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Hello from an old boy newb - Erebus - 03-09-2013
Hello all,
I'm Giorgio, aka Erebus on the web (it's my nickname from the ages of the Commodore64, BBS and smarthmodems, and has becomed my signature and the name of my little design and illustration company :) ).
I'm from Italy, born in Torino, living in Firenze (Florence) area, in the middle of nowhere, with my wife and our 4 cats (+4 kittens now, wich will go to new houses the next week, sob, if you like cats you can see them on my wife website, it's in italian but a lot of photos there: www.cuccioligatto.it).
Here goes my (long) story. If you have time and want, read it...
I worked and still work as my main business as a graphic/advertising designer and web designer, I've been Art Director for an advertising/communication company for some years, then I decided to go freelance. It has been an hard work, but satisfying at times.
Then, with time, I started to get less and less work for printed graphics, and more for web... in the end I got tired of php, javascript and server headaches, and decided that, if I wanted to still work on graphics, I could have tried to revamp my old passion for painting, and so I started to self-learn drawing and digital painting again.
Again I say, because I used to draw and paint until I was 14, then my parents forced me to abandon art (I still remember my father saying: "what you want to do with art? To live under a bridge and paint portraits for fairs? If you want to do art, then come to clean and paint houses walls") and to pursue a "serious job", so I took a diploma for building houses (geometra) and studied several years as an architect, because it was my closest excuse of a "serious job" to do some drawing, while working in my father business (building houses, you guess :P).
In the end, I got to do the job I wanted to do, or at least something similar in the advertising company, and renounced all the benefits of working in my father business for going finally my way. Maybe for a non-italian it can be hard to understand, but in Italy when I was 14 you could not choose what to do of your life if your parents wanted differently... probably is for that reason that we are full of doctors, lawyers, and lack technicians...
Anyway, I restarted painting, with the digital medium that was already very familiar to me. I worked in 3D, 2D, anything I could try and learn. I like to learn new things every day.
Lately, some years ago, when my illustration skills becomed decent, I united my passion for games and boardgames to my work, and I started working for italian boardgame publishers.
So here I am now, illustrating boardgames for italian, american and chinese companies, not much bucks to earn, but much satisfation when a client recognizes your work makes him sell more games at fairs :D
I do the whole package when needed (riles, packaging, cards, layouts, illustrations, etc), since I'm also a graphic designer, and so my boardgames usually have a coherent image (I'm a brand identity designer also, after all :P).
I'm also a boardgame and rpg designer, and I like to create narrative worlds.
I've created a lot, and if I can I will try to take them to live/publish them sooner or later.
But the story it's already too long, I hope I don't have bored you too much ^_^
So, to close my presentation, I had no time to learn the "fondamentals" of art with time. I have no "free time" actually, I work almost 12 hours/day to earn enough to mantain my family (My wife had got no earnings for almost 1 year now), so I have to learn what I can while doing works, bending my mind as much as I can to understand what the client wants, and making it real as best as I can.
I learn, I get better every year that passes, but I had to get things done even without proper preparation.
So I'm here now, willing to learn what I miss, to get better at figure anatomy, at composition, and creating interesting images, while doing professional work in the meantime: "THINGS NEED TO GET DONE!" is my motto :D
Giorgio aka Erebus
P.s.: I'm posting my sketchbook too, so you can see my evolution, and my professional and less professional work ^_^
RE: Hello from an old boy newb - MoebiusX - 03-10-2013
Commodore64 ohh man I loved my commodore64 (probably sounds as weird as I think it sounds 0_o) but putting the tape in pressing play and watching the pretty colours was a well spent youth. I used to play skool daze, ummm mark of the ninja or somthing, and this cool western game where you had to quick draw.. I've used the emulators but not the same as having to put tape in or use big ass floppy drive.
LOAD "$",8,1
RE: Hello from an old boy newb - Erebus - 03-10-2013
Eh eh yeah, and the big joysticks that broke every time you played those damn olympic games or "fighting" games...
I played a lot with my cousins, because at start they owned the commodore64, while my father, when finally decided to buy me a computer, opted for the commodore16 because the vendor convinced him it was more "scholastic" (because there were less games of course >__<). Only after some years I could put away enough of my monthly "wage" for the breakfast at school to sell the commodore16 for a commodore64 :D
I tryed emulators but playing today the games of 20 and more years ago has not the same feeling :D
RE: Hello from an old boy newb - unlimitedbacon - 03-11-2013
Right now I am trying to get freelance work. It's hard. You sound like you've had quite an interesting journey. If you use Skype at all add me. my skype id is theaeonphoenix1.
RE: Hello from an old boy newb - Erebus - 03-12-2013
I use it but I'm not always online.
I will add you :)
Getting freelance work is a pain in the ass indeed, but as I said I also work on websites and graphic designs, and have some returning customers for those that help me mantain my family :)