Stephen Cooper - Concept Artist

Concept Art is one of the few interests I have, and in this session Concept Artist Steven Cooper was a guest lecture to talk about some of his client works (Doctor Who, Paddington, Silent Hill: Origins) personal works, life as a concept artist, as well as responding to general questions regarding about the subject.

This session was very, very useful and interesting as I get to have a small insight into how a concept artist work, dealing with exposure and client work, including to know Stephen’s personal opinions, influences and advice.

After his presentation that consists a body of client works as well as some personal projects, I personally sat down with him and discussed about my interest in concept art and to share my experiences of learning in the past in my previous university, where I had studied Game Art Design in De Montfort University.

I discussed my experiences where I find it difficult, as a whole, to study Concept Art, where you need the skills of both 3D Game Production and Visual Design. I asked this whether it is necessary that, despite being a 2D illustrator, you need the skills as a 3D modeller to get into concept art, considering I myself is not keen in 3D modelling and it is too technical for me. Stephen explained that it is not that necessary, however it would give you an advantage over some who doesn’t know much of 3D modelling, and told me that gaining those skills is a plus to your employability within the industry of concept art. He told me that you can still get into Concept art without knowing 3D modelling, though basic knowledge is required just in case you would ever need to use one, which he explained earlier in his presentation, that he needs to self-teach on using 3D modelling software he needs to use, such as Maya and ZBrush to produce some client work. His opinion makes it all clear to me and that it is not a necessary requirement to get into concept art, though this makes me more wary that some, if not most companies are on the lookout for those who has both 3D and 2D skills, which can put those in an advantage over those who don’t have both, like me.

After the discussion I made it relate to one of questions that I want to ask, and that is:

Would you consider Concept Art the hardest subject within the field of Illustration?

Stephen agrees that concept art is, in some way, hard in comparison to other subjects in art and design, primarily because you would need to stay at top in being creative and motivated all the time, regardless whether the project you are doing is enjoyable or not. He said the design element is what keeps things challenging and you would need to think and produce new designs, which can be difficult especially if there is a strict time constraint on the project’s idea phase. You would need to know how to draw anything and don’t expect to draw your favourite things all the time, since the brief from the client could be of anything. If you can’t then maybe concept art is not the right choice, and would prefer to go to a more general digital illustration pathway, if creating illustrations is your thing.

Taking into account of what he said in response, which leads to my second question:

Did you work on multiple projects simultaneously?

No. Stephen said he didn’t and would personally prefer to work and focus on one project at a time, as he said his director assumes he has undivided attention and knowing he can handle the work, otherwise, working on another project without the director knowing would stir some problems, also taking into account Stephen would need to keep things confidential of both projects between the two companies. Plus it would personally conflicts Stephen’s working hours, as there is more work to do.

Did you have to self-teach to learn new software outside of work?

Yes. He said that a lot of companies does not provide any tutorial or training if a particular software skill is required. He reflects back to my first question, where he tells me that knowing some of the software is a plus to your employability, which I think he is correct. This had me reflecting back when I first acquired Photoshop a few years ago, knowing that I would need to self-teach myself, considering there’s no classes that teach you the ways of digital painting, unless you go to a specific art school/college. He said it is handy knowing a few extra things, but if it is something that you would definitely be using, you would need to teach yourself.

As an artist is it better to be well rounded in everything, rather than sticking to the things you like to do? Such as drawing specific characters, environments, etc.

Yes. Cooper said it is better to be well rounded than sticking to what you can do, as it will narrow down your opportunities. He personally say that sticking to one thing is somewhat generally not a good idea, but you do get artists who are recognised or well known for drawing the one subject or theme that they like to do, whether its character portraits or sci-fi robots, which is not a bad idea if it is successful, but overall he personally says that it is better to know your way round rather than boxing in on yourself. Sure it will make you recognisable in a way to be known as an artist who draws this or that, but drawing your favourite things all the time could somewhat hinder your job opportunities and skill.

It was nice to have discussions and debates on several topics with Stephen and was given small tutorials in Photoshop including some advice in painting surface materials. This session has been very good and was well engaged in discussing relevant topics relating to my own interests with Stephen Cooper and I may contact him via email for future references/purposes.