Some of you may have already seen some of this artist’s work all over the internet.  It has recently been featured in many game blogs, and websites and we are very happy that he found some time to answer a few questions for us here at GDA. com.

Meet Orioto!

Questions by Me and answers by Orioto.

Could you start with a brief bio? Where are you from? What's your age and what do you do for a living?

I'm from Paris, France, always lived there. I'm 28 years old and I’m freelance director/graphic artist, I guess! I don't really have a stable job yet. I do some commissions, and camera/editing works.

Looking at your pieces, my mind couldn't help to go right back to my childhood. This is mainly because you have a lot of awesome artwork based on classic games. At what age did your passion for games develop?

I started to play games at 11 I believe... I had a genesis, then I sold it 2 months after that for a Snes cause some friends wowed me with super soccer. I guess I was a graphic whore already!

I would say my top 5 is... FFVI, Worms, Wave race, Street Fighter Alpha 2, and Super Mario World. I finished FFVI 3 times. Back in 95-97 it was almost a ritual.

How many consoles do you own and which is your favorite?

I got the NDS, 360 and PS3 right now. I only play PS3 those days. I only played two Mistwalker (Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey ) games on 360, talk about a Sakagushi fan!

Your style is very fresh and unique, could you give us a quick run through of what's going on in your head when you are creating a piece? Also, can you enlighten us with your technique?

hmm what's going on in my mind... Well sometimes I can really imagine how I would see the game move, breath, sound... Then it's frustrating to have a long and difficult way of doing just a little frozen frame of it. But I usually try to look a lot at vanilla ware games and different pictures (photos, artworks) to find an interesting perspective that would suits a side scrolling game. That's the way I work. I need to see something, to imagine something else. For example I see a beautiful photo of a landscape on the morning, with little fog in the air, then I look at it and I imagine the same picture within another universe, then I think, I can see a Sonic like that, or a Mario. After that I begin to build the same perspective and mood with random elements that I manipulate to make them new. In the end, I’m still soo far away from my reference, cause it's just the way the process is. The picture just builds little by little and the more I can see it in front of me, the more new ideas arrive.

Which artist or artists inspire you and who do you feel has had the greatest influence in your work?

I would say Vanillaware games are my principal reference. They are so pretty and so well directed. And they exists! I mean based on their work, my own work is doable in a real game. Other than that, in terms of style, I don't really have one, other than my way of work. I usually like to match a specific style that fits an idea I have of a game. Like an old crackled painting for Castlevania, or a something more cartoony for a Mario. I like to see how the early artwork for each games was, then match it. I used the original Kid Icarus design for reference in my picture, rather than the Smash Bros. modern one, cause I think the game should keep something dated and simple yet funny !

Muramasa: The Demon Blade by Vanillaware

You derive a lot of inspiration from games, what other media inspires you?

I did a lot of portraits about anime before that, but I feel I made the turn of what I could bring with this. Or at least it doesn't amuse me as much now. Cinema inspires me a lot also, obviously, but I cannot express that a lot for now!

So you marry Oprah and you now have access to an unlimited budget that she has set aside for her dear husband's dream project, what would that project be?

Well, I don't know if it would be worth marrying her! But anyway, let's say I’m the richest guy on earth. Well I buy Square, make the FF I want to see, then I begin to make cinema series of epic adaptations. FF, Secret of Mana, Street Fighter (a good one!) then some mangas also, like Saint Seiya, dbz (a good one !) all cg... There are so many beyond great things to do with our culture. Hearing a well dramatically used Secret of Mana theme in a movie theater would be like paradise.

Where do you see yourself artistically in the next 5 years or so?

See the question above.

What game or games that will soon be released are you most excited about?

hm... I should say KOFXII, but I don't really like the way the game is building... I will buy it anyway! Other than that, hm.. I should say FFXIII, but hey… it's FFX team, and FF died with FFX for me. So... let's say it will be a fun game with a great system, I hope, but let's not call it a FF. So I don't really know what I'm waiting for.. Ho yes, Pixel Junk’s next game! It makes me say “Next gen am here” when I saw it.

And last but definitely not least... how are you preparing yourself for the inevitable zombie apocalypse?

I just hope it's not a Danny Boyle one!

Thanks Orioto. Make sure you check out Orioto's DeviantArt page for more incredible pieces. 

+ 1

+ 0