Iana Vengerova Interview

Iana Vengerova Interview

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Iana Vengerova Interview

When we say that "Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Board Game" is a project from the fans for the fans, it's not an empty phrase. We have many loyal fans within our ranks, and the Lead Artist is also a huge fan of the "Might and Magic" franchise.
Check the interview with our Lead Artist and learn about her love for the franchise and the secrets of her trade.

1. When and how did you come into contact with the "Might and Magic" franchise?

Oh, I got my first game disk when I was 13 if I remember correctly. It was "The Restoration of Erathia" Then there were other expansion packs, but for me the first disk is the most nostalgic. I think my habit of staying up late was caused by sleepless nights playing Heroes. By the way - throw tomatoes at me - but I spent no less hours playing the fourth part, which isn’t appreciated as much by fans of the franchise. So yes - hundreds of hours spent playing "Might and Magic". I won't say that I'm a great player - I've always played just for fun.

2. Which aspect of "Heroes" is your favorite and why?

You know - It's not often that you can say the game is perfect - but that's exactly what "Might and Magic" is for me. Everything is great - the game mechanics, design, music, astrological proclamations, interesting creatures and characters - everything that made this series achieve such a cult following. For a creative person like me, it was a delight for me to see such realistic character designs - for those years, it was almost like a photo-reel! :-D I’ve always liked different kinds of fantasy animals - I dreamed of learning to draw well enough to be able to create my own illustrated bestiary. Perhaps this is where the roots of my decision to start doing redesigns of iconic characters from the Heroes franchise grew.

3. Excluding the game franchise, where do you usually get your inspiration from? Why did you create the Fortress faction's units first? ;-)

Anything around me can serve as a source of inspiration. Literally anything - from a simple walk outside to a picture on the Internet (I am one of those people who collects photos of bark, leaves, mineral veins and literally anything with an interesting texture on Pinterest). In my youth, I read a lot of fantasy and and thought about it constantly. It seems to me that I had spent more time in the world of fantasy rather than grounded in the real world. This could have been a problem, but I was lucky and the people around me weren't pushy about bringing me back down to earth. I think this is what helped me become an artist. I was allowed to be in my dream world and draw. Therefore, my head is the main source of my stories, but of course everything in my head is the result of what I’ve seen, heard, read and thought out.

Of course, for a long time I suffered from excessive modesty and embarrassment and drew "for the drawer". I was afraid of imperfection and criticism, but at the same time I was always inspired by people who showed their work in progress without any hesitation, asked for criticism and made their work better by getting it. But still, it always seemed that these people are much more talented than me. Many years passed before I overcame this fear, which fettered me and did not allow me to draw. The main thing in overcoming this fear was the realization that a mistake is also progress. Many mistakes and tons of practice if be more precise. Now I am inspired by other artists and their work - there are an endless number of incredibly talented people around. Now it gives me enthusiasm - if they all managed to achieve this level of mastery, then so can I can one day.

The Fortress redesign was a stepping stone in my painting practice. It was 3,5 years ago.  At that time, I decided to take my studies seriously and reach a new artistic level. I just finished some really good drawing courses, where I realized a very important thing for artistic success - consistency and perseverance when learning how to draw. Before that, my drawing was rather chaotic. But in three and a half (very intense) months of the course, I learned to draw without excuses every day and on weekends. I saw the results of my hard work, the progress I made, and I wanted to keep it that way. So an idea arose - I need to draw a series of works using one style, but they become more complicated as I go. The dreams of having my own bestiary, which was the result of playing Heroes, made themselves felt. It seemed like the natural and right decision to pay tribute to the game by drawing my favorite characters. Back then, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I wasn't thinking about publishing at that moment, so I gave myself free rein to rethink the designs - at that moment it was a great decision, but when the works were put on public display, it became a bit of a problem. Not all fans are ready to forgive such liberties regarding their favorite game. Why Fortress? It's simple - most of all I remember the story of Tarnum, a hero who repented and returned to free the oppressed people and correct his own mistakes.

4. What techniques do you use during work (painting from scratch, photo bash)?

My work pipeline is pretty standard. Sketch, refinement, rendering.

I use photobash for textures. Sometimes I collage part of an image from photos (for example, backgrounds) and then draw on top. I try to use everything.

5. Which art piece for "Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Board Game" is your personal favorite?

Simple. It's always dragons. Black, Golden, Ghost- all of them.

6. How long does it take you to finish the work on one character's artwork?

It takes quite some time. I drew the first two towns (Fortress and Dungeon) in my spare time after work and without any specific deadlines. I drew the same way for the board game, but this time with clear timelines. 
Sometimes I manage to draw for an hour in the evening, sometimes three, sometimes the whole weekend, sometimes not. Thus, one character takes an average of two to three weeks.

7. Why did you introduce some changes to the original video game's designs?

Because as life goes on, the standards of beauty in the art world change, and I don't think it's a good idea to repeat a design exactly like the original - for me that feels more like some kind of rip-off. This is just my opinion, and I'm not ready to argue that it is correct.
Over the past few years, I have received a significant amount of criticism (most often in private messages) just because lots of people do not agree that I have the right to change something. Many people think that the designs of the original game are perfect (and they are totally right) - but for me, this fact is not a reason not to try something new.

Some experiments, I admit, were not entirely successful - for example, my design of the Dragonfly went so far from the original that it no longer looked remotely similar and became a completely different creature. Just a reminder that this iconic flying squiggle is one of the hallmarks of the game. From the standpoint of my personal rethinking, this is permissible - from the standpoint of design for a board game based on a game with such a cult following, no. Therefore, for the board game, I redrew this design, as well as some others. For the new lineups that I drew for Archon - they were much closer to the original.

8. What was your biggest challenge when working on the "Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Board Game" project?

This is of course the desire not to disappoint the fans. And here I repeat myself again - it's one thing to draw redesigns for a portfolio, and quite another to draw them as a commercial project, based on the game that is precious to so many. Much greater responsibility.

That's why now we try to pay homage to every original design - Tomasz Badalski still has to bring me back to reality when I want to draw too many "rethinkings"^^' And I'm glad about that, because right now it's really important to keep the original characters recognizable.

I keep repeating myself, but this is actually true - most of my thoughts when drawing revolve around concern - is this design similar enough, will players recognize this character, will they be happy with its update? Because it's not a separate project - it's an ode to an existing game. Such obvious things are the main challenges. But the most important things are often the simplest.

9. How did the "Heroes" fandom react to your participation in the project?

There isn’t much to say here - those who were dissatisfied with my modernization of the characters - remained unhappy that I was chosen for the project as an artist. Such people say that there should have just been pictures from the original game on the cards. Honestly - I'm sorry to be the cause of someone's dissatisfaction; this interview seems to me a good opportunity to say to those people - I'm sorry that my work does not meet your expectations.

But there are also a huge number of people for the sake of whom I have not had enough sleep for a year now!  Just joking, of course. 

There are people who wrote comments,  private messages, whole letters (!!!) to me about how happy they are to see all of these familiar characters be updated. They asked me to draw more (some even demanded ^^'), they wished for me to work on a “Heroes” project. And look - these wishes came true!

I can not express the amount of gratitude that I have towards these people. It is to you that I owe my good fortune, working on “Heroes of Might & Magic III: The Board Game” as the Lead Artist.

Right now I’m at the height of my artistic career - working on my favorite project, seeing how my art gets turned into real miniatures (admiring them right now), and I will  be able to play a game with my art soon! This is fantastic, and this is only possible thanks to the fandom, and Archon Studio, who chose me. Thank you. Thank you very much!

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