Here's an Interview I did with my great friend and one of my favorite art master's Thierry Lafontaine, who works for the well-know Imaginism Studio! I hope it can help some of you to become what you'v always wanted! Never give up guys!!!!

1.ME:Thierry Lafontaine is an independent artist from Toronto, Canada. He is a painter and former Digital Painting and Life Drawing teacher at Sheridan College and of course, a professional character designer for different industries. Right now, he's working at Imaginism Studios, with other professional independent artists and share his passion with others. So Mr. Lafontaine, what do most students, who wants to become conceptual artist, have to do to achieve great success in the game art industry, or animation movies?

THIERRY: First, I would like to thank you to have chosen me and for this opportunity to share some of what I have learned over the years. To answer your question,to be successful in the animation and game industry, or any other field you need three things; to know what you want, to not be afraid of failing, and to keep trying something different until you succeed. If you know exactly what you want and if you are willing to keep trying different things until you get it, it is just a matter of time before you get what you want. To be more specific to the art industry, one of the most important skills to become a successful artist is to draw and paint from life. To become a great artist you need to make art not something that you do from 9 to 5 but to make it a way of living, it needs to be part of who you are, of how you think and how you live. Being an artist is a way of living, it is not something that you turn on and off, it is a way of seeing life and an urge to constantly learn more about life and about yourself to grow. One of the best way to learn art is to surround yourself with other artists and to learn from each other.

2.ME:What could be a good curriculum for entering a studio for a futur conceptual artist? What must contain the portfolio?

THIERRY:Every studios produce different types of work. To be hired in a studio, you need to show them what you can do for them. It is important to take time to research a company before sending them a portfolio and to make your portfolio the answer to their needs. In general terms, I would say that your portfolio needs to contain the type of work that the studio is producing and the type of work appropriate to the position that you are applying for. Don't sent animations in your portfolio if you apply for a concept artist job. A good portfolio u=is made specifically for a specific position for a specific studio.
What I personally look for in a potential employee or student's portfolio is not how skilled and versatile they are but if they have potential, passion, diligence and are teachable. I have looked at many portfolios over the years and have chosen many students to become my apprentices. The qualities that matter to me in and apprentice/employee is that I can see how their work can become better, their love and passion for what they do, dedication and hard work, and that they are teachable. But by far the greatest quality that someone can have is being a nice person and that it is enjoyable to be around them. No matter how skilled an artist is, if he is not nice and unpleasant to other, no one will want to work with them. I would by far prefer an artist with less skill that I think I can teach and help improve rather than an amazing artist that is unpleasant and that think that he knows everything and has nothing more to learn. There is no portfolio formula, when a company opens a job, it is that they have a need to fill, the best advice that I can give is to take some time to figure out what they need and to tell them in your interview and through your portfolio how you can fulfill that need and help them what they do even better.
  
3.ME:Since the 3D art is becoming larger then ever before, and that 3D artist, sometimes, do not need drawing references to do their 3D modeling, do you think that this will lead to the instinction of the Concept Artist?

THIERRY: Absolutely not. 3D art and conceptual art are very different. Conceptual artists are hired for their creativity and their ability to transformideas into images. I have no doubt that there is some very creative 3D artists and in essence, a creative 3D artist and a creative Concept Artist are the same, the only difference between them is the medium by which they express themselves. In my opinion, the ability to transform a vision or an idea into something concrete is timeless and nowhere near being endangered.

4.ME: For you, what could be the greatest weakness of an student who wants to become a professional illustrator, or in other terms, a conceptual artist?

THIERRY:Complacency is the greatest threat to a student on the way to become a professional. When someone chooses to become an artist, he or she takes a secret unconscious pact with himself that he will dedicate his life to learning and evolving forever towards a goal that he will never reach. Art is an endless journey because there is no end to learning and to becoming better, you can always learn more and improve. When a student is complacent, he is satisfied with his actual skill level and stops learning. Stopping to learn is the worse thing that an apprentice artist can do because when you stop to learn, you stop being an artist because art is an endless learning journey.


5. ME:Since you work in a studio that has been recognized by many industries around the world and by amateur artist, do you think that there is enough jobs for the futur illustrators? Is the competition still very ferocious?

THIERRY: When you wait for other people to give you a job, there is never enough jobs. But when you do what you like and you like it so much that you would do it even if it wouldn't pay then people can feel this passion and you become the type of people than they want to work with. Competition is indeed ferocious, when you graduate, you compete with the best of the best. Don't wait for people to give you a job, paint and draw what you like and show it to people and then employers will come to you and ask you if they could get that type of work from you. If you want to become a concept artist. don't wait for someone to give you the title of concept artist, start making concept art by yourself, the type of concept art that you like to do, they way you think it should be done and post it online and employers will come to you. If they don't right away, then try something different, whether it is doing something different with your art or showing it to a different crowd. Have fun and do what you like with passion, and it will attract people to you.

6.ME: So by all those advices and a professional view from yourself upon my precedent questions, and before we end up this interview, is there some personal advices you would like to give to the future conceptual artist generation?

THIERRY: Yes, here is the best personal advice that I can give to you: print or write the following quote on a piece of paper and put it somewhere where it would be the first thing that you will see upon waking up every morning and repeat it every time you walk by it, think about it, until you know it by heart and that it is part of you.

"Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence and Determination.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and Determination alone are omnipotent."

That is the most important thing that I have learned in my entire life and I wish I would have learned it a lot earlier in my life. I remember wondering if I had chosen the right job or the right path many times in my life, until I read this quote. I have never questioned my path or anything that I do ever since I have learned this quote. This quotes comforts me, because it assures me that I can achieve ANYTHING. It also tells me that all I need to achieve what I want, is to be persistent and determined, and anyone can be persistent and determined.


ME: Thank you very much Thierry for the Interview. Futur Illustrator needs a master figure for becoming stronger and more persistent! Wish you the best for more futur opportunities and a life that you live each day in your endless passion for illustration!