Naomi Robinson (Let me illustrate)

Naomi Robinson is a freelance artist and illustrator based in the North-West of the UK. She has worked on a variety of different board games and RPG books, with a wide range of styles and themes.

You can find her artwork in a number of board games, including Fantasy Flight and Kanban, from publishers, including Kolossal Games, Gamelyn Games, Stronghold Games and Artipia Games.

• Website: http://naomirobinsonart.com/
• Email: [email protected]

Audio Transcript

“My name is Naomi Robinson.

“I have been a board game artist since 2014.

“I became a board game artist because the founder and CEO of Gamelyn Games approached me to be part of his Fantasy Flight project. At the time I was working as a 3D artist but I was looking to transition into doing 2D work, so the opportunity to work on a board game seemed perfect.

“The art style I am best known for is semi-realism or stylised work mostly with the theme of fantasy and nature.

“The first board game I was an artist for was Fantasy Flight with Gamelyn Games as I mentioned before.

“The work I am most proud of was for the board game Flourish because I particularly loved the theme of the game. It was a more realistic theme than some of my other projects and gave me the opportunity to paint flowers and foliage in all sorts of settings. Although this is a difficult question to answer as I can pick favourite elements from every project I’ve worked on.

“I like creating artwork that tells a story within the small, subtle detailing. I particularly like creating environments with these kinds of easter eggs that could lead to a whole new story or adventure in the viewer’s mind.

“I get my inspiration from nature and other artists. I’m constantly looking at other artists’ work and drawing ideas and ways to improve from their work. There is so much amazing artwork out there.

“I think the most important part of making artwork for board games is the functionality because you aren’t just making art for the sake of art, you need to ensure the art really helps the playability of the game and reinforces the theme and style.

“I think the most challenging part of making artwork for board games is quite often the schedules because it can be difficult to turn around projects in the time required, although the majority of projects are quite flexible in that regard.

“The longest I worked on art for a board game was probably for Kanban which took me several months to create all the artwork for the game. The game board was particularly challenging as it was very large and detail heavy.

“In my view, more board game artwork should continue as it is. I think the quality and breadth of board game art is improving year on year and it’s fantastic to see all the new work out there.

“The artist whose style I admire the most is Loish but also artists like Beth Sobel. Although this really isn’t an exhaustive list as I could list off many other artists that I admire.

“My favourite colour is blue.

“What very few people know about me is that I’m half Filipino, half British.

“If you wanted to become a board game artist yourself I would tell you to just keep putting your work out there and contact board game creators, designers etc. You never know where it may lead.

“If you want to get in touch, you can reach me on my website naomirobinsonart.com. I have my email and all my social media accounts on there. So please take a look and thank you very much.”

Transcript by Make My Game Travel (https://makemygametravel.com)