Whether you're a comic book lover or not, whether you're a Marvel or DC fan, one thing you can't deny is the amazing artwork that fundamentally enhances the stories they all tell, with captivating images that bring those words to life.?
Art is everything in fandom and lore, and I say this as a graphic novel / Marvel superheroes fan from my childhood days.
Of course, the canvas is huge for graphics novel artwork -- there's official art that's captivating, and then there's artwork created by fan artists that sometimes actually manage to look better than the official ones. One such artist that is renowned for reimagining fandom through his epic creativity is Kode Abdo AKA BossLogic. His fan art has been so popular that he has also been asked by Marvel to create posters for Avengers Endgame and Spiderman: Far From Home, and others including Star Wars, and many many more.
However, this time, he's fresh from creating some amazing artwork for an upcoming game, from a franchise that he¡¯s loved for years -- Assassin¡¯s Creed Valhalla.?
In case you are new to the gaming world or have been living under a rock,?Assassin¡¯s?Creed is a massive action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft Montreal, spanning over 13 years, and Assassin's Creed Valhalla is its upcoming chapter based on Vikings and Norse Mythology (we think).?
On behalf of Indiatimes, I spoke with the world famous digital artist BossLogic about his latest project -- Assassin¡¯s Creed Valhalla -- while getting to know more about his creative process, influences, advice for young artists who want to be like him, and his message to Indian fans. Edited excerpts from our interview follow:
When you interact with someone who as achieved success like BossLogic has, you surely want to know how it all started, what ignited the spark that led to this day. ¡°Ever since I was little, I¡¯ve always wanted to be like my dad," BossLogic said. "He¡¯s an artist and when I was little, I used to do these drawings on my textbooks in school, and my grades would suffer from it, but I kept pursuing art."
¡°Later, one of my friends introduced me to digital art, that¡¯s where I started building up my skill and then I started to create designs for MySpace backgrounds. Later, companies liked what I did so I started doing club flyers, promotional flyers for nightclubs. Then as time went by, I started doing fan art and that¡¯s the reason we¡¯re here today!¡±
When people talk about his artwork, few refer him by his real name. Most know him as BossLogic, and we were curious about the origin of his name? Little did we know it¡¯s actually inspired by his gamertag.?
BossLogic said, ¡°Back in the day when I used to play games on my PlayStation and Xbox, my gamertag used to the ¡®DABOSS¡¯. When I got into art, I still used that name. When I started giving advice to people, people started saying ¡®that¡¯s BossLogic¡¯ about everything I¡¯d say and I just took that name from them.¡±
As they say, ¡®an artist is only as good as his tools.' I wanted to know the tools of BossLogic's signature tradecraft. He revealed, ¡°Everything I do, creativity-wise is all done on Photoshop. I don¡¯t use any other program, except when I¡¯m animating, then I¡¯ll probably use After Effects. For getting my own resources like textures etc, I use a DSLR. And for drawing, I use my Wacom.¡±? For the artwork he creates, his set of tools are rather simple, which only goes to show how skills matter more than any fancy tools ever could.
Well, he¡¯s creating artwork for an upcoming game, so it was obvious that this question would pop up sooner or later.
BossLogic was candid in his response. ¡°I only upgrade my PC for Photoshop, so if I want a beast, it¡¯ll be for running programs, not for gaming. All my gaming is on a console. I know people would probably say something, but that¡¯s how I game,¡± he said with a smile.
Every artist follows their own formula for bring their art to life. I was curious to know what process BossLogic followed when creating his masterpieces.?
¡°I usually sketch out a blueprint on a paper, just the idea of it, the scope of it, if it¡¯s worth doing. Then I start working on it on Photoshop, hoping the outcome that¡¯s in my head comes on the canvas. Usually, that¡¯s the case; however for some projects, I keep them aside for years so that I can create them, I can do them justice.¡±
We asked Kode about the struggle he went through to achieve the success that he¡¯s witnessing today. He shared, ¡°Art is a struggle. Some people are fortunate enough to produce stuff quicker, learn stuff quicker. That wasn¡¯t the case for me. It took well above 12 years for me to get somewhere. Persistence, keep at it, keep wanting to get better is key, and so is support.¡±
Amidst his struggles, there were times the great BossLogic even felt like quitting. He said, ¡°I wanted to quit like a million times, but I have had support from certain artists, one of them being Micheal Dumas. He's the reason why I stuck to it, stuck making art when the days got at their darkest, and thankfully I didn¡¯t stop because now I¡¯m here, I¡¯m making game art, movie art. That¡¯s cool.¡±
Every artist has a dream project, the work that they want to call their ¡®Pieta¡¯, something they want their skill, creativity to bring out to life.?
BossLogic shared about his dream project with us, ¡°Basically I¡¯ve done a couple of my dream projects already, working with Disney, creating the Spiderman cover, also doing the Avengers Endgame posters, with the big heads of Marvel. For future stuff, I would love to continue working on Marvel and DC, but the ultimate goal for me is to produce something that I¡¯ve had in the works as well. I have a story that I¡¯ve created and I hope to bring it to life, hopefully in the next two years. That¡¯s the ultimate dream project for me.¡±
Kode shared something that every budding artist trying to be as good as BossLogic should do to be on the right track. He said, ¡°Be better than me. But ultimately, you don¡¯t want to be better than anyone. You want to be you at that stage. And the way to do it is persistence and time and patience.¡±
He added, ¡°People don¡¯t like to hear it, but it¡¯s all repetition. You repeat you get better, get better. Don¡¯t get discouraged if you don¡¯t get seen. Don¡¯t get discouraged if you don¡¯t get much likes. You¡¯ll get seen, just continue working on your craft. Especially if you love doing it, just do it.¡±
BossLogic loves Assassin's Creed games, since the very beginning. ¡°I¡¯m a huge Assassin¡¯s Creed fan. I love the whole aesthetics of the game, of the whole genre, really. I¡¯m a huge fan of characters in hoodies, even in comic books, and I captured the hoodie character to the dot. When I look at hoodies, I think of Assassin¡¯s Creed,¡± he said.
We wanted to know how did he get this opportunity, to work with such a huge gaming company like UbiSoft, for a franchise that is loved and adored by gamers around the world.?
BossLogic shared, ¡°Ubisoft reached out to me a few months back. They told me that there¡¯s a project that¡¯s coming up if I would be interested in working on it. I didn¡¯t know at that time what it was and I had some time coming up, so I asked them to let me know what it was so that I could make a decision. From there, they told me that I¡¯d have to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement)
¡°I signed it and then I looked at the title line that said ¡®Assassin¡¯s Creed Valhalla¡¯. As soon as I saw that and the direction they were going in, I wanted to be on that project, because, not only it¡¯s Assassin¡¯s Creed, but it¡¯s taking a whole turn to another direction, that I am eager to see where it goes.¡±
Since this Assassin¡¯s Creed Valhalla game is nothing like the previous games in the franchise, we were curious to know what drew the inspiration for this artwork. The game is circling around Norse mythology -- the Vikings in particular, and BossLogic revealed what helped his artwork come to life.?
¡°I watched the show Vikings, started a few months ago before I was even approached by Ubisoft. As for pop-culture influence, we did a lot of research on Vikings, their history, and using my knowledge based on aesthetics.¡±
It¡¯s a game that you love, with a whole new take on it. It¡¯s a whole new world and I feel that¡¯s what was needed.¡±
Kode revealed that working with a game company had an entirely different approach to things, he said, ¡°The whole process for me was a learning experience. It was the first time I was designing for a gaming company, so I got to dive deep into how game design works and the process of learning from an actual big company to put my mind and thoughts into the research. That¡¯s why we put the whole theme of the duality in the poster making, like different tones and stuff. You see the warm and cold tones and all sorts of stuff.¡±
We heard from him that he had an interest in creating artwork on mythologies, and many fans have asked him to create some based on Indian mythology. BossLogic said, ¡°A lot of people know that I am doing the mythology series, which right now I¡¯m almost finished with Egypt. But people have been recommending me to look into Hindu mythology and that¡¯s something I really want to put in the series. So stay tuned."
We were curious to know if Kode ever came to India and what he¡¯s heard about our country. BossLogic shared, ¡°India is a great place. I¡¯ve got many fans from India. I was supposed to come to New Delhi Comic-Con last year in December 2019, but there was a personal issue here that I couldn¡¯t make it. But once things get back on track I surely would love to visit.¡±
I will see you guys real soon as I know a lot of people were disappointed for last year, you were looking forward to meet me, hang out and stuff. My apologies to all of you. Hopefully, I will see you guys soon!"
I surely await meeting BossLogic in person when he does come to India. Until then, I can't contain my excitement about Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Looking at the artwork it surely looks surreal, full of easter eggs I'm trying to decipher. I'm curious to know what new things Valhalla is packing, to take the Assassin's Creed franchise where it has never gone before.
What do you feel about the Assassin's Creed Valhalla artwork by BossLogic? Are you excited to check out the game, too? Tell us in the comments below.?