JEREMY McHUGH GIVES US THE LOW DOWN ON SOME CHARACTER CREATION
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| This was my first sketch for the druid character. |
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| This was the painting produced after the sketch was approved. |
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| This is the first round of tweaks for the card. The robe was made to billow more to add drama. |
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| This was the final pass - shadows were deepened. More details were added to the costume and hair. |
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| My first sketch for the minstrel. |
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| The finished piece after tweaks to the sketch were made. |
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| My first sketch for the sorceress. Nice figure, but a face that’s hard to love… |
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| She now has much more refined features and is pointing her finger of death at the unlucky viewer. |
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| Painting based on the second sketch. |
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| The final pass on the sorceress. Costume details added based on Ralph’s cover. |
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| For the thief little changed from sketch to final painting. The talisman was added as a final tweak to the design along with a dagger at his hip. |
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| First sketch for the wizard. |
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| Details were added along with a Talisman. |
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| Painting based on the second sketch. |
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| More costume details added along with a Talisman. The wizard’s pointing hand was decidedly too large and so it was simply shrunk down. Ahh, the joys of working digitally... |
Jeremy: I’ve been working in the gaming industry for five years now.
Every day I find myself facing fresh challenges as a freelance artist. My love of fantastic imagery and for adventure led to my current involvement in the gaming industry. It allows me to explore my imagination while at the same time to enrich the gaming experiences of others. I view every new assignment as an opportunity to pursue these goals.
During the past summer I received an opportunity to work on a very challenging project. My friend Ralph Horsley had been approached to work on a secret project for Black Industries. He did not have time to do all the work that they wanted him to do. He had a very impressive cover to create after all. That left Black Industries with a need for yet one more artist and a willingness to review new portfolios. I tossed my name in the pot and lo and behold - I was accepted!
After being sworn to absolute secrecy, I was told that I would be working on the next edition of Talisman! To have the chance to work on a game with such a long and rich history was an honour in my view and I could not wait to get started!
What sort of brief were you given for the project?
Very shortly after agreeing to terms, I received a rush package containing the descriptions for all of my assignments and examples of previous artwork featured in the game. I was asked to work from the descriptions provided and I used the older artwork as inspiration for my take on each assignment.
Did you offer any thoughts or feedback that changed the brief?
The sketch stage did not take too long as I let my imagination whirl with images and I worked rather furiously to meet the deadline. In general, I kept to the briefs provided, but I did not miss opportunities to toss in my own two cents. It was exciting to leave my own little footprint on some much-beloved characters and to oversee some all new designs! I made certain to retain the sense of high fantasy adventure for which the game is known.
The art director and the in-house staff at Black Industries oversaw production of the work at every stage of development and worked hard with me to make each piece special. They had high standards to maintain and new standards to set. They wanted this edition of Talisman to be a step upwards in terms of the art, and I was willing to work hard to see that happen. I can only hope that the players will be pleased with our efforts.
What art materials did you use and why you like using them?
I typically began with a series of tiny thumbnails. Just attempts at working out the poses that the characters would adopt. These were followed by pencil sketches which were then scanned into my computer and further refined. Once the sketches were approved by the art director, I was able to move forward and paint each character digitally using Corel Painter 6, my weapon of choice for freelance color work. This software has tools that mimic some of my favorite art media in a fast-paced digital environment. They allow me to work quickly and with the tight deadlines for this project, that was a real boon.
That, and the ability to make corrections and requested changes on the fly.
Like Ralph, I work in stages. I begin with a simple under-painting during which most of my color choices are made. I then build up my painting in a series of digital “washes” much like watercolour. I define areas of middle tones and shadows. The highlights and lightest values are done last in a series of more opaque applications of digital “paint”.
Can you tell us a bit about the design process - how did you choose how to depict the characters?
In terms of concept, we were designing with high fantasy adventure being very much in our minds. I opted for more “optimistic,” brighter color palettes for the heroes. I stayed away from the darker aspects of modern fantasy for that reason. Brighter light sources. A cleaner look, if you will.
With some of the character designs, there was cross-pollination between what I was designing for the cards and what Ralph was up to on the cover. Some of my designs made it to the cover and some of Ralph’s designs influenced my final work on the characters. While we did not get the opportunity to put our heads together before production, the art department at Black Industries made sure that we were in sync. I am grateful for that, because my own work improved a great deal for Ralph’s involvement.
What parts of the process did you find particularly enjoyable or frustrating?
My favorite part of the project was the concept stage. Designing the costumes. Deciding on poses and props. My favorite part of painting is the simple act. I find it relaxing and engaging. Building up the forms. Deciding on the lighting (which for purposes of mood, I often chose a rather high key series of values). I feared that if I chose too dark a light source, the figures would grow muddy when shrunk down for the miniatures.
Perhaps, the most troublesome part of the project was also the reason it was so successful. All the input I received from Black Industries during the process of making the artwork for this game.
An example of this can be seen in the changes between the sketch and final painting of the Minstrel. The hand holding the bow was brought in because we wanted to avoid having delicate elements breaking the contour of the figure. This would prove troublesome when it came time to produce the miniatures, you wouldn’t want the minstrel to have an arm snapped off during gameplay after all. So now, instead of bowing with a flourish, he is in the midst of spirited solo.
Everyone at the Black Industries office was keenly interested in the art development for Talisman. Many changes were requested during the late stages of production that had slipped beneath the radar during the sketch stage. Thus, on a couple of occasions, I found myself having to start over from scratch as designs for various characters were changed. While this would cause me temporary grumbling (and a lack of sleep) I never failed to settle down to the drawing board and make the changes. I realized that, while ill-timed, the changes were necessary and would, in the end, make for a much better final result. I am very proud of the work we did despite the eleventh hour scrambling and late nights.
Visually speaking, how would you say the concepts for the characters have changed from earlier editions to what you produced for this edition of Talisman?
In some cases, the characters changed a good deal while others were much closer to their earlier edition counterparts. A prime example of a character that saw major changes was the Sorceress. In early incarnations of Talisman, this character was a rather warty-faced, witch-like character. While for this game I was asked to come up with an attractive new femme fatale. In fact, the art directors were insistent on her being beautiful. It took me couple of tries to get the look they wanted. She’s a real stunner now (winks).
The Wizard saw an upgrade. In the second edition he is obscured by a large scroll he is closely studying. The new wizard is a much more lively character in the act of casting his spell. A much more exciting pose I feel. I really like the design I came up with for the costume as well. The thief character was great fun for me. I chose to show him during his “get-away”. If I could have gotten away with it, I would have had all the characters sprinting. Haha. Lots more energy in that pose than in the earlier depiction of the character. In retrospect, I would have loved to have given him the slick jacket that Ralph gave him for the box cover. Sweet design there, Ralph!
Characters that stayed closer to their predecessors would be the druid and minstrel. While I added my own flourishes of costume, I felt the poses already arrived at for those characters were suitably iconic and worked very well. I stayed relatively close to them with only minor changes.
So people will see some new things and will hopefully be delighted by nods to their 2nd edition favorites.
I’d talk about the other characters in the game, but I think readers will just have to crack open the box and a look for themselves. We do want to leave some surprises after all.
Was the feedback received during the process useful, what was the thinking behind last minute alterations?
One of the most common changes was the addition of a talisman to a number of the characters and some of the spell cards. These changes served to further root the characters in the world of Talisman.
In a number of cases more detail was requested. I think I was timid about adding details to the art considering the size they would be reproduced at, but being given leave to embellish was great fun.
How you feel now it’s done and how are you looking forward to seeing the art in situ when the product is released?
This project was yet another learning process for me and was a terrific experience. I learned a great deal about painting while working on this assignment and am very grateful to Black Industries for the opportunity to produce artwork for Talisman. I look forward to seeing how the artwork appears in the game, especially when I finally get to play it.
I would like to assure Talisman fans that Black Industries really worked hard to make this edition very special. They challenged this art team to do our best. And from what I saw of the other artwork featured in the game, I feel they succeeded. I believe that fans will be very pleased about the treatment that this edition of Talisman has received.
Happy Gaming!
Jeremy McHugh
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