DarkMechanic

Hi guys, happy new year!

I don't upload here much anymore, mainly because of NDA's, but I'm still about.

Some of you may of noticed that I worked with Games Workshop to produce the Genestealer Cult Trailer!

GW took a risk using me I think, as I'm not your typical 'grim-dark' artist, but if you liked it, let them know and hopefully me and other artists will get more opportunities like this in the future! It's nice to go full circle, from fan-artist to actual artist, and I feel I'm one step closer to making my space marines with small heads canon. 

I'll try and upload some frames at some point too, as a lot of work went into the art, an it's a shame to blast through it so quick.

Hope you enjoy!

Hey guys!

HELL-BENT is a personal project of mine, which I'm finally getting round to starting. I've spent the last few weeks (and a bit of time on and off a few months prior to this) writing and thinking about an expanded world, how things work and connect etc. It's all jumbled rubbish at the moment, but it's a start!

As I'm sure you remember, I spend a lot of time moaning about not being able to show current work, being stifled creatively, or just not having time to work on my own stuff, so this is my answer to all that. It means I'm in creative control, and I can share all my prep work (including pencils!), and I can also start getting things set up for prints, postcards, books etc.

At it's most basic, HELL-BENT is a re-imagining of mythic monsters and beasts through a sci-fi lens, but I hope to push it beyond that into a fully functioning world. At the very least, it'll be a nice art book, but I'm also thinking about other genres as well, most probably games. Anyway, thats all a while in the future yet, in the meantime, I hope you will enjoy the concept work that precedes it! 

It's been 10 years since I graduated from my BA Illustration course at university, and moved up to London to become an artist!

Unfortunately for me, a qualification in illustration didn't really mean that much, (2D artists, especially for the games industry, are less desirable than ones who are more proficient in 3D software) so I worked for 7 years in minimum wage jobs while trying to find an application for my art.

I began storyboarding while working part time, but then the recession hit and a lot of the agencies I was working with went under, and spending money on art was suddenly unexceptable (especially for one as inexperienced as me). It took 2 years to get a freelance job again.

I continued working on a lot of smaller jobs, both art and otherwise, till I began to work for The Agents, which luckily was a hit on Kickstarter, and for the first time in my life, I got paid a proper salary for a bit.

I quit my part time job, and went full time artist, I got a lot of interest from The Agents work, so had a bunch of work come through...

...Which all fell through, failed to pay, or disappeared, so I went back to square one for a bit. (Here is some advice, never work for peoples Kickstarter's if it's just an excuse not to think about a business plan, as it will surely fail!)

Mutant Year Zero came about while I was working on a smaller RPG job, so I put all my effort and skill into that hoping I would get better job offers (with the better quality of work).

I did a bit, so for the next 6 months I got a lot of games coming to me, offering work...

...Which all fell through, cancelled or changed direction. So back to square one again (money was running out at this point).

By chance, last year I applied for an opening (via Facebook of all places) for a concept artist to work with Reforged Studios, with guys who were kind of responsable for me becoming an artist in the first place, and somehow, I got it!

It saved me financially, and was the best work I've ever had, all 2D, sci-fi concept stuff, really enjoyable, paid properly, creative atmosphere, and that was going great...

...until I got dropped. So back to square one again.

I then got a art-production line type job, poor pay, uninspired, but regular enough. I got fired because I went on holiday last month.

As you can see a bit of a pattern emerging here, so I think it's time to break the cycle a bit and start working properly for myself. I'm incredibly lucky to do what I do, but I've also sacrificed a lot to continue to do it, and I always seem to be at the mercy of other peoples decisions. It's unfortunate the money has to play a such a big part in my choices, but as you can see, everything is so unpredictable it's hard not to be worried about it.

So I hope to begin pushing my own work in the near future, and be more focused about creating my own art, something thats always been put on the back-burner while working for other people.

Anyway, thats been a very much abridged 10 years of me stumbling through career choices, and in my desperate need to make money, I forgot about who I was as an artist, and I believe I'm suffering for it now. And even though I've learnt a lot on the way, it's time to be more about me.

Lets see if I can manage another ten years!

Hello mates,

I've split my tumblr into 2, the first one, Dark Mechanic Curates, will be my favourite illustrative, science fiction and fantasy art, and any other influences.

darkmechaniccurates.tumblr.com…

The second, Dark Mechanic Art, is my personal and commercial art work, all in one place.

darkmechanic.tumblr.com/

Hopefully now I can focus on making them both good, rather than letting one wither away.

Check them out and give them a follow!

- DM