LORENZ HIDEYOSHI RUWWE: CONCEPT ARTIST

by Dekker

German concept artist Lorenz Hideyoshi Ruwwe is making an impact in the worlds of film, gaming and manga with his cyberpunk renderings. Taking a page from the artists who’ve come before him, Hideyoshi combines a unique sense of industrial design with his ability to convey heavy moods.

D: You’re currently working on the film “Dark Elephant” with ILM’s David Weinstein. Can you tell us a little about the project?

LHR: Not too much I am afraid. It’s still very much in pre-production with all the art being created and turned into 3D models for the final animation which will be done by David himself who also directs this Sci-Fi short film. I am solely working as art director to establish some key concept art and mood shots that will drive the film’s look later on. So far, it’s been a very cool experience!

D: Your paintings are very cold and have an element of danger. How did this theme evolve?

LHR: I guess it’s mainly because I’m a big fan of moody Sci-Fi that edges on the genre of horror and thriller. With the Alien saga being my all-time favourite movie series, I have been influenced a lot by this kind of noir cyberpunk sci-fi theme. A lot of the big titles in sci-fi movie history deal with rather dark and chilly topics and visual palettes- something that can evoke a very strong fantasy.

I love to portray authentic and atmosphere-heavy sceneries that drag the viewer in.

D: Do you have any direct influences?

LHR: I have been heavily influenced by the art of Tsutomu Nihei, a Japanese comic book artist. He is most well known for his 10-volume series called Blame! His work has introduced a rather new side of dark-sci-fi/cyberpunk to the genre, delivered with captivating artwork that creates extremely dense atmosphere. I was greatly inspired by his work, the architecural sceneries in particular and up until today, nunances of Nihei’s style can be found in my own works.

Feng Zhu has had a great impact on the way I work as a designer. His marker rendering were the first I came across regarding industrial design. Huge inspiration, no more to say!

I’d also like to mention Syd Mead’s work. He is known as a Sci-Fi visionary and I agree. I am influenced by his clean style in rendering and designing. Also, his nature-technology themed artworks still remain a huge inspiration in my works!

D: Your environments do a lot of Eastern and Western blending. Why are you attracted to this vision of futurism?

LHR: Wow, that’s interesting. I haven’t been aware of that so much myself. But you’re right, you could actually put it that way! Well, this is probably a very trivial explanation, but due to my western and oriental descent (my father is German, my mother is Japanese), I have come to naturally induce these two cultural backgrounds into my art I guess!

I have been a fan of Japanese manga art for long and everything that is combined with this Japanese design mentality (if I could call it that) has always fascinated me. On the other hand, I also learned to appreciate western concept art as seen in Hollywood movies for example.

Today, we see a lot of this kind of blend I think. Trying to find new elements in design, artists have come to combine oriental and western art-styles.

D: You’ve worked in animation, game design and print illustration. How do you approach each of these mediums?

LHR: For all of those different types of works, I always need to collaborate with the client. He provides me with all the details about how something should look, what kind of style I should use and whatnot. Illustration is pretty straight forward. You can dive right into it if you’re inspired and chunk out a rough but very accurate speed-painting that contains all of the main elements and balanced composition already. With game design, you need a little bit more feedback because usually, you need to design out things pretty exactly and believable.

Reference material should always be collected before you tackle any of the above mentioned fields. And communication with your client is important.

So far, I have only worked on little personal animation projects, but this is something that I have always been interested in very much and japanese animation has played a big role in fueling my interest. I’d like to explore a lot more in that regard and work on personal fun projects for now.

D: You work both digitally and with traditional media. Do you have a preference?

LHR: Digital for the most part. I can’t miss any of the editing functions and freedom that this medium can give me in creating art. That doesn’t mean that traditional media is as important in developing your skills first-hand. Undoubtedly, my skills have come from a traditional art background. Without this basis, I wouldn’t be able to draw and paint on the computer today. Still, I use the pencil to rough out some concepts (most recently for concept art on Dark Elephant) and love to use markers and ink pens to draw.

Traditional art doesn’t allow mistakes as much as digital art does, so I see traditional painting and drawing as a pretty sophisticated medium that everyone should practice before he/she delves into the digital medium!

D: Tell me about robots. What role do robots play in your imagined worlds?

LHR: Just gotta love ‘em! There is nothing else that comes closer to being pretentiously lively as a human being, yet leaving endless possibilities for design! Making up machines that act like people and also portray human characteristics and attitudes is always challenging and interesting.

Robots just naturally play a huge role in Sci-Fi and everyone who loves this genre, comes into contact with them, exploring the possibilities in recreating your own visions of them.

D: Your “alien” designs seem to be epic in scale, and frankly they’re menacing. Can you tell me why you’re attracted to creatures beyond the human scale?

LHR: As easy as it sounds, the bigger the scarier! I like to play with scale in general in my artworks. Epic has become a keyword in today’s world of modern entertainment art. Sadly, it has also become a little stereotyped. Well, what can you do? Portraying giant creatures or robots always evokes a feeling of thrill and tension within an illustration. It has always been a popular theme in art – the confrontation of small and large. The comparison and contrast is appealing.

D: Do you have any dream projects you’d like to be a part of?

LHR: Not that I could think of in particular. I’d like to keep my eyes open and be prepared whatever might cross my way.

Actually, it wouldn’t hurt to do some more illustrational work for book covers etc. Concept art can become pretty tedious at times so some relaxed painting is always welcome. But in the end I think, for every artist, personal projects are the most rewarding. Taking a break from all commissions for once and just work on your very own visions/projects for a while…

D: What do you want people to take away from your work?

LHR: A little bit of amazement maybe? I’d like people to find something unexpected and thrilling in my artworks. An unconventional vibe that remains in their minds and lets them be a part of the worlds I create.

LINKS

www.hideyoshi-ruwwe.net

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