360style-So, to get started, tell us a little about yourself. You know,what’s you major in at College, your general residence, social security number, your full name, mother’s maiden name? The normal stuff.

Rahll- My full name is Reid Southen. I’’m currently a student at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan. My major is illustration for the entertainment industry…… Go figure. My social security number is 331-1…… wait, why do you need to know?

360- Aww, you’re no fun. Well, how about spilling the beans on the reason behind your User Name "Rahll?"

R- Sorry, I prefer to be the only Reid S. running around tarnishing my reputation. The name Rahll comes from a series of books I used to read a long time ago. It’s the Sword of Truth series by Terry Good kind. There are a couple characters in the books with the last name Rahl. I always liked it, so I stole it a long time ago and put it to my own use…… with an extra "L" of course.

360- How do you make your sweet sweet cash? If you don't mind me asking.

R- Currently I'm a Gamestop employee, but contrary to popular belief, working at a game store isn't fun. I really don't recommend it, retail is no good. I also take on paid commissions every now and then for artwork, something I really enjoy doing.

360- What programs and tools do you use to create your wonderful art?

R- For my art, I primarily use Photoshop. Most, if not everybody, is familiar with it to some degree. I also use programs like 3ds Max, Google, Sketchup for 3D modeling, and on very rare occasions, Corel Painter.

360- Does the Wacom Tablet and 2 Screen really come in handy, or are they just "alright?"

R- The Wacom tablet I use is an Intuos3 6x8. It’s an absolutely essential tool for me in my digital painting. For those who don’’t know what it is, it’s basically a pad and stylus that lets you draw like you normally would, and it shows up on your screen. I also employ the work of two monitors, which isn’t essential, but extremely helpful. I paint on my main monitor, a 20.1" View-Sonic LCD, and I put references and other helpful tools on my other monitor, a Dell 19"" LCD display. I wouldn’t be able to go back to just a single monitor.

360- What size and resolution do you usually work in?

R- The resolution I work at varies for different works. For a speed painting, I never work with a dimension much larger than 1500 pixels wide or tall. Larger resolutions I save for more detailed work, where it really matters. For the bigger pieces, I start with a low resolution and then up-size it later for the details. This can be anywhere from 3000 to 6000 pixels on a side.

360- How many layers did your last piece (Halo Vs Aliens) have and how long did it take to complete?

R- For a piece like the Aliens vs Halo one, I tend to work very high res with a lot of layers. As a rule, I try to keep them to a minimum and I often merge them down when I can. At any given moment, there were probably about 30 layers in the painting, but some of them tend to be sketch and color tests and other things that aren’t actually a part of the painting. The Aliens vs Halo piece took at least 50 hours to do, I lost track, but I wouldn’t say any more than 60. Probably the most time I’ve ever spent on a painting.


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360- Do you only paint Fan Art? An what’s your favorite game to paint about?

R- I paint more than fan art, but it certainly seems to be my specialty. It’s easy to take comfort in something that’s already established instead of having to come up with your own designs and concepts. I’m trying to break away from doing so much fan art, however, because it doesn’t give one much room to grow.

360- Any original projects in the works you can tell us about?

R- I’m working on a number of commissions currently, of which I can’t really talk about yet, and I do have a handful of original works planned. As to when they’ll see the light of day, I can’t quite say yet. They’ll definitely be face melters, though, and they’ll most certainly be sci-fi, my favorite genre.

360- Looking forward to them! You’ve uploaded a number of Speed Paints to YouTube. How long do one of those usually take to complete, and which of them are you the most proud of?

R- Currently, I really only have two speed paintings on YouTube. The most recent one is the Mass Effect speed painting. The one prior to that is a Bob Ross one I did, which received a lot of buzz. I also have a short clip of me working on a Transformers piece I did.


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360- You’re clearly a Video Game fan. What’s your Favorite Current Gen Console and which Game franchise do you love the most?

R- I’’ve always been an Xbox fan and I love my 360. I also own a Wii, and when the price is right, I’ll eventually purchase a PS3. I’ll always be an Xbox fan-boy at heart, though. My favorite game franchise is easily Halo, and hopefully I’ll have another favorite when Mass Effect launches in November.

360- Why is that?

R- Halo is such a rich universe with interesting characters and stories, it’s hard not to love it. I got my Xbox in January of 2002, and my first game was Max Payne. I beat it in about 30 minutes, just like everyone else, and I immediately picked up Halo. I was hooked instantly. I’ve also devoured every novel released, Eric Nylund being one of my favorite authors.

The games are insanely fun, and the stories and art are so incredibly thought out. Everything has a purpose, whether or not we as gamers actually know what that purpose is. I’ve always been a fan of sci-fi, whether it be movies, games, books, or art. Halo has just about everything a Sci-Fi fan needs, and then some. Plus, the Master Chief is a bad ass, hands down.

360- You’ve got the skills, ever thought of going into the video game business as a Concept Artist?

R- That’s actually my goal. I want to work in either games or movies as a concept artist. It’s just too damn cool to be able to design something that the rest of the world gets to experience. I want to be able to say, "Yeah, I designed the creature that tears your arms off and beats you with them," or, "I worked on mood and atmosphere of this environment, do I get a cookie?"

360- LOL! Cookies are Awesome! Where was I? Oh yeah, what company would you love to work with if you could choose and why?

R- Obviously, I wouldn’t mind working for Bungie, for obvious reasons. Therefore, I’ll choose another company…… Ubisoft. They don’t exactly specialize in sci-fi, but they make the type of games I love to play, and it would be such an awesome thing to help design any one of their blockbusters. Ubisoft is easily one of the best developers out there.

360- I first ran across your art on Bungie.net’s front page late 2006. They were spotlighting Fan Art from the Forums. Oddly enough, your original "Ghost Of Onyx" painting was clearly the best, but Bungie choose a Vector tracing of a Screen Shot as their favorite over your’s. How did you feel about that? Bet you were pretty upset after all the work you put into your painting.

R- I put a ton of work into that piece, and although it was disappointing to be beaten out by someone who did a straight up trace, I can’t complain. It was still displayed on Bungie’s site, so that’s pretty awesome, right? I mean, you know Bungie employees had to have seen it, so that makes me happy.

360- Do you still enter Bungie’s occasional Art Contests? If not, Why?

R- I haven’t recently…… Whoever was running them kind of went AWOL it seems at the beginning of the year. As far as I can tell, there were only one or two successful runs of the contest. Kind of a bummer.

360- Well, since that 2006 contest, you’ve gotten pretty popular with the Halo fans. You’ve been featured on a number of sites only to gain more fans. What does it feel like to have so many fans so fast?

R- It’s pretty crazy actually. To me, I’m just another guy who makes art. This internet fame is new to me, and something I never really expected. I get people telling me I’m the greatest ever, and people who think I’m a professional. I am in fact neither. I’m merely a college student, trying to learn his craft.

360- Not all of the fans have been nice. I suppose we can’t truly call them fans then. But I remember one guy that did everything he could to dismiss your wonderful Original art as fakes. He even followed you from site to site just to bash your work. How does it feel to have your work mocked like that?

R- To be honest, it really pissed me off at first. The guy had no reason to attack me the way he did, and the fact that he followed me around the net is even more irritating. Trying to tarnish the reputation of someone who has been nothing but kind and genuine to the art community is just wrong. I’m over it now. It’s easy to get hung up on things like that, but no one listened to the guy, and I knew he was wrong, so it didn’t matter anymore.

360- What would you like to say to that guy now. Don’t be shy, I’ll bleep out the bad words. ^_-

R- Honestly? Nothing. People like him don’t deserve my time or energy…… But if I ever come across him in real life, sell tickets and refreshments, we’ve got a fight on our hands folks. I’ll beat him the honorable way, though, with words and wit. If he throws a fist, though, I’ll throw two back, no worries.

360- lol. Moral of the story, kiddies? Don’’t get on Rahll’s Bad side. Unless it’s in a video game.

R- It’s hard to get on my bad side, but if anyone does, I’ll take them on in Halo any day.

360- No matter the system, What up-coming game are you most looking for? Don't say Halo3, that's a give in.

R- Bioshock comes out this month, and I'm psyched for that. Even more than Bioshock, though, I can't wait for Mass Effect. That game is the epitome of what I love


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360- Here’s a Tough question for ya. Off ALL your works (paintings and otherwise), Which is your all time favorite so far and why?

R- That’s a surprisingly hard question to answer. And this is going to seem like cop out, but I’d have to say the Aliens vs Halo piece. I hate to choose a fan art piece as my favorite, but as far as execution goes, it’s my best work yet.

360- Well, this interview has come to a close. I thank you for your valuable time. Any last words of wisdom for inspiring artist and gamers out there?

R- The pleasure is all mine.

Also, for all you aspiring artists out there, digital and otherwise, keep at it. This is going to sound lame, but practice is your best friend. I learn new things every time I draw or paint, and you should too. And just so you know, I’ve only been digitally painting for about a year now, and look where I’m at. Anything is possible, good luck!