3DTotal: Hello Hoang, thank you for talking to us. Firstly, please can you tell us about yourself; your age, location, current projects, etc.?
Hoang: This question always baffles me - I never know what to say. It’s like, “Hello World! Here I am!”… I currently reside in California, USA, with one wife and two hyperactive boys, and am growing old by the minute. I’m employed by Electronic Arts, working on a next generation project (it’s a secret!). Past projects that I’ve worked on include; ‘Tiger Woods Golf’, ‘James Bond: From Russia with Love’, ‘GodFather’, and I am currently working on a secret project. Before coming to EA, I was at Namco working as a lead Artist/Art Director on a game called ‘Dead to Rights’. That was the highlight of my career, since I helped create a new IP for Namco. I have also worked at Universal Studio (Xena) and Bethesda Softworks (‘Daggerfall’, the elder scroll series). Before joining the games industry, I also created works for Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse Comic companies.

  
   
3DTotal: What first inspired you to take up digital art, and why was this?
Hoang: I originally trained as a Fine Artist, but changed courses during my days at college, and instead majored in Illustration. Back in the day (I’m an old man now, if you haven’t already guessed), digital art hadn’t yet evolved - it was just starting to. I can remember ‘Mac Paint’ and ‘Mac Draw’, which were pretty crude programs, but were a lot of fun all the same, and that was as far as I got in digital art at that time. I went on to join the comic industry, working for the likes of Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse Comics. Years later, when I joined a game
company, is when I started along the path of digital art. At first, I didn’t care for it much, because it wasn’t tangible. I couldn’t just show it to anyone - I’d have to drag them over to my monitor, or a laptop, but it gradually grew on me. Now I just can’t live without it! The ability to modify an image so quickly was just not possible by traditional means, especially when competition was so fierce. It was a choice of evolving with the times, or getting left behind

3DTotal: What was it about Fine Art that wasn’t right for you? Was it hard to make the leap from Fine Art to Illustration at such an early stage in your education? Do you ever look back and wonder, what if...?
Hoang: At the time, it was just too boring for me; Art History was the final straw! AllI wanted was to paint sci-fi and fantasy art, but they kept making me paint still-lives and draw all these naked people: EWWW! So I switched major and went into Illustration. Looking back, I wished I’d have paid more attention in class. Everything they taught is still
    
 
relevant even to this day, and I still find myself applying all the techniques that I’ve learnt in my works.

3DTotal: Your portfolio [www.liquidbrush.com] shows great variety, however there are some very strong themes present that appear to link your 2D artworks. For example, there are military, sexual, war and punishment references, which symbolize a strong sense of “good verses evil”. Why do you think
these key elements inspire the majority of your artworks?
Hoang: I was born and raised during the Vietnam War, and my father was in the Special Forces,
fighting against Communism. This therefore really influences my artworks. When I was in
high school, most of my paintings were very violent, depicting gruesome and bloody battle scenes. Nowadays, I prefer to paint subjects that move me emotionally, and I believe that my
two sons have a big impact on how I now view the world.

3DTotal: What have your sons taught you about the world today?
Hoang: That everything can be new again, even the mundane stuff. Seeing things through their eyes has been a blessing for me. To them, the world is waiting to be discovered!
   
 
 
 
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