Syn Studio Podcast

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!