Tomáš Duchek: An Incredible Journey
How he went from industrial designer to games concept artist with no art degree
What's your background, and what are you working on?
I studied industrial design at university and I was digitally painting for fun as well. During the last year of my studies I realized I could start earning some money from my concept art. I had never thought about this kind of career before but I prepared my portfolio.
Luckily there was a company in Prague that was starting this big project “Kingdom Come: Deliverance” which is a realistic medieval game and I got the job. I spent five years there and that was a huge influence on my art. I learned so much from working there and I got to study the medieval way of living, it really caught my attention.
I’ve been painting or drawing nights since I was little so working on this was a great opportunity. This game and time period are really interesting so I’ve been continuing with the medieval theme in my own work.
How do you keep your love for creation while working?
Thats something I was struggling with for quite a bit I could only find joy while painting my own works but recently I’m able to find it in my commissions as well. I think its because I’ve gotten better at what I’m doing and most of my paintings are developing in the right ways now. If I have the potential to make something interesting from the start I’m more inclined to complete it with a smile. Moral is a big part as well, I always try to do my best and do things that haven’t been done before. If those two things are right its easy to keep my motivation even if the work is not for me.
What made you choose art over industrial design?
Industrial design is a very technical career path. You always have to create something realistic and focus on things like materials and product price. I always wanted to do something more imaginative and focus less on technical issues. So concept art felt like the better option. It gave me more freedom.
What went into building your freelance business?
When I was working with Warhorse on the game I started doing a series of characters that were more fantasy based. Those paintings got very successful on Artstation so I continued with the series. This became the base for my freelancing because other game studios started contacting me asking for commissions. I decided to quit Warhorse because I knew I already had clients I could rely on and I’m thankful for that because it would have been a lot harder starting from zero.
How did you get your art noticed?
I mostly got lucky on Artstation. I also tried a lot of other social medias like Instagram, Twitter, Deviant Art, and Behance I basically created portfolios everywhere I could. I noticed Artstation and Instagram were the ones that started gaining traction and started focusing on them.
What motivated you to get started with your art?
Thats a tough question. I think I realized early on that I had some talent for drawing. I don’t want to sound like I’m better than people but from an early age I could imagine things better than some students could. I was always exploring drawing and painting since I was little so it was natural. However when I tried to put some emotions on the canvas I struggled and felt hindered by a kitsch feeling. I felt like I wasn’t interesting or my art was cringe.
Kitsch: arts that appeal to popular rather than "high art" tastes.
What other challenges have you faced?
When a painting is not going well you have to push through these periods where you really need to focus on whats not working. Rebuilding the painting several times takes a lot of energy. Also learning how to properly polish paintings was difficult for me too. It’s quite easy to sketch something out but bringing it to a level of detail that satisfies clients is sometimes a struggle. It can make or break your career and I see my students usually have the same problem. Being able to change your thinking from the canvas to the details and polishing those little edges is the main thing to learn. I didn’t really know that before.
Have you been doing a lot of teaching?
I just started my third year but its not going great with the covid situation. Otherwise its pretty awesome! I learn so much from teaching I really recommend it. I feel like if you’re successful at something it should be a social responsibility to pass it further. I also wanted to interact with younger people and share my knowledge with them.
What are your goals for the future?
I wanted to do my own game but I don’t know if I will. It’s just so much work and I’m kind of stuck at the moment. I’m also looking to buy a house for my family. Besides painting I want to do more crafting using knives and other tools. I really enjoy creating jewelry and working with wood. Basically I want to make my own workshop.
Have you found anything particularly helpful or advantageous for your art?
I focused on the basics a lot. Studying the properties of light, how to work with values, edges, and materials. These things combined to give my art a realistic look. Everyone needs to learn these things even if you want to go more stylized. The more you know about the concepts the more you can simplify them and make your art stronger.
What's your advice for artists who are just starting out?
Students always mess up values. They do very contrasting materials and I try to get them to limit their pallet working on certain parts of their painting. Like not using white or black in every part. Choosing white for the background and using more mid tones and dark tones for the character will make them pop more. If theres too much noise in a painting things get lost.
Sometimes if you limit yourself you can spark more creativity. Like when I work on a series of paintings instead of individuals I don’t have to focus on everything at once. It let me take characters from other settings and try new color pallets or different lighting.
One other thing to keep in mind is that inspiration comes from everywhere. I usually get inspired by nature like when I go outside with my family. Sometime it comes from books, games and movies too so It’s really a combination of everything at once.
Where can we find your art?
You can see my profile on Artstation here and my instagram is @tomas.duchek go check them out.
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