Long, drawn out intro be damned today! Ready or not, cats and kittens, Beyond The Controller returns like your most embarrassing dream (half empty) or like that dirty sock you misplaced months ago (half full).
Strap in folks! This edition will take us into the mind of Dan Tearle, a prolific gaming and sports artist who raises the bar with every stunning new piece he produces. Born and raised in England, Mr. Tearle has always enjoyed a fascination with the pixels and colorful reflex tests we all know and love called video games as well as a love for the culture, scores, and characters of the scene.
Mr. Tearle keeping those drawing hands loose!
Welcome to the virtual couch Dan! First question I like to ask of everyone is what would be your earliest gaming memory?
Thanks Mike! Awesome to be interviewed by your good self! My earliest memory of gaming starts in a bowling alley in Kent, where they had a cabaret Pac-Man sandwiched between a Gorf and an Astro Blaster machine. Some adults were hogging the Pac-Man machine, very excitable and laughing with faux hysterics at each lost man. Once they'd cleared off, I managed to have a look myself, and things were never the same again. Pac-Man was the first arcade game I ever played. I owe that little yellow guy a LOT for the good things that have happened since.
We all owe that little yellow dude the world don't we? Seeing some of your impressive accolades, what would you consider to be some of your most treasured memories of your adventures in art up to this point, both from the sports end and the gaming end?
With regard to the sports art, I think giving artwork to some former NFL players that I grew up with has been a big thrill, receiving nice messages of thanks and such. One of my best memories was being invited to submit a painting for an exhibition in Indianapolis a few years back by the National Art Museum of Sport - the Super Bowl was being held there that year, and to be one of the only 'overseas' artists to be invited was huge, personally. To know that thousands saw my work, even in passing was a great thing. On the gaming art side, I haven't been doing it for that long, but the response has perhaps been even better than from me plugging away for years at sports. Scott Patterson shared one of my pieces on Facebook and named me as a 'video games artist'-that really stuck with me, and made me think, you know, that's right - I am, and this is what I want to do more of now. I'd been so preoccupied with sports for so long that I'd not thought about the most obvious thing for me to try, something I love, know a little bit about, and is something that nearly everyone can relate to in some way. So I have Scott to thank for that. One little comment can really change your goals. The other thing I have to mention of course is the work I've done for Walter Day's trading cards. The response for those, and encouragement and incredible positivity felt from that project has been amazingly motivating and rewarding. And the best part is, it's still happening, and I am enjoying it immensely.
Keeping with your artwork, I was amazed when I recently discovered that you were self-taught. That's some hell of a kind of natural talent you have on display there. Have you ever taken any classes later in life to study new techniques and expand what you learned on your lonesome?
Completely self taught - which isn't always a good thing. I do think that if I'd studied art more, the peaks I'm reaching currently could have been reached a long time before. I'm a slow burner! Whether I'll improve more, who knows? I may have reached the plateau of my abilities. But, I took my first classes last year. I wanted to learn to be better with the airbrush, and so took a class with one of the greatest airbrush artists you'll ever see, Dru Blair. That experience was probably one of the greatest things to happen within my art life, because I learned so much about aspects of art I'd never even considered. It definitely pushed my ability envelope.
It seems as though lately your work seemingly pops up when you least expect it in the public eye. A recent example would be the magnificent Joe Montana piece that started showing up on newsfeeds around the world. Does it feel you with a sense of pride that people would see your art as such a seminal piece they would use it freely to express their love for the subject or does it feel more like a ripping of your work? I ask because I've spoken to people on both sides of the fence and would like your take.
That's tough because I'm hardly a household name in any field of art. SO my view on this is that it's fine with me, it's flattering. I look on Tumblr and Pinterest and sites like that and often see my work. Sometimes it's credited to me, sometimes not. People use my artwork as their profile pictures (weird) or page headers. It's cool. I can see how people get pissed as well, but on the whole, I don't mind a bit.
Rolling with that, where did your love for American football begin? Was it something always available for viewing in the UK or did it take some serious hunting to feed those certain passion demons?
It began to air here in the UK regularly around 1982-ish - we had a time delayed highlight show on a Sunday night and that was about it. It was actually a couple of years later I discovered it myself, literally by accident, randomly flicking the TV over to it. I was absolutely struck by the colour, speed and controlled violence of the game. At a time when football (sorry, soccer ;-) was at a low ebb in this country, NFL was a welcome distraction. We've had coverage of some kind now for over thirty years which is amazing for what was considered a fad sport. To feed our passions, if it wasn't on TV, we'd tune our radios to the Armed Forces Network to listen to Monday night games, literally sitting with a portable radio in bed. That was commitment! Now we have as much, if not more coverage than some US states. Amazing how things have turned out.
That's awesome. We'll talk more gaming for a bit. Since we each share a mutual love of Ralph Bauer (The genius who invented the Simon as well as the system that became the Magnavox Odyssey among other wonders), do you currently see any new gaming trends that could be the next big game changers in the industry as Mr. Bauer, Nolan Bushnell, and Shigeru Miyamoto introduced in their respective periods?
Good question. First off let me mention Mr. Bauer, I don't think he gets anywhere enough credit for what he did and it's surprising how many folks aren't aware of his contributions to the development of games and electronics today. He was as much of a pioneer as anyone, yet rarely gets mentioned in the same light. Whether we like it or not, mobile gaming is the next big game changer I think. With the advance of portable capabilities, and the accessiblity to develop for these fast growing platforms, I think we're seeing something reminiscent of the 'bedroom coders' of the very early eighties. It's an exciting time for young and independant developers, because I do think the console arena is becoming a little stale. (shock!)
With your work ethic and superior skillset, the sky is the limit. So, my next question is what are the dreams of Dan Tearle? As in, what are your future goals as far as how high you'd like to climb the sky?
Right now, I'm concentrating on building the 'Vintage Gamer Art' portfolio and brand. If I can do that, and bring some cool creativity and make people smile looking at renditions of how we all were as kids, well, I'll be happy with that. That and some ridiculously good offer to do this stuff for a living of course. I'd also like to finish the book I've been co-writing for a good while, the stories from British arcades in the 80's. That's a project I wish I had more time for. Aside from that, my dream (and daft as it sounds, I've truly dreamt about this happening) would be to open a true classic gaming arcade, here in England, built by someone who lives for the damn machines day in day out and can help people of a certain *ahem* age really relive their youth. If I could do it, I would, and never rule out that one day, I might be able to.
Another question I like to ask that never gets old no matter how many times I ask it. What would be a title you absolutely love but no matter how many years and how many miles you put on it, you are past horrible at?
My gaming nemesis for years has been Defender. I love everything about it, yet have always struggled to be anything but mediocre at it. I've played it more in the past year than any time, and I guess I've improved a little, but it still has the ability to totally and utterly kick my ass on a regular basis. But I adore that game.
Flipping the coin! What games create the proper releasing of midochlorians, bestowing onto any and all witnesses your true Jedi prowess. (Good God Quester, just ask him what games he is good at. Sheesh. Pompous ass.)
Lol! There are many games I feel I'm adequate at, if not brilliant. But some games that I feel are my strongest are Robotron and Star Wars. I've also always had a bit of a thing for Bubble Bobble and Bank Panic (Not many people know that!) Robotron is the one I really put time into, and whilst again, I'm never going to marathon it, it's one I feel I'm pretty good at. Note that these are all arcade titles, they're just what I spend the most time playing. Home titles, I was good at some pretty obscure ones in the past, whether I would be now, is another story completely!
Due to our difference in release schedules in the 90's between countries, what would you say is the best game your part of the world got over there that we never received for whatever reason? I was jealous that you all got a third part of the Soul Blazer/Illusion of Gaia trilogy that I didn't get to play until a decade later.
There was a stack of brilliant to bad home computer releases that were Euro only, which are still popular today in this country (Dizzy series for example). A game that stands out nods to my arcade tendencies completely, was Dropzone on the SNES. Dropzone was a Defender clone, and the mechanics and feel of that game were just pure arcade. It was better known on home computer systems, but I was intrigued by the SNES version a while ago as I'd forgotten just how much I like that game.
Everyone enjoy the calm before the storm while you can. Ready? Here goes. Montana or Peyton?
Montana all day every day. Still my hero. But, I appreciate I'm blessed to have seen both of them play in their prime (I really like Peyton too, but Joe is the G.O.A.T). I can't see that creating much of a storm...
Americans tend to get rabid with discussions such as that at times. So, you've just about made it off the comfy confines of my imaginary couch. Congratulations on all your success so far and I know we're going to see more levels of amazing in the future. Before you go, one more if I may. In your opinion, what is one thing you would like to see more of in England as far as gaming is concerned currently.
This is a question that holds so much meaning for me. Because so many like arcade gaming, but the hardware just isn't readily available. When it does appear, it's so badly overpriced and people jump on any classic cab - heaven forbid if it's in good working order. I wish so much that there were more machines here, more classically themed arcades...they were here once, and I'd like to see it again. The gaming 'community' here is as enthusiastic, skilled and knowledgable as anyone in the world; but man do we look on in envy at the rest of the world when it comes to availability of games, prices of hardware and ways to see these things again. The arcade in England is nigh on dead, and I'd like to do something about it.
That wraps it this puppy up gang! The biggest thank you to Mr. Dan Tearle for participating in the old, yet new and still mint in box interview series Beyond The Controller and if you'd like your head blown clean off by more of his art sorcery, check him out at
Vintage Gamer Art
and
Dan Tearle's Sports Art
You can also follow Dan on Twitter @RetroDan16
I've told Dan that I enjoy this piece so much that I am cosplaying it the next time I spot a Robotron machine. So not kidding.
THANKS FOR READING!
No comments:
Post a Comment