So much of my imagination and my visual world was shaped by video games, science fiction films, and concept art. Today it is a great honor to have this conversation with a titan in the space, the brilliant artist Raphael Lacoste, who also has found a lot of success on his SuperRare account.

Can you begin by introducing yourself to our readers? Your name, where you are from, and the mediums you work in?

Sure! I am Raphael Lacoste, I was born in Paris, France in 1974 :) I have always been interested in Art, Creation and got lucky to travel a lot in Europe with my parents before leaving to Canada in 2002. I mainly work now with digital mediums, 3D (3dsmax but I learned on Softimage 3D), and Photoshop for 2D Digital Art. I have been an Art Director on AAA videogames for almost 20 years now, but also been working as Matte Painter and Concept Artist for Films like Journey to the Center of the Earth, Jupiter Ascending, Terminator, Immortals 2011, among others.

I'm so honored to be speaking with you, as I've been a fan of your work for as long as I remember, and even BEFORE I knew you as an artist, because I am a huge gaming fan and I've been exploring those virtual worlds since the NES systems.

Many of the artists I speak to are newer to the space, you have such a depth of experience. I'm wondering where your creative drive began. Is there a moment or time in your life you remember knowing that you would pursue a creative career?

I think as I was raised in Europe, the goal of pursuing a career as an artist was not an easy thing to assume, and I was really lucky my parents were supportive and decided it was actually OK to have a son who would eventually join the fine arts school and have Art Option instead of Maths :P

Myself, I have always been in the moon, quite unhappy at school, always looking through the windows and drawing in the school books! This cost me a few slaps in the face ( Yes! back in the 80's, teachers could hit kids! Insane !!)

From as far back as I remember, I have been always drawing, and as soon as I could use a camera I was taking pictures. My father gave me my first camera when I was 14. I really wanted to become a photographer but was also playing a lot of midi music. I couldn't really decide. I wanted to do everything possible in the creative field but couldn't decide until I was 27...

What changed at 27?

So before, between 19 to 25 I went to the fine Art School. This wasn't really what I wanted to do, but I enjoyed learning photography, video editing, sound mixing...then after this I knew more what I wanted to do. In 1997 I worked for a show 'the Little Prince,' I basically did my first CGI pictures which where projected on large screens behind the stage.

I was spending lots of time with my computer and also with a team of creatives, this is where I knew I had something building up and meaningful- sharing time being creative , alone and sharing creative process with a team of Artists... I went to the 3D animation school and knew I would work in VFX in games!

Incredible. So once you discovered this world of 3D and concept art, which artists did you look to most often for inspiration? Who were the giants whos shoulders you stand on now, so to speak?

Back In the day, there weren't many! But I was lucky to have a teacher who was René Laloux, nothing less than the director of such movies as Fantastic Planet, Time Masters, Gandahar. He worked with Moebius himself... this was a huge inspiration for me in those days...then I looked at Craig Mullins and Sparth, who are now friends! I met Craig in Maui last Christmas in 2019 when we could travel...

Wow, legends indeed! You have a much deeper traditional background than many people in this NFT world, so I'm curious to hear your perspective on what this all means for artists. What are you impressions so far about the potential here, and how are you approaching the space?

Good question, I actually always think that its good to create when you know the context well. Don't think you are the first one doing this or that, look for inspiration, traditional art, photographers! There are so many interesting inspirations everywhere. A Matte Painter for Film working on landscapes for a blockbuster movie can't ignore romantic painters from the 19th century like Caspard Friedrich or Albert Bierstadt. A photographer working on twilight moods can't ignore the work of Greg Girard or Gregory Crewdson. It's all about knowledge, doing your homework! if your art is going to last, it has to be meaningful. One must digest the history of art, be part of it. It's important for every kind of art, even in music! Our culture is our foundation to build our craft. :)

Very well put. It's tempting to rush in and mint things but I think true success will come from understanding how people connect with the art, and by building up your place within the community.

Also there is a lot of inspiration coming from traditional art and history of art. Not redoing things but building on inspiration is key in my opinion.

I see that you are very supportive of other artists- by sharing their work, offering encouragement, and offering educational resources. The name ALLSHIPS speaks to this idea that we are stronger as a community. What motivates you to be community centric in your online activities?

If you like to receive, then give! This can't be one way :)

I have been also teaching digital art and concept art for years at the university, and I found that giving was always rewarding too. Its great to share your knowledge and inspiring to work with people. I had many talented students, a few of them even got the chance to join our teams on Assassin's Creed. I really find this fascinating to see the evolution of talent and work of younger artists!

Also, by sharing my craft, I learned how to be more organized in my personal works and process, and the challenge of doing live painting for students helped me get better at working efficiently and fast. This is the good aspect of sharing and giving, it is also helping you to get out of your comfort zone and you learn too, by sharing knowledge :)

Harvest the fruits of the trees you planted :)

Love love love that. I know its hard to pick favorites, but do you have any games you worked on that stand out to you above the others?

It's difficult indeed. Every game production brings different memories... none were perfect. All different challenges!

but I must say that Assassins' Creed 4: Black Flag was maybe the best AC I had the chance to work on :)

I always like to end with this: What advice do you have for someone earlier on their creative path?

Advice I would have for someone early on his/her creative path would be to try as much as possible to stay true to yourself. don't do things because you think its the new trend, don't post too much! Take your time, find inspiration, see when you connect with yourself.

Sometimes we tend to rush and then we flood our own opportunities. It is important to step back, and think what do I really want to do? what am I doing here and is there a meaning behind my stuff? Do I do characters to please my followers or is it something that I really like to design? I think focus is also key. I knew always I was not really good at animation or character design, but was very naturally attracted by composition, photography and lighting. This is why I always pushed more open world design, world building and atmosphere, mood, and values, as well as scale...

In a nutshell, I try to push to the next level what triggers my imagination and my motivation the most: building worlds. And I will never stop this :)

The great thing is that these challenges can be adapted to many kinds of universes, some sci-fi, fantasy, historical or more grounded. there are a lot of creative opportunities and I wish to continue this for a long time :)