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3DTotal: Hi John, thanks for taking some time away from the canvas to talk to us. So I can see from your Blog [http://johnnyrocwell.blogspot.com/] that you’re a 25-year old Scorpio, currently living and working as
a Concept Artist in Atlanta, Georgia. Can you tell us a little about how life’s path has led you to where you are today?
John:Well, I grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I started drawing at the age of 3. I used to watch my Dad draw and paint, and I thought it was magic. At 17, I moved to Atlanta to go to college to study Animation. I was a concept artist for a video game developer for a couple years. Now I freelance for many different companies in comic books, animation, and video games.
3DTotal: Do you still find drawing and painting magical?
John: Definitely. It’s still amazing to me. Artists take a blank canvas and create life: pure magic. |
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3DTotal: There are a variety of different characters posted on your Blog; greedy girls, warrior chicks, bat chicks, action heroes, ‘Pulp Fiction’ characters, and even you! What is it that appeals to you about these kinds of characters – why do you like to devote so much time working on them?
John: I don’t think a certain type of character appeals to me more than any other. I like characters with character; characters you can look at and get a sense of who they are, what they do, what they stand for or represent. I also like attitude. I really dig characters with a certain confidence or bravado. I tend to put a lot of my own swagger into the characters I create.
3DTotal: Do you ever find that you can become envious of your own character creations?
John: I guess you could say that. When I started creating characters and worlds of my own, it was always ‘where I wanted to be’ or ‘what I wanted to do’ but in an exaggerated, fantasy way. It was like my escape from the ‘real’ world. |
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3DTotal: Can you quickly take us through the basic steps of creation for one of your characters, from concept to painting?
John: When I begin a concept, I start with the story: what world or situation the character is in and how it affects their personality type. Things like this really help me to visualize it. Then I just start scribbling. I do most of my thinking with my pencils; sketching out shapes until I’m somewhat content. When I’m happy with a sketch, I take it into Photoshop or Painter and paint it up. I used to use coloured pencils religiously, but now it’s mostly just a Wacom tablet.
3DTotal: How much of your day do you find yourself simply scribbling in your sketchbook? What percentages of these “scribbles” go on to become fantastic full-on digital creations?
John: I scribble ALOT. I’ve got sketchbooks full of nonsense that I hope never to see the light of day. There are a lot of sketches that I want to take to full completion, but time is always an issue. There just aren’t enough hours in the day.
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3DTotal: Tell us a little about your collaborations with Nick Bradley. How do these come about; how do they tend to work, and what are the end results usually like?
John: Nick modelled a lot of my character concepts for work. At one point we had some insane task, like 100 characters in 5 days. It was times like these when we realised how well we worked together and how our styles seemed to mesh. So, we started to collaborate on projects outside of work just for our own entertainment. We would come up with ideas together, I’d get on the concepts and he’d model it up like lightning! We actually have some projects in the works now that we hope will get some major attention.
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3DTotal: Cool, we’ll keep our fingers crossed for you both! Have you ever considered tackling modelling, so that you can bring your own characters to life? Or do you feel that 2D is the best representation for your own artistic endeavours?
John: I did some 3D modelling in college, but it’s not really for me. I like it; it’s just not something I would do on a regular basis.
3DTotal: Let’s talk about your female character creations; they all have very exaggerated hips, thighs and breasts. Now, are these just your typical observations of women in general, or is it more of an “ideal” that you’re creating on canvas?
Both. I’m drawn more to the curves of voluptuous women, in both life and in art. It’s much more feminine
to me. So I try to portray that in my characters. |
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