Train2Game radio interviewed Michael Bird last week. Michael has very nearly finished the Train2Game Art & Animation course. He tells about how he grew up and became the artist he is today with help from his parents. He also has a valuable bit of advice for all students!

You can listen to the interview with Michael here: http://audioboo.fm/boos/1260505-train2game-student-michael-bird-on-t2g-student-radio

Or read the transcript below:

Hello my name is Michael Bird, I live in Kettering which is in Northamptonshire and the course I’m doing is the Art & Animation course.

Hi Michael, how you doing?

Hi, Mark, I’m all right thank you.

Excellent, So what’s your story? What are the past experiences that have shaped your life?

Well I’ve always been an artist. I was never taught how to be an artist, I inherited it from my parents. When they discovered I could draw from drawing on walls and stuff, they pushed me to do it and I’ve exhibited my work throughout my life, when I was at school and times after that. I have always had it as a passion and I’ve always played Video Games from the day the first Video Games came out like Pong and Pacman that we could play at home. Since then it’s been two passions, parallel with each other and this came along and I’ve had a chance to combine the two. Hopefully I can prosper doing them both!

So where as most people were told off for drawing on walls, you were encouraged!?

Yeah, yeah, basically yeah! Well you know, I wasn’t encouraged to draw all over the walls but they felt he has obviously got something, let’s give him some paper and pencil and let him just scribble. They guided me where I needed to be guided and yeah! I’m just blessed with being able to do it without being taught how to do it.

So are your parents quite good artists as well then I assume?

Yeah yeah, my Dad’s had art sold all over the world, commissions sold all over the world. My Mum is more of a colourist. She’s excellent with colour and I’ve picked it up off both of them. They’ve had all their work exhibited everywhere so yeah, it’s all good!

You said you’d exhibited some of your work somewhere, where have you exhibited your work?

My work has been exhibited locally around the Northamptonshire area. It’s been in the local press, this is going back to when I was about twelve, I think I had my first exhibition. I say, it got in the news because it was very different to everyone else. I was very fantasy art then, swords and dungeons and dragons and all that stuff and since then since I’ve done continuous exhibitions people have come up to me and say “I’d like to know if you can do this for me” and it’s commission pieces. Most of my work is actually all around my house.

To display to all the people who come in and see you I guess?

Yes! I do have comments like “What’s that?” or “Who did that?” and I say “Well I did!”. They then just stand there or sit there and stare at it and usually they come up and say “Oh. Can you do something for me then?”.

That’s got to feel nice when people come up and say that to you?

Yeah! They go through “well what inspired you to do that piece?” I say it’s just in my head so I do it! They say “What does it mean” well what do you think it means? Because what it means to me is different to what it means to them. When you do a picture or a piece of art it’s what a person thinks when they look at it.

So where are you in the course now?

I’ve just completed assignment 42, so I’m right near the very end. I’ve got one more portfolio piece to do and then I’ve got one more lesson and then I think it’s on to do a demo reel.

So that’s got to feel pretty exciting hasn’t it?

Yeah! I’ve gone through the waves and the troughs to do the course. You get so far and then you’re brain can’t take it any more and you wonder, can I really carry on with this course? Or you’ll have big failures and you think well I’ve got to carry on! What’s the point in doing it if you get half way through and can’t be doing it any more?

So you said you had a bit of trouble going through with the course, so what made you say you will keep going with everything, what made you push through?

Determination. Just the will to get it done! If you do it and you fail, you may as well not even have tried. You do get these bad points and you have to carry on. You do have these bad bits, you just pick yourself up and start again.

Well that’s perfect! Thank you very much for your time today Michael.

It’s a pleasure. Thank you very much for letting me do it!

It’s my pleasure, I will talk to you soon.

OK, thank you very much!