Syn Studio Podcast

We are super excited to welcome Jose Holder to this month’s Syn Studio podcast! Jose is currently working with Titan Comics as a Series artist on the Assassin's Creed comic books and has also done storyboards for the Assassin’s Creed franchise among many other Ubisoft games. Previously he has done storyboard and concept art for films such as X-Men: Dark Phoenix, The Glass Castle, Warm Bodies, The Mummy 3: Curse Of The Dragon Emperor, C.R.A.Z.Y. and the list goes on… Jose has also recently directed, written, produced and storyboarded the short film Red Ruby, which is a supernatural thriller meets quantum nightmare and has already won several awards in the film festival circuit.

We’re excited to present Senior Concept Artist Grant Hillier as our special guest for this month’s Syn Studio podcast. Grant is a senior concept artist at Ubisoft where he creates character and environment concepts for various high profile games including Assassin's Creed 3, Assassin's Creed Black Flag, The Division and Assassin's Creed Syndicate. A veteran artist with close to 15 years of freelance and industry experience, Grant’s other credits include generating storyboards for the animated TV show Delilah & Julius, creating concept art for video games such as Age of Decadence and F.E.A.R 3, in addition to conducting a workshop with ImagineFX magazine.

This special edition of the Syn Studio podcast features the Round Table Discussion held at the Syn Studio Gathering of Masters ‘17, a small, laid-back festival where artists could connect with each other and work together to develop and push the boundaries of their illustration. Syn Studio invited top industry artists to share their unique knowledge and experiences of the concept art industry along with their favourite inspirations, mediums and techniques for creating astounding artwork. The Round Table Artists are: Matt Rhodes, Samantha Youssef, Karla Ortiz, Ian McQue, Nivanh Chanthara, Rasmus Poulsen and Raphael Lacoste.

We are lucky to be joined at this month’s Syn Studio podcast by Raphael Lacoste, the Brand Art Director of the Assassin’s Creed Franchise. As a Matte Painter and Senior Concept Artist, Raphael has worked on films such as: Terminator Salvation, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Death Race, Immortals, Repo Men and Jupiter Ascending. Raphael has won a Visual Effects Society award for his work as Art Director on Prince of Persia the Two Thrones cinematics and is also a popular and experienced teacher at Centre NAD, as an instructor for The Gnomon Workshop and has been invited as a speaker for the Syn Studio Gathering of Masters ‘16 and ‘17.

This episode of the Syn Studio podcast features Mathieu Latour-Duhaime, an amazing senior concept artist who has worked at companies such as Electronic Arts (EA) Motive, Eidos-Montréal and more. A graduate from Montreal’s very own Vieux Montreal College, Mathieu has a background in storyboarding, character design, environment design and animation. Mathieu’s credits include popular titles such as the recent Star Wars Battlefront II, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Thief 4 as well as an unannounced AAA game to be released by Eidos. We’ll be discussing Mathieu’s work on Thief, his background in various fields like 2D Animation and Concept Art, and some of his tricks and techniques to getting into the drawing mood. This podcast is great for those interested in the video game pipeline and looking for some inspiring art!

Yohann Schepacz is the art director and co-owner of Oxan Studio, a visual development studio which creates high-end imagery for films, print media and video games. A concept artist and illustrator with over 10 years of experience in the entertainment industry, he has worked as a senior concept artist for Eidos on many AAA games such as Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Rise of the Tomb Raider, among others. Yohann is known for his unique ideas and technical versatility which have enabled him to work on other high profile projects such as Magic The Gathering, Independence Day Resurgence and Horizon Zero Dawn. In addition to this, he is also working on adding more content to his his widely popular personal art project “TINKIET”.

We are lucky to be joined for this Syn Studio podcast by Charles Huteau, the Creative Director behind Ubisoft’s critically acclaimed VR game, Eagle Flight. With experience as an animator, a comic book artist, a creative director and even a body painter and chalk artist, Charles has done it all! He has also been a User Experience Director on several Kinect games such as Your Shape: Fitness Evolved, the original and 2012 version. In this podcast, we discuss all the different artistic mediums Charles has practiced, to his experience working on Eagle Flight, to his heartwarming and hilarious comic book Les 9 derniers mois, which tells his own personal story of being an expectant father. This podcast is great for those interested in the process behind many different industry jobs!

This episode of Syn Studio podcast features Ubisoft Art Director Rasmus Poulsen. Rasmus has experience art directing in concepts, illustration, marketing visuals and world building among many other artistic fields. He is a three-year art director at Ubisoft on top of having 12 years of experience in the commercial art department under his freelance company, Technouveau, which specializes in unique aesthetics, logo design and concept artwork. Ramus has worked on many popular titles such as Kane and Lynch 2, Hitman and more, on top of drawing impressive amounts of quality Star Wars inspired art. If you’re looking for insights into the industry pipelines, or are interested in geeking out over pop culture with us, this podcast is for you!

This episode of Syn Studio podcast features accomplished concept artist Brian Sum. After graduating from the Vancouver film school, Brian has gone on to work for companies such as Sierra Online, Sugarcoated Studios and Bioware Montreal, where he is now a Senior Concept Artist. His robot and environment designs are both colorful, fresh and detailed and his work has been featured in many publications such as Imagine FX Magazine, 2d Artist Magazine and Digital Art Masters to name a few. In this podcast, we discuss Brian’s tricks, techniques and experiences with working on many different high profile video games like Mass Effect 2 and 3, Dragon Age Origins, Sonic Chronicles and more.

This episode of Syn Studio podcast features Fred Rambaud, a Montreal-based concept artist with experience designing characters, creatures, environments, vehicles and props for many well-known video games, such as Livelock, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, Far Cry 4 and more. His work is also featured in the popular Cirque de Soleil performance, Toruk, a circus and acrobatic act strongly based on James Cameron’s Avatar. We discuss Fred’s journey around the world, how the industry has changed from since he began and his many tricks for taking on concept art as a career.

This episode of Syn Studio podcast features concept artist, creative director and matte painter Jessy Veilleux. Founder of Meduzarts and Creative Director at Digital Dimension, Jessy has also done artwork for many different video games and movies, such as Star Wars, The Force Unleashed II, Avatar VG, 300, AION, Fallout 3, Sin City, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen VG, Assassin’s Creed II and Prince of Persia II and many more. Jessy has taught at many schools including Centre NAD, where he created the University’s first digital matte curriculum. He is now a teacher at Syn Studio, in the Concept Art Diploma Program. In this podcast, we discuss concept art job interviews, tricks for working long hours and Jessy’s artistic process, when working in the industry.

In July 2016, Syn Studio hosted its very first Gathering of Masters, a small festival where artists could share their knowledge, connect with each other and work together to develop and push the boundaries of their illustration. During the event, our first talk featured a Round Table event where 8 top-industry artists discussed their journeys, their very various artistic careers and what artists can do to achieve their dream jobs. The Round Table Artists are: Thierry Doizon (aka Barontieri), Terryl Whitlatch, Raphael Lacoste, Matt Rhodes, Samantha Youssef, Victor Mosquera, Jeff Simpson and James Gurney. To learn more about each artist, you can visit the Gathering of Masters page under Speaker Info.

This episode of Syn Studio podcast features concept artist and illustrator Christian Robert de Massy. He has done concept art for many feature movies such as X-men Apocalypse and Days of Futures Past, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Mirror Mirror, The Fountain and more. He has also taught at Syn Studio and will be one of the teachers in the Syn Studio diploma program. In this podcast, we discuss what it’s like working in the film industry, his approach to creating art and how he went from being a biologist to a concept artist, all without ever having posted any art online. This podcast is well-suited for anyone wanting to draw for the film industry, regardless of your background.

We are overjoyed to be joined by Naomi Savoie in the next edition of the Syn Studio podcast. Naomi is a concept artist and illustrator at Ubisoft Montreal, and she just finished working on Far Cry: Primal. We discuss about Japan, the Legend of Zelda, Virtual Reality, the Matrix and Naomi's experiences at Ubisoft while working on Far Cry: Primal. Naomi provides valuable tips about the techniques that she uses, the importance of practicing traditional art forms and why you should never feel discouraged with your work.

This episode of Syn Studio podcast features concept artist and art director David Giraud. David is known for his incredible character sculpts - his concept and character artwork are featured in widely popular franchises such as Assassin’s Creed, Prince of Persia, Hitman and Splinter Cell, to name a few. We share a lot laughs, talk about anime, and the time David became homeless, and how he broke into the industry and worked hard to get where he is today. It is a very interesting and entertaining podcast for industry artists, especially for those interested in character design and digital sculpting.

This month’s Syn Studio podcast features concept artist Isaac Hannaford, also known as the Spaceship Guru, and who owns a company of the same name. Isaac specializes in spaceship design and has worked on a ton of exciting titles, such as Halo Destiny, Halo Reach, Halo III, Team Fortress II, and Halo comics as well. Spaceship Guru is a cool new company of his that designs spaceships for entertainment products, which you can check out online. Isaac previously worked at Bungie as lead concept artist and has over 14 years of experience in concept design. Originally from Seattle, he is currently in Montreal at Rodeo FX working on an exciting new upcoming film. Isaac’s spaceship design skills are fantastic - it’s no wonder he is called the Spaceship Guru.

We are very lucky to be joined by Samantha Youssef, founder and artistic director of Studio Technique and previously a character animator at Disney. Samantha recently released the first volume in her drawing series, the Youssef Drawing Syllabus, titled “Movement and Form,” which is intended for animation industry artists and is packed with insights and techniques for figure drawing. She has had experience with game companies such as Ubisoft, Filmax and Yowza, and has worked on films such as Curious George, Lilo and Stitch 2, Bambi 2, and Tarzan 2, among many others. She is also the creator of an award-winning animated short film La Fuga Grande, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Samantha is currently working on personal projects, including her next book, and teaching courses at her studio and online. We are happy to have such an accomplished artist join us for this podcast!

This is a special Syn Studio podcast featuring matte painter and concept artist D. Jeevan, who is also a teacher at Syn Studio. Since our last podcast with him, Jeevan has been going on journeys into the mind and spirit. These experiences have greatly influenced his whole sense of being and has furthermore influenced his artwork in not just aesthetics but also with regard to intention. This podcast will delve into the experiences of a spiritual nature with entheogens such as ayahuasca and DMT, isolation tanks, holographic breathing and much more. Jeevan currently works at Rodeo FX where he has worked as a matte painter on several films, including: Gods of Egypt, World of Warcraft, Riddick, Deadpool, The Walk, The Last Witch Hunter, Unbroken, and many more.

This episode of the Syn Studio podcast series features Xin Ran Liu, a young and dedicated entrepreneur who not only teaches at Syn Studio but is co-owner, lead artist and art director at Kitfox Games. Xin is heavily in the indie game scene and has recently been working on his new game, Moon Hunters, which was a huge Kickstarter success in 2014, raising over $150,000. It is to be released in early 2016 on Steam, PS Vita and PS4. Only 23 years old, he has accomplished a lot, having had experience working at mainstream game companies, teaching, book cover illustrations and other projects - and Moon Hunters isn’t his first video game project either! We are happy to have someone so inspiring to come chat with us in this podcast!

This Syn Studio podcast features Po Yuen Kenny Lam, a multidisciplinary artist who has worked on many game and film projects, including District 9, Tin Tin, Avatar, Deus Ex, Rainbow Six and many more! Kenny has worked not only as a concept artist but as a lead texture artist, previsualization artist and art director. Just this month he has switched from Ubisoft Montreal as an Art Director to Ubisoft Toronto, working on a new top-secret project none of us know about… We are honoured to have him chat with us for this podcast!