Tuesday interviews – Franklin Chan, Concept Artist/Matte Painter.
Here we start our series of interviews with various artists from different levels of seniority and backgrounds!
We will be exploring Artist’s parcours, career paths, and artistic choices.
Today we talk to Franklin Chan, Concept Artist and Matte Painter, who has worked with us on many projects including the most recent His Dark Materials.
Franklin Chan, Concept Artist
– Hi Franklin! To start, how long have you been a concept artist for, and has it always been something you wanted to do?
– Hi! I have been a concept artist for almost 5 years. I started out as a matte painter and 3D artist, and gradually transitioned into this role. I guess I always had an interest in drawing and design as a kid, but never knew this job existed until I got my foot into the industry. When I witnessed how ideas were put together and the process of turning these ideas into the final product, I realised this is something I want to be a part of.
– Exciting! So which would you say was your favourite piece you created, and why?
– Growing up in the city, I am always fascinated by the sense of massive scale, futuristic architecture and the beautiful neon lights in the dark, so I really enjoy painting cyberpunk scenes whenever I can.
It’s pretty difficult for me to just pick one favourite piece, but here are a few I’ve done recently that I really enjoy working on (in attachement to the article)
Franklin Chan, All Rights Reserved.
– I’m so in love with this style too, being myself a big geek and into futuristic sci-fi! So, to conclude, do you have any advice for people looking to get into the profession?
– Keep working on your portfolio and keep learning new things. This industry changes fast and the top guys are always coming up with new ways to generate ideas, so keep an eye out for what’s out there.
I always get asked how to get into the industry if you lack experience and it always seems like a catch 22 thing, but you can actually do your own project and learn a lot from it. Being a concept artist is about
iterating your ideas and pushing them forward, so don’t get too hung up on just one piece of concept art, instead try to demonstrate your thought process with a series of concepts in your portfolio. Lastly, don’t forget to keep honing your fundamentals, perspective, anatomy, lighting, etc, because there is no point having good ideas if you don’t know how to illustrate them 🙂
