BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE CHARACTER DESIGN BLOGSPOT

2006-08-18T13:16:00.000-07:00

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THE INTERVIEW

2006-08-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

Tell me a little bit about yourself, about your life? Where did you go to school, and what classes did you study? What helped prepare you to become
the artist that you are today?

I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN SPAIN AND MY TRAINING BASICALLY COMES FROM OBSERVING AND ANALIZING GOOD ARTWORK AROUND ME SINCE I WAS A KID FORTUNATELY ENOUGH I COULD SEE QUITE A BIT OF PAINTING AND DRAWING AS FIRST OF ALL 90 PER CENT OF MY FAMILY ARE ARTISTS, MY FATHER WAS A GREAT PERSPECTIVE DESIGNER. HE WAS ALSO A TEACHER IN AN ARTSCHOOL SO BASICALLY I HAD THE TEACHER AT HOME FOR MYSELF !

MY MOTHER'S SIDE MORE IN THE ACTUAL ARTISTIC FIELD (FIGURE DRAWING, COLOR, SCULPTURE, VERY INTERESTED IN MOVIES) BESIDES THEY ALWAYS TOOK CARE THAT THERE WAS ALWAYS THE BEST OF REFERENCE AND INSPIRATIONAL ARTWORK AROUND THBE HOUSE ALL THE TIME .

How do you go about designing a character, and what goes through your mind, from start to end?

DESINGNING CHARACTERS HAS ALWAYS BEEN JUST A PART OF MY WORK SINCE I GOT STARTED WITH COMIC BOOKS, THAT MEANING I HAD TO ATTEND ALL ASPECTS OF THE STORY, NOT JUST DESIGNING THE CHARACTER VISUALLY BUT ALSO FROM A PSYCOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW, PLUS LOCATIONS, COLOR, MOOD ETC, WHICH I FIND PARTICULARLY INTERESTING OF THIS ARTFORM AS YOU NEED TO BE AWARE OF EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME. GOOD SOURCE OF TRAINING FOR SURE !
ALSO COMIC BOOK CHARACTERS ARE USUALLY MORE REALISTIC THAN THE ONES ONE CAN USUALLY SEE IN ANIMATION.GOING REALLISTIC ABOUT A DESIGN OFFERS YOU A SOMEHOW MORE RESTRICTED RANGE OF POSIBILITIES AS YOU CAN "GO CRAZY WITH IT" JUST UP TO A CERTAINPOINT ,AS OPPOSED TO CREATING CHARACTERS FROM A MORE CHARICATURESQUE APPROACH.

What do you think really helps you out in designing a character?

AS I MENTIONED ONE REALLY NEEDS TO BE AWARE FIRST OF ALL OF THE ROL OF THIS CHARACTER IN THE STORY, AS THIS WILL DETERMIN THE ATTITUDE, PHYSICAL SHAPE, MAIN FEATURES IN THE FACE'S EXPRESSION... IT IS TEMPTING SOMETIMES TO GO AHEAD AND TRY TO DO "SOMETHING COOL" , BUT IF THE DESIGN DOESN'T SERVE THE PURPOSE IT DOESN'T TAKE YOU ANYWHERE.

From your own experience and maybe from some people that you know, what
should we put in our portfolio and what should we not?

I ALWAYS FOUND INTERESTING TO SHOW A RANGE AS WIDE AS POSSIBLE OF YOUR OWN ARTWORK, I GUESS GIVEN MY COMIC BOOK EXPERIENCE AS I MENTIONNED BEFORE. I THINK IT’S GOOD TO SEE HOW WIDE AN SPECTRUM AN ARTIST CAN OFFER.

What are some of the things that you have worked on?

I DID COMICS FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS BACK IN SPAIN. I ALSO DID QUITE A LOT OF PUBLICITY. AFTER THAT I WENT DIRECTLY INTO ANIMATION, WORKING IN FILMS LIKE 'BALTO' OR THE PRINCE OF EGYPT' FOR EXAMPLE.

Is there a character design you have done that you are most proud of?

GOTTA LOVE EACH AND EVERYONE OF MY BABIES ! (DONT' WANNA HURT THEIR FEELINGS AS THEY MIGHT BE READING THIS)

What are you working on now? (If you can tell us)

SORRY, WON'T TELL...

Where is the place you would like to work if you had a choice?

AT ANY STUDIO I'VE WORKED IN I'VE MET INTERESTING PEOPLE AND AMAZING ARTISTS. IT REALLY IS ABOUT THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE, I'M VERY POSITIVE ABOUT THIS.
SO EVERY EXPERIENCE IS WELCOME.

Who do you think are the top character designers out there?

IF I MENTION 3 OR 4 TONIGHT I'LL GO, HEY AND WHAT ABOUT THAT AND THAT OTHER ONE... THERE' ARE REALLY MANY ARTISTS AROUND THAT ARE DEVELOPING INCREDIBLE STUFF,

How do you go about coloring the character, what type of tools or media
Do you use?

AGAIN COLOR SERVES THE PURPOSE OF THE CHARACTER IN THE STORY, NEVERTHELESS EVERYTIME I CAN I USE STRONG SATURATED COLORS, WHY? I GUESS WE'LL NEVER KNOW... THESE LAST YEARS I'VE BEEN DIGITAL 100 PER CENT AS COLOR IS CONCERNED .

What part of designing a character is most fun and easy, and what is most
hard?

I'D SAY GIVING A STRONG, DISTINCTIVE PERSONALITY TO EACH ONE OF THEM.

What are some of your favorite character designs and least favorite, which
you have seen?

AS AN EXAMPLE GOOD OLD TINTIN STILL AMAZES ME, SO SIMPLE AND CONVEYS SO MUCH… I'M ALSO STILL AMAZED DAY AFTER DAY AT THE SIMPSONS FAMILY, JUST A FEW SIMPLE LINES AND IT WORKS SO WELL.

What is your most favorite subject to draw? And why?

YEAH, CHARACTERS, HUMAN FIGURE, IT'S OBVIOUSLY THE THING THAT WE ALL CAN RELATE TO MORE EASILY.

What inspired you to become an Artist?

PLEASE SEE ANSWER TO FIRST QUESTION (-QUOTE-UNQUOTE).

What are some of the neat things you have learned from other artists that
you have worked with or seen?

RESPECT FOR MY WORK

What wisdom could you give us, about being an Artist? Do you have any tips
you could give?

JUST LOVE WHAT YOU ARE DOING. WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN A CHANCE TO DO SOMETHING NICE IN LIFE, SO BE REALLY HAPPY WITH IT. (CONVINCING ENOUGH ?)

If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?

MY E-MAIL ADDRESS IS IN MY WEBSITE
WWW.MARCOSMATEU.COM

Finally, do you have any of your art work for sale (sketchbook, prints, Or anything) for people that like your work can know where and when to buy
it?

NOT RIGHT NOW.

MARCOS MATEU INTERVIEW

BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE CHARACTER DESIGN BLOGSPOT

THE INTERVIEW

HERE ARE SOME OF HIS DESIGNS