Speaking with Illustrator, Michael Dashow

Gaming industry veteran and artist, Mike Dashow creates character-centric illustrations that tell stories. Their fantasy and science fiction themes bring forward dreams of adventures through mysterious lands.

In our latest Azutura interview, we caught up with Mike about his work, how he balances a fulltime job and freelancing and his monthly Trinquétte Challenge. Keep reading to find out more from Mike.

Hi Mike - Thanks for taking the time to speak with us. Can you start by introducing yourself and your work?

Hi! I’m a game industry art director and artist - I work on both computer and table-top games. I also do a lot of freelance illustration and graphic design on the side. I especially enjoy creating colourful character-driven pieces.

What’s an average day like in the shoes of Michael Dashow?

I currently work full-time for a game company so after I drop my child off at school, I head back to my art studio to create great art for new video games. In the evenings I work on side projects, either my own illustrations or for other clients.

What’s your creative process like from the inception of an idea through to the final piece?

The first thing I generally do is assemble references and mood boards, scouring the internet for necessary reference material to help inform whatever I’m drawing. I then work on a sketch using an actual pencil and paper. The good ones get scanned into the computer, where I continue to refine and adjust them.

Once a sketch is approved, and it might go through several iterations before it is ready, I will clean up the sketch or create line art over it, filling in shapes and blocking out basic colours. From there, it’s a lot of digital painting and polishing to get to the final piece.

How do you create a balance between your full-time career and freelance work?

That’s what nights and weekends are for! But generally, when I’m working full-time, I’m signing up for a lot less freelance work than when I don’t have a full-time position.

Does your work in the videogame industry affect what you create for fun?

In general, I often use my own personal art time to scratch an itch not getting scratched by the current day job I’m working at. So if I’m making art for children's software by day, I might find myself working on more serious stuff by night or the other way around.

Have you used any ideas that weren’t used in games to create personal pieces?

Absolutely; I never want to waste a good idea! I’ve definitely had ideas in the past that weren’t a good fit for a day-job game project that eventually surfaced in some of my personal work.

Where do you find inspiration?

Movies, reading, surfing the internet and seeing what other artists are working on.

Can you tell us a little bit about the Trinquétte Challenge?

The Trinquétte Challenge is a monthly online event that challenges artists to create their own illustrations based on a theme and reference photos (mostly but not exclusively of women) that I provide. The challenge was run for years by Trinquétte Publishing, but the person in charge handed over the reins to me a few years ago and I’ve been running it ever since.

Anyone is welcome to join the challenge over on our Facebook page.

What advice would you give to an aspiring artist?

Draw a lot. Draw all the time! Draw from life, draw from nature, draw from real things, not just copying other artists. Learn how to draw anatomy. Draw things that have a weird perspective to them because they’re challenging. If you really like drawing people, force yourself to draw environments and vice versa. Don’t worry about having a “style”; that will come with time.

What’s the future looking like? Any big projects on the horizon?

I have a new tabletop game that I’ve been working on for Jellybean Games that should be announced very soon!

I’ve also been talking lately with a good friend who is a professional writer. We worked together on a big mobile title a few years ago and enjoyed working together. We’ve been discussing collaborating again on a story, but we’ll have to see what 2020 brings!