Doing what you love for a living as well as turning your passion into a business, often comes with the price of under-evaluating your work. Freelancing artists in particular, and the ones just starting up even more so, find themselves in the vulnerable position of charging too little for their work out of fear of loosing their opportunities. Not to mention, talking about how much one makes for an assignment remains for many a tabu topic within the industry. Open talks about freelancing and fair pay are vital for providing a healthy working environment for all artists and at The Art Department Berlin we are excited to be able to provide a stage for this Convoloot panel discussion!
Joining the panel is Copenhagen-based illustrator & concept artist Esben Lash. He has worked with of the biggest game and art studios around the world. Riot Games in Los Angeles, Sixmorevodka in Berlin, Artwoork Aps in Copenhagen & Atomhawk in Newcastle, just to name a few.
Also involved is Johnson Ting – Malaysian concept artist, specialized in AAA games and visual development for films. His clients include Activision, EA, Sony, Legendary, Universal, Microsoft, 343i, Unity, NCSoft, and NetEase.
Among his many talents he is also collectible designer and toy maker, having designed various scales figurines and statues.
Another guest taking part in the talks is Iris Compiet, a Dutch artist that has distinguished herself in the fields of illustration and character design. She has worked on the illustrations for Wizards of the Coast and Harper Collins’ House of Furies, as well as illustrating an official Dark Crystal Bestiary. She also successfully funded her Kickstarter campaign for the publishing of her art book: Faeries of the Faultlines.
Completing the panel is Bastien LeCouffe Deharme. He is known for his dark symbolic pictures where beauty organically blends into decadence. Bastien works mainly in the science-fiction, cyberpunk and dark fantasy genres. He has a growing fan base worldwide and enjoys working for clients like Magic: The Gathering, Adobe, National Geographic, Riot Games, Applibot (Legend of the Cryptids) and many more.
The discussion is going to be moderated by longtime Playgrounds friend, creative consultant, art book designer and publisher Spiridon Giannakis. He has been working in print media since 2006. Starting in 2017 he has helped artists, like Even Mehl Amundsen, Abigail Larson, Björn Hurri, Bastien Deharme, and many more, to publish their artbooks managing their crowdfunding campaigns. His latest project is Convoloot, a platform entirely focused on conversations and interviews with industry professionals and community leaders.
