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3DTotal: It looks as if there are a few photographed textures in some of your images. Do you use these to speed up the painting process or maybe just add a touch of realism?
Nathaniel: I would say both. From a production standpoint, I use different photos and textures to speed up the process — moving quickly and efficiently. The most important thing, above all, is to clearly demonstrate your vision. I am heavily influenced by certain random photos (it could be a picture of peeling paint from a wall) and like to incorporate them into my pieces. I view my work as a combination of not only digital illustration, but mixed media collage as well. I draw from real life as inspiration, and therefore like to make references to it as a basis for my work. |
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3DTotal: Which artists do you believe have had the most influence upon you and who would you site as the most important within the field of digital development?
Nathaniel: There have been so many people that have been a great influence to me — it’s hard to name them all! As far as artists are concerned, I really love the works of N.C. Wyeth and Dean Cornwell, simply for their amazing illustration and storytelling abilities. I’m also a very big fan of Edward Gorey, John Singer Sargent, J.W. Waterhouse, Giorgio de Chirico, Bernd Haussmann and Syd Mead, amongst others. I am of course heavily influenced by the master of digital art himself, Craig Mullins. He has really opened the door to the possibilities of digital illustration, but he is rooted in traditional techniques of the masters before him, such as the Brandywine artists Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth and Dean Cornwell. |
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3DTotal: Would you label yourself under the banner of “concept artist”, or do you see your role being more specifically related to environmental design?
Nathaniel: I don’t think of myself as either one or the other. I just think of myself as a designer and an illustrator. I’m very fortunate to have experience in both the conceptual stages of projects, as well as how to design them in order to make them work realistically. So I guess you could say I’m a little of both.
3DTotal: Could you summarise what you think are the essential components that are key when designing a digital environment?
Nathaniel: The most essential components when designing a digital environment is to understand your story and understand the mood you are trying to create through lighting and atmosphere. Once you have a full understanding of what you’re trying to portray, anything and everything can happen. Your environment will undoubtedly become more detailed in terms of the textures and the props you will use to reinforce the story and mood. |
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3DTotal: When you design environments for video games, what are the different considerations that you need to address when compared to film?
Nathaniel: I would say that the differences are very minimal; the same principles apply to any situation where you have a character interacting with a space. You still need to consider spatial relations, the staging of key elements and story points. Logistically, you don’t need to consider construction budgets as much in video games though, as it will all be built in 3D.
3DTotal: Story seems to be a word that you mention frequently and attribute much importance to. Can you refer to one of your paintings and describe how you have used props and details to help suggest a storyline to the viewer?
Nathaniel: Take the image of the dark Chinese-inspired alley, for example [see previous page]. The focus of this scene is the blue alcove on the right-hand side. There’s a play on traditional ‘old world’ elements with the altar and golden sculpture above, and the notion that it has been converted by its ‘modern’ tenants into a multi-use space with the wiring on the walls, gas can, appliances, and so on. There is a pile of oranges on the altar, suggesting an offering, along with postings on the pillars, which could suggest that an event of some importance is occurring that needs announcing. The black cat subtly suggests an air of danger about the entire environment, to me. If you were alone on a street like this and a black cat ran in front of you, it might give you an eerie feeling. I wanted to give it a noir feeling… a feeling of danger and beauty at the same time.
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