


by s7ing and Mop of Alcatraz

MA:
Please introduce yourself to the scene.

CALVIN:
My name is Calvin Golkowski and I was born in Dortmund,
Germany in 1976. I am now 31 years of age and the first grey
hair is peeping out. I am currently living in the UK where i
have been for the past 8 years. I just left Eurocom in Derby
after more than 7 great years and i am now working for 
Climax Studio (No, they don't do porn films ) in Portsmouth. 

MA:
When did you start doing graphics?

CALVIN:
I actually started on the C64 with AMICA PAINT. I think Artur
had a go at that too. One day, me and Artur went to a friend
of ours and found him pixelling on his new AMIGA. We saw our
first demo too, the Budbrain Megademo, and we were hooked!

CALVIN:
We both got an AMIGA with Deluxe Paint a short while later.
We had a look at an Assembler package, we looked at each
other, and threw the diskette in a corner and started
pixeling. We never looked back.

From that time on we both had the dream of making graphics
for a living and so we do now. 

MA:
What software do you use for creating computer graphics?

CALVIN:
In the demo scene, all we ever used was Deluxe Paint.
I still miss this programme to his day. Today i work with
quite a variety of tools. The main ones being Maya and ZBrush.
Those are great tools to work with. Of course Photoshop has
to be mentioned too.

MA:
Where do you get your motifs from? Do you draw sketches?

CALVIN:
On the AMIGA and in the AMIGA scene, we pixelled a lot of
copies by great artists like Boris Vallejo, Den Corben, Ken
Kelly and other images that fell into our hands. Later we
tried to do our own thing, which started off with Artur
making some sketches and us then pixeling them out.

Today my main work is figurative. I go life drawing and learn
how to sculpt the body and the clothing surrounding it.
There is a great website for digital modellers and sculptors
called 3D.SK, but there are a lot of anatomy books too.
The motifs develop themselves out of an idea. I have an idea
or task to create a certain character. If it is for work,
the motif comes from my lead artist. If it is at home,
i search the internet and create sketches first. 

MA:
Where do you get your inspiration for drawing?

CALVIN:
The love for the human form does that, and the wonderful work
seen on websites like CGtalk.com or ZBrushCentral.com.
They are really inspiring and want you to just do more
drawing so that you get better at your 3D work.

MA:
Are you still working with computers or did you switch to
other techniques?

CALVIN:
Yes, i still work with computers. I think that every artist
is working with computers these days, there is no way around
them. I love to spend time away from the computer too.
When you go drawing somewhere, you have no undo, but you
don't have a flickering screen or a software that crashes
either.

MA:
Do you miss the old times pixeling graphics the old way?

CALVIN:
I could tell you that i would love to go back to pixeling and
that all scanners on this earth should be burned, but that
would be a lie. I pixeled long enough to say: No. I wouldn't
go back to pixeling. I respect everybody who does and did
because i know how hard it is, but 3D graphics are such an
amazing tool. I love it and the more polies i can use, the
happier i am. It gives you so much freedom. 

MA:
Which graphic style do you prefer?

CALVIN:
I love realism and i have always done. Its hard to achieve
and i will probably never do so. Even more so, i love
stylized realism. I am a cartoon fan too  (who doesn't love
Pixar), but if i could choose, i would probably go for
stylized realism. 

MA:
What type of art do you like in "real" life. Is there any
artist which inspires you?

CALVIN:
A lot of people inspire me! If you look on the net, there is
always something going that knocks you off your feet and
you go Wow! 

If real life means art on canvas and paper i like the old
masters, painters and sculptors. I detest contemporary
rubbish (Tracey Emin), where people just spit on a wall with
paint, pretend they are a part of a some sort of modern Dada
movement and are just full of themselves.

MA:
Which are your favourite graphicians in the demo scene
and why?

CALVIN:
Apart from obviously Artur, who inspired me a lot, my
favourites are Made, Fade One, Facet and Ra. Made is just a
great artist. His colors, lighting and unique style are
awesome. Fade One as well. He is one of the best pixel
artists out there. I have a lot of respect for him and i am
still in good contact with him today. Facet was/is an amazing
pixel artist and you just have to mention him, when someone
asks you about demo scene artists. Old habit. Ra is in a
class of his own. In my opinion, him and Niko/Orange
invented the demo scene art style. Sponge like effects on
nearly everything.

White highlights as far as the eye can see. You can print
anything out that he did and put it up on a wall.
Cyclone/Haujobb is amazing too!

MA:
How did you find your way to the computer demo scene?

CALVIN:
When Artur and i started pixeling on AMIGA, we tried to get
exposure in the AMIGA Joker, which was quite some magazine in
Germany in the old days. As we just started pixelling, they
didn't take our picture. We found some advert in there, of
someone who wanted to create his own demo group. We knew
about the demo scene through a friend, who gave us a copy of
the Equinox magazine. We jumped at the chance and found
ourselves in Tronix, which only ever released a little intro
with our logo in.

Through those people we meet the guys from Nuance and we
loved their work. We did have some great times with them and
even went down to Ehingen to meet them and on to
Innsbruck/Austria for our first party which was the SEMI
Easter Party 1993 by Scoopex, Energy and Manitou.

After Nuance, we joined Analog, then Dual-Crew-Shining,
Digital and then Essence. Although we went on to pixel for
groups like U.S., my favourite membership was the one in
Scoopex. On PC Artur had a little glimpse at Ethos 9 and I
released a logo for Talent, but unfortunately that was the
last that has been seen from the Gfx-Twins.

MA:
Are you still active or interested in the Demo Scene?

CALVIN:
I am interested in the demo scene today, but i am not active
anymore. I use my time now to work on my 3D stuff and study
to become a better artist. In the time when Artur and I left
the demo scene, the scene almost became like a business.
People said that you can't pixel dragons and women anymore,
because they are not cool enough and you won't win
competitions (Greetings to Rahim/Essence, you are a twat).
Where is the fun in that?

MA:
How do you like the so called new school Demo Style 

CALVIN:
To be honest, i haven't had a good look at demos for a while.
The last pieces i can remember are demos by Bomb and Nooon
and Complex. They are cool, they have great music to them and
a really cool style. There is some of the old school style
that's just timeless to me though. You can't beat a good
Melon Design or Scoopex demo. 

MA:
Are you still in contact with some of your old scene friends?

CALVIN:
Yes, i am. Most of them are in the game industry now. I am
still in contact with Fade One/Ex-TRSI, Boo/Talent,
Optic/Talent&TRSI, Alive/Talent and Caro/Nah-Color. 

MA:
Has your scene activity had a positive effect in your
"real" job?

CALVIN:
Absolutely. Pixeling meant learning to look at color and form
on a really detailed basis. That's what i still do today. 

MA:
What are you doing nowadays?

CALVIN:
I am a Character Artist working in the game industry.

MA:
Any last words?

CALVIN:
Thanks a lot for the interview and the patience. Thanks to
all the guys who keep the demo scene alive! I hope you
release demos in between parties as that's what makes them
special. There is so much competition in graphics that
everybody should see the demo scene as something that is
fun not as something with deadlines, that's what work is
for, not the demo scene.

And always remember the first rule of the demo scene:
                                    Friendship Rulez!
