Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Myst 3 Exile design drawings
















The originals of these drawings must be owned by Presto, Inc (though now that that entity doesn't exist, I don't know who has them), but Seth made photocopies of many of his Myst 3 design drawings, and it is a couple of those I am posting today. I would say that the year he worked at Presto (2000) was exceedingly productive for him, and gave him some tools that he continued to use in all his art. He was given the challenge of designing witty puzzles within buildings and landscapes that were beautiful to look at and interesting to walk through.
He had the great joy, which he expressed over and over, of working with other designers who were the best in the business. It was always a pleasure for him to knock heads with other artists he respected. With them he didn't have to hold back: he could throw out his wildest and most challenging ideas, and know that they would be met by minds that understood and could critique them intelligently.
Being a free lance artist is a solitary business. When he was drawing comic books, he sometimes drew 12 hours a day or more. He didn't seem to feel lonely (though it was hard on his wife); he was interrelating with his characters and his drawings. And when he stopped drawing to take a little r & r, he was entirely present to whomever he was with. Nevertheless, a community helps to build up a person, keep him whole; and Seth's community was fragmented, except for that one year with Presto. The friends he made there were friends forever.

2 comments:

j_ay said...

A real treat to see these. It must be a wild thing to see your drawing turned into computer scenes.

Love the Seth with HUGE sword and heart-boxers.

Vicki said...

Not to mention the hightop Converse shoes (he had a pair of red ones that he wore all through college), and the hairy arms and legs.