Talks By The Firelight 2.9: Of Games and Graphics
Sabin Boykinov is a Senior Concept Artist at Ubisoft Sofia, producer of heavyweight industry titles such as the Assassin’s Creed series, Tom Clancy series and the WatchDogs franchise. Having taken an unconventional road towards his profession, Boykinov has now established himself as one of the elite concept artists in his profession. He has helped develop games that have gone on to garner praise and awards.
Join us as we talk to him about his passion and his work.
From your previous interviews, there’s a mention of a spark that lighted your interest in designing. Did you start with the goal of going professional?
My first touch with professional concept art and design for movies and games come from an interview of 2 of my now good friends — Svetlin Velinov and Kosta Atanasov. Both amazing artist and illustrators. They described their works for game industry in a small article for a local magazine here in Sofia, Bulgaria. At that time I was working as a painter, making exhibitions and working for private clients. My story for entering in the game industry is a little bit different than other concept artists in this way.
My personal path starts with a kind of transition between traditional and digital art over 15 years ago. It was a great step in life.
A great game company saw my paintings and the founder invited me to join the art team; this was my first real touch with the industry.
How was your time working on games outside of Ubisoft, like Victor Vran and Tropico?
The time in Haemimont Games was really great because I learned a lot about the entire process of making video games from scratch, doing a lot of stuff apart from that of a concept artist. It helped me to become a better craftsman in some way. This was a good start in the industry.
What has been the most difficult work you’ve taken up to this date? What made it difficult?
It is difficult to point one specific task because our work is a constant process of learning, creation and problem-solving. Each concept task is special and is important for the project. Every time you face a challenge you try to have as good a result as possible.
Has branching out to other story-telling mediums such as movies and books occurred to you?
Yes, definitely! I had a lot of interest in movies, books and many other creative mediums. I am that kind of person — full of interest connected with art and creation. My personal preference is focused on illustrations and illustrated book novels.
Are there any personal touches in the games you have worked on, which can be seen in the games themselves?
As a big fan of the Assassins Creed series, working on Origins was an amazing time for me and I gave a lot of personal time and dedication to make my works special for the project.
Of course, making games is a team effort and so, the final result is made after great cooperation between many talented people.
Assassin’s Creed games have always required, to a certain degree, an emulation of the historical time period the game is set on. For Origins, what books, artwork and references did you see to in order to get the design down to a realistic setup?
Ancient Egypt is very well represented in art history as books, museum exhibition and articles so we had all the information in the world to make the game looks believable and great for the players.
We read tons of information about time, architecture and life during the ancient Egyptian period. Personally, I love history and really learned a lot of interesting stuff during my concept work.
Apart from the historic references, what were the main inspirations behind the characters and art style used in the games?
I am lucky to work with one of the best people in the industry. My main inspiration during the project was my work with our art director Eddie Bennun, brand director Raphael Lacoste and teammates like Martin Deschambault, Gilles Beloeil and Jeff Simpson.
Also my team in Sofia is fantastic, full of great professionals. For me this is great inspiration.
The Assassin’s Creed series has always had a distinct style of their own. How did you manage to fit your own concepts within their rules? Are there rules as such in the first place?
Every game has a specific art style so it is normal for a concept artist to follow the game guides and rules. We are professionals first and foremost, and so, we must adapt to each game style that we work on.
How have animation and graphics evolved in the games released over the years, both from a creator and consumer point of view?
I am not an animator so it is difficult to give more details for this. Games became more and more realistic following the progress of the consoles and graphic cards innovations.
Every gamer will be happy to see something more realistic. As such, the industry works a lot in this direction.
Digital art has developed over the years and is more accessible than ever, what’s your advice to aspiring concept artists on how to enter the industry and distinguish themselves from the rest?
I think the industry is more open than ever for new talents, so the only advice I have to give the young artist is to learn, search and work and be open to life around them.
Experiencing life around you means to collect impressions from everything, like travelling, reading books, watching movies, listening to music or even communicating with other artists.
Fundamentals are extremely important but everything must be combined with visual memory and curiosity for everything we experience.
To be a good concept artist is to be curious about life. That is my personal opinion and advice to every person who wants to be part of the industry.
This interview was taken in collaboration with Sabharinathan, Rohinee Phatak, Antony Terence and Abhishek Ramachandran.
