Corruption 03 ch04 Interview

in this issue we've an inter-
view with the famous:

       ARTHUR VAN JOLE

he makes graphics mainly for
games. for example HAWKEYE and
FLIMBO'S QUEST. just read and
enjoy this interview...

PK = paul kessels (atg)
AJ = arthur van jole

-------------------------------
PK: please tell us something
    about yourself.
AJ: my name is arthur van jole,
    i'm 21 years old and work
    at my best when there's
    that dreaded deadline to
    look up to. my main hobby
    is playing the guitar, and
    i totally go apeshit over
    stevie ray vaughan, (who
    the hell is that?!?!),
    jimmi hendrix and edward
    van halen. actually i'm
    quite a boring guy so i
    won't bother you with other
    sides of my personality.
PK: how did you get in touch
    with computers?
AJ: at the 'rijks', a school i
    went to, they had these
    tandy trs80 computers, and
    out of pure boredom i got
    myself a membership-card
    for the users-club. you
    meet these strange guys
    with square eyes (where
    have you heard that joke
    before?) and they persuade
    you to come over to their
    place for some serious
    commodore-64-trashing. so i
    got simply hooked.
PK: when did you start with
    drawing some graphics, and
    why did you do that?
AJ: my best friend bought a c64
    in '83 or '84 and because i
    have always been a bit of a
    drawer on paper i tried out
    koalapainter (i think) in
    '85. it has been my main
    squeeze at drawing since
    then despite being
    extremely spartan.
PK: have you been a member of a
    group in the past, and what
    was your job in it?
AJ: togheter with this friend i
    started a duo under
    different names, but it's
    far to embarrasing to tell
    you these names because of
    what we made(digital trash)
    under the name BOYS WITHOUT
    BRAINS we got a bit known
    (thanks to some new members
    mainly). way back those
    years i coded a bit but it
    was simple to see that i
    had no talent at all. so
    OZZIE (my demoname) was
    destined to do some serious
    drawing.
PK: till now, for what did you
    make graphics, and what are
    you drawing now?
AJ: i used to make graphics for
    demos (not only for bwb but
    also for some other groups)
    but now i'm a professional
    free-lancer. (sounds pretty
    impressing but it doesn't
    mean a thing). i made
    graphics for the thalamus
    game 'HAWKEYE' and have
    just finished working on
    'FLIMBO'S QUEST' from
    system 3.
PK: how was it possible for you
    to make graphics for games?
AJ: one of my old friends MARIO
    VAN ZEIST was able to code
    on 64 long before others
    could (he's a real genius
    but a bit lazy) and we had
    many plans for arcade con-
    versions but as soon as we
    started working on one
    (RYGAR for ecample) big
    software companies had
    finished them. finaly the
    raw material for rygar was
    used for HAWKEYE. without
    mario persuading me,
    telling me i made nice
    graphics (i didn't like
    them myself that much), i
    wouldn't have been credited
    in hawkeye for the graphics
PK: what do you earn for making
    the graphics?
AJ: i can't tell you any
    figures but it's not enough
    to behappy and enough to
    make the tax-people smile
    it they knew.
PK: is your own work (in your
    point of view) recognizable
    for other people?
AJ: well, some people think i
    work much too detailed and
    i think they're right. the
    animation i did for both
    games were quite typical;
    creatures walking in six
    steps are my best (if you
    can remember that big
    gorilla in hawkeye). on a
    64 you could recognize me
    by colours; in games i tend
    to use dark-brown and light
    green so natural environ-
    ments can be made easily.
    with light-blue as back-
    groundcolour you can make 3
    major shadings when you
    make nifty use of the
    charactercolour.
PK: with what speed are you
    painting?
AJ: i'm the slowest graphix-guy
    on this planet. neeeh, just
    kidding. a good composed
    c64 piccy should be over
    and done with in about 40
    hours when i work with
    koalapainter.
PK: are software-companies
    asking you to make graphics
    or are you just working
    together with the same
    coder all the time.
AJ: i work freelance, which
    means i just start on a
    game when someone asks me.
    i've been extremely lucky
    to know mario (hawkeye) and
    laurens (flimbo) becuase
    without them no graphics
    from ozzie on 64 screen and
    no money on my bank-account
PK: did you specialize yourself
    in making graphics, or do
    you have any other kind of
    jobs.
AJ: i'm a student actually, so
    no other jobs.
PK: do you often go to parties,
    and other events?
AJ: well, the meetings in VENLO
    at the 'lts de hagerlei'
    were ok, a lot of famous
    people showed off there
    with their new demos and
    cracks and copying wasn't
    the most important part of
    the meeting. lately i don't
    go to those meetings any-
    more, they're boring the
    death out of me. i went to
    one party: RADWAR's blabla
    party or something. just
    forget about it. you expect
    me to say this, but parties
    without woman are like
    x-mas without the presents:
    no real big fun.
PK: what is your opinion about
    people like bob stevenson,
    hugh binns, paul dokkerty,
    steve thomson.
AJ: BOB STEVENSON: this guy
    made incredible graphics
    and had the most innovating
    technique when it comes to
    shading. i luv this guy's
    graphics.
    HUGH BINNS: someone with a
    good fantasy is always of
    use in this business. one
    fantastic job he did on
    last-ninja, the best game
    so far with composite
    hires-blocks. stunning.
    PAUL DOKKERTY: i like his
    portraits but i'm not too
    familiar with his game-
    graphics. i know him per-
    sonally by the way. the guy
    still owes me a fantasy-
    sci-fi-picture-book.
    STEVE THOMSON: i first only
    knew him by the name 'SIT'
    but this man knows how to
    draw some realistic gfx.
    he's the ultimate... in my
    opinion anyway.
PK: who's the best in making
    graphics?
AJ: STEVE THOMSON.
PK: who's the best programmer?
AJ: MARIO VAN ZEIST could be
    big. i mean real BIG, but
    he's so damned lazy. but
    there are no programmers of
    whom i could say i like
    best because i simply don't
    know any names (exept david
    crane, but there are better
    coders then him).
PK: and who do you think is the
    best music composer?
AJ: in the old days the choice
    was simple: MARTIN GALWAY.
    but i've always liked JIP's
    music, and the best piece
    i've ever heard was
    'feelings of agression' by
    jip. these days....yeah....
    i don't know...i don't know
    any names, i'm sorry.
PK: can you give a tip for all
    the people who are making
    graphics?
AJ: graphics can be made by any
    idiot, because you can keep
    improving on that line that
    doesn't look like that
    girl's 'bottom' on the
    poster. just have patience
    while drawing. when you
    have a little bit of talent
    this combination should
    always give good result.
    and if you do get famous:
    don't think you're somekind
    of god; look at DON JOHNSON
PK: what is the best thing you
    have ever made?
AJ: some of the monsters in
    hawkeye realy take the
    biscuit but in comparison
    to artists it's all worth-
    less. i don't like my own
    work though i sometimes
    yell 'man, i realy like
    this' and five minutes
    later i hate myself for
    saying that.
PK: for how long will you
    continue making graphics,
    and what would you still
    want to make for just once?
AJ: as long as i make good
    money and don't get bored
    with the people i work
    with, some years maybe. i
    would realy like to do a
    good racing game with
    totally full animation of
    the cars and shit. that's
    because i'm a carfreak.
PK: did you like this inter-
    view?
AJ: it's my first interview
    (blush-blush) and i can't
    compare it to another one,
    but as long as you're now
    asking for my sexual his-
    tory and the interview
    doesn't cause a killing
    it's ok.

            THE END