Interview with Chris Lewis

[DeJaVu]

Chris Lewis is one of the most popular artists for Classic BattleTech, his work debuting with FanPro's Classic BattleTech Technical Readout: Project Phoenix, and figuring prominently in sourcebooks since. Now one of BattleCorps' core contributors, his art continues to breathe life into the world of the thirty-first century. In an on-line interview, I was able to get a glimpse of not only how Mr. Lewis got his start, but also a little bit on how he does his craft.
HERB BEAS: So, Chris, here you are, a professional artist for BattleCorps, the best source for Classic BattleTech fiction and artwork in the post-FASA age. I suppose the first question is, how did you get your start?
CHRIS: Well, my first continuous paying gig was as an assistant to Art Thibert (pronounced T-Bear) after high school. I was working on some of the largest titles in the comic book industry, The Adventures of Superman, The Fantastic Four and The Uncanny X-Men. I was only an assistant inker, so it's not very glamorous, but it was fun. That was in '89.
HB: How long did you do that?
CHRIS: Four years or so. I moved from just assistant inking all the way to penciling full backgrounds by the end. They never let me touch the characters, but I designed all the technical stuff they wore. It was part of my studies of Industrial Design at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Did I mention my Mom got me that job? She found out about it from someone and sent me out there.
HB: So, what brought you from there to the world of BattleTech?
CHRIS: Well at the time I was doing Marvel and the occasional DC title, I wasn't playing BattleTech anymore; people I played with in high school had moved on. Back then, I had never considered doing any work on games; I wanted to do comic books.
Lo and behold I was in the middle of one of the largest comic book boons since World War II. Then, in '93 or '94 the bottom fell out of the market. Damn speculators. They failed to realize the reason those old comic books were worth a lot is because there were so few of them. Speculating on the stuff we were doing was just stupid. We were selling 500,000 copies of just one title a month.
So…the market crashed and a lot of known, well-established artists were out of work… I started sending out portfolios to game companies. I always loved playing them; why not work on them?
Well, I got rejected by everyone. The most widely used excuse was, "I've got a friend doing the artwork". Never any problems with the artwork… Finally, I got a chance with FASA. I even went to GenCon '99 to meet their art director. He liked my stuff and there was going to be a relationship. He just wanted to see more BattleTech stuff, which I went home and worked on. I sent them in and he liked them; even wanted to buy them, but he forgot to tell me he was leaving the company.... This was during the last days of FASA; bad timing again.
Warner Doles was the one that had been trying to get me work at FASA, bugging the crap out of Jordan and Randall, and everyone else he knew there, I'm sure… But after a few moths of no word, then finding out the art director wasn't even there anymore, I gave up.
Then Warner came to me with the notion of redoing the Unseen. So I did four of them and Warner pretty much did the rest. After a few more months it was done…
HB: As one of the primary artists for Classic BattleTech-both on BattleCorps and in CBT products released through FanPro-what would your advice be for other, aspiring artists?
CHRIS: Well, the position has a significant amount of good fortune attached to it, but I would hope the quality of my work and the ability to meet deadlines would be the basis for my employment.
As for other artists, I really don't know what to say. Everyone is different, and everyone works differently. The only thing I can say for certain is if you don't put yourself out there, you'll never get anywhere.
HB: That's good advice. So, is doing art for Classic BattleTech your full-time job now? Or are there any other places one might see you hard at work?
CHRIS: At the moment, CBT is the bulk of my work, but I am doing other work. Got to survive. I've designed and sculpted minis for Talon Games and will continue to do that. I'd like to do that for CBT, but we'll see how things go. Solid modeling is a new industry and it'll take time for it to work into this game industry.
HB: All artwork, or sculpting as well?
CHRIS: Artwork and sculpting. Keep in mind when I say sculpting it's all computer models.
I don't do the sculpting by hand… Yet.
HB: How do you physically do your work? Any special tools, techniques, or software involved for you?
CHRIS: Well, that's probably the most asked question I get. I start with traditional media: paper and pencil. I collect all the reference material I believe I'll need, read all the appropriate material-I feel it's important to refer to as much established reference as is possible…no point in being lazy and inventing everything each time you do an image-and mock up the basic outline of the image.
Sketch the basic shapes showing where things are in relation to each other. Then I blow it up to an oversized image-about 10"x15" for a full page-and do all the work making the final pencils. Basically I draw in everything I need to do in inks, which are done on bristol with a steel nib dipped in ink. Centuries old technology and they still haven't invented anything to replace it.
After I've done as much work as I can on paper, I scan it into the computer, where I use Photoshop to do all the post-production work-make it the right size, add the dot pattern for shades (called a halftone screen). Then I send it off.
One thing about resizing the image, though: it's important to use the scanner to resize a B&W image, not to do it using software. You'll get a superior image quality. My images are reduced approximately 68% from the original.
The color work I do is all done on computer though. Even the TRO: PP cover was done entirely on computer. I don't have the space or the money for all that's needed to paint, so I use Painter to do that kind of work, though the simple colors I use on the BC artwork are done in Photoshop. I use a tablet by WACOM for this work on the computer. If you want to do this kind of work on computer you need one.
HB: What does that allow you to do?
CHRIS: It's so I can use a pen-like item (a stylus). It acts just like a pen, or paintbrush, or airbrush, as I need.
HB: You don't find that less reliable or effective than pencil or pen on paper?
CHRIS: Well, paper and a steel nib is the most effective tool I use, but the stylus allows me to do the same thing on computer, just not as fluid. See, you're scribbling away on the table in front of you, but the lines are coming out on the screen above you. Also, because of the nature of the paper and ink, I can get much more fluid and solid-looking lines. Lines become more expressive.
HB: Having started in superhero comics, and progressed to BattleTech, where everything tends to come down to machinery and firepower, which do you find you prefer to do more of? Technology and scenery, or more organic subjects, like people?
CHRIS: Honestly I have no preference. I like to do it all. I can draw people that are every bit as interesting to me as the 'Mech they pilot. I think the Kelley Metz picture I did for the Solaris Map Pack recently shows that. To my way of drawing I look at the technology as another person, or group of characters. Like the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. In that movie, Kubrick introduced the technology and the scenery as characters and I really respond to that kind of stuff. Gives everything more life.
Besides, 'Mechs are people. I mean, why else would they be designed to look the way they do? It's supposed to feel like a character more than just a machine; kind of an elitist mentality. I suppose that's why the MechWarriors have such egos, especially in the Clans.
HB: Alright. I think that will do it, Chris! Thanks very much for you time, and I look forward to seeing more of your work on BattleCorps.