Thank you for visiting The Grey League and hopefully we showed you another great artist that might contribute to your gaming experienceeeded some maps for my VTT. I asled if I could use them and he was gracious to let me, as I was not making money out of them. But David made the leap to become a professional contributor to the gaming community, and we for one , love him for that. He produces great stuff which you find over here and here. Instead of talking about this artist I asked him a few questions people might find interesting.
What started your interest in cartography?
I started making game maps many years ago after being dissatisfied with the quality of the maps offered in some of the modules I was running. I wanted the map to be a visual treat for the players to help me tell the story and set the mood, something I couldn’t do with a simple line drawing of halls and rooms.
How did you get into RPG? What games did you play and did it influence your life and now career?
My cousin introduced me to D&D back in 1982 and it was unlike anything I had played before. I was hooked from that first game. The next year I bought the D&D Red Box for my friend’s birthday and ran the introductory adventure for him and my older brother. I’ve been a Dungeon Master ever since. I dabbled a bit in Star Frontiers, Top Secret, and few other games, but I always come back to fantasy. I currently run several Pathfinder 1e games, my system of choice.
Which programs do you use to create your resources?
I mainly use Adobe Photoshop to make maps, using photo textures as the base for my terrains and objects. I have used Daz3D as well to model things like statues and trees, but those renders are “Photoshopped” afterwards to maintain the same asthetic as the rest of my work.
How did you manage to make it a full time career?
After getting a degree in Fine Arts, I started getting small jobs illustrating children’s books or drawing portraits. Though it was good experience, I always wanted to create for fantasy game companies. After spending over 6 years as the graphic artist for my hometown
newspaper, (dealing with constant deadlines and the decline of the medium) it was time to try to do what I loved as a career. I padded my savings (just in case) and started making maps to sell at Roll20 about 5 years ago. It was a successful gamble right off the bat. The advent of digital tabletops has proven to be the perfect place for me to work exactly how I like to work, slow and precise. Though I don’t release as many maps or object sets as some other digital artists, my work has been well-received and I’ve gained lots of support from the gaming community, which has allowed me to have a career I love.
Follow him on twitter.
Thank you for visiting The Grey League and hopefully we showed you another great artist that might contribute to your gaming experience.
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