Interview with Deckard

by 3D Addict
(August'98)

    3D Addict

    Deckard



    Tell me a little bit about yourself.(How old you are, where you live , what is your real name, your job, etc...

    I know that I am 22 years old, but I feel like being between 12-15 years old, I don't wan't to be an adult, because you then have to have an excuse for playing and you have to be way too serious.
    My real name is Mads Vester and I put that name on my drawings and 3D things, when it's not for the scene. and I don't do less scenework now. The reason for that is, that I would rather do wilddemos (have only made one released at symposium '98) and that is because you don't have to need a coder :), they always say that you should only have so many faces in a object or so many colours in an animation, and I think that the sky is the limit!!
    I am under education as a graphics designer so I shift between working and going to school. The education takes four years and I have one left (45 weeks of school in the four years). It's a good education but I would like to go to viborg animation school afterwards, so I can train my drawing and especially my animations skills, because they are very bad :)

    Please describe yourself as a person.Are you a cool type of a guy or more funny one?Do you take life seriously or are you more relaxed and live the life without thinking much about the future?

    I am the type of guy who are extremly lazy when there are no deadline, but when I really have to have something finished (and I feel for the project), I do what I have to do even though I am tired after a normal workday and in the weekends I drink and party way too much...Help I have a problem, what's the phonenumber to AA??!!
    I like to enjoy my life as much as possible so if I feel like buying or doing something I usually do it. I don't like being controlled by other people, maybe that's why I don't have a steady girlfriend :)

    What was your first computer, and what computer do you use now?Do you also miss the the good old days of c64 and A500?

    I am almost never nostalgic, so I do not miss it. I think that if you miss something from the past it is because you miss something in the present...
    Okey, one thing I am longing from is the good old games on c64 and amiga. It seems like the more powerful the computers get the more dull the games become..

    How and when did you become involved in the scene and when did you start drawing?

    I have been drawing all my life some times more than other of course. I am a really old scener when I think about it. The first demos I saw was budbrain megademos and red sectors mental hangover. One of my friends showed me what a demo was (and he showed me mental hangover) and I was sold.
    Then he actually introduced me to thomas (hexagon/x.puzzle and subacid) and I joined the group disaster. I have also attended to all of the parties 1-7.

    Which hardware/software do you use for drawing, and where do you get the inspiration from?

    The inspiration comes usually when i draw something meaningless and then I think "hey, what happens if I do this...." or I get ideas when I ride my bike, in the shower or etc. etc. In the past I was pixeling in dpaint and then brilliance on amiga. Then I brought a pc (last year) and a wacom artpad and have used photoshop and painter since then (and NO I don't miss antialiasing manually!)

    How many hours a day do you spend in front of your computer, and how many of those hours are used on making gfx?


    Can't really say how many hours I do gfx every day, depends on what mude I am in. Normally I am too tired after work... At work I sit in front of the computer almost eight hours and I don't feel like using it much after work...

    Please describe in steps how do you create an image.Do you start by making an sketch on paper, or is everything done on the computer.


    Depends...Sometimes I feel like putting on a good cd and turn off the pc just relaxing with pencils, paper and watercolours (and maybe a good whisky :). The good thing about having the computer is when you do a little annoying mistake that you cannot correct on paper, then you just scan the drawing and retouch the hole drawing!

    I know from my own experience that it can take days and often weeks to draw a good picture.How long does it take to draw a good picture for you, and what are the most important aspects of making a great image?


    hmmm...I don't think of time, when I have a good time :)..When I feel like drawing the time just disappear! But when I used dpaint I often used between 20-100 hours. Now I use at the most 10 hours...

    What do you find the most difficult to draw, and which phase of your drawing do you enjoy most.Personally I like mostly making the finishing touches when the image is about 95% complete.


    The most difficult is the starting sketch, you have to use your brain alot :)..You can the relax when you colorize it and making the little details. I draw the whole picture at once, that will say I don't start from one corner and move to the other (like a scanner does). I work over the hole area so you can see what I am drawing the hole time...

    Do you use any special techniques.Please describe which drawing tools and techniques do you use mostly.

    Pencils and watercolour and sometimes an inkpen. I also have an airbrush, but have only used it a couple of times. Maybe because I am to lazy to use it (it takes a long time to do a airbrush drawing even though it is funny when you have cut all the masks and so on)

    Which of your own images do you consider as the best one and which was the most difficult to draw?




    My best drawing I think is "who is painting who". It is not very well drawn on paper, but I think it became very good after i used the finger tool in photoshop. I can't say which drawings was most difficult. But when you draw something you haven't drawn before or don't have photo references to are the hardest one to draw.

    I agree.What do you think about raytracing?


    It's very cool!..If think it have open up a lot of things for me. It is like having a big box of lego and you can create every world you think of and animate every crazy idea you have with just a little bit of talent.
    The question is like asking a painter what he think of sculpturing...

    ....and what about redrawing?


    Good for praktice.. have only done it 2-3 times but I think it is cheating yourself if you want to be really good, start doing your own ideas, they are the most fun to do (you are also much more proud of yourself afterwards).

    I agree again.Being an active scener for some time now, you must have seen a lot of pics made by other graphicians.Who is your favourite graphician and why?


    Lazur in drawing so beatiful pictures and znork from my own group for having a very big imagination and the talent to make the ideas come true!

    What are your future party plans, are you heading for assemblly'98 or the party'98, other parties?


    Nahh...maybe party 98 if I have a finished wilddemo ready. I really hope that I pull myself together and make one (I must have to nerd some more, instead of partying with friends).

    What does the scene mean to you, and which aspects do you like/dislike about it?


    Not much anymore...Just a place to meet my friends and talk to some interesting friends. I think the small parties have been most fun, The Party is to big I think...

    Have you ever considered a carrier as a professional graphician?(If you are already a proffesinal graphician tell a little about you work)


    As I said before I really would like to be a proffesional 3d animator. Now I most use photoshop, quark express and illustrator. I also make websites for companies at work (ex. www.mols-linien.dk or you can check my own at http://home10.inet.tele.dk/deckard/)

    What are your other interests/hobbies, besides your scene activities?


    I like to cook food, play chess, party with friends or just hang out, listen to all kind of music and go dancing with sweet girls :)

    Who is your favourite artist outside the scene?


    I have many!...But Sam Kieth is very good cartoonist and have a cool style(maker of the "the maxx") or salvador dali, giger, nancy stehl and so many others.

    Do you believe in God?What is the meaning of life?


    ...well no, I am not a Christian. I have had different imagination on what the hole thing is about and I came up with the conclusion that nobody knows so why spend time on finding out, when your life is so short and you should just enjoy it and don't have some bible telling you how to behave!..If you look at the world and see how many wars that religion have started, it's hard to see what good for it is.

    One last question: how did you come up with your handle/alias?


    I am a big bladerunner fan :)..And the friend, why showed me the first demo I had ever seen, was called Replicant!

    Would you like to say Hello to anyone?


    All in impact, my non-computer friends and all I have talked to over the years at parties...

    Thanks for the interview :)


    check out deckard gallery





   news    galleries    articles    database    links