Meet The Artist: Scott Robertson

#21

Hi scott

I am a student still and was wondering, in your point of view, do you think breaking in the industry either Animation or game industry has gone harder, if so, what would you advice us to do to prepare

I Love your work :thumbsup:

cheers

thanks

#22

Hi Scott,

Is your book ā€œHow to Draw Vehiclesā€ going to be out this year? I have some questions about the content: Is it going to include color rendering lessons, and is it going to have a section on creating vehicles from scratch - focusing on the design aspects of the car, not just the drawing technique?

What types of objects from the real world (i.e. reference material) do you bring into the creative vehicle design process - or do you just make everything up as you go? I watched the Gnomon DVD on hovercraft - and the main thing I got from it was that I was watching an artist that was highly experienced and had a lot of ideas about form committed to memory. I can honestly say Iā€™ve never seen anyone draw like that before - you were pulling things out of thin air while most other artists I watch are looking at reference when they draw. So, just wondering what some of these influences are that feed the idea process. Do you spend a lot of hours drawing from reference, or do you try to be creative as much as possible? In school they teach people to draw from reference as much as possible, but when you try to switch to making things up and being creative, itā€™s not exactly an automatic thing. Are there some tricks to making the transition from copying what you see to actually inventing forms?

Is industry demand for traditional concept artists/designers (people who draw, more so than people that are in 3D production) as high as it used to be, or lower, or is demand getting much stronger now for good concept designers?

Thanks for your time.

#23

:thumbsup:GREAT STUFF!! The colors are really fantastic.

Who invented drawing through?

#24

hey scott/ mr. robertson,
iā€™m unsure of how to address you, myself being 16 years of age.
i donā€™t have much to say. by now, iā€™m sure you know your work is incredible and probably some of the most ā€œgrabbingā€ artwork of the whole conceptual design genre.
iā€™ve loved your work for years (honestly-that no exaguration [sp]. iā€™m 16, but even years ago you and doug chiang were my two greatest inspirations).
the biggest problem iā€™ve ever had in looking at your work is this:
i see, i love, i try, i suck. iā€™m a real perfectionist, and if something doesnā€™t satisfy me, i throw it away. what i love about your work is its ā€œsolidity,ā€ that is, your lines are so well-trained and your knowledge of space is incredible.
hereā€™s the question:

how can i, being a decent artist and designer, strive most efficiently toward artwork like yours? more specifically, what can i do to understand perspective artwork, and shapes in space? any books that helped you? anything said directly to me from you will be incredible. you are my hero.
thanks alot.

luke shuman

#25

Hello scott,
i am a french CG student and i find your work very impressive. I just want to know what was your work on Minority Report Feature film (i love this !).
And just for the fun do you know some french CG school ? what do you think about french artists (french touch) ?
thanks for your replies.
bye
FrƩdƩric FOURIER

here is some of my work :
http://lenemarlin.free.fr/3D/rendu_final02.jpg
http://lenemarlin.free.fr/3D/mam1.jpg
http://lenemarlin.free.fr/3D/mam2.jpg
http://lenemarlin.free.fr/3D/mam3.jpg
this architecture is from Santiago Calatrava
if you have time to say to me what you think of this it would be perfect :slight_smile:

#26

Greetings and Salutations,
What, if any, are the biggest issues (hurdles) which have arisen from owning your own business? What did you do to overcome those issues? What was the outcome of your actions?

I know this doesnā€™t have much to do with the artwork, but all the people here arenā€™t doing this work for their health alone.

I would appreciate any comments if you have time. If notā€¦you do marvelous work and it has been a pleasure seeing the visions of your mind.

Have a great day,
Benjamin Dean

#27

wait a second, is scott going to read this?

#28

hello scott,

I am a big fan of your work and I own two gnomon dvds that you made (love them by the way)ā€¦ just wanted to say i love your work and ask if you knew of any good university for industrial design (other than the one you went)ā€¦

#29

from: Kansai,
My question to you is what is the genral time limit for and artist to complete a concept piece of work on a given project?

It can vary quite a bit. I will try to give you some idea based on some of my past experience. When I was working on the vehicles for Spy Hunter 2 I was usually given between 12 to 16 hours of working time to do the design and one color rendering. The basic work flow was for me to do a few pages of quick thumbnails and then send them to the creative director, he would then choose a direction and I would work up the final line drawings of the front and rear 3/4 views. After these were approved I would then quickly throw some color on one of the views. This was about as fast as a project could be done. On the more relaxed side of things if you are asked to do a tightly rendered environment you might be given a couple of days to a week to complete it.

Hope this helps.

#30

Oops I forgot this reply to post first.

Thanks for the warm welcome!

I hope I can provide some good answers to your questions. Sorry for the slow start but since this went live last during my night and I just finished a long day of teaching at Art Center this is the first time I have had to read the questions and reply.

So I better get to itā€¦

#31

Hi Scott. Iā€™m an admirer of your work and appreciate you taking the time to do this.

I have 2 questions:

Are you at a point in your career where you no longer have to actively chase after jobs (in other words, clients seek you out)?

Iā€™m been an artist in the games biz for 13 years and would like to do more freelance illustration work (3D, 2D, Photo manipulation, or mixed) on the side. Got any tips on the easiest way to find potential clients? Iā€™m a fellow ACCD ID grad, but have been out of the commecial illustration loop for a long time.

Thanks for your time.

Richard Green

PS: I just noticed we overlapped a year (1988) at ACCD. Canā€™t believe I never met you. AC was an amazing experience, huh?

#32

from: UnknownArtist,
Where do you find the inspiration for such works?

Thatā€™s a good question. I think that most of it comes from my education as an industrial designer. In that field you are taught a process of how to look at anything and come up with interesting design solutions for that subject. Second I would have to say that hanging around with such an amazing group of artists here in Los Angeles makes it very easy to always be inspired. It seems like someone I know is always doing something cool, that gets me going as well. I think that forums like this one are a larger version of what I have here in LA with my friends and will hopefully continue to grow and inspire all of us together.

#33

from: ThePumpkinKing,
When you are sketching concepts, how do you start out, and with what? Do you start out with markers or pens or pencils? Do you just outline the idea itself right away or do you draw guidelines first for the sketch?

To start I like to use all forms of media. Not usually at the same time, but if Iā€™m going for something organic in form I lean towards the media that is easy to get smooth gradations with, like chalk and pencil. If Iā€™m trying to go for something mechanical I like to use pen and marker. Since I have to teach all of the differnt techniques I like to experiment and start many, many differnt ways. As I really believe that strong perspective drawing skills are a great way to communicate your ideas to others I usually start with some loose perspective guide lines to get the sketch started.

#34

from: chillnlikeamug,

  1. Iā€™ve always wanted to know why it seems like great designers, such as yourself, rarely see your more radical designs implemented in the automotive industry? Iā€™d pay good money for one of your vehicles?

Thanks, that makes two of us.
Basically I think that doing something like putting a real vehicle into production is so expensive that no one company or one person at a company wants to be held responsible for risking so much money on a radical design. The general public is very conservative and they like familar designs. If it was your money to invest you might spend it the same way they do.

  1. Your tutorial in photoshop for the bicycle looks like a real work of engineering genius, I could be wrong, but do you have an engineering background or is it just part of your talent to create great designs that look so sound?

Thanks, but I think that must be the reflections talking to you!
I have designed a lot of real bicycle frames for Kestrel over the last 15 years, so I do know where things go and again my ID training and professional experience make it easy to know how to make things ā€œlookā€ like they would work. That bike is really more of a movie bike. It could be made, someone colud ride it, but it would be heavy and inefficient with todayā€™s manufacturing processes.

#35

from: maxrelics,
First: What tools do you use in a given day. Does it change for every piece of art work you do or are there a couple tried and true things that you use to make your drawings?

As mentioned a couple of questions ago I like to try everything, all media is fair game.

Second: Which do you prefer, working with computers to make art, or working more with your hands. By this I mean do you like drawing with a tablet (if you use one) or do you prefer to work with a simple piece of paper and pencil or a canvas and a paint brush?

I acutally like both traditional and digital medai quite a bit. The way it seems to be breaking down lately is I do my design work with traditional media working monochromatically and then I scan that into Photoshop and do my color rendering there where it is cleaner, faster and easier to to achieve more realistic material indication. Plus ther is always command Z.

#36

from: kamrhon,
Is the reason that your stuff comes out so life-like a result of technique in a particular software or softwares? Can someone who desires life-like results from their work achieve them just through observation of nature or must one know HOW to achieve particular results within their 2d software package of choice?

Yeah, it basically has nothing to do with software and everything to do with gaining the knowledge of what you are observing in nature. You can observe everything you need but the problem arises when you try to apply what you are observing to a form that know one has ever seen before and you are the only one who knows what you are trying accomplish with the sections of your object. This is where having someone explain the physics of what you are observing can go a long way to helping you apply this to your own designs.

#37

Hi Scott

Iā€™ve bought 2 concept DVD from gnomon and your teaching is amazing. Thank you for an excellent tutorial.

I always wanted to ask you whether you have any recommendation for beginners. Iā€™m aiming at getting a job in 3D modelling or concept design in US within 2-3 years. Can design skills be self-taught or must I attend college?

Iā€™ve been learning to draw and practise modelling every day/night lately. (I am computer science student - should have choose design degree instead).

I from Australia, i wish I can attend your college. Hope youā€™ll release more DVD in the future regarding the subject of Lighting and Shading

Thank you very much Scott.

#38

from: kgb,

  1. Have you ever painted traditionally or just got your hands wet? What one/two tips do recommend or stress to become a great painter?

I learned how to do all of the rendering and material indication stuff the old way. When I was in school we did not know how to use the computer to do digital 2D work, other than preparing our resumes. One would be to find a good mentor or educator and listen. Second would be to practice, practice looking, thinking and drawing.

  1. Do you draw from life? In past? Now? How do you keep your skill up by practicing drawing which subjects? (life, anatomy, imagination?) One/two tips you recommend or stress to become great at drawing?

Iā€™m really short on time lately and so I have no time to draw, which means when I do again in a couple of weeks I will be rusty! I do not often draw from life. I like to start from the ground up and create things I have never seen before. I think learning how to do good perspective drawing can be one of the most powerful creative assets you can obtain. It will allow you to easily create things from your imagination that look convincingly real to other people.

  1. How long do you spend on a drawing/painting to have it finished approximetly?

Oh really I cannot answer this one because each drawing/painting is different and some done in mere seconds can be all that is required and if you spend more time on it all youā€™ll do it potentially screw it up!

#39

Lunatique,
Iā€™m running low on energy and Iā€™ll get back to you on this one.

#40

Mr. Scott Robertson.
I would like to thank you for taking the time to do this. I have got as far as I have in art due to talent, and proper mentor/student (me being the student) relations. Not by much education. (I cannot afford too much schooling; I do have 2 degrees one in graphic design and another in fine art). I have to say I really enjoy your work.
I was really exposed to your work one day when I was working as inventory supervisor at a bookstore and decided to run your name through our database and see what books I could find. A quirky little title showed up Ā‘ How to draw cars the hot wheels wayĀ’ well that book is now in my library.
Ok on to the question. Sans school placement what is the best way to get a job as a concept artist for film, television, or games? I have been able to get work with comics due to the fact that you can approach a company during a convention or they have open submissions, ect. Is there such a thing for film work? I know the talent needs to be there I am more curious about the initial open door opportunity.
Thanks for taking the time for this again

Kraal