Bob Cheshire

http://bobcheshire.co.uk/

Bob Cheshire is a 35-year-old senior concept artist, currently working at Volatile Games, a division of Blitz Games Studios (www.blitzgamesstudios.com) on a top-secret title for a well-known producer: "It is incredibly frustrating that I'm not able to discuss the game or the concept work I've produced for it, as it's still in full development." While he can't give anything away about his most recent project, he is enthusiastic when singing the praises of his employer: "Blitz Games Studios is an awesome company to work for. I get to work with the best artists and animators, and the company feels like it's growing by the day with the ever-increasing amount of fresh directions and games it is taking on."
The British artist has always been interested in design, but finds it difficult to pinpoint the exact moment when he knew that it would become his future career: "We're visually orientated, so we are always assessing design in some form, whether it's graphics, architecture, a texture or simply appreciating a shape or colour. I think I've always enjoyed and been interested in colour and shape, and it's simply been through education and experience that my appreciation has developed into a kind of formal understanding. I guess there was no singular moment I signed on to that."
He uses both Painter and Photoshop in his work, often switching between the two: "Things like custom brushes, while possible in Painter, are so much more workable in Photoshop. Selection tools and the versatility of editing your images are just so much more subtle in Photoshop. The concept artist has an art director to please, so the ability to edit and modify your artwork is simply part of the job. Certainly in that way, I can't imagine being without Photoshop."
Cheshire studied Fine Art at the Falmouth School of Art (as it was known then), before doing a PGCE. He taught art for ten years in secondary schools, but began freelancing while he was still teaching. Nowadays, he works on both his day job and as a freelancer: "I'm extremely lucky that I'm in a position where I'm taking work on in the evenings too, as I continue to do some freelance work for old and new clients." He also occasionally teaches at the Compton Verney gallery: "Compton Verney is far more fine-art based. But it serves as a good reminder that working as a concept artist relies on strong, traditional drawing skills." This is something that Cheshire thinks is extremely important: "Art education is important, but it is usually one of the first things that is squeezed out at schools. I'm a big believer in creating students who are visually literate and who are able to have a dialogue with all this visual information that we're surrounded by. Traditional drawing skills are becoming less and less valued unfortunately, especially at degree level, which professionally I find appalling."