Interview with Haplo
by 3D Addict3D Addict
Haplo
Ok. Let's start with the usual question.Tell me a little bit about yourself.
i am Olivier Delande, aka Haplo of Pulse, living in the suburbs of Paris, France. Now aged 24, i'm working in the consulting in information systems and other fashionnable activities like databases, reporting and such for a french start-up (yeah). we're trying to finish a 3d platform game with Ukko & Shad so we may be interested in finding some editor in the following months. We would also like to start our own game studio that would be called Live! Interactive. As a parrallel activity to our respective jobs in the first time :)
:)Tell me, are you a cool type of a guy or more funny one?Do you take life seriously or are you more relaxed and live the life without thinking much about the future?
The general feeling i give to people is that i'm taking life as it comes, quite often with some distance btw. I don't care much. maybe that's related to all these books i've read about boudhism & hinduism some years ago ;) i've not a lot of ambitions. i'm just okay with a cool standing of living, good friends and a nice girlfriend. Not to forget food for my head, thanks to Jah and the holy herb.music.
What was your first computer, and what computer do you use now?Do you also miss the the good old days?
My first computer was an Amstrad CPC. i was 13 years old back then. i was mostly playing around with games and also drawed my very first pics on compu with OCP Art Studio.
But the machine on which i had my best moments was the ST. There was an incredible feeling in the ST scene between 1988 and 1993, with a few fantastic groups such as The Carebears or The Lost Boys, leading all the others. Paradoxically enough, we were less numerous in the scene back then but we had only high quality productions with very heavy code and continuous innovation.
Graphically speaking, it was also very instructive because we were limited to 16 colors in 320*200 mode. Some of the best PC artists come from the ST, i actually think about Ukko and Niko.
Well we were younger and everything looked fantastic.i am really happy to have experienced my first demoscene years on ST. i think it gave me way more distinguishing than what young sceners can expect now.
I'm on PC since 1993. I’m currently using an average config consisting of a Pentium 90, 48 megs of memory and almost 5 gigs of disk.
How and when did you become involved in the scene and when did you start drawing?
I've got interested in demoscene stuff since i bought my ST because a few of my friends were involved in demo coding. I immediately started drawing. Errr, don't ask me to show you my first pictures.
no problem :)Which hardware/software do you use for drawing, and where do you get the inspiration from?
I'm not using some exceptionnal hardware. i just need to have enough memory for opening several applications under Windows because i'm more and more working with different tools on a single picture. I'm mostly using the old Deluxe Paint 2 Enhanced, on which i've a lot of habbits. I'm also working more and more with Photoshop for design stuff - such as backgrounds, texts, design elements for web pages for example - and also as a complement to Deluxe Paint (palettizing and such).
I'm learning how to use GrafX 2 since it's really a very good sequel to DP.
There's nothing strange with me working with a photoshop window + DP2 in a DOS box + GrafX2 in another DOS box :).
Inspiration …:)
I find most of my ideas in street fashion and music magazines, particularly in English magazines. i most often draw my own interpretation of the subject, what gives to my picture a more personnal feeling. For example my palettes are always very personnal.
I really try to give low interest to pictures by other graphicians, because i believe one is most likely to find interesting ideas outside the scene.
Technically speaking i must admit i got influenced by a few scene graphicians at my beginnings.
I see.How many hours a day do you spend in front of your computer, and how many of those hours are used on making gfx?
Depends on on my free time and my motivation. I did some pics in only 2 days. I spent several months on others, working just 1 or 2 hours by week.
When drawing, do you have a perfect vision in your mind or do you draw more freely, by letting your image evolve in whatever direction you may feel like it.
I would say i generally have a clear vision of what i'm willing in terms of subject and shapes and such. I always begin by sketching the graphic and i want this sketch the more accurate possible. I focus free-style on the filling part, where it comes with technics, ditherings and colors. i'm always learning something new.
Please describe in steps how do you create an image.Do you start by making an sketch on paper, or is everything done on the computer.
Sketching on the computer, making of the palette, volumns and ditherings.
How long does it take to draw a good picture for you, and what are the most important aspects of making a great image?
The interest of a picture relies on two aspects :.
1. the subject (or thema).
2. the technic
i want a picture to show an interesting visual in terms of screen allocation and using of colors. It's working exactly like an advert : i want something that retains attention, i want something commercial in some ways :)
Technics play the most important role. They show the real personnality of the artist or his lack of personnality. You must recognise pictures from an artist at the first glance, even if they're not signed. People trying to imitate Ra or Made show terrible lack of personnality because they're not working on the basis of a clear relation with materials and textures. They're not building something from themselves.
That’s also why i was very suspicious about Photoshop works. I was afraid you would loss that privilegiate relation with materials. I wasn’t completely true.
What do you find the most difficult to draw, and which phase of your drawing do you enjoy most.
I essentially focus on the dithering work, all what's dealing with textures and mixing colors. Playing with pixels.
Do you use any special techniques.Please describe which drawing tools and techniques do you use mostly.
Question of habbit. Dpaint shortkeys & special effects (use of stencils, translucent brush and such).
Which of your own images do you consider as the best one and which was the most difficult to draw?
My fave picture is that Live! logo i did for our slideshow. It shows the faceof a small girl over a white background. It's not the most complex picture i did, but the result looks very fine. It's catching the eye. I'm also quite happy with the technique of this picture.
Most difficult to draw ?..
All pictures show an aspect difficult to handle. The latest i did took me lots of time because 1) it's a full screen 320*240 picture and 2) i drawed something i consider very difficult to render in bitmap: smoke.
Is drawing in 8 bit color mode a limitation or a challenge for you?
It's a luck and a pleasure.
What do you think about raytracing?
I'm very interesting in 3D art. I've installed 3DS Max on my machine and i've bought some manual about the software. I'd like to use 3d stuff as materials for my bitmap pictures, mmm a bit like mixing 2D and 3D elements within an image.
I'm pretty interested in Destop's latest pictures, such as his TP6 and ASM97 pictures.
....and what about redrawing?
Copywork with nothing personnal shows low interest. It's often a compulsory step to get used with filling techniques and palette works.
Being an active scener for some time now, you must have seen a lot of pics made by other graphicians.Who is your favourite graphician and why?
Ra is the unique reference. He's far beyond all other graphicians, even now. His pictures show incredible subtility in palette choices and filling techniques. I believe he was unique and we're not about to see another graphician of his standing.
Do you have any favourite groups, musicians, coders, diskmags?Favourite demo?
I like Inside by CNCD, Megablast by Orange, 303 by my friend Statix, most intros from the Orange pals like Sea Robot of Love and others.
Musicians i like are often my friends, what's not strange because we share a common vision of demoscene things. My fave musicians are Dune and Shad, resp. from Orange and Pulse. I also like Groo.
My fave coders are Hoplite, Dune, Statix and Barti.
What are your future party plans, are you heading for TP'97 or Gathering'97, other parties?
I’m working on a TP7 demo with mr.surprise-coder as the guest star and shad as the musician. I should also have something for The gathering with a very famous PC group :)
What does the scene mean to you, and which aspects do you like/dislike about it?
I enjoy friends. I just wish the scene would open itself a bit more. i don't share at all the image of marginality which is often associated to scene stuff. As an example, how many demos do work under Windows or support DirectX modes ?
Have you ever considered a carrier as a professional graphician?
When i was unemployed i had contacts with a french game editor… but you know, there's nothing very attractive in touching up scans all the day. You have almost 0 creativity in this kind of work, you're just an executer. At least it works this way in France. and you're underpaid.
What are your other interests/hobbies, besides your scene activities?
music. drum & bass, jungle, techno and such.
Who is your favourite artist outside the scene?
hard to say. I really don't know. Carlos Nine is pretty twisted.
Do you believe in God?What is the meaning of life?
let’s cut that one :)
One last question: how did you come up with your handle/alias?
It was the name of a magician in a book. "DeathGates Cycle". Fantasy stuff. He did put his soul inside the head of his dog. twisted man.
Would you like to say Hello to anyone?
Let's have a thought for my mates in Pulse, Bomb, Orange, Nooon and TPOLM. And another for brothers in Live ! and Zuul.
Thank you for your time, and best of all in your future plans as a graphician :)
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