Jourdan Tuffman, 2nd Place winner of the 2D category of Worlds Challenge, gives us this great interview to show us more about him as an artist. 

Inspiration: Cory Loftis, Marcelo Vignali, Rudy Siswanto, Xavier Houssin, to name a few of my favorite artists. Outside of art I find inspiration from food, music, talking to people, traveling, and watching documentaries 
Average Number of Layers When You Paint: Into the hundreds
Coffee or Tea: Coffee
Good Habits: Keeping a journal of thoughts that I have throughout the day; ranging from things I am currently going through, new insights, and reminders.
Favorite Movies: Ratatouille, How to Train Your Dragon, Hot Fuzz
Favorite Games: Dragon Warrior 7, World of Warcraft, Fire Emblem, Paper Mario, Crash Bandicoot
Music While Doing Art: Mostly instrumentals, as I find it difficult to focus on anything with lyrics. I've been working without music lately though, just so I can be more mindful of what I do.
How to Bounce Back from a Bad Day: I find that it helps to just step away from work, and spending time with people that are close to me helps me to clear my mind, and sort through my problems. It doesn't hurt to have a good meal and nap as well.
What is a Good Day: Being around good company, enjoying good food.
Favorite Quote: 'Those who are slaves to the compass have the freedom of the seas'
Future Goals: I would eventually like to work independently, and to tell my own stories and experiences through my own IP creations. 

Can you introduce yourself?

I'm a 25-year-old concept artist currently living in Newcastle Upon Tyne, working for Atomhawk. I was born in Indonesia, but have traveled around and moved to a few different countries growing up. If I wasn't doing concept art, I'd probably be a chef or a food critic, because of how much I love my food.

What got you into 2D art, when did it all start?

I started drawing from as early as 3 years old, most of my model airplanes and copying from my favorite cartoons. As I grew older, I was inspired my shows that I had watched, one of them being Dragonball Z and also by games that I had played. I would often design and raw my own assets for an imaginary RPG game of my own creation.

How did you get to the level you are at today? Did you study in any particular way you would recommend?

I think that the most effective way to approach studying is by doing them mindfully. I begin by asking myself questions, such as : What do I want to learn? How do I get to where I want to be, from where I am? How do I spend my time working on it? 

It's easy for us to approach studies with a vague purpose, and without any set parameters, which leads us to wander around in circles, or losing motivation over time, due to a lack of improvement. By setting limitations, it puts us on a straighter and narrow path, which leads us to our destination in a more efficient manner.

How did you begin the process of creating Downtown Frogtown? What was your inspiration?

I started off by reading through the brief and thinking about the best way to address it. My initial thoughts are that I needed to have a strong contrast between the old civilization, and the new. I decided to go for a primitive civilization building atop a once more advanced one, as I personally felt I could come up with more creative solutions that way. I started off by doing rough sketches, getting whatever I had in my mind out as soon as I could. I could then begin processing and narrowing them down. I felt that I was not coming up with anything satisfactory, and resorted to browsing through pinterest to hopefully spark some ideas, and  was eventually inspired by some native Indonesian cultures, and the stylized industrial look of Metal Slug.

What was your biggest hurdle during the process? What did you do to overcome it?

The biggest hurdles were really my own lack of experience in creating a full-scale environment and the mental blocks that I've had throughout the creation. I would often find myself frustrated and on the verge of giving up at many different stages throughout the creation. Taking a step back from the piece would often help me to come back with clear eyes, and a fresh perspective, which helped me to address the problems that were hampering my progress. I also had a lot of help from my friends and co-workers, through support, and of course, invaluable feedback and tips to help me push beyond what I would be capable of on my own.

If you had to do it over would you do it differently? Why?

I definitely would, with the most changes to my initial exploration process. I was too stuck on a certain idea of my piece, that I was too stubborn to change it, and did not spend the proper amount of time in researching for reference and inspiration, which meant that I had committed a lot of mistakes which could have been avoided, or made less severe.

Do you have any tips or advice for aspiring artists out there who might be looking to get to your level one day? What's your recipe for success?

I think that being open is a crucial ingredient to improving more effectively. Often times I find people constantly slamming their head against a wall, in hopes that it would break before their head does. Sometimes, it's not about the amount of effort, but having the humility and resourcefulness to seek new tools to help you get to the other side faster. 

In an artistic sense as well, I think it's easy to stagnate and recycle the same solutions when we stick to a selected source of inspiration. The returns diminish, and it's only through exploring new methods, subject matters, and other disciplines, that will provide you with a fresh perspective, and subsequent opening up of new possibilities that you might have otherwise been missing out on.

 What got you into environment art in particular?

I have been in love with the idea of world-building ever since I started playing RPG games, and learning about different cultures through my travels and through reading books growing up. It's the stage on which all other subject matters, such as characters, props, creatures exist upon, and can often be the most awe-inspiring with its depth and the amount of inspiration it can give. I wanted to be able to create more pieces that will hopefully be able to do the same for others.

What do you think the Worlds Challenge experience taught you, and would you participate again next year if you could?

The challenge has taught me a lot about myself, in terms of shortcomings in my approach and workflow. I realize that I need to improve on how to add details rich with storytelling, whilst maintaining clarity and boldness of read, and also in doing more research prior to jumping into any sketching. I had initially rushed that stage, which led me to waste a lot of time making mistakes that could have been avoided through having the right reference. 

I would love to give it another shot in an upcoming challenge, in order to see how much I would have improved from this one, and to get another shot at 1st place!

Any final thoughts?

I would just like to thank Cubebrush, and the judges for taking the time to make this challenge happen, all of the people that have supported me, and given their feedback and encouragement throughout the whole journey. I really couldn't have done it without you all. Last but not least, a big congratulations to all of the other winners as well, there were a lot of great entries, and I'm proud to be selected as one of the winners. I will be sure to come back better and stronger next time!
Thank you!

Jourdan's 'making of' Downtown Frogtown can be found here. The original entry can be found here.