As sharp as a samurai’s blade
The concept artist and character designer chats with Ruth Hamilton about making the leap to Marvel and the magic of traditional media
Naomi Baker’s art is like her attitude – really cool. We chat about her Ghost of Tsushima concepts and Marvel.
Concept artist and character designer Naomi Baker has worked with some of the biggest and best-known studios in the world. When Imaginefx catches up with her, she’s just finished a stint at Netflix and is settling in at Marvel, but her most recognisable work is in the video games industry.
To rack up such an impressive CV seems like it should have taken strategic career planning, but Naomi’s aims were always straightforward. “There’s always talk about having a specific goal, and I’m here to be the one whose goal is so simple,” she says. “It’s just to draw and paint every day.”
The focus on games, however, was no accident. Naomi grew up on fighting games like Soul Calibur and Tekken, dancing games like Dance
Dance Revolution and Para Para, and RPGS such as Final Fantasy, and is still an enthusiastic gamer when it comes to specific IPS.
“I’ll play any and all Dark Souls or Bloodborne-related works,” she enthuses. “I still play Final Fantasy and am very into Nioh and Nioh2. I think Nioh2 helps satisfy that fighting game playing background.”
A DREAM GENRE
Naomi’s career began with a junior position at a small studio within Activision, where she was able to try her hand at all kinds of concept art – “character, environment, prop, some Zbrush, storyboard, you name it” – but the work that landed her that role was all traditional. “Before that I went to school at Virginia Commonwealth University, where under the
umbrella of illustration I clung on to life drawing the most,” she recalls. “I posted those drawings online and got a shot at the role at Activision based on those.”
Naomi’s longest full-time stint was as a senior concept artist at Sucker Punch Productions, where she spent a couple of years working on Ghost of Tsushima – her favourite project so far, and the one that gives her most pride when she looks back at her career.
“I felt super-ready to work on the amazing theme and do something like that justice, with the skills I had accumulated along the way,” she says. Part of what made the experience stand out was the closeness of the team she was working with, and the technical skills she picked up from her fellow concept artists and art director. But the project appealed on a personal level, too.
“The game itself is such a dream genre. I worked on the history-based single player and the co-op mode Legends, which is really out there with the demons and folklore,” she says. “It genuinely felt like a best of all worlds project, creatively.”
MASTERING CONCEPT ART
Naomi’s role is most important at the start of the process, although a concept artist can be required throughout a game’s full development lifeline. The traditional view of a concept artist, she explains, is someone tasked with designing a character, environment or prop in microscopic detail; resolving every last element before handing it over to another specialist – usually the 3D modeller – to take it to the next stage.
Naomi’s experiences as a concept artist have been more varied than that, though. She might find herself creating beautiful, informative paintings to pitch a certain mood or theme for a game. Or she might offer design ideas by painting an action, either as a full illustration or a storyboard-style sketch.
“The concept art portion can and often does start before writing,” Naomi continues. “Sometimes you’re coming up with some great ideas alongside the designers. You’ll see concept art in the beginning – creating blueprints for assets. It’s also needed in the later stages of production, as we can help visualise gameplay areas and layouts to help environment artists.”
Artistically, Naomi’s inspirations in the gaming world range from the
The concept art portion can and often does start before writing…
One of the biggest challenges when working on a game is trying to stick to the big picture
later Tekkens (“The characters are all teetering on the realistic or plussedup versions of characters. All the personalities are super-fun, too.”), to Demon’s Soul and Bloodborne (“They do the monochromatic yet very unique feel so well”) and Resident Evil (“These were a win for me when it comes to the scary or realistic moods.”).
WATCH THE BIG PICTURE
The trick to successful concept art, Naomi believes, lies in the artist’s ability to keep one eye on the whole while focusing in on the details. “One of the biggest challenges when working on a game is trying to stick to the big picture as you’re working on individual pieces,” she says. “Ideally, everything works as a whole without being a dull, samey-looking grey when everything is said and done (and shipped!).”
Another challenge is capturing what you need to capture while working within the parameters of the studio’s technology. “You can paint the most intricate bad-ass boss ever – but if it’s too costly tech-wise then it’ll need to be reeled in while still maintaining its awesome factor,” she says.
While her day job is entirely digital, browse Naomi’s Instagram feed and it’s clear she hasn’t forgotten the power of a pencil. “Traditional work has a special place in my heart,” she says. “There’s this feeling that the tactile feel of real paper and pencil gives that I believe is impossible to replicate, no matter how far technology tries to go. When you spend time with traditional it really gives you a special energy. I recommend everyone to try it!”
The traditional studies help Naomi’s personal development in her concept art and character design work too.
There’s this feeling that the tactile feel of real paper and pencil gives that I believe is impossible to replicate
“I believe that the traditional work helps to make my work feel even the slightest bit less digital… it gives my digital work some of that same energy,” she says.
A NEW WORLD
Recently, Naomi’s career has taken her away from games completely – although not, she stresses, because she’s tired of that world (“After being out of games going on nine months, I’ll admit I miss it a ton”), but because she’s been offered cool creative opportunities she couldn’t turn down. Her first move was to Nexflix, where she spent five months on a crashcourse in animation.
Naomi worked on the main character designs for the upcoming series Blue Eye Samurai, guided by the likes of Jason Scheier – an industry friend, and the one who brought Naomi on to the project – and Jane Wu – the supervising director and producer. It was an experience made all the more intense for having been conducted entirely remotely, from her home in Bellevue, Washington, courtesy of Covid-19.
Ultimately, it served to emphasise what a distinct and challenging skillset animation is, and led Naomi to finding a new role that was a better fit, with a renewed respect for
animators: “If you know any animators or animation designers personally then buy them a coffee or something, because that’s not an easy job to do well!” she says.
COMIC HERITAGE
That new role just happens to be at another entertainment juggernaut: Marvel Studios. At time of writing, Naomi is in the midst of getting stuck into a new role working on character concepts. She’s involved in the film side of things, but it’s Marvel’s comic heritage that initially caught her attention. “I was drawn to the idea that working on Marvel projects would be even a tiny bit close to working on comics. I know it’s not literally – but that childhood love I hope can be translated in some of the works.”
So far – although she emphases that her experiences outside of games is limited, and of course, heavily coloured by having taken place entirely in the topsy-turvy world of social distancing and Zoom meetings – she’s found working in animation and films relies less of a collaborative effort between departments compared to video games. Her creative focus has also shifted: while in games she was tasked with creating the blueprint of a character, which could then be made into the working thing; in films, actor likeness is king, she says, and it’s all about capturing the mood of the character.
And while it’s different to games in some ways, there’s still that essence that’s been the through-line in all of her jobs: the chance to spend her time drawing and painting cool things.
“The passion to do that was from looking at Marvel and Image comics early on, and that excitement has propelled me to do whatever it takes to be able to draw and paint every day. If it must be in concept art and I’m having fun, then that’s what it is!”
If you know any animators or animation designers personally then buy them a coffee or something…
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