The Art of Tabletop Games with Andrew Bosley

The Art of Tabletop Games

Andrew Bosley has hewn out a niche for himself in the world of tabletop games. His Art of Tabletop Games course on ArtStation Learning covers the broader tabletop gaming market, and talk about what it takes to work in this unique and high demand field. He’ll also discuss how to work with stakeholders of a game to create illustrations that fit the needs of each specific project and insights that have helped him be successful.

Watch Part 1

Andrew Bosley says he is always drawing. Since 2006, he’s been able to make it his career – from painting greeting cards at Hallmark to concepting characters at Ubisoft, to illustrating board games. He currently works as a freelance illustrator and concept artist, specializing in environment and character design.

 

In this interview, he shares more about his multi-part course on creating art for tabletop games and how young artists can prepare for a career in this industry.

 

Behind the course:

First of all, I love board games and always have.  I love how it brings a group of people together for a unique, interactive experience.  When done well, board games can take you to new worlds and tell exciting stories.  For the last 2-3 years, I’ve worked as a freelancer almost exclusively with board game publishers.  Before that, I had 10+ years of experience as a full-time concept artist.

 

 When I worked in-house at Ubisoft, I studied the video game development process from start to finish.  I’ve done the same thing for board games.  Doing this (for both industries) made me more aware of my base role and, also, how I could contribute more.  My unique background makes me particularly suitable to teach this subject to this audience. I know the video game world.  I know what skills you need to be a good concept artist.  And I know how those concept design skills can be used to make you a better board game artist.

Most memorable learning experience:

When I was studying at SJSU, an art director from Dreamworks came and did a Visual Development seminar for our class.  It was an awesome experience all around.  I’ll never forget when that art director invited me to the studio so he could give me some specific direction on my project.  Not only did the feedback help in that moment, but he also showed me how important it was to give back to the community selflessly.

 

 1 sentence of advice:
Never stop practicing!

What you need to prepare:

I cover more than just image-making in my course, but art skills are always important…so keep practicing!  If you’re not familiar with the current tabletop game world, go out there and discover it.  The modern board game experience, from art to strategy to production quality, is light years past what you know in Monopoly and Candyland.  So, go play some board games and then get back to drawing!


ArtStation Learning courses are included in all ArtStation premium subscriptions. Find out more > 

See more of Andrew’s work here


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About the author

Sierra is the Editor of ArtStation Magazine.