DEVIL IN THE DETAIL:
AN INTERVIEW WITH KEITH THOMPSON

Having written several books on conceptual art along with a Gnomon Workshop DVD, Keith Thompson's talents are far beyond the inception of his ideas. His classical, almost Rackhamesque style harnesses many references to the past, yet is twisted enough to give us his unique and often nightmarish vision of an alternate world.

EC: Welcome to Erth Chronicles Keith.

KT: Thanks, it's been great looking around the place.

EC: Where were you brought up and how has this imprinted on your visual
style?

KT: I was raised in Canada. The surroundings here allowed me a comfortable and clean slate to work with.

EC: Who have been and continue to be your main inspiration as an artist?

KT: Far too many to name. It would be lopsided and imprecise to even attempt rattling off names. It's a dull answer, but my sources of inspiration are really uncountable and ever-growing.

EC: What’s the first film you remember seeing that had an influence on you?

KT: There's been a lot, but the primary ones that arrested me when I was as young as I can remember would probably have been The Dark Crystal, Aliens, and Rankin & Bass's The Hobbit.

EC: Have you been self-taught or did you attend Art School, College / University?

KT: I went to school. I made a lot of progress in the summer breaks.

EC: To those who haven’t read your books or seen your DVD, explain your process of working.

KT: It all comes down to drawing and linework really. Basically I draw a subject and then I lay on transparent coats of coloured glazes digitally. It's probably a rather inefficient process as I don't see it very often, but it does have a unique feel to it. Book illustrators at the turn of the century tended to work in a similar fashion of linework with coloured fills.

EC: How important is working in your sketchbook - from the smallest thumbs to fleshed out sketches or speed paintings?

KT: Honestly, I never simply sketch if I can avoid it. I'm obsessive about only touching pencil to paper when I plan on carrying something through to completion. I do make quick thumbnails before starting a piece, but that's about it. I hate looking back at old sketches and thinking about what it could have been if I'd spent the time to finish it.

EC: Research is an integral part of the design process - do you feel that this helps inform ourselves and in turn our work? What would you use as an example of an ill informed design?

KT: A limitation of depth in the work is one of the major pitfalls concept art faces. I have no problem researching my own details and infusing them in the work, but if I'm given a vague but limiting brief then there's only so much I can do. I can't diverge from what's been assigned, and this lack of freedom without specificity can limit the variance possible in the design. This can create a concept design with a degree of aesthetic appeal, but is always going to suffer from a bland conceptual standpoint.

I've seen concept design that manages to pull off a focus on aesthetic appeal over conceptual depth, but there always has to be a feeling that it follows a set of invented rules within its setting to give the viewer a sense that everything actually exists within a separate world.

EC: You have worked in many different areas of the industry - from films to video games, RPGs to books. Do you get more satisfaction from any one of these areas?

KT: They're all surprisingly different, and I'm still jumping around getting a fully developed feel for them. Honestly I get the most satisfaction when I feel that the work is conducive to me creating the best possible art I can, and the final medium itself hasn't had a definitive pull on me. I've encountered pretty varied artistic freedom in all the fields.

EC: Your Gnomon Workshop DVD Rom, Character Design Techniques takes us through the process of creating a zombie from the Napoleonic period. Your sense of history clearly stands out and helps deliver an effective end result. How important to you is defining the subject matter before you even pick up a pencil?

KT: I always know exactly what I want to achieve before picking up a pencil. All the exploration is done in my head, and the actual creation of the art is simply the labour taken to realise it. It's not that it comes very quickly or easily to me, it's just that I spend a lot of time imagining the artwork before I start on paper.

EC: How important do you feel the art direction process is where needed?

KT: I'm still getting a feel for the different styles of direction. I was always of the opinion that the most hands off approach produces the best results (at least with artists who work with my approach), but I've been finding it's more nuanced than that. If I'm creating with a complete free reign that's awesome, but if it's work that will intertwine with other existing parts of a world I need to be informed so my ideas intergrate well with the other existing concepts.

EC: As with the Napoleonic zombie, looking at your own gallery there seems to be a vivid, visceral style that is hinged upon your love of cultural significance, a mix and match of sorts. Would you say these observations are key to your ‘melting pot’ of designs and pushing your designs as far as they will go?

KT: I always feel that a storytelling artwork (concept art included) should feel as though it's a part of a webwork of reality in which it exists. These webs should seem to stretch off the canvas, through time and space in ripples of causation that affect the subject of the art itself, and which the viewer can imagine effecting other undepicted elements of the world.

I've always loved the whole, belaboured creation of a world that some fantasy works achieve (rarely acknowledged.) I've been trying to touch down on as many real world things as I can to draw inspiration from them. I've found there's always something truly unique and indicative of the whole feel of an age and setting that delivers a vivid richness to the work. I've been trying to understand this through real world examples so I can harness it for the worlds I create from the ground up.

EC: Creatively what stops each project you take on board from being a step backwards?

KT: Some projects actually are very disappointing in what I'm allowed to make, and I do consider those somewhat as lost time (though not a step backwards.) I do this for a living, so that can occasionally constrain artistic freedom. Of course, luckily this isn't always the case, and I'm happy to say that I often work on projects that allow me to work freely as a creative force and produce completely unhindered (by anything but time) artwork.

EC: What do you feel is the common trait we all share as creatives?

KT: Being in awe of beauty.

EC: The world of Erth could be seen as a reflection of the current climate; from Iraq to concerns for the environment. Yet, there are also subtle reflections on the Industrial Revolution and Enlightenment period. How important are visuals metaphors when exploring your own designs?

KT: I believe any creative work does this whether the artist or writer intends it or not (since it speaks of the creator's vision of the world, and what they find compelling about it.) How consciously orchestrated this effect is depends on the intents of the creator.

EC: The hero’s journey is synonymous with mythical story telling - how
integral do you feel this is to any story?

KT: That's actually something I've been wrestling with lately. I've found the metaphorical nature of the hero figure rarely fit well into the worlds I create. I understand the importance of the hero as a storytelling notion, and I hope to figure out how to merge the metaphor into my worlds in the future.

EC: Fantasy and Science Fiction has grown tremendously the past ten years, thanks to the likes of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and continue to inspire many fellow creatives. How do you see this genre changing and developing over the next few years?

KT: Honestly it's hard for me to say, though I am overall very positive about what I see. Unfortunately I dread that the potential effects of things like the The Lord of the Rings movies' well-deserved success is the frantic over saturation of cash-ins which bore the enthusiast and convince the detractor that there was nothing worthwhile in exploring fantasy in the first place.

EC: As well as the novel, potentially, where else do you see Erth Chronicles going?

KT: Creative works seem to take the strangest roads, and I really don't have enough long term perspective to understand the flow they follow. Sometimes these things hinge so dramatically on serendipity they would have been impossible to predict.

EC: Any other creators that you’d like to collaborate with?

KT: A ton, but it's a bit like my sources of inspiration; it would be a list I couldn't order.

EC: What advice would you give to artists at Erth Chronicles in continuing to effectively bring someone else’s vision to life?

KT: Try to get a feel for the overall direction the author is aiming for. Hopefully you're interested in the same ideas, and so if you've appraised it right then your vision should hopefully merge well with the other. I wouldn't try to literally guess what's expected, you can get bogged down in reproducing meaningless details, which would hamper the potential you have brought to the work.

EC: What’s the most important professional advice you would give any prospective artist?

KT: Attempt to create what you love, and through that the goal turns to ensuring you get proficient enough to love your own work. That full circle seems to be an approach that's steered me reasonably well. Of course there's plenty of other approaches for people in the profession who possess a different goal.

EC: Complete this sentence: Three cavemen are sitting round a fire, one says to the other…

KT: "Well at least it'll be a long time before they can start World War 4."

You can view more of Keith's work over at his official site:

www.keiththompsonart.com

Character Design Techniques: Traditional to Digital Process with Keith Thompson is currently available at www.thegnomonworkshop.com

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