Q & A with Sven Juhlin
3D Concept Art presents a Q & A with Sven Juhlin, a very talented artist specializing in characters and creatures. He has been around for about twelve (12) years working in game industry. He has worked with companies like DICE, CCP, Machines Games, and he is currently working at Guerilla Games on several high profile AAA game projects. He have worked on titles like Killzone: Shadow Fall, Eve online and Wolfenstein New Order, recently Horizon: Zero Dawn and several projects still in development. He works as a freelance artist.
With a pleasure, 3dconceptart presents Sven Juhlin.
| 3D Concept Art: Tell us about you and how did you become interested in 3d modeling and characters, and to find a place in the game industry?
| Sven Juhlin: → I have always been interested in computer games and played a lot of them during my younger years. I have also been drawing for as long as I can remember so trying out 3d modeling felt like a natural step for me. I was never really great in drawing but I always found it really fun and I’m much better in 3d than I would ever have become in a traditional 2d drawing.
| 3CA: Working as a freelancer is in indeed exciting, what you feel as a character artist is the most challenging when trying to deliver a high-quality piece in a short deadline? What should you prioritize and what is your advice?
| S.J: → It’s can be a bit hard to make high-quality characters with a short deadline. But I do tend to get more focused when I know I have to perform with a tight deadline. But at the same time, it can be a bit of a struggle if you don’t get what you want in the first couple of days. It’s more common that smaller studios have tighter deadlines since they don’t have the same budget and the same knowledge about the time it takes to develop really good looking characters. My advice is, to be honest regarding what you think about a deadline and what the client can expect from you with a short deadline in mind.
| 3CA: Where do you get inspiration from and who are your role models?
| S.J: → There are so many great artists out there today and it’s really hard to name anyone without naming 10 more. But I got a lot of early inspiration from Paul Bonner as he is the person that drew a lot of the characters for the card game Mutant chronicles, that I played during Primary School. But I tend to browse ArtStation for reference before doing stuff from my portfolio. But when I do professional character work I often get so much inspirational work from the client so no more than that is necessary.
| 3CA: When you work on your models, what do you feel during the process should be as most precise as possible to convey the feeling you want and the realism that certain models needs? any difference between human character and creature or something in between?
| S.J: → That is really hard to say and it tends to vary from model to model. But I usually work with a lot of iteration were I do a quick paint over on my character in Photoshop to try out some new looks. I then build the object’s and do the same procedure a couple of more times. I tend to put some extra effort in creating the faces when making characters that are supposed to look more realistic. That is the part of the character that can really make a difference to your final render.
| 3CA: Any good pieces of advice for artists and students who want to get into the business as a 3D Artist in fields of cinematic art and game art as a character artist?
| S.J: → Try not to get stuck with one model. If It doesn’t fly start with a new one and you will easily filter out the mistakes made on the one before. Don’t do a whole character since that is really time-consuming. Go for a standard bust instead, and try to make more of them. I have quite a few characters lying around with a lot of hours put into that will never see the light of day. I’m not saying that they are a waste of time because I have still learned a lot by making them, but it’s more fun to actually finish a smaller project of and post it and start with a new one.
3D Concept Art Community thanks Sven Juhlin for sharing his knowledge. Keep in mind to always to have a good communication with your employer and be honest! And don’t forget to design and iterate, always!
