩法元素,以及一个简短的故事描述,这样美术师就会理解其中的情境。因为我们的游戏是2D的,所以我们要绘制从背景到道具,UI和图标的一切场景内容。

在开发《Fetch》过程中,其角色和动画是由Mike和Rebecca用3D创造的。作为美术总监我很乐于看到每个美术师如何理解我所设定的风格。我的工作是引导美术人员学习核心形体语言以及特定项目的渲染风格。没有哪两个美术人员是完全一样的,但整个游戏的美术内容却必须保持一致的风格。这并非易事,但这些美术人员极为出色。当他们很好地理解任务时,就会开始创造更紧凑的概念草图,列出细节并且乐在其中。之后美术人员就会确定最终的照明和色彩细节。在这一过程中我也会插入讨论一些环节。我会给予一些评论以保持项目保持正轨,并帮助解决一些视觉问题或者挑战。但美术人员可以自由创作。对我来说重要的是让他们觉得全身心投入自己的绘画创作中。他们每个人都会以自己的方式完成作品。

另一个值得一提的独特之处在于,因为我们的团队在工作室中很小,除了对于游戏视觉和设计的美术指导,并与Chris合作创造故事,同作曲人就音乐和音效进行合作之外,我还要为游戏创造大量的产品艺术。

这是我最喜欢的工作元素之一。我并不想只仅仅管理一个项目,我想继续画画,因为这一直是我的激情所在。我可以说在Big Fish这些日子里,通常有60%时间用于美术指导,管理和游戏设计,有40%用于创造产品艺术。我越久不画画,就越容易烦燥。

优秀游戏美术师的特点?

最重要的是,我们都需要个性化投入自己的工作,这是第一要务。这对于美术人员的健康和发展来说太重要了。优秀游戏美术人员还应该是那种可能思考和创意性解决问题的人,能够开放地沟通并自我表达的人,能够根据现成模型及时创造出可靠产品艺术的人。但个性化投入是成功和快乐的关键。我们所有人都必须感觉自己在投身于特殊的事情,我们在制作一种讲述玩家可能会在项目发布后沉迷若干年的故事艺术。

storyboard(from bigfishgames)

storyboard(from bigfishgames)

对于那些想成为游戏美术师的新人,你有什么建议呢?

跟随你的激情,做自己所爱的事情。我曾听到Ray Bradbury说过,“每天写作,写你所爱的事物。如果你喜欢马,那就写马。但每天都要写作。”我经常看到一些充斥着看起来与市场上现有的东西很相似的作品集,有些甚至是与美术人员兴趣不甚相关的作品。如果你想设计主题公园,那就要在你的作品集中体现这一点。

另外多样性也很重要。要训练绘画所有事物的能力。这将有助于你顺利完成任何任务,并能够准确根据自己的想象绘画。绘画来源于生活——可以绘画风景、植物、人物、动物、火车,只要是你眼睛所看到的东西都能入画。

确保自己通过训练和抓住每次学习机会追求目标。要善于把握新机遇,并且要能够参与那些可能不是你所熟悉领域的项目。

可以通过寻找网络教程或与其他美术人员联系,向他人取经。你会发现这些人很平易近人。不要害羞。要努力建立人脉。如果你还是艺术院校的学生,不妨多交些朋友并与他人合作。这些人可能会成为你的终身职业伙伴,并成为你整个职业生涯的新机遇来源。

成为游戏美术师还有哪些另辟蹊径的方法?

现在有网络你可以找到许多唾多可得的方法和技巧,但我最好的建议就是离开电脑。走出户外,绘画,与其他美术人员交流,试试丙烯画、水彩画、钢笔画、油画、雕刻等传统媒介。你的美术创作越有触感,你对于绘画技巧、纹理和过程的肌肉记忆和肢体感觉就越强,这将是你今后职业生涯中数字或传统创作形式的宝贵财富。

说实话,我希望自己能够创造更多实体非数字艺术。我很怀念以前手拿画笔的感觉,也怀念把自己的作品弄得一团糟的经历。我有一个目标就是返回这些根源。但生活所迫,你得有一份工作,可能要组建一个家庭,突然间你的时间都没有了。所以现在就要将他视为一个重点,将其视为与吃饭睡觉同等重要的事情。如果你认为自己喜欢做,那就去做。这些也是存在我脑海中的世界,我们都必须去做自己所热爱的事情,不要再为自己寻找开脱的理由了。

AlleyBeast(from bigfishgames)

AlleyBeast(from bigfishgames)

你有没有一些关于如何让游戏美术师在日常工作或职业中跳得更高一点的独家技巧?

我还真希望自己有,但不幸的是没有。但我的确有一些自认为有用的技巧。首先就是要专注于基本的绘画和优秀的插图。

许多年轻的美术师都曾听到前辈所说的“找到自己的风格!”这种忠告。让我们面对现实吧,这种命令可能具有麻痹性!我没有自己的风格!那我还有出路吗?

但我们不妨这样看,与其担忧自己没风格,不如将时间用于通过练习自己所爱的风格来提升个人技巧。记住Bradbury的话,“每天写作!”除了练习没有其他捷径。你熬夜努力解决自己的问题最终会让你发展出个人“风格”。不要操之过急,也不要对自己要求太苛刻了。

drawing(from bigfishgames)

drawing(from bigfishgames)

最后,要用你的美术作品讲故事。不要只是“制作好看的东西”。许多美术人员能够迅速作画,你所要做的只是花10上网找一些灵魂支离破碎的人才。没错,他们的确很优秀,但要记住这些美术人员都在自己的旅途上,他们也像你一样有自己要处理的问题。我相信如果你上网去找,你最能够回应的作品一定是那些能够唤起情感,扣动你心弦,让你获得一些崇高意境的作品。想想我在之前所说的美术人员可用的基本方法,你会发现每个元素的用法都有所不同,但最强大的美术人员会勇敢使用这些工具。这种无畏来自对基础知识的理解以及大量的训练。你越是能够大胆表达自我,你的作品就越可能绽放异彩。

原文发表于2013年10月18日,所涉事件及数据以当时为准。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转载,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

How to Become a Successful Game Artist

- Interview with Brian Thompson, Big Fish Studios Art Director

Posted by Niels on October 18, 2013

In this interview Brian Thompson talks about his own career, about traits of a successful game artist, and some advice and tips on producing quality work when creating game art. Brian Thompson works as Art Director at Big Fish Studios and has been in the lead role for adventure games such as the Drawn series and FETCH. Throughout the article his artwork will be shown.

What was your path to becoming a game artist and now Art Director at Big Fish Studios? How has your career formed itself so far?

I loved drawing as a kid, it was my second favorite thing to do besides running around with my brother and our dogs on a 5 acre piece of land we called “The Trails”. We loved pretending and we were wild. This love of adventure was fed by great storytellers like CS Lewis, Silverstein, Sendak, Seuss and Tolkien. With my nose deep in these stories and my hand drawing all the time, my sense of visual storytelling began to take form.

In high school I had a small handful of amazing teachers that were integral in helping me find my artistic way.  My art teacher opened my eyes to the rich history of illustration while showing me the wonderful techniques of dirty, hands-on art making. When I graduated I still wasn’t sure what I was seeking, but I headed off to college to find it nonetheless.  Looking back now, I believe it was my early love of make-believe and storytelling that eventually made me leave my liberal arts education at the University of Washington and apply to Art Center College of Design to study illustration and entertainment design.

At Art Center I focused on traditional drawing and painting, storyboarding and visual development. I was taught by world class teachers and had a rigorous workload. The experience was priceless for me and I met so many great people that would go on to be professional contacts and friends for my whole life. I graduated from Art Center and right away sold a painting and got a job doing character designs for a Spy Kids 2 video game. I thought I was off and running! Well that lasted for about 3 months when reality hit and I had to get a real job. I went on to do various jobs in entertainment design from Disney licensed art for an established illustrator to concept design on a snowboarding game. When the work dried up I even did bookkeeping for a swanky Pasadena restaurant. I eventually landed at an illustration studio in Santa Monica called Picture Plane Imaging. It was here that I really learned about the business of commercial illustration and studio deadlines. It was a great two years. Then I headed up to Oakland to be with my wife who was finishing up a master’s degree at Mills College. I got a job as a concept artist and art lead at a small game start up called Pirate Games.  The work I had done in games really didn’t amount to much so my portfolio was largely just illustrations and storyboards. After a year the company was falling on hard financial times and my wife and I were considering moving back to Seattle to start a family.

It turned out that a friend of mine was working on a project at Surreal Software and they needed an environment concept artist. I got the job and then dedicated the next two years and countless concepts to a massive game called This Is Vegas.  It was at Surreal where my career really underwent an evolution. Under the guidance of my art director, Wayne Laybourn, (now fellow art director here at Big Fish) I became a lead there and started managing people for the first time.  I worked with some amazing artists and great people and I grew and matured as a person.  My daughter, Cora, was born in December of 2010 and I started feeling the urge to make a change and work on something a little more family friendly. Around that time a former coworker, Jeff Haynie, contacted me about doing a contract job for Big Fish Games where he was working. Of course, I said yes. It was a fun job doing character designs and paintings for their flagship title Mystery Case Files. I worked my butt off between two jobs but I made sure that both were happy. I gave it my all and it paid off because after that job, Pat Wylie from Big Fish contacted me about art directing a new project.

The first year was a tough one as I learned how to recruit and hire a team and then how to lead them.  The game design had some issues mainly around identity and story and it just wasn’t going in the right direction.  That is when I was teamed up with Chris Campbell to either fix the current game or make a new one in 6 months.  We chose to stick our necks way out there and make a brand new game.  That was almost 6 years ago and in that time I have art directed and co-designed four fantastic projects: The Drawn Adventure series- The Painted Tower, Dark Flight, and Trail of Shadows, and the wonderful mobile game Fetch. I have had the great fortune to work with a true dream team which now consists of my partner in crime, the über-talented Chris Campbell, the coder dynamo Peter Yiap, the wooly and wild Sean Richer, the pun-tastic painter Hamzah Kasom Osman, the drawing machine Soi Che, the animation wizard Rebecca Coffman, the animated animator Michael Baran, and the quiet comic Ryan Hoaglan. For the Drawn series we were lucky to have the great programming talents of Rachel Weil on the team as well, and for Drawn 3 and the beginning of Fetch, the amazingly talented painter Ted Galaday.

What does a day look like for a game artist? Is it different than what the Art Director does?

There really isn’t one standard. A given day will be shaped by many factors. For instance in the beginning of a project, we are in the “blue sky” phase which is a time to experiment, have crazy discussions around wild ideas, and to draw and paint and explore. We usually have a plan for the type of game and the story at this point but the plan is very loose and can change at any moment if a new idea is uncovered. This is a time when I am trying to define the style for the game while working with Chris to flesh out the game design and story.  Chris will often take the lead in beginning to lay out the foundational architecture of the mechanics while I spend most of my time thinking about story hooks, interesting scenarios and artistic style. However, we often flip-flop, trading and sharing these tasks organically. A very unique thing about our team is that we are truly collaborative. While Chris, Peter and I are the leads, everyone contributes ideas and has a personal stake and investment in the project. We all know that great ideas can come from anywhere at any time. The mark of a great team is to be able to catch that lighting in a bottle and do something with it.

Once we have identified the core mechanic, visual style, and basic outline of the story we begin creating a proof of concept or prototype to insure our ideas are sound and to cross check them with our peers and the other stakeholders including the management.  Many things need to be considered including how the project fits into our overall portfolio, target audience, risk factors etc.. Assuming this goes well, we then proceed to production which is the actual building of the game. By this time I will have a fairly firm idea as to the visual look and feel of the game and will have created some pieces of key art, storyboards, color scripts etc., which form the guidelines for the art team.

I then begin to lay out art tasks for the animators (Rebecca and Mike) and the illustrators (Hamzah and Soi). For an illustration task I will sit down with the artist and go over the task which will generally be a “scene” or “level” of the game. I usually will have created a color concept sketch of the scene along with a list of required game play elements, and a brief description of the story so the artists understand the context. Since our games are 2D we paint and draw everything in the environments from backgrounds to props, to UI and icons.

In the case of FETCH, the characters were created and animated in 3D by Mike and Rebecca. What I love about being an art director is seeing how each artist interprets the style I have set forth. It is my job to guide and steer the artists to learn the core shape language and rendering style of the given project. No two artists’ work is identical but the art should feel consistent across the game.  This is not always easy but the artists are amazing and immensely capable. Once they have a good understanding of the task they begin by doing a tighter concept sketch, working out the details and having fun with it.  A color comp will follow in which the artist determines the final lighting and color details. Along the way I will stop by and we’ll chat about the piece. I’ll give little comments to keep the piece on track and to help solve any visual problems or challenges, but the artists have a ton of freedom to craft the piece. It is important for me that they each feel invested in their paintings, that it be their piece. Each of them lovingly brings their artwork to final in their own way.

Another unique thing worth mentioning is that since our teams are small in Studios, in addition to art directing the visuals and designing the game with Chris and co-creating the story, working with musicians on the music and sound effects, I also create a lot of production art for the game.

This is one of the elements of my job that I love the most.  I did not want to just manage a project, I wanted to keep painting and drawing since that has always been my passion. I would say in my time here at Big Fish, I generally fluctuate around 60% art direction, management, and game design and 40% creating production art. The longer I go without drawing and painting the grumpier I get. :)

What are the traits of a good game artist?

Most importantly, we all need to be personally invested in our work, so that is number one. This is so significant to the health and growth of an artist. A good game artist is also someone who can think and creatively problem solve, who is open and communicative and will express their opinions, and who can create solid production art on model and on time.  But personal investment is the key to being successful and happy. All of us need to feel that we are contributing to something special, and that we are making art to tell a larger story that the player will enjoy for years and years after the project launches.

What would be some of your advice if someone wanted to become a game artist and was to start from scratch?

Follow your passion and do what you love. I once heard Ray Bradbury say, “Write every day and write about what you love. If you love horses, then write about horses. But write every day.”  I often see portfolios that are full of art that looks similar to what is already out there and sometimes does not even contain pieces that are aligned with artist’s interests. If you want to design theme parks, then absolutely find a way to get that kind of work in your portfolio.

Also it is important seek out variety. Practice drawing and painting all kinds of things. This will give you essential skills to tackle any task and also draw believably from imagination the things you love.  Draw from life – draw landscapes, plants, people, animals at the zoo, trains in the train yard, you see it, draw it.

Make sure that you are pursuing your goals by practicing and learning at every opportunity. Be open to new opportunities and take on projects or tasks that might be outside of your comfort zone.

Learn from other artists by finding them online and reaching out to them. You’d be surprised at how approachable and kind these people are.  Don’t be shy.  Work hard and make connections. If you are in art school, then make friends, be outgoing and collaborate with others. These people will go on to be lifelong professional contacts and will be the source of new opportunities for you throughout your career.

What would be some of the off the beaten path approaches to becoming a game artist?

With every trick and tip at your fingertips online, the best advice I would give is to actually get off of the computer.  Go out, draw, meet up with other artists, and experiment with traditional mediums like acrylics, watercolors, pen and ink, oils, screen-printing, wood working, sculpture. The more tactile your art making the more you will develop muscle memory and physical awareness about techniques, textures and process that will be invaluable in your career going forward should you work digitally or traditionally.

Honestly, I wish that I still did more physical non-digital art. I miss the feeling of a brush in my hand and I miss making messes and getting dirty in my art. If I have one big goal it is to get back to these roots.  Life happens and you get a job and maybe start a family and all of a sudden the time to do your own thing is gone. So make it a priority now, put it on the same level as eating and sleeping.  If you think you love to do it, then do it.  These are the words that are in my head too. We all need to do what we love and stop finding ways to block or sabotage ourselves.

Do you have any ninja skills or secret tips that would make a game artist jump a little higher on the trampoline in the daily work or career?

Ha! I wish I had ninja skills. Sadly no, but I do have some tips that I think could be useful. First off, concentrate on the fundamentals of art making and good illustration.

[Brian provided us with a set of very concrete game artist tips, check them out here.]

Many young artists are also told to “Find your Style!”  Let’s be honest, this command can be paralyzing. Gulp! I don’t have a style! What will become of me?!

But look at this way, the time you spend worrying about your style is time that you could spend developing your own personal voice through practicing what you love. Remember Bradbury’s words, “write every day”. There will never be a substitute for practice and mileage. It is those late nights when you are working and pushing through a problem that you make the essential discoveries about yourself that will ultimately grow into your “style”. Don’t rush it and don’t be so damn hard on yourself.

Lastly, tell stories in your art. Don’t just “make cool stuff.” Many artists can paint like the wind; all you have to do is look online for 10 seconds to find soul-crushing talent. Yes they are good – very, very good. But don’t let this get you down. Remember those artists are on their own journey and they struggle with things just like you do. When you do look online, I guarantee you that the art you respond to the most will be art that is evocative, art that moves you, and makes you feel something whether it be humor, epic grandeur, sublime dreaminess, violent aggression etc… Think of the way the artists have used the fundamentals I talked about above. You’ll find each element used differently, but the strongest artists use those tools boldly. That boldness comes from an understanding of the fundamentals and a lot of practice. The more boldly you express yourself the more your own work will sing.(source:bigfishgames


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