3DTotal: Hi David, and welcome back to the world of 3DTotal. Let’s get down to some of that Q&A good stuff! Can you kick us off with a bit of background info about yourself?
David: The usual boring who am I and where do I come from stuff? It’s probably easier to read my resume[Laughs]. No, but really, isn’t this interview to get more background info about me? It would make the whole thing quite short if I just tell you everything here!

3DTotal: [Laughs] Well, when you put it like that! OK, let me be more specific then: You’ve been working as a concept artist since 2006 for various companies, as well as freelancing, so can you tell us a little about your experience working in the games industry over the last four years? How have things changed since you first started out?
David: OK, well it all started a long, long time ago in a place far, far from here ... at my internship at W!Games, Amsterdam. That was the first time I actually had a job in the games industry – at least the first time in the serious, paying games industry and not one of those everlasting never-really-getting-anywhere-in-the-next-30-years-but-you’ll-get-paid-when-the-money-comes-in projects. I had an amazing time there; I learned so much. When I think back about that time I get that craving, nostalgic feeling where everything in the past used to be better [Laughs]! No, but really, I had great artists around me, an amazing art director, fantastic projects, and the company atmosphere was open and creative. It really got me ready for the big, bad games world, I guess.

I walked in a very green wannabe artist and walked out… well, still quite green, but at least with the confidence that I had made it to the paying-drawing-pictures group. I crossed the barrier... which is a bit weird when I think back to it; I always had this uncertain “am I ever going to be good enough to get paid?” feeling, and before I knew it there was no escaping the industry. So that’s where it started. Not a bad place, in my opinion. It’s for that reason that I went back to work there on several occasions, both during and after my studies.

At a certain point I got asked to work for Guerrilla Games. They were looking for a character artist, so I jumped in there and worked on Killzone 2. That was quite a different experience from W!Games; a big company, owned by Sony, working on a project of an incredible size and joining at a late stage of development. All very different from what I was used to, but all very good experience – great people and an amazing project!

I realized there, though, that I like to be a bit freer in terms of creativity. I like to be more involved in the core of the whole thing. Of course, I joined when the game was well into its development, so opting for purple-clad girls amongst gray hellghast soldiers wasn’t going to work. Anyhow, during all this I did some freelancing as well. And then at one point I decided to combine freelancing with travel around the world for a bit – for about 12 months so far. It’s been great fun touring in a small van through the mountains of New Zealand, enjoying a beer in the jungle at Byron Bay, Australia, while freelancing to pay for the next day. And then there was an email from a friend from my studies asking me if I wanted to work in Vietnam as an Art Director. I thought: Why not? That’s the best motto ever by the way; it works for just about everything! It was something different. Setting up a whole project – and team – and having all the freedom. If only I could understand my team though, that would make things a lot easier.

So that’s a bit about my work experience, so far. What changed? Well, two things for me: one, on a more industry level, I think over the last few years there has been a sudden realization all over the industry that there are a lot of game companies and games being made. And with that comes the commercial side of safety – in other words: no cojones!

For me, I think I’m a bit more confident and sure about what I want and don’t want. I still want everything, to do everything, see everything, and make everything. But I know now that there are places where I’m doing work filled with passion and motivation, and there are places where I’m doing a job, just a job. So my goal now is to keep working at the places where work is not a job, but a passion.

3DTotal: Wow, I think you may have just become a hero to many! As a fellow child of the 80s, what inspired you as a child growing up through the 90s and into the noughties, where you emerged as a young adult, fresh-faced and ready to face the art world?
David: Good year, obviously! Whew. That’s a hard question to answer… What laid the foundation, and inspired me in the younger years? In one word: LEGO! Since you’re from the same year there’s a good chance you are also a Lego child. Am I right? Don’t deny it!

I love Lego; it allowed me to do whatever I wanted. When I was younger I always used to build my concepts: trap doors on a deserted island with marbles rolling down the hill; if you pushed something, ropes and wheels would start moving and turning. Great fun to build! I made up all kinds of stories for the adventurers walking around down there… Of course, once I’d built it and it turned out to work, I destroyed it. Building the concept was the most fun! That’s where the whole “creating concepts” thing started for me, I think.

During high school and the teen frustration years I left Lego behind – most of the time – and the creations came about more in the shape of theories about life and death. Actual drawing didn’t start until much later, somewhere around 15 or 16, I think. At that age I actually wanted to become a 3D artist… I’ve never been very good at sticking to plans.

Yep, you’re right; my parents would often find me under the dining table playing with Lego, fighting my brother for the best pieces! If you were to get all your retro Lego back out right now, and let your mind and building blocks go crazy, what would you build, and why?

Are we actually talking about Lego? [Laughs]. When we were talking about doing this interview I would never have imagined we’d go there!