Featured artist: Nicolas Garilhe

Hello friends,

this month I am proud to present you my interview with Nicolas Garilhe, a french artist, who is currently living in Canada and working for the game industry. Nicolas impress us with very nice character artworks.

Have fun with the article
Chris


The artist
How old are you?
I'm 25 years old.

Where are you currently living?
I'm from France, but I'm currently living in Montreal, Canada.

What are you doing, when you switch your PC off? Do you have other hobbies?
When the PC is off, which is not often, I like to enjoy a movie in theater, a good restaurant with my girlfriend, or simply chill in a café with my friends. Oh ! And video games of course ;)

About the work
How did you get the idea to be an digital artist, why digital?
Actually, from the very beginning, I wanted to do games. At first I thought to be programmer, so I started to learn by myself the basics, and try to create my own video games. I quickly needed some graphics, and that's how I try for the first time digital art. I really enjoyed it and since then I try to learn by myself 3D modeling. My path is quite atypical cause I started with digital art, and then try traditional one when I felt the need to improve my poor drawing skill.

Do you have a special education in arts?
Again, my education was atypical since I had a diploma in physics. It was mostly to please mom and dad, who weren't really sure video game was a good path, and I can understand them. The industry is relatively young, and it's hard to land a job. But after this, since I was still highly motivated, I finally found a school in Montreal, Canada at the Campus Ubisoft, which was great for me since Montreal is a great place of opportunity in the video game industry.

Are you employed or do you work freelance?
Currently, I'm working at Gameloft Montreal, as a character artist for 1 year now.

Which recent projects were the most important for you?
I love to enter on line 3D contest. It helps a lot for your personal training, for several reasons. One of those is because it impose you a deadline. You have to create a polished piece before this deadline. I'm the kind of guys who can spend months on a piece, so it's really helpful. But probably the best reason is because you compete with other artists, who share with you their tricks and tips and are pleased to help you.

The last contest I entered was the comiccon challenge 2010 on gameartisans.org. I learnt so much from great artists, and some pieces were truly inspiring.

Which project was a particular challenge for you?
I was recently asked at work, to make the main character of the game I'm currently working on. It was the first time for me so it was a big responsibility but a great opportunity. You really need to put all you go into it because the character will be seen from all angles and during hours. But I can't wait to see people playing with my character, it gonna be a crazy feeling !

Where do you get your ideas from?
Tough question, and I don't think I got a clear answer. All I can say is it can come from everywhere. A movie, a game, a book of history, a discussion … A great way to get inspired is to browse as much as you can picture database like deviantart.com or cghub.com. I try to do it daily.

Are you creating realistic artworks too or mainly abstract?
Actually I never tried to create abstract, I tend to make semi realistic, mostly because realistic artworks is really hard to achieve and I don't think I've got the skill yet to it

What are your plans as an artist for the future?
My ambitions for now is to keep training myself, to be able one day working on AAA games,

Which software are you using for your work, and which hardware?
I principally use 3DSMax, Zbrush, Photoshop and 3DCoat for personal work. I work on a PC platform, with an Intel i5 processor, a Nvidia GTX460 cg card with 16gb of memory.

Which tool do you like the most and never want to miss?
To be absolutely honest, I would have to say Zbrush, but mostly because I work with it for several years now. But the more I play with 3DCoat, the more I'm amazed with this software, and now it's definitely part of my workflow.

The portfolio
If you are more interested in Nicolas work, feel free and visit his website:
www.nicolasgarilhe.com