Scott Balmer's special mixed media piece for the interview.
Scott Balmer's recent pieces of Zelda Items and Mario Items have been buzzing around the Internet for some time now. Just going over his other work you can see he's a gamer with exquisite skill, an artist with great talent. Each item for his pieces has been recrafted from his view. It begs the questions why don't special art editions of Nintendo games come up? If Mario and Zelda can take on sticker and cartooish forms why not make levels with diferrent artists taking over with thier own style. Scott Balmer is a prime example of what such a game could looks likel. At the very least, he should be doing special edition player guides wrapped in leather jackets. Below, I asked him a few questions about his work and some of his views on gaming in general.
Scott Balmer's
Your
pieces Mario and Zelda Items have been sweeping the Internet, they are
both amazing work based on each series. What made you want to create
them and in the style you did?
There's always been no
shortage of Zelda fan art but interestingly there hasn't been that much
that focus on the actual items themselves. Most I've seen feature link
struggling to carry the numerous items accumulated during his
adventures. I also kind of liked how the items were arranged in the
games like in 'A Link to the Past' and the way they were always
presented with each item set at an angle, which was one of a few reasons
why I ended up looking purely at the items themselves.
Actually the Zelda one first
started off as something to spruce up my twitter landing page but while
working on it I thought it would be good to make them into wallpapers
for all to enjoy.
The Mario themed items came
after how well received the Zelda wallpapers/icons went down where I
thought it would be great to feature items from Mario's own adventures.
Mostly it was from
memory, I've pretty much played and completed most of the Zelda/Mario
games so it was more on thinking about using a mixture of items spanning
the series such as the Roc's feather which I can remember came from
Link's Awakening just because it was the only item from back in the 2D
Zelda sprite days that I can think of that allowed link to jump.
Personally it was my goal to
add items spanning the Zelda games rather than focusing on recent titles
such as Ocarina of Time. That's why there is the blue candle from Zelda
2 and the raft/ladder from the original Zelda amongst the rest.
I still had a brief look
around just to make sure that there's nothing I might of missed out
which was either pretty much a staple of the Zelda games or for
something a bit obscure but fitted nicely with the items that were
already done.
Having said that, I'm thinking about maybe doing a piece based around the masks from Majora's Mask when i have time.
Why did you release them all for free? Why not make them into prints our art pieces? I don't see them in your shop.
I haven't actually ruled
out making the designs prints yet or even better, seeing on what other
printable items that these designs could be used on such things like
maybe pillows or something.
Are you currently an avid
gamer or just had feelings of nostalgia for the items pieces? If
currently gaming, what are you playing?
I still play games,
maybe even a bit too much (I've been gaming since the 8bit days) I have a
fairly large collection spanning over a good few platforms, its not
huge but it's something thats expanded from my first few games on the nes
to the current system purely because i don't believe in part exchanging
them for another game, I like to have the option to be able to go back
and revisit a title if if I get the urge to play it.
I even have the two cdi Zelda
games (don't have the third, its too expensive) and the Mario one but
unfortunately don't have a cdi to play them on.
I think the way some
folk react about other systems/games gets pretty annoying, I've never
really understood why someone would worship and defend one console when
really they should be getting into trying many different genres of games
on varying and different systems.
Right now I'd say that
independent gaming is where the innovation is at, most mainstream games
seem to be pushing familiarity over innovation resulting in games that
may be good but aren't that rewarding.
Indie devs on the other hand
are willing to take elements of gameplay and flip it upside-down
offering something which brings back all the elements of fun and
enjoyment compared to seeing numerous sequels and safe 'me too' titles
churned out by large-scale devs and publishers.
I like what the indie scene is
doing it really is giving large mainstream publishers a run for their
money. It's also great that IndieCade also exists as this will offer
more creative and fun games in front of the general public.
Did you grow up with arcades? Arcades are dwindling in America, two very well known ones in LA are closing this December.
It still pains me on
what has happened to arcades, I really miss them, there's nothing like
it. What I would give to see the glowing screens from the cabinets to
the random noises coming from all the games in the background while
either gathering around the crowd to play the latest and greatest or
moving on to some forgotten classic hidden in the corner.
I also miss how adventurous
the game devs were on the cabinet designs, it's the little things like
the bean bag that thumps the side of the cabinet when q-bert falls off
the isometric stage to sitting in a movable cockpit like that found with
afterburner.
Its a shame that more and more
Arcades in the west are shuttering their doors considering that this
was how a lot of us found the latest games and brought gamers together
at a time when most folk still saw gaming as a solitary affair.
Would you say England differs than the rest of the world when it comes to gaming?
Not really, there was a
time in the 8bit/16bit days where the UK (well Europe in general) would
be the last area to get the latest game releases, but I think now its
pretty much flipped over for certain titles and/or for getting games
that haven't been released in the US. I'm sure the states missed out on
the psone game Vib Ribbon and then there was the original dreamcast
release of shemue 2, two great games probably released over here
possibly because the game publishers initially thought it would sell
better here than in the states.
While more recently games like
Xenoblade were released in Europe first while folks in the US had to
actively get themselves heard by Nintendo that they wanted to see the
game released in the states.
Then there is sometimes the
little extras added to the game just to make up for being last on the
release date or has taken time to get all the localisations done such as
the European Extreme difficulty in MGS 2 and with Demon's Souls Black
Phantom Edition since it took about a year to get a European release.
But mostly nowadays, its largely the same.
What are the other interests and hobbies are in your life?
The usual things like
movies, books and such, especially those with a bit of a cult status and
other fun unusual things that catch my eye.
You bio says you're into
Tetris, why exactly are you into that enough to write it in your bio.
Have you seen the documentary "Ecstasy Of Order: The Tetris Masters", it's
a nice look into the competitions and best players behind it.
I haven't really seen that documentary, I'll look at for it, sounds good.
Anyway about the Tetris thing,
I kind of added that to my bio not only cause I like Tetris but it was
more or less a way to differentiate myself from other
illustrator's/designer's and how they write about themselves as a means
to be more memorable. Even if it means that someone says 'your that
artist/illustrator who likes Tetris' more than mentioning my work pretty
much means its done its job.
Plus its also a great game
involving spacial problem solving which really is quite close to
illustration/design as both are about solving problems visually.
I see you were in the "So
You Created a Wormhole” Time Travel Art Show at local IAM8BIT. I hope
you'll be part of a future video game art show like the last Super
IAM8BIT. If you could do a future piece based on gaming or any game what
might you create?
Ever since I saw the
books for both iam8bit and super iam8bit shows, I've been really longing
to be a part of one of their shows.
When I got asked if I would like to take part in the 'So You Created a Wormhole' I jumped at the chance. I
kind of got involved with this show pretty close to the deadline but it
was great to have been asked to contribute something towards the
exhibition.
I'm hoping that at some point
in the future I will be asked to contribute to another show as I would
love to work with the folks at iam8bit again.
Mario Items
Zelda Items
Mario Items
Zelda Items
