Exula

Contact: Nicholasmiles(@)gmail.com (you’ll need to remove the brackets).

I’m a 26 year old Concept Artist, based in England, who has been involved in the games industry for three years. Drawing has always been a passion of mine, from childhood drawings of starships all the way to the artwork on this website.

I studied Graphic Design at University. After graduating I decided to pursue my interest in illustration and concept art, leading to my first job in the games industry as a concept artist.

I have taught myself a great deal about art, through regular practise and by following the work of other talented individuals. I work primarily in Photoshop with an A4 Intuos 3 and 20wsx Cintiq. I love what I do but am always endeavouring to diversify. I don’t wish to draw from the same well of inspiration too frequently and I don’t want to spread myself too thin. I spend much of my time painting, sculpting or writing. I’m dabbling with Zbrush but for now that’s filtering through more into my 2D illustrations, as opposed to Zbrush sculpts.

My current personal project is “Exula”, a fantasy world around which I base pieces of art and am currently in the process of planning a novel for. Illustrating children’s books also interests me and there are a couple of things I’m working on there as well.

I’m inspired by a wide range of artists including Frank Frazetta, John Berkey, Sparth, Claire Wendling and Chris Sanders, to name but a few. While painting I often listen to soundtracks, as it helps to evoke certain mindsets. I enjoy progressive rock which might explain why I am keen on fantasty art!

My work has been featured in Expose 4 and Expose 6, the latter for which I achieved a Master’s Award. I have written a tutorial for 2DArtist Magazine that will be in October 2008’s issue. In Imagine FX I have discussed the pros and cons of being a largely self taught artist. I have also been involved in advertising campaigns for the company I work for, which have appeared in gaming magazines such as Edge.

Games I have worked on include “Spongebob: Creature from the Krusty Krab”, “Spongebob: Atlantis Squarepantis”, a fresh Nickelodeon game due out in fall 2008 and some new Xbox Arcade Games.