Q&A With Ryan Jones, Artist

[nikasaur]

Cruising past Ryan's desk, it's hard not to peer over his shoulder and see what he's working on- with his own unique style, he turns Telltale's dreams into visual inspiration, and sets the stage for how our games play out.

TODAY, that's Friday 3/26 from 3-4pm PST, we're gonna have him in here to do a Q&A and release some new concept art for you guys! Got any questions for him? The place is here, the time is now! Bring it on.

[Irishmile]

Whoa awesome....

What piece are you most proud of?

and

What do you think is your crowning achievement while working for TTG?

and

What is your favorite medium?

[Tjibbbe]

This is going to be great! A couple of questions:

How do you handle working on a character that isn't your own visual creation, like Sam & Max themselves (or any of the other returning characters from either the comic or the older games; assuming you have to do concept art for them)? How much room do you have to insert your own vision? And how much creative space do you have when you have to design a new character for Telltale?

Was the (brilliant) piece of concept art you can see on the newspaper on the teaser site (Sam & Max getting handed the key to New York) inspired by the picture on one of the last pages of Bad Day on the Moon, where the mayor of New York hands the giant cockroach the same key? The way the mayor hands over the key and the way the cockroach accepts it looks quite like the way you have drawn it. And in a semi-related question, did you ever work together with Steve Purcell in trying to achieve a certain look or quality to your drawings?

What do you think of the huge positive response Telltale has gotten on the quality of your drawing (resulting in various products like the Voodoo Cards)? Will we ever see a book containing all the art you created for Wallace, Monkey, Sam & Max and whatever you will be working on in the future?

If you could get Telltale to make any game in the universe, regardless of how fun it would be and just based on what you like to draw, what would you like Telltale to work on?

That's it. All that I can say now is that I love your work (and I love it when some of your art directly appears in the game, like with the voodoo cards and the judge paintings Monkey, and the golf paintings in Wallace). I already asked this during the Telltale Heart video podcast, and I know you don't have the time for or any interest in making one, but I would pay huge amounts of money to see you creating another comic to appear next to Dank. Thanks for all the quality art you've given us in the past few months!

[light_rises]

Hooray!

Present Self to Afternoon Ryan: Hi, Ryan! I hope you'll forgive me for starting off with some fairly boring questions. :o

1) Between designing characters and settings/props, which is more fun for you? Do you find one of them more difficult than the other to design for? How much does designing with 3D in mind affect your answer to either of the previous questions, if at all?

2) What is the best piece of advise you can think of for artists who want to improve their use of lighting and color in whatever they're painting?

[GinnyN]

Ok, here's I go:

How is the process (roughly) when you do concept art? When I do web pages I always say "tell me exactly what you want and I'll do whathever I can", Is it something among this lines or different in some sort of way?

I love the Narrator the first time I saw his desing in the teaser page. Really. So... who has the great idea of make him black and white except for the rose?

And... that all I got.

[Cheri]

Where do you draw inspiration when you've hit the dreaded artist's block? Especially if it's for some assignment and you're only given a loose guideline of what to do.

[Majus]

When do you want your "The Age of Sam and Max"-book back?

[The Commissioner]

Do you think that the finished results (3D models) in the game look like your concept art, or do they exceed your expectations?

[Ganon159]

Now, I'm not exactly sure just how much you do at Telltale (if you just design the characters, or if you just do the locations, or if you design everything) but if you've done locations, then what was the hardest location to make in any Sam & Max game?

[Avistew]

Did you have fun making the tarot cards? (That was you, right?) I'm thinking especially the ones that are several cards.

Will you post some concept art in here? (for the Devil's Playhouse I mean).

[GinnyN]

When do you want your "The Age of Sam and Max"-book back?

By the way, Majus, you have at least the telltale logo next to your name! Congrats!

[PressidentMax]

Why did you decide to work with Telltale?

[Junaid]

Will you marry me?
And if not, will you marry my cat so that I own you?

[Ry Guy]

Eh, it's about that time! Hey guys, my name is Ryan.. Ryan Jones. A very unique name I know. As was stated before, I draw stuff for Telltale Games. I started on in finishing production of W&G 101 and have been here for about a year and a half now. I got to work on Monkey Island from the ground up and now with Sam and Max! I like to draw and sometimes is turns out not so bad. Either way it's a rad gig! I enjoy it mucho. Anywhoo.. let's answar these questions.

(bear with me, my forum skills are very low level even with my +10 leather belt of posting)

[Hassat Hunter]

Out of the games listed, which one was the most fun for you to work with. And (of course), why?

[Fury]

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

[Irishmile]

Whos idea was it to put Treasure Crab in the credits and is there a high rez version of it?

How much direction do you get when designing stuff? Or do you just draw a whole bunch of stuff and they pick and choose their favorites?

[Avistew]

Do you think you'll have figured out how to work this thing before the end of the Q&A? :P

[Irishmile]

If the Telltale staff were forced to fight for a cookie who would be the last man or woman standing and who would be the first to go down?

[Will]

Shaun Finney would beat us all. But then he wouldn't eat the cookie because it's not very healthy.

[nikasaur]

my +10 leather belt of posting

<3 <3 <3,#<#<##<M<<#.,q2m3.,q

[Ry Guy]

NOOOOOO! I answered all the questions.. then it pooped all over me... I'm going to answer one at a time now.

[Avistew]

NOOOOOO! I answered all the questions.. then it pooped all over me... I'm going to answer one at a time now.

I like to write big posts in a text editor to prevent that from happening.
I'm sorry for the loss of your blog post. I hate when that happens.

[Irishmile]

LOL I hate it when that happens

[Ry Guy]

good idea! I'll do that now.. man. Incompetent me.

[Ry Guy]

while i'm actually responding slowly due to the idiocy of myself.. here's some concept art!

1268

1269

1270

1271

1272

[Ry Guy]

billboards! keep an eye out for em in the game.
1273

1274

1275

[Astro Gnocci]

Wow, great stuff :eek:

[Tjibbbe]

Haha, oh wow, those are hilarious. And I love angry Sam, I can't wait to see him like that ingame. Is all this art for the first episode (well, except for that Tomb of Sammun Mak-one...)?

Oh, and if Telltale ever starts producing action figures, they have to do one of that crazy flying uni-T-rex thing.

[Harukuro]

Wow that is all just awsome!! :eek: I especially love the 'noir' Sam, he looks like he's been taking lessons from Flint Paper. I've got to say Ryan you've outdone yourself. :cool:

[Avistew]

Awesome!

And why didn't you post that earlier?! I already put plush Sam's jacket on and he totally doesn't have a gun holster under there.
Oh well, the jacket isn't removable anyway. We'll just pretend it's there.

I love them all, you're wonderfully talented, and not, as you said (I quote) "incompetent". You're actually the opposite: unincompetent. (Really, it's "competent"? Oh, okay then) I mean "competent" of course.

[Cheri]

Noir Sam made my day. <3

[SushiGummy]

Thanks for the new desktop background! The drawings look great!

Who's your favorite character to draw from all the Sam and Max characters so far?

[Ry Guy]

Irishmile:

What piece are you most proud of?

I loved the tarot cards! So much so I'm ordering a deck for myself and am not going to sell it until I die.. then i'll be filthy rich!

What do you think is your crowning achievement while working for TTG?

I think that would be ToMI. They took a chance and a lot of faith in me, along with the help of the design and art team, to define the art style of the game.

What is your favorite medium?

Most definately digital.. i've done some mixed media before. But I crave the cleanness of digital. Also, you aren't punished that much for mistakes.



Tjibbbe:

How do you handle working on a character that isn't your own visual creation, like Sam & Max themselves (or any of the other returning characters from either the comic or the older games; assuming you have to do concept art for them)? How much room do you have to insert your own vision? And how much creative space do you have when you have to design a new character for Telltale?

Well, I take a lot of reference. Sam and Max weren't too much of a headache because I've always admired Steve's stuff even before coming here. I take a lot of inspiration from his work and it's a blast to emulate it. When trying to get a style down I look at the tendencies, how they draw their hands, eyes, mouths, etc. But, it's near impossible to lose my personal style, so that will show through regardless. I get a lot of creative space in Sam and Max when designing new, original characters. They mainly just need to look stylistically the same.

Was the (brilliant) piece of concept art you can see on the newspaper on the teaser site (Sam & Max getting handed the key to New York) inspired by the picture on one of the last pages of Bad Day on the Moon, where the mayor of New York hands the giant cockroach the same key? The way the mayor hands over the key and the way the cockroach accepts it looks quite like the way you have drawn it. And in a semi-related question, did you ever work together with Steve Purcell in trying to achieve a certain look or quality to your drawings?

Ah, that guy was more just like a "we need a picture for the newspaper" so I got to have some fun with it. I don't work directly with Steve, but he takes a look at all we do here and gives it a yay or nay. It's really humbling to work indirectly with him.. he's the man!

What do you think of the huge positive response Telltale has gotten on the quality of your drawing (resulting in various products like the Voodoo Cards)? Will we ever see a book containing all the art you created for Wallace, Monkey, Sam & Max and whatever you will be working on in the future?

Oh man! Being very vein, I love love. Any love i get, i love. I love what I do and I hope it shows. So it's great to have a good response.

If you could get Telltale to make any game in the universe, regardless of how fun it would be and just based on what you like to draw, what would you like Telltale to work on?

I'm an 8bit, 16bit boy. I love nostalgia and with an existing title like that, it would be really open for interpretation. So it would be really great to reimagine/update a title like EWJ or Battletoads! That's just me speaking and it would never happen.. but it would be great!

Light_rises:

1) Between designing characters and settings/props, which is more fun for you? Do you find one of them more difficult than the other to design for? How much does designing with 3D in mind affect your answer to either of the previous questions, if at all?

Oh man, characters most definately. I got my focus in art school in character design.. so anytime I can inject personality into dudes, it's good times. I find environments are the toughest to design for 3d.. mainly because of that pesky vert count. If that didn't matter, most all of my designs would be like clutter bugs live there. I really dug the old environments in Hit the Road how there was just clusters of crazy crap all over the place. For some reason, I really like drawing piles of stuff.. it's a weird fetish.

2) What is the best piece of advise you can think of for artists who want to improve their use of lighting and color in whatever they're painting?

Well, a lot of life drawing and observation is key.. as for color it's just a matter of using schemes or coming up with schemes that are pleasing to the eye or that work for the situation that calls for it. I think that makes sense.. Mainly just practice and doing it. A teacher said to me that you have a finite number of bad drawings in you.. the more you do them, the more you get the certain number of awful drawings out. Then it's all gold. I think he was lying though.


GinnyN:

How is the process (roughly) when you do concept art? When I do web pages I always say "tell me exactly what you want and I'll do whathever I can", Is it something among this lines or different in some sort of way?

Well, I have to work close with the art directors and the designers when doing a concept. First, they give me general direction. I take that then gather up a bunch of reference then scribble stuff down. They go over the scribbles and tell me what's working, and what isn't. Then round 2 and they tell me the same thing. Then barring any other issues I color it and finish it up and pass it on to the modellers. So, along those lines, it's about the same, but always working close with them.

I love the Narrator the first time I saw his desing in the teaser page. Really. So... who has the great idea of make him black and white except for the rose?

Well, that's all Chuck. He wanted a call back to the old twilight zone and those types of shows. But someone as eccentric as the narrator needs a splash of red!

Cheri:

Where do you draw inspiration when you've hit the dreaded artist's block? Especially if it's for some assignment and you're only given a loose guideline of what to do.

Eh, it usually comes just from finding something inspirational.. from either web surfing or sleeping. I do like sleeping. Videogames help me out too! But something as simple as doing something else for awhile usually helps.

Majus:
When do you want your "The Age of Sam and Max"-book back?

Now plz, kthxbai. :D

The Commissioner:

Do you think that the finished results (3D models) in the game look like your concept art, or do they exceed your expectations?

Well, I work right next to the character modeller, supremely talented Jason Findley. I am always amazed with the way he gets it down and adds his own voice to what I drew.. seeing it in 3d is really exciting!

Ganon159:

Now, I'm not exactly sure just how much you do at Telltale (if you just design the characters, or if you just do the locations, or if you design everything) but if you've done locations, then what was the hardest location to make in any Sam & Max game?

I get to design it all.. er, draw it all. The hardest location in SnM is probably this place in 302.. it's huge! That was a lot of designing stuff and layouts and the like.. don't want to say exactly what it is so I don't spoil anything.. maybe i'm just paranoid.

avistew:
Did you have fun making the tarot cards? (That was you, right?) I'm thinking especially the ones that are several cards.

You betcha! It was so fun! I like drawing characters.. but when I'm giving freedom to pretty much do whatever I want and just make some pretty pictures, that's super fun. Can't wait to see the actual deck.

PressidentMax:

Why did you decide to work with Telltale?

Because TTG is awesome! And I grew up playing Lucasarts adventure games and loved them! I wanted a piece of that, so this was perfect. TTG does funny and I like to draw funnies.

Junaid;

Will you marry me?
And if not, will you marry my cat so that I own you?

Yes! I do! But, i'm not sure if my wife can handle another person around.. so can I just marry your cat? She would love another kittie.

Hassat Hunter:

Out of the games listed, which one was the most fun for you to work with. And (of course), why?

It's all really fun! I had the most freedom on MI, so thus far that is my vote, but none so far have been blech.

Fury:

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

The power of not needing to breath! It's such a chore sometimes.. It gets in the way of eating. I'm a simpleton, so that will do.

Irishmile:

Whos idea was it to put Treasure Crab in the credits and is there a high rez version of it?

Well, they told me to draw stuff for the end.. so I did a doodle of em. I can't remember if I made it high rez or not.. i'll have to check.

How much direction do you get when designing stuff? Or do you just draw a whole bunch of stuff and they pick and choose their favorites?

I get general direction first, but all in all, I just draw a bunch of stuff and they pick there favs.

avistew:

Do you think you'll have figured out how to work this thing before the end of the Q&A? :P

NO! It's 4:30 and i'm just now answering this.. failed..

Irishmile:

If the Telltale staff were forced to fight for a cookie who would be the last man or woman standing and who would be the first to go down?

I agree.. Shaun would. Have you seen him perform a drop kick? Dude's a monster.

[Ry Guy]

Haha, oh wow, those are hilarious. And I love angry Sam, I can't wait to see him like that ingame. Is all this art for the first episode (well, except for that Tomb of Sammun Mak-one...)?

Oh, and if Telltale ever starts producing action figures, they have to do one of that crazy flying uni-T-rex thing.

Well, most is. It's all kind of interspersed with the whole season.

I love me some wrongly put together dinosaurs! I'd love to have that on my desk.

[V_Ben]

Ryan;

What was the first piece of art you drew for telltale? :-)

(i couldn't think of a good question :P)

[nikasaur]

NEW AVATAR.

How come I never saw that billboard before? Seriously Ryan, are you holding out on me?

I love me some wrongly put together dinosaurs!
See, I knew we were buddies for a reason.

Also I fixed you.

[Ry Guy]

Ryan;

What was the first piece of art you drew for telltale? :-)

(i couldn't think of a good question :P)

Oh man.. it was this really creepy poster of Wallace licking honey from a pot. I look at it now and think, geh.. i've come a long way, baby.

[Ry Guy]

NEW AVATAR.

How come I never saw that billboard before? Seriously Ryan, are you holding out on me?

OH! That was supposed to be your birthday present.. happy birthday?

[Ry Guy]

Whew.. barring that silly technical difficulty, thanks for stopping by! You guys were great! I'll be answering questions every so often if you guys want some more. And I'll see about getting some more concept art to show ya'll. (that's southern speak for you all. You guys can use that, you're welcome)

[Avistew]

Do you know that the stripes on Sam's tie in the art you posted are mirrored from the way the are in the games?
Are you annoyed with me for pointing it out?

EDIT: Thanks, Ryan, that was great!

[Cheri]

Ryan, I gotta give you a high-five for being an Earthworm Jim fan. It's good to see it's still got it's fair share of a fanbase.

[Maratanos]

Yeah, I have a question. Is it intentional that "pharaoh" is spelled wrong in this image (http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1274&d=1269644209)?

[Icedhope]

How long does it usually take you finish one of your wonderful drawing such as the Christmas card for the news letter, or the news paper article?

[bubbledncr]

Shaun Finney would beat us all. But then he wouldn't eat the cookie because it's not very healthy.

I'd fight him for that cookie...I got some swords over here....

And I LIKE cookies!!!

[nikasaur]

i'd fight him for that cookie...i got some swords over here....

And i like cookies!!!

Oh SNAP.

It's so ON.

[Secret Fawful]

Four questions-

Say, if someone like me wanted to apply for an artist job at Telltale, what sort of advice would you give? What sort of people/styles do they look for?

And could you post a piece of concept art of the Brady Culture/afro/Jurgen vampire whatever he is and clear up once and for all just WHAT that character is? Or is that too much spoilers?

http://i41.tinypic.com/k4xjk7.png

I'm talking about this character^

About how long does it take you to finish a piece of concept art for a game, character, background, or misc?

And if you voted in a poll asking whether or not Al Lowe should work at Telltale Games, would you answer yes or no?

[Shauntron]

Shaun Finney would beat us all. But then he wouldn't eat the cookie because it's not very healthy.

I would probably just admire it while standing on a small mountain of unconscious game developers.

Also it's probably on, Jessica.

[Majus]

Also it's probably on, Jessica.
Building a sentry!

[Irishmile]

what have I done? OHHH the humanity.


also
Say, if someone like me wanted to apply for an artist job at Telltale, what sort of advice would you give? What sort of people/styles do they look for?

I too would love to work at TTG... but I fear I do not have the skills or the resume to do so.....

[Hassat Hunter]

Love the art.

Chuckled at the "museum of mostly natural history".

Do we get a vid from the (cookie)slaughter?

[Remolay]

Are we goinng to get a Q&A with Majus thread?

[bubbledncr]

I would probably just admire it while standing on a small mountain of unconscious game developers.

Also it's probably on, Jessica.

I need to find my punching dagger....

[Irishmile]

I watched that video where you guys grew a pirate so I know there will not be any blunt weapons involved.

[bubbledncr]

I watched that video where you guys grew a pirate so I know there will not be any blunt weapons involved.

we grew a pirate??? awesome!!!

[Irishmile]

Yup... see (http://www.telltalegames.com/videos/growapirate)

[Hayden]

Warning! Most of my questions are not about Sam & Max.

Are you, like the fans, seriously hoping for a Tales of Monkey Island Season 2?

I sent you a PM a while back, but I guess you must have missed it. Anyway, in the PM I was just asking if you were responsible for that amazing piece of concept art of the Flotsam Docks which was featured in Nintendo World? If so, is there any chance you could post it somewhere on the forums or the site... please?

Would you consider updating your blog more throughout this year? Or is it really difficult to find the time to do so?

Everybody was so eager to see the inside of the Screaming Narwhal all throughout the ToMI season, but we were never allowed to enter. So now I am forever wondering, finding it hard to sleep at night due to not knowing what the ship's quarters and the ship's lower deck looks like. Perhaps you can bring some form of solace to my soul through showing us some concept art? Lest you have none, causing me to live my life feeling unfulfilled and empty :D. In short, do you have any concept art for the interior of the Screaming Narwhal?

Have you had any practical jokes played upon you at the Telltale office? e.g. A piece of art being hidden from you for a week or so.

What sort of music do you like?

Who, in the Telltale office, is most like Max?

[The Highway]

Who do you think is better at drawing Sam & Max, you or Steve?

[Hayden]

Are you surprised at how popular your art has been among fans?

Can you recommend any other awesome artists?

Who came up with the Guybrush dance (see in The Highway's signature)?

[Shwoo]

Was doing concept art for "Reality 2.0" difficult because the game is visually very different from the other episodes?

Do you have loads more sketches of alternate Bosco disguises?

I'm pretty sure he didn't work on Season 1.

[Awesomepantsman]

If you drew any fanart of Sam & Max before you worked at Telltale, can you show it to us?

[Hayden]

I'm pretty sure he didn't work on Season 1.

Oh, whoops. I read his first post wrong, I thought he said that he first started working on S&M 101, not W&G 101. I'll edit my posts. Thanks.

[Marty]

Ryan, why are you so awesome?
:D

[Giant Tope]

Is it scary doing concept art for another cartoonist's series?

[Laserschwert]

Once one of your concepts is approved and set to be modeled in 3D, do you provide the modeler with a model sheet? You know, different perspectives, close-ups of detail areas, T-pose for rigging, that stuff...

[Hayden]

Did you do any concept art for my avatar?

[Gman5852]

If it is not already too late.

What was the hardest thing in sam and max that you ever designed

If that was not already asked.

[GinnyN]

I love them all, you're wonderfully talented, and not, as you said (I quote) "incompetent". You're actually the opposite: unincompetent. (Really, it's "competent"? Oh, okay then) I mean "competent" of course.

"unincompetent" is a double negation!

Logic FTW!

Late, I know, but I also love Noir Sam, that's a surprise! Oh, and also the billboards. I'm totally gonna smell the mystery!

[Leak]

NOOOOOO! I answered all the questions.. then it pooped all over me... I'm going to answer one at a time now.
If you happen to use Firefox as your browser - there's an antidote to forms pooping all over you (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6984)... :D

np: Gonjasufi - Made (A Sufi And A Killer)

[Avistew]

Thank you very much, my friend. That is greatly appreciated.

[Hassat Hunter]

Why would you need that? As far as I know FF and later versions of IE already cache posts.

My connection sucks, and each and everytime I posted here and I timed out, re-connecting and F5 posted my post just as I typed it on the forum (FF). It will give a warning about re-sending data, just select yes.
And in the case it did arrive after all, the forum got nice notifications against double-posting.

[Avistew]

Well when I write long posts, then I submit them and it bugs. It's not that it crashes (if that happens, the post is there when I fire up the Internet again) but that it just didn't work. So I hit "previous" and end up on the page before I wrote anything. If I quoted something it's still quoted but that's it.

It sucks. I end up writing summaries of my posts. On the other hand it might be a godsend as I'm sure many people think I'm long-winded already.

[Molokov]

Trust me, "It's All Text!" is a very very very useful extension to Firefox. Especially if you edit Wikis a lot (which I do, we have internal wikis at work for collaboration).

[Hassat Hunter]

What browser are you using?
Because, with FF or later versions of IE (as mentioned) pressing back should just provide you with all the text you typed (well, minus maybe the last line or 2 depending on when it cached).

It works for me on PHP forums like these, wiki's etc. without using a 3rd party addon.

[Leak]

What browser are you using?
Because, with FF or later versions of IE (as mentioned) pressing back should just provide you with all the text you typed (well, minus maybe the last line or 2 depending on when it cached).
Except for those times where you're previewing your edits - and instead of hitting "Submit" you just close the tab, go do something else for half an hour and then realize what you did... good luck finding that tab intact in your browser history.

With Lazarus you just go to the same page, right click the textarea and select the now-missing epic post from the menu...

np: Radian - Kinetakt (Chimeric)

[omiyage]

What is the major difference in doing concepts for ToMI and S&M?

Also could we get more concepts of Max new psych powers =)?

[Avistew]

What browser are you using?
Because, with FF or later versions of IE (as mentioned) pressing back should just provide you with all the text you typed (well, minus maybe the last line or 2 depending on when it cached).

It works for me on PHP forums like these, wiki's etc. without using a 3rd party addon.

I'm using the latest Firefox and I assure you that I lose whole posts regularly. I haven't counted exactly yet but it seems that it's when I take longer than a certain amount of time to write a post. Then when I click submit I end up with a white page, and can't refresh and reload the data nor go back (well I can but my whole post is gone).

[Kraken]

Could we have the Museum of Mostly Natural History as desktop size?

[The Highway]

Who came up with the Guybrush dance (see in The Highway's signature)?

Not anymore! :guybrush: <---- There it is, though. I always thought someone on the forums just made it :rolleyes: I didn't think someone from Telltale made them.

[Hassat Hunter]

Except for those times where you're previewing your edits - and instead of hitting "Submit" you just close the tab, go do something else for half an hour and then realize what you did... good luck finding that tab intact in your browser history.
People do that?
I mean, if you wrote an "epic post" you just forget about it the very instant you wrote it without submitting? I find that hard to believe.
I may be a misanthrophist, but it's hard to believe for even me people are that stupid...
I'm using the latest Firefox and I assure you that I lose whole posts regularly. I haven't counted exactly yet but it seems that it's when I take longer than a certain amount of time to write a post. Then when I click submit I end up with a white page, and can't refresh and reload the data nor go back (well I can but my whole post is gone).
Ah, those annoying blank posts. I regularly see them myself too, with FF. However, it never failed me pressing F5, then yes on the confirmation box to get my post in the thread after all. Then again, maybe I do not go way over the alloted time?

[Mr Nutt]

Are you surprised at how popular your art has
Who came up with the Guybrush dance (see in The Highway's signature)?

Well According to this post (http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=246926&postcount=336) it was Matt Hansen.

[Hayden]

Well According to this post (http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=246926&postcount=336) it was Matt Hansen.

No, I mean the actual dance itself seen in-game.

[Mr Nutt]

Oh, then I have no idea sorry.

[pwblaine]

how much freedom are you given with set and character design, are all the pieces pretty much sketched out before they come to you? or do you get a bit of freedom in your design?

P.S. I LOVED the Voodoo Cards! There were in really a very cool style, and always thank you guys for taking the time to talk to all of us telltale junkies that play your great, great games.

[Hayden]

Oh, then I have no idea sorry.

Thanks anyways. I like it when people go out of their way to help out.

[Nojh]

Hi Ryan.

Man now I feel bad for going offline early Friday. Totally missed the start of the Q&A. Well I still have a question or two.

When did you start drawing/becoming an artist? Was it something you did as a kid or did you pick it up later?

How did you pick up your artistic skills? Did you go to school or were you mostly self taught or a bit of both?

You said your preferred medium is digital. What software do you like to use to create your art?

[akajackfrost]

Have you ever auctioned off any of your original concept artwork for charity? It is obvious Telltale is a charitable company with the wristbands they offer, and I think that would be an awesome thing to consider. Sorry if that has been done before and I missed it.

[Zeek]

Have you ever auctioned off any of your original concept artwork for charity? It is obvious Telltale is a charitable company with the wristbands they offer, and I think that would be an awesome thing to consider. Sorry if that has been done before and I missed it.

If you haven't and want to, I suggest you join up with Steve Purcell in the Totoro Forest Project (http://totoroforestproject.org/). If you dig through his blog, you can see what he auctioned off, all in the name to preserve one of Japan's last natural forests.

[syntheticgerbil]

Hey Ryan, I'm aspiring to be a concept artist in the games industry, but I still have a lot to learn. Well actually I have been working as one for a couple of years for this one smaller company, but I'd like to get a lot better since I don't really know anyone that does your style of art and coloring with such impeccable skill.

I was wondering if you had any sort of video tutorial or process diagram picture thingy set up somewhere on the web where I could see how you create your artwork. Mostly I'd like to see how you get all those great digital colors and make the light so nice and rich, as well as your clean lines and ability to create a nice sense of depth with your shades.

Hope you don't feel like I'm looking to steal your secrets. I'd just like to get better and your stuff is amazing! :)

[thatdude98]

Hey Ryan, are you excited to be working on Sam and Max? (not sure if someone else already asked that...)

[Silverwolfpet]

Hi Ryan!

First of all, you are by far one of my favorite artists! I love your style and if you ever thought of developing your own Animation Studio, or something like Disney-Production-Company-Thingie, then please do so! :D

And now, some questions... get ready...

1) If the drawings on the Voodoo Deck contain real future-telling-powers, do I get charged extra for that?

2) If I become an expert Voodoo Priest due to your cards, do I have to share 50% of my profit with you?

3) Now that you met Majus (at least, I THINK you did), please tell me... Who is more piratey? Him or me?

4) Ok, this one is a bit more serious, and I do hope that it's not insulting in any way... I jusy hope I translate it right... Here goes: Do you make commissions? I mean, if I would be working on a project and I would need 4-5 pieces of concept art... would you like to help me over a fee? Are you allowed to? If the answer is "yes, I would like to take all your money and family heirlooms", how much would a drawing cost?

Thank you and keep drawing with all your heart! :)

[natieb]

What are your favorite video games? Currently and all-time.

Does the "beer tub" (from this (http://www.telltalegames.com/videos/growapirate)) get much use?

[Lena_P]

Why is the Pharoah Sammun Mack written in a Sanskrit like font? Is he an Indian pharaoh?

Is Sal the Cockroach the same cockroach from the Christmas card? If he is, does that mean he's naked in the Christmas card?

And if you tend to lose posts, just copy them before hitting the submit button. That way you can just paste them in if they get lost.

[Hayden]

Hmm... the time for these questions to be answered is rapidly running out.

Unrelated: Hey Lena, you're mustache is gone!

[Lena_P]

Unrelated:That's because I'm back in San Francisco, where you have to wear a flower in your hair.

[Ripcord]

And if you tend to lose posts, just copy them before hitting the submit button. That way you can just paste them in if they get lost.

Unfortunately there are many times I forget until it's too late.

My work web email client is the worst. Times out after like 15 minutes. I'm constantly hitting "send", then "oops I forgot to copy!!", selecting all text, going to hit CMD-C and then... "Hey buddy your session has timed out. Abort, Fail?"

Something that Just Works, like the plugin, sounds good to me =)


So I'm guessing there's not much chance of these questions being reviewed at this point?

[Sausy Gibbon]

Hey, Ryan love your work. I'm wondering if you can reveal any art or does TTG have a timeframe for any media surrounding one of their games? If its the former, is there anything you can reveal of 303

[The Highway]

Hey, Ryan love your work. I'm wondering if you can reveal any art or does TTG have a timeframe for any media surrounding one of their games? If its the former, is there anything you can reveal of 303

Unfortunately, they're probably not reading this anymore... Which is a shame.