In part one of this interview, we learned how Robert Simons’ career in concept art began before he even graduated from art school.
His designs for an indie sci-fi short called Project Arbiter demonstrated artistic maturity beyond that of the average nineteen-year-old artist and opened doors to the vfx industry.
Now, in part two, Robert and I discuss his experiences working on Hollywood blockbusters, breaking into the big-time, how his childhood inspired his concept art portfolio and a whole lot more!
Listen To The Interview:
Read the transcript for this episode here.
Episode Highlights:
- Sketching on mobile devices.
- What it’s like to see your concept art come to life on set.
- The ups and downs of epic personal projects.
- Working for other people.
- The future of independent film.
- The downsides of digital effects.
- The lonely side of success.
- How to deal with haters.
- How his childhood inspired his concept art portfolio.
- Concept art internships and breaking in.
…and we swap Steven Spielberg pseudo-stories!
“I want people to see that I can create projects and stories and things just as well as people at the top of the industry. That’s a tall order, but I just don’t want to have to work for someone else the rest of my life.”
– Robert Simons
Connect With Robert:
Follow Robert Simons on Twitter
Learn More:
ArtCast #69: Prepare for a Concept Artist Internship.
The Breakthrough: Watch Olga Drebas on deviantArt!
The Delve Project: Stop worrying and start working!
Join The Conversation:
We would love to hear your thoughts on anything we discussed in the interview, so please share your thoughts in the comments below!
Awesome listening and inspiration while pumping out portfolio work, so thanks Chris and Robert!
On the sketching on mobile devices topic, I use the app “brushes” on my iphone. No stylus used, I love the fact it wont let me get too fussy and I can put more broad strokes down to observe the colours around me. (Also great for sketching in public if you don’t want to be the artist with the sketchbook out.)
Visual Development artist Armand Serrano got me on to the app and heres a link too some of his sketches using multiple apps: http://armandserrano.blogspot.com.au/2009/11/ipod-touch-paintings-7-portraits-etc.html
Sounds like Robert had some amazing artists back him! I am blown away generosity of the artists I have met in the animation industry and have many to thank for helping my art grow.
Thank you for the comment, Tegan!
I have used the Brushes App. I did like the simplicity of the app design.
I still haven’t found anything better or particularly more convenient than just a small paper sketchbook and pen/ pencil.
And yes! I owe my career to those who advocated for and supported me.
Ahhh! I love Artcast days. Very very great words and wisdom about advocating people and dealing with people. I love the conversation about Indie vs. Corporate. Talking about the wastefulness of big movies really has me thinking about the budgeting of my own project.
I was trying to explain the concept of Patreon & Kickstarter to my mom yesterday… I won’t tell you what she said. It wasn’t very nice. But it got me thinking about how to be smart and efficient because not everyone is going to jump on the idea of supporting a project. Which sounds totally obvious, but it’s something that soooo important, I think I overlooked it.
I loved hearing how Robert worked on the stuff for Ender’s Game and Spiderman… I just watched Spiderman for the first time last night. These casts really have great timing for me!
As for the conversation about digital & traditional…. I don’t have a cintiq. I just have a beat up old bamboo tablet. I prefer traditional stuff. I like mess. Soon I will be working on some tradigital stuff though.
Anyway, wonderful thoughts and interview, Chris! Can’t wait to hear what Robert worked on next year!
Thanks, Britny!
Yes. I am convinced that Patreon/ Kickstarter are only as sustainable as one’s relationship with her/his audience.
And yeah – I’m dying to get back to traditional painting. So many media, so little time….
Hey Chris,
Great two-part interview!
I was wondering if, for at least one podcast, you could move away from the industry and interview someone who works in fine arts. I am asking because I myself am student of traditional painting and would be very happy to listen to an interview from a professional.
My suggestions (if you can get hold of them) would be: Jeff Watts, Stan Prokopenko, Richard Schmid, Nancy Guzik, Nelson Shanks… Will Cotton? (I realize most of them are “big guns” but I’m pretty sure at least one of them would be more than happy to go on the show).
Thank you for all your hard work 🙂 !
Hi, Razz! I can say that at least two of the people on your list are already in talks to be on the show in the future! 😉
Awesome 😀 !
Awesome podcast! The breakthrough section really hit me. Even though my family financially supported me through college, they were not too sure about me becoming an artist. Also having family members who were worried a bit too much about my future and constantly(and still is even with now a day job)suggesting other jobs I could do really broke my confidence a few levels after realizing graphic design was not the path for me. However, following the Chris Oatley and other podcasts and now being part of Magic Box made me realize I am better than I thought with illustration. Hence starting to make complete pieces again and planning with the beginning of next year to begin applying pieces for festivals again after not doing so for roughly a year or two. Maybe I might end up in Works on Paper again, but got to get the paint of paper first.
“…following the Chris Oatley and other podcasts and now being part of Magic Box made me realize I am better than I thought with illustration.”
Wonderful to hear, Mandy! Thank you!
Great Work Robert! It’s crazy how young you are, but your mechanical designs are ridiculously good. Those skills cant really be learned to the point your taking them. The 10,000 hours should be the easy part, its the years of struggle and day jobs and strain on personal relationships that artists have to cope with. The time, dedication and passion needs to be a given.
It’s great to hear advice from someone so successful. Thanks for taking the time to record this!
Part 2: I agree with all of your advice. All my moving has slowed my progression and caused me to spend way too much time tending bar and working odd jobs to pay rent. My flight path was Olympia-Tempe-Seattle-Brooklyn-San Francisco. Wouldn’t trade the life experience for anything, but I am still looking for my big break and I just turned 35.
Great work as always Chris!!!!!
35 is still super-young, Tim! Check out the “Long Game” videos at http://delve.tv …INSPIRING!
Hey Chris,
Great 2 part interview! I love hearing peoples break-in stories. In regards to the mobile sketching debate, I draw digitally all day at work, so for personal projects and studies It’s nice to try and work on paper when possible. If I want mobile digital, I think tablet PC that can run photoshop or sketchbook pro is the best option.
Yes sir. The tablet PC is probably the best mobile sketching option I’ve tried. Thanks, Pat!!!
Great part 2! These podcasts always get my day rolling with inspiration.
That was fascinating listening to Robert talk about the financial waste in Hollywood, like excessively working through designs only to come back to the initial design. With all of the turmoil in the industry in the last few years with vis fx houses bankrupting or the mass layoffs from production houses not making enough of a profit to keep their employees, it’s clear (or from what I can gather, anyways) that companies need to restructure so they don’t needlessly use up their resources to support their employees. It’s like the emphasis Robert placed on simplifying, and it sounds like they need to do just that if they want to successfully adapt and survive in this economical climate while supporting their employees.
*mini rant over*
Also! In regards to independent movies, I agree, I think there’s huge potential in the independent story sector. I think the biggest thing to figure out would be distribution, organization, and consistently getting your film or show out to regular consumers who are more familiar with broader platforms like netflix, hulu, or youtube. Maybe through a specialized platform that solely promoted independent films and had a per-month subscription service, or something like that. I dunno! There’s so much great stuff out there already, but sometimes good independent films feel hard to find. At least, there are so many that it gets overwhelming, and you have no idea where to start, so they only seem hard to find. So maybe making it easier for the consumer to find the films as a whole and categorize them so it’s not overwhelming could be part of the solution.
Long post is long! Basically this was a great podcast, and it got me thinking of stuff I hadn’t previously considered. Thanks! XD
That’s a great idea, Jessica! You should definitely create that service! 😉
Ha! Excuse me for a sec, just going to add that to my project list XD
Ideal.
My favorite part was at the end, “filthy kids and your filthy concept art” !! LOL!
seriously though, great art cast, just shows you how important it is to make connections and make a good impression, you guys did not mention it but 50% of having chances to be recommended for future works is your attitude, being easy to work with and being very communicative is extremely important and could not be emphasized enough.
Love your art casts, I listen to them while doing art, thumbnailing went well with this one.
Cheers
Thanks, Danny! Haha… Glad you liked the bloopers!
And you’re right on. Your attitude is at least 50%!
Hello! Awesome part 2 podcast: thank you!!
I found the bit of talk on internships and connections very interesting since I’m having a bit of trouble getting an internship myself. It’s quite encouraging to hear a specific account of how a single connection and/or position led to so many others.
That kind of story always reminds me of something the author Neil Gaiman has said concerning artists, and how at the beginning of a career it feels as if you’re creating all these works and sending them off like messages in bottles and hoping someone will respond one day. That comparison has always felt appropriate to me, and Robert’s conviction that someone WILL respond if you keep getting up and pushing, along with his experience, was very inspiring to hear.
In regards to digital art and traditional, I’ve always thought the key is balance between the two. The detail, precision, and graphic quality digital provides is drool worthy and wonderful, but, for me at least, after a while of digital effects and screen, I crave the rawness and, as someone mentioned above, messiness of traditional art. I think projects, including film, that find this balance between rawness and clarity are the most successful.
It’s always so great to hear another artist’s story and methods of working since it’s so easy to get stuck in your own workflow and way of thinking.
Thank you so very much Chris and Robert!!!
I can’t wait to listen to this podcast! I’ve been listening to just about everyone of these. when I run out…I’ll likely start all over (hopefully, in chronological order)!
My artmind works so much better now thanks to the tips in these recordings!
Hey Chris and Rob, awesome artcast as always 🙂
As mentioned in it, getting an internship played a major part in Robs career.
I personally graduated nearly 3 years ago and never had the option of doing internship at the time and it seems most companies dont want graduates in internships or wont even give work experience. Ive tried 🙁
What would you suggest to people with no relevant work experience who hasnt done an internship? is there anything that can help improve career prospects or is it essentially make art and self advertise to death and hope you get lucky?
Thanks 🙂 (im in UK btw we dont have many film/game studios)
It was really inspiring to hear about Robert’s ambitions to be “more than a wrist”. I’ve been so concerned with even just improving and “getting in” to begin with, that I haven’t even thought about any higher ambitions than that. It’s inspiring, and gave me a little more “dreamy” feeling, which is great!
I also liked hearing Olga’s breakthrough story; insecurity about my own work is something I’ve been struggling with recently, as I know I need to improve but I’m so keenly aware of my own current shortcomings that it’s quite frustrating to work through. But I am working on it! 😀 But I definitely relate to her feelings of not wanting to promote, as I don’t feel it’s yet “ready” or good enough to feel proud of…
To that end, your quote on facebook about “loving it enough to be bad at it” really spoke to me! Trying to change my point of view 🙂
Thank you for this!