The Pop Quiz, Monday is a fun little exam that we love to give to savvy professionals. The examination is not a surprise after all since the interviewee already knew about the questions in advance. However, we can always pretend and have fun with the scenario of a young professional sitting in class nervously biting on their pencil. They are ready to take a pop quiz on a chapter they were supposed to read the night before. Instead, they played Metroid all night on their SNES (Oops, this was me in high school).

The real purpose of the pop quiz is that this is a fun way to introduce tips from real-world experiences that you can not learn in a classroom. We want to thank our professionals for being a good sport and volunteering their time to answer a few questions to help our community grow from their knowledge.

I want to introduce you to our guest today who will be taking our Pop Quiz Monday.

Would you please tell everyone your name?

Hi, my name's Bram Sels.

What is your job role?

I'm currently an Art Director at Axis Studios, though I also do some illustrations for Wizards of the Coast on the side.

What do you love most about your job?

Probably that I get to be creative and paint cool stuff all day. Ultimately it's what got me into the business in the first place, and I can't imagine there's anything more fulfilling than doing what you love and are passionate about all day.

Who in the past or present in the industry has inspired you in your career path?

Oof, that's a tough question. I like to be inspired by lots of different things, probably all somewhat related to art as a whole, be it music, architecture, film... An artist is really just a collection of experiences and impulses, and I suppose my creative library consists of the stuff I grew up on: Lord Of The Rings, Magic: The Gathering, Roald Dahl, just to name a few.

What are some of the professional tools you use to perform your work?

I mostly think about speed and efficiency when I'm working. So to me, whatever gets the job done best and fastest is probably what I'd pick. Lately, that has been a combination of Photoshop, Blender, 3DCoat, and Unreal 5.

What motivates you to get up every day and go to work?

To me, there's nothing better than to drown yourself in a new world. Each project is a new adventure that gets me anxious and itching to get out of bed. I'm also a sucker for trying out new techniques and styles. Novelty is what really sparks my plug in the morning. (That and coffee, of course.)

What are some lessons learned from a past project that you can share with us?

I'll go with a cliché and say that you have to trust in the process. It's all about persistence in this industry; you just have to trust that when you put in the hours and you dedicate time to learning the craft, you'll get there.

What advice would you give to someone new and starting in your industry?

The above, really. It's all a matter of time. Young artists can get frustrated that things don't go fast enough (I know, I've been there). You can bump against a wall if you feel like you're not learning fast enough or that you're not getting your well-deserved breakthrough, but the reality is that everyone learns at a different pace, and a breakthrough is sometimes really about the stars aligning. So don't waste time frustrating yourself over things you have no control over and focus on becoming a better artist. It'll happen, just wait.

Thank you for taking our pop quiz today. You get an A+ for effort. You can learn more about our interviewee and their work by visiting them on the web:

Thanks for having me, it's been a pleasure! You can find more of my work on: 

www.bramsels.com

https://www.artstation.com/bramsels

Art work by Bram Sels

All artwork is owned and copyrighted by the artist, Bram Sels.

You can learn more about the artist work by visiting their website today!

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