Artist: Quentin Gautier
Website: https://www.artstation.com/blkw
Location: Montreal, Canada
My name is Quentin Gautier, I'm originally from France and I work as a concept artist in Canada.
❓Who or what influenced your art style the most at the beginning of your journey?
🗣 Japanese animation and manga were the first things that really influenced me : Otomo, Oshii, Shirow, Toryama, Terada were the authors I could watch/read endlessly.
The artbook of Ghost in the Shell was really a big reason for me to consider concept art, I fell in love with the thinking behind every props, every weapon, every vehicle.
As for art style, it changed a lot. I used to love crazy and crisp details but with time I started loving the more simplistic designs and a more simplistic way of painting.
Watching the work of post impressionists painters inspired me a lot, as for contemporary ones the work of Amad Mir (and Faraz Shanyar a bit later) inspired me to go towards that way.
❓How did you start your professional career?
🗣 There was no school for concept art in France at the time (so I did a more classic one to get the skills). I did small jobs and graphic design freelance contracts until I had a portfolio for concept art.
I applied to a lot of companies in France but a big part of them moved to Canada already, so I followed. I applied to Gameloft there (thanks to Arnaud Kotelnikoff for pointing me in that direction) and got my first full time job in the industry.
❓What software and hardware do you use, and why?
🗣 Whatever you use, the why is simple : comfort. You need to think only about art so anything that makes it easier is welcome.
As part of software I use mostly Photoshop, then on particular assignments I'll go for 3D softwares like Zbrush or Sketchup/Blender.
My hardware is a bit overkill for what I do mostly, but I wanted to be mindfree if at some point i decided to push the 3D
Processor i9-9900K
Geforce RTX 2080Ti 11Go Vram
64 Go Ram
Samsung SSD 970 Evo 500gb
WDigital Black 2 To
Cintiq 22" (wait as much as you can, once you go cintiq, it's hard to go back)
❓How do you like to work: as a freelancer, or maybe full-time or part-time?
🗣 I would say full-time only because I hate paperwork and all the business part haha. For real if I had an agent to seek clients so I could only focus on painting, I'll be freelancing I think.
❓What was your most challenging project, and why?
🗣 Gangstar New Orleans was the most interesting, as we changed art direction in the beginning and went from a realistic style to a very stylized one.
So we had to adapt fast, and there was a learning process for 2D and 3D artists at the same time that was quite enjoyable.
❓What was your most significant learning experience, and how does it help you now?
🗣 Really interesting question, artwise it's gonna be my first full time job as I met a lot of amazing artists. The early years are when you learn the most I think (maybe the rule of 80/20%), it never stops but the gap you jump in the early stages is quite big, after that it's years of refining (but don't feel bad because you don't see the same intensity of progression).
On a personal level my jobs in restaurants and in construction really polished me as a person and as a better leader, it was about doing your work properly and having integrity, being a man of your word.
That helped me have some great friends, a lot of respect and trust from my peers. The skill part is not a big deal as long as you use your brain and put the hours, but having integrity will carry you on the long run.
I will add one thing that really had a big impact on the way I approach my work : when I was in art school an art director taught me to justify everything I did in my work, not letting anything slip away. Try to always answer the WHY, so it never ends with personal tastes. You can dismiss personal tastes but it's way harder to dismiss good arguments and reasoning.
❓What is your dream project or art direction that you're starving to try?
🗣 Working with friends and having a blast doing a game together would be the dream. Projects are one thing but the people you're with make a huge difference on a production.
That's definitely what I dream about nowadays. Probably a little RPG with beautiful stylised art, not something over the top that tries to reinvent gaming, just a very beautiful and fun game that a lot of people and families could enjoy, I'd love that.
❓Can you tell us about a personal or professional project you are proud of?
🗣 If I had to pick one, it would be Gangstar New Orleans, as I jumped into stylized art and adapted pretty quickly, I had an opportunity to show I was a flexible concept artist.
Another one wasn't really a personal pride but I was very proud of my team at Ludia when we did a CCG game for Sony's Underworld movies (a lot of art was needed), we had a short time to produce it, but we managed to deliver it. That team was the best I worked with in terms of energy and mindset. Sometimes it's not about the result but what you got from it that matters the most.
❓Do you have any passion projects you're working on or plan to start?
🗣 There are always personal projects around the corner. Lately I'm doing stylised work again as I feel it's more challenging than realistic stuff and I want to go back to my first big love in video games, being a bit more youthful in the approach.
Otherwise I have two world building projects but I take them as they come, no pressure. One more realistic artwise, and in a middle eastern inspired fantasy (based on my old "Lost City" artwork). The other one will be more stylized definitely, for now it's just a few sketches and a pitch, fantasy too, maybe with a bit of steampunk, nothing written in stone yet haha.
❓What are youpassionate about and do you have any hobbies besides art?
🗣Cinema is one big thing I really like. Watching some classics, trying to analyze directing, composition etc. Mixed Martial Arts is one thing I love too even if I don't do martial arts anymore. It's like a chess battle, a bit more brutal of course but there are so many attributes and factors that come into play, it makes it very complex. Plus there is a creativity part that I feel is very similar in every art and helped me in my own work as a concept artist.
❓If you had just one question about anything that you could ask and get an answer, what would it be?
🗣 Arg it's like the 3 wishes from the Djinn. What do you choose? Haha. I will go with "what is the origin of our universe?", that would be enough for me to go totally insane!