was keen to make a game that
looked as close as possible to my
particular aesthetic, even down to
trying to replicate my brushstrokes in
the textures,” he explains. “Although
I didn’t play a huge part in Tölva’s
development, it was good to be
involved in making a sci-fi game. It’s
the closest a game has come to
capturing what I have in my head,
certainly. So far, at least.”
ART THAT’S FULL OF DETAILS
The way The Signal from Tölva ref lects
the texture of Ian’s artwork really takes
us to the heart of his talent and his
process. As seen in the art books he’s
published, Ian is an accomplished
sketcher and meticulous with detail.
Pencil and paper are where each image
begins, sometimes aided by a bit of 3D
modelling if the piece requires complex
lighting or has an unusual perspective.
After that, it’s into Photoshop, often
painting with Kyle Webster’s brushes,
which are perfect for giving his future
civilisations a classic, dated feel. Watchone of his IAMAG Master Classes on
YouTube and you’ll be able to see just
how sophisticated Ian’s colouring and
shading skills are.
The other facet to his approach is a
belief in hard work. The US artist
Chuck Close’s quote, “Inspiration is for
amateurs, the rest of us just show up
and get to work,” is one of Ian’smantras. Undoubtedly, the hard graft
over the past three decades has taken
Ian from being a boy fascinated by
Ralph McQuarrie’s work on Star Wars
to an art graduate who wanted to
illustrate books, and on to become a
leader in game and film concept art.
“At 12 years old I knew I wanted to
do what Ralph McQuarrie did, but had
no idea how,” says Ian. “This was long
before concept art had become the
industry it is now. And living in
Sunderland in the days before the
internet, I never imagined I’d be able
to work in the film industry.
“Hollywood may as well have been
on another planet, such was my
distance from it. But eventually the
internet was invented and a few
CGHub front pages later I was getting
offers to work as a film concept artist.
I finally got that dream job, just 30-
something years later than I’d hoped!
I guess the lesson is: never give up.”JUST GETTING BY
One of the mech pilots
portrayed by Ian in his
66-page sketchbook
Mechs & The City.
RAMSHACKLE MECHS
Mechs & The City features
vehicles and characters from
a bleak futuristic setting, all
sketched and inked by Ian.IAN MCQUE
It’s the closest a game
has come to capturing what
I have in my head, certainly