Artist Q&A
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How to paint a futuristic firefighter, an animal-human hybrid, quick environments, manga hair, magic and more.
Question
Can you help me concept some ideas for a futuristic firefighter, while maintaining a sense of realism?
Blake Maloney, Canada
Answer
Houston replies
The way fires cause damage to lives and structures has remained the same, and always will. Therefore, a firefighter of the future will have essentially the same needs and tasks that a present-day firefighter has. The main difference is that technology can improve upon things that are cumbersome or not as efficient as they are in the present day – and this is where your role as a concept artist begins.
Start the design process by asking yourself a simple question: what do firefighters need? They need tools to put out flames and destroy barriers or entrapments. They need equipment that ensures their own safety: protective heatresistant clothing, an oxygen supply, lights and alarms that activate if the wearer stops breathing, for example.
After that, try and figure out how those needs could be improved by technology (even if the technology doesn’t exist yet – you’ll have to use your imagination and some artistic licence here!). Perhaps to solve the problem of having to wear a heavy, limitedsupply oxygen canister, advances in technology have enabled the creation of a lightweight mask that converts the carbon dioxide in the burning environment into an infinite oxygen supply for the wearer to breath. Maybe this mask also features a virtual heads-up display that monitors the wearer’s own breathing pattern and provides environmental assessments in real time.
Having these questions in mind will give you a solid groundwork to begin coming up with your future firefighter.