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3DTotal: Where do you generally draw your inspiration from?
Stuart: Hmmm. In a professional context, a client might already have their own source material and want you to adhere to that so it can be a tough one; if not there will usually be a brief. I kind of like a brief though as they usually push you into new territory artistically, it’s all to easy to retreat to your comfort zone if you don’t watch out. I guess for my own projects though I like to have some kind of story idea that I can pull the artwork from. It helps a lot in selling something if it looks as if an object or character exists or has evolved within its own universe; you can just bring a lot of little details into play that ping stuff to life, although sometimes just by doodling a design itself can feedback into the story concept and it kind of self perpetuates itself. I do like mixing up different genres and aesthetics though, such as medieval meets 50’s sci-fi or WW2 meets the prehistoric age, etc. |
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3DTotal: With your interest in story led imagery, have you any plans to make a graphic novel at all and could you also provide some useful tips/guidelines to any readers keen to explore the idea?
Stuart: Hmmm, I’d never say “never”, but at the moment it’s more the design side of things I’d like to focus on. I do have a lot of story based ideas but they seem to end up more and more in a written form at the moment. I think if any readers wanted to have a go I’d be more inclined to do it as an on-line exercise, rather than look at taking it through the printers just purely from a cost/distribution angle.
3DTotal: Can you tell us a little about your Lockdown series and explain to our readers what the project is all about?
Stuart: This was one of the first freelance gigs I did. As far as I could tell, it was for a proposed theme park somewhere in the States. I only did a few weeks work on this, visualizing the proposed entertainment domes. I had quite a limited brief so I’m sorry I can’t tell you anymore about this project’s current status - would be great to see this come to fruition though! |
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3DTotal: Where do you feel your strengths and weaknesses lie as an artist?
Stuart :I feel at the moment I think my main weakness is the fact that in the initial planning stages, I still occasionally find myself flitting back to using paper when I’d really like to just work completely on the computer. The painting side of things I find relatively easy, I just don’t like dealing with my line work straight off on the PC. I guess I like the immediacy of pencil on paper and I can also rotate the page! Strength wise, I just hope there’s nothing too “twee” about my work; I just want it to be bold and memorable…
3DTotal: If there was one thing you could leave behind as a “creative legacy” what form would it take?
Stuart: Obviously it would be to take a project to the big screen, or even to TV, in one form or another. I guess that’s what we all work towards; if people liked it though that would be a bonus. Either that or the fact that I made the best chocolate chilli known to mankind! |
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