Erikas Perl - CEO and Senior Artist
-Tell us a bit your story: did you have always wanted to be a painter? When did you start using digital medium?
I wanted to become an artist since I was 8 years old. At least I hoped to work in an artistic field. Everything in my life was going toward this goal, and the only way to be a professional and to earn a living was digital painting. I started getting accustomed to it when I was around 13 14. This medium allows me to use all the skills I learnt on a long-term basis.
-How come you wanted to build your own company? It is different to be and an artist and a businessman, how do you deal with those two positions everyday?
In fact, creating Goodname happened quite naturally. In Lithuania, there weren’t many studios where I could use my skills and where the tasks were interesting. If I was willing to work with digital painting in my country, it turned out that I had to create my own firm. I wasn’t afraid to start because I really wanted to be a part of that field. The thing is, you need to like working as an artist and a businessman if you wish to succeed. Most of all you must think about the future and find a balance between both positions. If you are only interested in one of them, things won’t work out.
-Goodname exists for four years now, what do you expect in the future?
I would like to increase the level of the artists working with me and the quality of our work. I hope everything will gradually improve in the good way; I imagine a bigger company in few years. For real, time will show what Goodname will become. In the future we could diversify our work, for example, as all kinds of projects are interesting. Maybe one day we could also come back to traditional painting…
-Your team travels to the biggest events in game development, what does attending to these conferences mean to you?
In these conferences, you can follow what is going on in the game industry. You see how fast it is changing, you see the innovations made during the year. It is also a good way to increase our visibility. Companies get to know what happened at your studio the past year, and we can meet a lot of different people. It is the perfect place to create new contacts and develop already existing connections. There, you have a closer contact with people, it is better than remotely. Indeed, speaking on the phone or on Skype is really different from meeting one another.
-As an artist, do you prefer a special type of painting? Concept, illustration, characters, environments… and why?
I like all art styles, I am interested in everything. When you draw realistically for a long time, you get tired of drawing everything with exactness. Sometimes you want to paint more in cartoony style, where there are more colors and freedom, you can easily improvise. After working on several stylized projects, you might want to go back to realistic style… It looks like a loop. Doing the same thing during a long time, everybody gets bored whatever your work is. Diversity makes things easier.
-Do you still find time to paint for yourself?
When I have some free time, I always draw for myself. A good artist working in this industry must find some time to draw for himself. There will always be some time, you just have to find it. It is a very important point. An artist who doesn’t draw for himself could mean that painting isn’t that interesting to him. It is a work, but anyway there should be deep inside a desire to draw more.
-According to you, is being a painter is just about talent and creativity? In general, how to improve our art skills?
Having talent is an advantage, but it is like with professional sportspeople, everything depends on the work you provide. If you are an average artist, but you want more than anything to succeed, you will become more talented sooner or later. We don’t classify people according to their natural abilities, how you use them matter. If a talented person doesn’t work, a hard-working person will overtake him one day.
To keep improving yourself, you should always keep yourself informed and work a lot. Before starting a work, you should be clear with yourself about what you want to get out of it. You also need to learn to relax. You must get up in the morning and go to bed in the evening with this will to improve!
© Erikas Perl 2019 - Inside