Interview with Character Designer & illustrator Galit Weisberg

I'm Marcin Migdal coming to you from Mad Artist Publishing and today I talk with the always charming and talented illustrator Galit Weisberg. She has worked as a 3D general artist, a 2D compositor and motion designer, but her secret passion has always been illustration. 

Marcin: Hi Galit, thanks for agreeing to do this, you are setting a benchmark for our interviews as you are the first artist we’re doing this with.

Galit: Thanks for having me, I’m excited to be here.

Marcin: So, of all things to pursue as a career, why choose art?

Galit: Well, it was a lot by chance. I didn’t consider it as a career since I didn't know you could make money from art. After I finished my army service I attended a School Orientation. I remember I was semi-panicking since I had no idea what I wanted to do and all of the options seemed horrible. By the end of the day, I was really depressed and already considering my life as a bank teller, and then I saw this booth for a little unknown college with a media and animation program. It was a 2 year program and relatively cheap so I thought "why not?" The program was very lacking but it got me started and I learned a lot since then in my various jobs and I don't regret my choice for a moment.

Marcin: What did you like to draw when you were a kid? And what would you say inspired you most at that time?

Galit: I didn’t really draw as a child. I had some talent but it never really interested me as a hobby. I started drawing at high-school since I was at boarding school and there wasn't a TV there?. Inspiration-wise I loved cartoons and reading fantasy and sci-fi books, it always kept my imagination active and later on I got connected to the internet and discovered anime and manga which really blew my mind. Naruto was definitely one of my main inspirations.

Marcin: Looking at your gallery it appears that you always add humor into your work, is that something you do on purpose?

Galit: Well yes. It’s not that intentional and I do have my share of dark themed pics but I guess that jokes comes more naturally to me and it’s more fun to draw. I think that a good image needs a certain amount of subtext or depth, something to spice it up. it doesn’t have to be a joke but I like it when people say I made them smile.

Marcin: Can you tell us a little about your process. Do you always start sketching first, and then move onto the computer?

Galit: I use Photoshop from start to finish; sometimes I use flash or illustrator if I want cleaner lines. Usually i do a rough sketch then color it in Black and white tones and add color with blending modes and use color corrections, but I like to experiment and just have fun with it so I change my workflow a lot.

Marcin: What do you like to do in your spare time?

Galit: I don’t have a lot of free time but the little I have I usually spend in front of the TV.

Marcin: If you could work on any project or for any company in the world, what would it be and why?

Galit: Well, obviously working for Tim Burton or Miyazaki would be amazing (even just bringing them coffee :)), but more realistically I’d like to work with Amanita design, the company that did "machinarium". They are so creative and unique and I love all the quirky and cluttered environments they create.

Marcin: Galit, in your opinion, what’s the most vital element when creating an image?

Galit: Tough question... I think every artist has his own way of making his magic. For me its usually the story or idea that are most important. I always try to come up with something with a twist and not too obvious. Once I have a good story or idea it helps me make decisions about things like character design, posing, lighting and atmosphere. Besides, a good concept always levels-up a visual. ****BELOW UNPUBLISHED IN MAGAZINE (Due to space):*****

I've been thinking about this a lot. Obviously a solid idea is key but there has to be more to it. There are a lot of beautiful images that don’t have a clear narrative or subtext and yet they obviously work. I think it comes down to something I can only call awareness to details. Every time you draw something there are a million of question you can ask yourself.

For example: a man holding an apple. on the idea level you can ask: "who is this man?" "Why is he holding the apple?" "What are his feelings towards the apple?" "Why?" Each answer you come up with brings a new set of questions and also interesting solutions and subtext to your formally bland image, for example, the man is Adam, Eve just gave him the apple and he's feeling uncomfortable holding the apple since he just took a bite and with his new found wisdom he realizes that Eve is a bit of a skank...

obviously you can keep developing the idea by asking more questions, turning Eve into a strip dancer and the tree to a pole and maybe the snake is sliding singles down her leafy underwear and so on. But it’s not only about the idea, ask questions about who is your character, what sort of expression does he have considering his nature and the situation he's in? and also, more technical questions like: "How is he holding the apple?" Up high? Arm stretched away with only 2 fingers holding the twig part? Still chewing on it? And even more: "How does a hand hold an apple?" "What muscles are in use?" "Should I even draw muscles?" "Will a cartoonish stylized character work better?" "What kind of cartoon style?" And of course you need to think about the environment and color – is it morning? Twilight? Summer? Limbo? Should I make it all green to contrast the red apple? Where is the light coming from? Etc.

The questions here are all mixed up, some of them should be answered before others, like questions that regard style or the general tone of the image and the answers to the follow up questions must support them. this may seem like a lot but this process is fairly fast and muted, other than a couple of main questions to establish an idea this is just something that you should keep track of in the back of your head when you draw your image. The more you practice the easier and faster it gets – usually it takes me less than a minute to come up with an idea and I just keep all the questions running in the back of my head while I work. I think the best artists are the ones most sensitive to details like that. 

Marcin: What do you think stops most talented artists from making it?

Galit: I don’t know what it's like abroad but in Israel the industry is pretty closed. you need to be very well connected or have good P.R. skills to get hired. it can be hard if you're shy or self-thought and don’t have access to industry people. Another problem is lack of self-confidence; I missed a lot of work because I was afraid I wasn’t good enough. It's good to be objective about yourself and know your skill level but you also need to have faith in yourself and be ready to step up to new challenges.

Marcin: Can you offer any advice to artists that are struggling in the industry and aren’t sure if they should keep going?

Galit: Be active on local online art communities. You can test your level compared to other artists, participating the challenges regularly will make you better, faster and sharper and contribute to your portfolio, the positive feedback will help your self-esteem and you can get connected with other artists and make a name for yourself if you're good. Thanks to online communities I found confidence and connections and because of my online reputation I was recommended for my current job. They even call me Shoze at work :)

Marcin: Thanks Galit, for your time. We hope you keep coming back to draw on the site and do another interview with us in the near future.

Galit: Thanks Marcin, I’m proud to be a part of the team!

Marcin: You may find Galit at http://shoze.deviantart.com and http://shoze.blogspot.com.