Viva Brighton Issue #84 February 2020

THIS MONTH’S COVER ARTIST
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Worlds Adrift
Dan Lish has worked as a concept artist for a
range of video game companies, including Sony,
Lucas Arts, and Rockstar, where he worked on
Max Payne and Grand Theft Auto 3. He explains
that the job title can confuse people however,
and that in practice it’s similar to most forms
of illustration. “It’s
just like other kinds of
publishing and editorial.
You’re following
a brief from an
art director and
you create an
illustration. It just so
happens that the artwork
that I’m doing is 90%
digital. It’s illustration, but
following a tight brief to
be used in video games. It’s a
weird title.”
Dan is currently lead concept artist at American
games company Mythical, working on an
upcoming title, Blankos Block Party. “It’s based
on the sub-culture of collecting vinyl toys. The
player can customise their character and explore
the universe, which is brilliant because 99.9% of
the stuff I create goes in the game.”
This month’s cover depicts characters from both
classic video games and board games: “there’s
a lot going on. I felt it was punchy going for
classic games: you’ve got Space Invaders, Donkey
Kong, Bowser, chess pieces on the Pavilion.” The
dragon in the middle – adorned with our issue
number – is inspired by Dungeons and Dragons,
while the ghosts chasing the pruned patient from
Operation are from Pac-Man.
Dan’s inking technique, which he describes as
having “zillions of little ink strokes”, was initially
inspired by comic illustrators Robert Crumb and
Moebius. “I feel that it’s gone its own way now
Blankos Block Party
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