What I'm about

Greetings! My name is Arne Niklas Jansson. While Arne is technically my first name, and the name I use to sign drawings with, Niklas is actually my first name when spoken to. I was born in Sweden, 1977, and still live there.

When I was a kid, games always seemed to be richer than they were, perhaps because a kid's imagination is so unchained. Anything could be behind the next corner, probably because I didn't fully understand how simple the games actually were.

Now, as an adult, I try to capture that feeling by drawing characters and settings from old games, expanding upon them, trying to come up something that feels more alive than whack-a-mole cabinet (which unfortunately is how most games feel to me now).

I like to draw and program, but it's that 1% inspiration part which is so appealing to me, not the 99% perspiration, so I easily derail and start new projects. However, right now I have so many projects that I occasionally derail back on old tracks, actually making progress, so it works a bit like preemptive multitasking.

Perhaps I'll finish all of my projects simultaneously, sometime far into the future.

I'm bad at working with other people because I'm not passionate about other people's ideas. I have poor communication skills and procrastinate a lot. I'm also not passionate about fun games.

As an artist, I'm much more amused by interesting settings where interesting things keep happening. I strongly believe that dictatorships or small teams, and small target demographics lead to more interesting design, even if it comes at the price of treading economically treacherous ground. I would rather make a game that 500 people will play for decades than a successful game which everyone will forget in a year.

Artistic development

Ever since I can remember, I have liked to draw, sculpt, and design little games on leftover pieces of cardboard (computers weren't very advanced when I was little). During 199x, I painted mostly with acrylics. Eventually I discovered digital coloring and painting. When doing concept art, I prefer to draw thumbnails with pencil, then scan, scale, fix, ink and color on the computer.

This process allows me to experiment. Undo, transformations, replace color, etc really makes me a more efficient explorer. Also, lately I began to notice that my eyes sees things a bit skew, so all my figures lean a bit. This mean I have to flip and 'unskew' digitally (or use a mirror when working traditionally).

Sometimes when I struggle with a design, and don't know how good it is, I try to imagine if I would REALLY want it as a toy/figure on my desk. Somehow that provides me with a good way to measure the strength of a design. I think a good design should have a powerful silhouette/mass. It should be to the point and no part should be filled with "I guess I'll just draw some lines here". Every part of the design should contribute something, suggest function, flow or be quiet so others can be heard.

A 1992 ink drawing revisited. I used to ink a lot throughout the 90's, but was never any good at it. I'm still not. I hide a bit behind rough lines, making it a style, I guess. I don't think that I've got the wrist (or arm) to ink clean.

My style has undergone some changes. First I wanted to paint like Simon Bisley and Paul Bonner. Then, around '99 (the Pendako years), I started making attempts at drawing in a manga/animŽ style, but I think I was too reluctant to embrace cartoony simplicity, curves and flow at the time. Craig Mullins inspired me to really paint digitally (Sijun years, early 2000), and I developed a blotchy painting style out of that.

• 1997/8, Android - I remember finding some kind of acrylic painting style that I liked with this painting. It's the reason why I named my firm "Android Arts".
• 1999-2000, Samus Aran - I used to run a Metroid Fan Site called Planet Zebes, and did a few Manga-style acrylic paintings for it. I used the acrylics more like watercolors though.
• 2002, Mantis Monster - Up until this painting I hadn't felt comfortable coloring digitally. Painting this way, throwing down blotches of paint over a scanned pencil thumbnail, felt like a big leap forward.

I don't use this style much anymore, because I think it's inefficient when doing concept art. I've discovered that line art forces me to think about every area of a design more carefully. I can hide nothing in blotches. I don't have to spend time rendering shapes when I want to add or change a detail, so lines are actually faster. Working with lines also puts focus on the strength of the flow of the forms, because they're there describing things 'raw'.

Late 2008, I started experimenting with more curvy characters for my Bomber Queen project. Eventually I drew a thumbnail of a figure on a Rygar sheet which just felt right. I really liked the proportions, because they feel like they would be effective for game characters, whilst still allowing for body detail and gender identity.

Journey through the digital evolution

In the early 80's I was exposed to the Game & Watch games, Mattel Intellivision, Vectrex, NES, Vic 20 and the C64. I remember 'modding' the Game & Watch screens by drawing new backgrounds on overhead film. I also drew game graphics on cardboard tiles and made my own levels.

The Commodore 64 introduced me to programming in BASIC. Later I got an Amiga, but I wasn't very good with Amiga Basic. Eventually I bought AMOS and made a few games with it, but there was no internet back then and I didn't have a modem. I don't think my games got very far in the wild, but I did release a few. Now I use BlitzMax. It's quite scalable, being a BASIC based language as well as having some more advanced OOP stuff. I mostly use it for making tools and prototyping games.

I also have experience with more C oriented languages such as Quake C (and other game mod languages) and a bit C/C++. Recently I enjoyed FCEUX's LUA capabilities. I'm not very good with the ASM debugger though, but I'm learning. When I do research for my projects I often have to dump data from games, and it's kind of fun to figure out how things were stored, perhaps finding hidden messages and unused graphics.

Then there's web page 'programming' which I don't particularly like. I have some experience with HTML, CSS, JS, PHP and I've also dealt a bit with Perl, ASP and SQL. I still have a Java book on my shelf I've never get around to reading. I really need more hours per day.

Workstation

I've had this setup since summer 2008. The vertical monitor is great for text editing and vertical docs. I also put up lots of ref pics on it when painting in Photoshop on the main (the Wacom is mapped to main). Had to turn of the subpixel font rendering thing though, since the LCD matrix is rotated physically.

Oh, I use Mac gamma on the iMac, and PC gamma on the Lenovo. This way I can just slide stuff over to calibrate colors and such. I'm left handed but I mouse with right. I would probably be a lot better at FPS games if I didn't.

Preferences

I have a lot of favorite artists, and I don't even know the name of some. To drop a few names though: Paul Bonner did some amazing orks for Games Workshop back in the day. Simon Bisley needs no introduction. Judgement on Gotham is amazing. Nadeara Bukichi does excellent flat volumes. Shimada F/Humikane renders well too, and does great mechanical designs. Masamune Shirow, Range Murata, Frezatto, Frazetta...

I listen to all sort of music (but rarely rap, soul, jazz, rnb), but prefer stuff like NIN, ToN, Tool, mod/chip/sid. It's hard to list all the movies I like, but I have to mention a some less known ones: MoonTrap, Excalibur, Barbarella and Flash Gordon.

My favourite (if I have to pick six) PokŽmons are: Scyther, Diglett, Typhlosion, Furret, Magnemite and Tentacruel. Team Galaxy has nice outfits.

I dislike social activities, esp. applauding, singing and dancing. That stuff makes me cringe.

FAQ: Contact

Can I mail you about this and that?

Yes. I'll reply if I remember and aren't absorbed by some project. If I don't reply, it probably means that I thought I would reply later and the message scrolled off the first page of my inbox, and into oblivion. Occasionally I visit there and reply to the forgotten ones.

Because I'm paranoid I keep my email as a little rebus. The answer is Diglett. It's that little potato-like PokŽmon with a big nose (just like me) (and soon I'll have the same hair style as well).

Gmail: Rebus

Can you give me some tips on painting?

My Art Tutorial is a compilation of feedback I've given. That's why it's a little messy. If you want crits on a specific piece, well, I'll probably end up saying what's already in my tutorial.

Do you have MSN, AIM or ICQ?

Not anymore.

FAQ: Work stuff

So, you're a freelancer?

Yes, when I need the money. I have a company called Android Arts and an 'F-Skattesedel'.

What are your fees?

It depends. 200 to 1000(+) USD for a 'piece', mostly. Over 50 USD per hour.

Have you done anything notable?

Aside from the stuff which is published on my various sites, I've also done: RPG stuff (D&D), Videogame stuff (Kuju/Nintendo), Various game pitches (under NDA), Cortex Command (DataRealms), Movie concepts (Disney), Miniature concepts, The FSM, Newspaper illustrations.

Have you worked on any games which have been released?

I'm not quite sure, I don't keep track of what happens to everything I do. I do work on Cortex Command intermittently though.

I like your project based on that old game. We could do something except we change the project into something else to avoid copyright issues.

No. I'm passionate about being faithful to the original, taking on the challenge of working within design constraints. Just changing a few things feels half-arsed and disrespectful. Changing everything is no fun, because there's no challenge and it means starting a completely new project anyways.

We have a secret project but we won't tell you what it is until you've done a bunch of paperwork. Does this make you excited?

No.

Dig your style. Can you do some art for us?

Actually, I don't really like doing art, especially not illustrations. It's mostly just a laborsome process, just like programming. I've had to learn doing both because they're needed when realizing universe design... which is what I really wanted to do all along. I've made very few 'art for art's sake' paintings. Here's a Lizardman I drew when I was 13.

Other people's ideas are not as fun as your own, and I like, and need, to be passionate about what I do.

But we own the license for one of those old games which you like to redesign, and you can have it. We have also built a space fortress for you. It is full of exotic dancers, and at the center there is a golden throne upon which you can sit and design games!

I knew it! Woohoo!

FAQ: Misc. Stuff

Which tools do you use?

I currently have an iMac 24" with a 22" Lenovo ThinkVision. I keep the latter flipped so I can browse, do text editing, and work with other vertical documents. I also keep refs on it when painting. Painting I do in Photoshop CS3, and I use a Wacom Intous A5 Wide Special with that. It's a bit smaller than my old A4, but it works. The new tablet came with an Airbrush pen. It has a little scroll wheel which is great for controlling the opacity of the stroke.

Your page is a mess!

I think it's more interesting if everything is not visible at the first pass. It creates a feeling of inexhaustibility. Actually, the entropy increases and I have surrendered to that principle. It makes it easier to update.

Why don't you update more often?

I'm lazy and unfocused. Too many projects. It's hard to get anything but fragments down on paper. I only upload new project pages when I have achieved a certain critical mass.

Will you link me? Link exchange maybe?

No.

Can I link you?

The pages which are clearly public, sure.

What projects would you like to work on next, or aren't showing us?

• LEGO pieces. Especially joints for small scale mecha, and equipment for mini figs. A tabletop gaming system on top of that.
• LEGO-ish system, but for OER ZOIDS.
• 1:72 Sci-Fi miniatures line for use with 1:72 scale kits.
• Elite (space trader sandbox) game.
• Something with Tower of Druaga, Hydlide and Valkyrie no Bouken.
• Strategy game (topdown RTS) for the Nintendo DS.
• Naval RTS for handheld platforms.
• Tribes (PC).
• Robotron 2084 (arcade).
• Adventure (Atari 2600).
• A steampunk era space opera, minus the steam and punk. Maybe more Diesel era.
• A SuperCars II clone.
• Solar Jetman / Gravity Force 2 / Oids.
• Procedurally generated Elite / Noctis game.
• Some new Paradroid material.
• and more...

Are you an anarchist? I see that you use that (A) thing in your sig.

In a very loose sense, perhaps. I just wanted to avoid writing my name too plainly. Labels are pretty silly because they're too broad to be applied to someone you don't know. If you apply them to yourself you confine yourself, becoming ignorant, and you also risk getting aggressive when just the label is attacked.

Dude, it sounds like you're miffed, jaded or something.

This is a FAQ, but since I'm not responding to any particular person here, I can be a bit more honest (or blunt, or rude) than I could be in a personal correspondence.

FAQ: Art usage permissions

Can I use your art for personal stuff, like a wallpaper? Maybe print it out and tape it to my SKATEBOARD?

Sure.

Can I use your art in non profit publications or on my website?

I prefer to have control over how my art is published in case I want to update it. Feel free to use my tutorial in education though.