R.G. IRWIN

What’s your art background? 

I was not self taught, I was very lucky to have had an older brother and sister who drew too and would answer all of my "how do I draw...?" questions. It was my high school art teacher, Mac, whose guidance, lessons, and passion really molded me into the artist I am today, however. The knowledge and abilities I learned from Mac created far more than just a solid foundation for me going into art college where I took classes under fantastic professors to further propel me to where I am today.

List a few of your inspirations.

If you couldn't tell by now, Mac is and continues to be an artist I truly admire more than I could put into words. But for something a little more related to my current field? I would say Matt Rhodes. He was the concept artist for some of my favorite game series and his recent independent projects have really shown me how far you can push color, character, and storytelling in a single image.

Preferred software/hardware for illustrating?

I will always have a love for traditional art, but almost everything I do now is on my screened drawing tablet!

What are some of your strengths in illustrating and weaknesses?

I would say my strength is creatures. I have such a deep love for the animal kingdom and its endless variety and creativity. Whatever I think I came up with, it feels like nature has already done it in a better way! 

A weakness would be structures for me. While I like to think I have gotten much better over the years, the rigid, detailed, and precise look of buildings sometimes takes me an extra long time. I prefer my organic shapes and funny little creatures.

Goals as an artist. Where do you want to be in your art career 5 years from now? 

5 years might be a little ambitious, but eventually I would love to be a creative lead in charge of a small team of designers creating art for video games.

Advice for new or aspiring artists.

1. My main piece of advice is to emphasize the importance of critique. I learned a lot from Mac and my professors, but before shading techniques or animation principles, I learned how to take critique on my work. Art in its nature is so vulnerable and precious, so it can be very harrowing to put it up for a bunch of people to tell you what they think of it, but it is paramount to improving. You do not always have to agree with what the critique is, but as long as it is coming from an earnest place, being open to listening will allow you to grow your abilities faster than you could ever think.

2. Not everything you make has to be gold, so don't worry too much, I have drawn some UGLY stuff but it is all an important part of the process. Sometimes that includes starting over too!

3. Art skill has no ceiling. Your favorite artist's favorite artist knows they could get better and no one is too good to go back and practice some fundamentals.