April is almost there! We are ending March with an interview of Madeleine Herold, Character Artist at Gearbox Studio Quebec. From how she found her path to the struggles encountered as an artist, she shares with us what’s on her mind.
I met Madeleine once, when I was ‘celebrating’ my last day at work with some coworkers in a cosy Parisian bar. We didn’t have much time to chat back then, but I had heard about who she was ; and I knew she was talented. I am glad to be having this chance to connect with her now through this project. Hopefully you will love learning more about her too!
Glad to have you here, Madeleine! Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Thank you for reaching out! My name is Madeleine, I started professionally working as a Character Artist right after school in 2017. I lived in Paris back then and worked remotely for Keos Masons as well as other smaller gigs until 2021 when I joined Gearbox Quebec. Fast forward a few months, and I moved to Quebec where I still am.
How was your journey in the industry until where you are today?
I think I was super lucky with my first job, at Keos they assigned me with Borderlands 3 tasks right away. It was hard diving in the real world almost without transition (from school to AAA game) but it cannot be denied that having quickly a solid portfolio helped opening doors.
That being said, it was not that easy to find another job when I wanted to leave Keos. I was mostly fed up with working remotely, and a lot of the companies I applied to were abroad, and I guess (probably among other reasons of course) they refused because obtaining a visa is expensive. Overall, I think with hard work and a little bit of luck I’ve had a pretty great journey so far and I’m very thankful for it.
Johanna: Visa paperwork is definitely a turnoff, which makes it hard to move to the other side of the world. Still, this is great to see that you were able to move to Canada and have this amazing job in the end!
How did you end up working as a Character Artist? Were you always interested in art and 3D when you were younger?
As far as I can remember, I always have been fascinated by video games. I had no idea what 3D was, so when I was 12 or 13 years old, I decided I wanted to be part of the process as a Character Designer. At 17, I started studying in a game art school and I painfully found out that tons of already skilled and way more hard-working people than me had the same dream, and I thought that it would be impossible for me to succeed, at least in 2D.
Johanna: We can’t deny that competition is tough in all creative fields. I guess that having even small projects to show can attract the eye of companies – though you were still young at that time. This is why I admire artists, shaping your own style and showing personality through your creations must take years, and this requires to be vulnerable as well.
I focused on 3D then, thinking making props and why not environment if I’m lucky would make a nice career. Characters still seemed very out of reach for me. 2 years before finishing my Master’s degree (out of 6 years of studies!) Marco Plouffe came to the school and taught us about 3D character art. He seemed to like my work a lot and encouraged me to do more. I was flabbergasted (love this word) and never stopped making characters. It paid off quickly as his company hired me right when I finished school 2 years later.
What are the main challenges you are facing while making art?
So far, the biggest challenges I’ve had to face are the ones I set to myself. Self-confidence, impostor syndrome, lack of motivation and so on… On the professional side, you don’t always get to pick the concept you’re working from, that’s where it can get most difficult to stay motivated and happy with your work if you don’t like it so much.
On the personal side, the lack of goals and even deadlines can be tricky. It’s hard for me to call a model done. It’s also super easy to get bored of the project you chose. After making 3D every day of the week for work, I’m amazed people still have the will and energy to create cool art just for fun.
You worked on Borderlands 3 and Fortnite, but you also recently revealed your work for New Tales from the Borderlands. How is it to see your art in such iconic games?
I have issues considering my work on Fortnite “mine” because of how picky they were and how every little details have been retaken and tweaked. I made it, yes, but maybe not as an artist, if it makes sense.
I try to stay proud of my work on BL3 considering how little experience and time I had, even though on some assets, it shows a bit, haha. On the other hand, my work on New Tales had overall very few retakes, the team I worked with was talented and trusted me and my choices. It didn’t matter if it didn’t look exactly like the concept, I could even suggest modifications or ideas ; if for example I had only a front view of the character to work with, I could try things with the back, and show it to the concept artist or art direction for their approval without fearing they would say no.
So I’m proud of this, it was nice to work on, and I can say it reflects a bit of myself, unlike the rest of my portfolio except for personal art of course.
Johanna: Being able to add some of your personality into a concept must be nice for sure! And making games is all about teamwork after all. Sharing ideas help define something unique for the project you are working on, so it’s good to be working with managers and companies who can understand this.
Are there restrictions when working on large-scale projects or do you have the freedom necessary to create something unique?
Oops looks like I mostly answered this already, I’ll just add that from my personal experience and from what I hear and see from other Character Artists, it really depends on your team/company/Art Director.
Do you feel like this is important to be passionate about the games you are working on?
I think it is, but a LOT of the Character Artists I professionally worked with are not players of the game they work on. So, I guess it doesn’t matter that much, but as I personally struggle with motivation, I must like the project as much as I can.
Johanna: I feel the same as a Community Manager, I don’t really know if I would be able to work on a project that I don’t really like. For games, it definitely helps knowing your product and dig the universe as much as possible, otherwise we can easily get lost.
What keeps you inspired on a daily basis?
It’s easy for me to get inspired, I like pretty and cute art and there is a ton on social media, but as I said, personal art is a struggle, so I don’t do much with this inspiration regarding 3D. I put my energy into crochet lately, I feel like I still do cute 3D characters but with yarn lol?
Indie games with original concepts and nice art directions are also a good fuel for me! How can you not see Hades characters and wish you came up with the idea, or thinking about how cool a fanart could be?
Anything else you would like to share?
Tl;dr art is cool but tough, people at Gearbox are nice, I like crochet.
Thanks a lot if you read all the way through here, good luck on your path! Thank you, Johanna, for the interesting questions and asking them to me. <3
Madeleine Herold – 3D Character Artist
ArtStation / Twitter / Instagram
Hope you guys had a fun time reading this interview of Madeleine! Staying motivated and being kind to ourselves are definitely challenges most of us encounter at some point in life. Remember that it is okay to rely on other people from time to time and take the time to relax without being productive.
Also, a quick note: I have been very happy with this project, and getting positive feedback from other talented individuals definitely helps. I can’t wait to be sharing more interviews with you all!
