Artwork for the High Seas! Creating Imagery for Pirates of the Sword Coast
Profile by Jay Watamaniuk
One of the advantages of working for BioWare is having access to some amazing artists when eye-catching visuals are needed. Todd Grenier has been creating art for many years and was asked to put his talent to work creating a central image for BioWare's latest premium module, Neverwinter Nights: Pirates of the Sword Coast. Working with the marketing department, Todd has learned you can't just create a painting, give everybody a high five, and go sip fruity drinks on the beach. The image you create must not only convey a particular message, it must be versatile enough to be cut into pieces for a variety of purposes:
What is your job at BioWare and how long have you been working there?
I work in the promotional art division of the marketing department. For 6 years I have been creating logos, magazine covers, character images, website graphics, graphical user interfaces (GUI). I also clean the toilet and sometimes babysit the guys here at BioWare. (Editor's note- Todd does, indeed, let us stay up late occasionally and watch scary movies, bless his heart. -Jay W)
How did you get started in this business? What was your education?
I went to Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary. While going to school there, I met Mike Sass, who has worked with BioWare since the start of the company. I happened to get a design job a block away from the BioWare studio. The work environment was very appealing to me, and I decided to work on applicable skills to apply for a position. Eventually, a GUI position opened up for me and the rest is history.
What work had to be done for Pirates?
I had to create the main promotional image that would be the only marketing art used to promote the game. I had to create it in such a way that it could be used for ads, desktops, header graphics on the Store and NWN sites, loading screens, portraits, and installer images. I needed to come up with a design and composition that would translate into all of these. Our idea was to create one piece that could be cut up into many pieces. After finishing the image, I cut it up into the other formats, with the web monkeys' help.
What are the stages of creating a final painting like the Pirates cover art?
The first step is the research: find out what the game is about and what characters are available for use. From that point I generate concepts of the characters (in costume). After the concepts are approved by the team I begin work on a composition. Once that is approved, I start to flesh it out and ensure everything will work together. Next, I establish a colour scheme and begin the final image. I then block in the colours and start to detail the image. In this case, we did some additional work after consulting with Wizards of the Coast before we came up with the final version. The original pirate was too generic, so we made some revisions and ended up changing him quite a bit. I had to rethink the image and craft a new pirate concept. The team and I brainstormed and came up with a half-orc pirate. The designers and I then replaced the existing pirate with the new half-orc. I continued to tweak the image, including the boat and the trog, until it was finished.
What is the difference between doing art for the web and creating art for a magazine cover?
The major differences are size, resolution, and colour (RGB vs. CMYK). We always try to create web art in a large enough format so it can be used for print as well.
Are there particular artists whose style you admire?
There are way too many artists to mention all of them here, but I will name a few: Mike Sass (partner in the promotional department), N.C. Wyeth, Todd Lockwood, Wayne Reynolds, James Ryman, Carlos Huantes, Frank Frezetta, John Foster, Borgereau, and Donato. I was mostly looking at fantasy artists for this image.
Art fans, stay tuned as we have another art-related article coming up next week - The creation process behind the Jade Empire box art, by Mike Sass.
