原文作者：gamesindustry.biz 译者：Megan Shieh

“对我而言，只有一种谋生方式，那就是美术。这是我唯一在行的事，而且我很享受这个过程。”

作为吉隆坡Streamline工作室的首席美术师，马来西亚感觉就像是Steven Stahlberg的家。他喜欢东南亚，也很享受在那里的生活。Stahlberg原本是一名传统的美术插画师，但是在1995年的时候转向了数字美术。

Vainglory(from venturebeat)

他说：“与美术相关的工作有很多种，但是我个人觉得3A游戏是最好的。做游戏也许不像拍电影那样引人注目，但是更持久、更多样化。此外，居住地的选项也更为广泛。”

无论是对美术还是生活，Stahlberg都追求完美，绝不妥协。他会做出选择，并且遵循这些选择。而他的世界观最终把他带到了Streamline工作室，在这样一家工作室里，挑战来得很快。和大多数3A游戏工作室一样，截止日期很紧，预算很重要，要想在这样的环境中蓬勃发展，需要丰富的经验和高度集中的注意力。而这正好是Stahlberg的第二天性。

他说：“对于开发团队而言，第一次会议非常重要。在个人层面上，我会试着‘进入客户的思维’，像他们一样思考，理解他们想要的东西。然后在这个基础上，再添加其他东西。”

“等到我认为差不多的时候，就会开始寻找参考和灵感。互联网无疑是一个绝佳的工具，但是我也会搜索我的记忆。将自己沉浸在创造性的思维中，脑洞大开，把想法用素描的方式记录下来。即使‘画草图’不在我的职责范围内，我也还是会这么做——对我来说，这就像是在做笔记。”

你是怎么决定要做美术师的？很多人都会问他这个问题，但是答案当然不止一个。每位艺术家的道路都像是迷宫，由你自己来选择前进的方向。在这过程中，你会自动过滤掉嘈杂的声音。刚起步的时候，你会听到许多声音，其中的大部分可能都不看好这事儿，但是他们懂个屁？

是艺术选择你，而不是你选择艺术。成为艺术家的道路一直都在那里，等着你去挖掘。艺术家和我们其他人的区别在于：他们看到这条道路的瞬间，就知道这是自己该走的路。

Stahlberg说：“我一直都在画画，有事没事都会画些东西。一有机会，我就立马去了澳大利亚和瑞典的艺术学校。后来，我在传统媒介上找到了一份商业插画师的工作，先是在斯德哥尔摩，后来在香港。在那之后，一位来自香港的朋友搬到了吉隆坡。我和他一起在那里创办了一家名为Optidigi的3D美术工作室。”

想要成为美术师的愿望一直都在。你的渴望会从内心的瘙痒开始，用画笔去创造美好的那种渴望会变得越来越强烈。但是你也知道，自己不会一夜之间成为一名美术师，无论做什么都需要学习和锻炼。我们身处的世界不停变换，互联网上出现了各种各样的新工具，但是美术师的道路还是一样，没有捷径。

“矛盾的是，所有传统的美术技巧：解剖、透视、光照/阴影、色彩理论等，学习这些东西的过程无聊至极，而且要花很长时间才能学会，但是对它们的掌握极其重要。因此，你需要从一开始就学习这些东西，学习它们所需的时间会比学习最新软件多很多。在某些情况下，甚至会多上千倍。但是传统美术也好，数字美术也罢，没有这些知识你就无法成为一名美术师，所以越早学越好。”

美术是有力量的，你能在像Stahlberg这样的美术师身上感受到这一点。美术作品的伟大力量往往会被忙碌不堪的社会所忽视，但是美术师并不在乎这一点。“创作”是最主要的东西，无论美术师的创作意图是什么，伟大的文化都需要美术作品的熏陶，否则就会枯萎而死。每位美术师都深知这一点。

Stahlberg总结道：“我们身处的社会需要能够创造新事物的人。每个人都必须不断地体验新事物，否则我们就会像缺少阳光的花朵一样开始枯萎。但是，你不能告诉一名美术师TA该去创作些什么，因为这样的话创作出来的东西就不能算是全新的。相反，你必须让美术师自由地去创作。”

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Sponsored article: Streamline Studios’ lead artist Steven Stahlberg offers advice on forging a career in game art

Steven Stahlberg looks like he knows his way around a Harley. He’s the kind of guy you believe can find his way across the outback with only a canteen of water and a toothpick.

In the corner of the sprawling Streamline Studios in Kuala Lumpur, Stahlberg holds court. He knows his craft. He knows what it is to be an artist. And the young art studs of Streamline listen to him, learn from him.

“For me, there’s only one optimal way to make a living, and that’s art,” he says. “It’s the only thing I do really well. At the same time, I enjoy it.”

As lead artist at Streamline Studios in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia feels like home to Stahlberg. He’s connected to Southeast Asia, feels good there. And the results show. Initially, Stahlberg worked as a traditional art illustrator but switched to digital art in 1995.

“There are many different types of art-related jobs, but I found that AAA games make for the best,” he says. “Maybe not as high profile as a blockbuster movie, but longer lasting and more diverse. Also, you can get more of a choice where in the world you want to live.”

Choice. That sounds right coming from Stahlberg. He’s uncompromising in his art, in the way he sees the world. He makes his choices and follows them. His path eventually led to Streamline. The challenges come fast at a studio like Streamline. Like most AAA game studios, deadlines are tight, budgets critical, and to flourish in an environment like that, takes experience and focus. Second nature to Stahlberg.

“For the team, the first meeting, the kick-off meeting is very important,” he says. “On a personal level, I try to kind of ‘enter the mind’ of the client, to think like them, and understand what they want. Then I try to add something to that.

“When I think I’ve got it, I start searching for reference and inspiration. The Internet is amazing for this of course, but I also search my memory. I immerse myself in creative thinking, brainstorming, sketching. Even if it’s not my job to make the thumbnails, I still sketch – for me, it’s like making notes.”

How do you get there, though? That’s the question you always want to ask an artist like Stahlberg. There’s no single answer, of course. An artist’s path is a labyrinth. You set your course. You filter out the noise. When you start out, everybody’s got an opinion, and most of them are negative. But what do they know?

Art chooses the artist, not the other way around. An artist’s path opens up in front of him. What separates the artist from the rest of us is they see the path and know that right there, in the beginning, they have no choice. They just start.

“I’ve always been drawing and painting,” says Stahlberg. “As soon as I could, I went to art school, both in Australia and Sweden. Then I got a job as a commercial illustrator in traditional media, first in Stockholm, later in Hong Kong. A friend from Hong Kong moved to Kuala Lumpur. I joined him there to start a 3D art studio called Optidigi.”

There are other parts of his path to share. The desire to be an artist is always there. You know that early on. An itch begins, a rising pulse to create, but it doesn’t happen overnight. It takes work. The world has changed, all sorts of fancy new tools, but the artist’s path is the same. There are no shortcuts.

“Paradoxically, all the traditional art skills: anatomy, perspective, lighting/shading, color theory, all that horrible boring stuff that takes so long to learn is critical,” Stahlberg says. “That’s why it’s so important to start with it – it takes much longer than learning the latest software. In some cases, perhaps a thousand times longer. But you can’t be an artist without it, digital or no digital, so the sooner you start, the better.”

Art has power, yes. You sense that in an artist like Stahlberg. The power is there. Art leads, suggests, open doors, reveals. Great art can wreck you, knock you back. An artist creates, maybe doesn’t even understand why, or to what purpose. You work, and then the art is there. It’s humbling. And thrilling. And important.

The importance is often overlooked by a society too busy to notice. But an artist doesn’t care about that. Creating is the main thing and whatever the intention of the artist, great cultures need art. They wither and die without it. Every artist knows that in his bones.

“Society needs people who make new things because there’s so many who can’t,” Stahlberg concludes. “Everyone needs to experience new things all the time, or they start to fade. It’s like sunshine for flowers. But society can’t tell artists what to create; there wouldn’t be anything really new created that way. It must come from the artists.” （Source：gamesindustry.biz ）