The Makers:

Bungie Artist Lorraine McLees

By Brooke Szabo

A woman in her early thirties sits across from me with cropped black hair, mocha velour jacket, and an easy smile. She lounges back in her chair, confident and relaxed, and laughs at my first question.

Brooke Szabo: Okay, Lorraine. Go ahead and make us all jealous. Tell us what you do for a living.

Lorraine McLees: How detailed should I get? My official title is artist, and I'm an art director, graphic designer, and illustrator all rolled into one. I create high-resolution art and help maintain product brand identity and the Bungie spirit in things that are not related to game development—things like manuals, novel covers, advertising, magazine covers, and action figures and Bungie Store products like shirts and mugs. Currently, I'm providing visual direction for the re-launch of the Bungie.net Web site. I've also started doing environment work for Halo 2 multiplayer levels. Hmm … There's some other stuff in the works, but I don't think I should mention them just yet.

Lorraine isn't telling …

Szabo: Sounds like a dream job.

McLees: It's a wonderful thing waking up in the morning and actually wanting to get to work and being excited about what I get to do.

Szabo: Okay, Okay. I'm jealous enough as it is! So, can you tell us anything about the work you're doing on Halo 2?

McLees: I'm working with one of the level designers to develop the look and feel for a couple of multiplayer maps. We go over the goals for a map, the map's location in the game universe, what it's supposed to look like, the kind of weather you might expect … stuff like that.  Then, we discuss possibilities in terms of geographical features, dig up reference photos, and talk about textures and the general make-up of the landscape: What kind of rock is it? What kind of structures should these be? Natural? Artificial? What geologic events happened here? Then, I snap screenshots, print those out, and draw my ideas right on top. I concentrate on keeping a lot of what's already there (like openings in walls, trails, ramps), but change the shapes around it. A bunch of my ideas have been incorporated—tweaked with gameplay in mind and the need to keep the poly-count from ballooning too much.

Szabo: I've talked to a lot of people in Bungie who've experienced a sort of fame as a result of Halo. Have you experienced this?

McLees: Um, I guess so. [shrugs] Whenever someone wants to know "What do you do for Bungie?" it invariably evolves into "What did you do for Halo?" And when people find out that I designed the Pillar of Autumn, the Halcyon class cruiser that takes our heroes to Halo, they find it pretty cool that a "girl" drew a spaceship.

The Pillar of Autumn, from Halo.

Szabo: Imagine—girls drawing spaceships! [laughing] So, how long have you worked for Bungie? How did you get your foot in the door?

McLees: I started working for Bungie as a freelance illustrator in October or November of 1998. Around August of that year, Bungie was looking for a concept artist for a game they code-named "Blam"—which was later revealed to be Halo. One of the guys working on the game remembered my work from when we were in school together, and after finding my Web site and showing it to people at the office, he contacted me (I was living in Houston at the time) to see if I would like to come up for an interview. Apparently, people liked what they saw, but at that time, I wasn't really interested because I already had my dream job as a comic book artist for Elfquest.

As it turned out, Bungie had another promotional art freelance position for its anime-styled game Oni. Comics and anime are my hobbies, so that was right up my alley. When the lease to my apartment was up, I moved back to Chicago, finished the book I was working on, and called up Bungie to say I was in town and ready to talk about Oni. I was asked to come in the very next day to talk about it over lunch. After lunch, they cleared off one side of somebody's desk so I could doodle the stuff I was talking about at the restaurant. An hour later, I had a few drawings that were the subject of a meeting (that I wasn't in). I got hired when the meeting was over.

That girl has talent! Lorraine's Oni art.

Szabo: You mentioned some techniques you use when you're working on the Halo 2 environments. Can you tell us more about how you create your art? What techniques and technologies do you use?

McLees: It depends on what I'm doing. For illustrations, I rough out my ideas on paper and scan them into my computer. Sometimes I fine-tune the concept on paper, and then I scan that. I use Adobe Photoshop to take it to the finish. I also use a Wacom tablet instead of a mouse when I draw digitally. For things that involve some graphic design—like CD imprint art, logos, or the like—I fire up my Mac and go back to using QuarkXpress, or stick with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop on my PC and put a design together in there.

Szabo: What have been your greatest influences as a videogame artist?

McLees: Other artists and other video games I've played—or have watched other people play—provide inspiration. My art style had been influenced by a great variety of pros, like Frazetta, Wendy Pini, Hayao Miyazaki, Katsuhiro Otomo, Yukito Kishiro, Nestor Redondo, Joe Madureira. I actually don't consider myself a videogame artist, but more an artist working in video games.

Szabo: Speaking of art, Bungie has designed a couple of female characters, like Konoko in Oni and Cortana in Halo. What do you think about how these women—and women in video games in general—are portayed?

McLees: It seems that videogames studios are mainly made up of a bunch of guys, and the women in their games are perhaps portrayed in the way they themselves see women. Here, the same 3-D artist who wanted to not portray women as sex objects to be ogled and drooled over, coincidentally, modeled Konoko and Cortana. Never mind that Cortana was basically a naked hologram! For her action figure, it was important that she didn't look too young, as she did in the game, so she became a little buxom. I'd requested her to not be as buxom, but somehow, the sculptor just didn't want to make that change. We ran out of time, and there we go. [shrugs]

With Oni coming out after Tomb Raider, the publishing team set out to create a different kind of action heroine with Konoko. She was going to be tough as nails, but just a touch vulnerable (you know, to play boys' undeveloped sense of chivalry). She had angst like any young hero, but she was not going to be weepy and whiny or hormonal. She was never to be portrayed as some sex object. But, it was tough trying to keep to that path when our marketing venues wanted to see some skin. I had to compromise one cover illustration. Instead of her being drawn practically naked with nothing but her ammo belt, bandoliers, and two guns, I drew her with a torn and battered costume. So, instead of just having a sexy look, she has this "Come any closer, and I'll kick your ass!" look. But, apparently, that was even sexier. I just can't win! [laughs]

Konoko, a "different kind of action heroine."

Szabo: There's obviously still very few women in the videogame business. What has that been like for you?

McLees: I like to think that it has been pretty easy. I grew up with four brothers, so I'm used to the attitudes and general, uh … behavior. My brothers also had a lot of influence in my hobbies. I had early and frequent exposure to comics, games, sci-fi, anime, fantasy, and military stuff—stuff that a lot of the guys in games are into, but not many other women are into. So, I get along pretty well. I put up with obscenities, lots of trash talk. I just wish they wouldn't flash the person behind me a birdy when I'm looking right at them, or worse, moon somebody in the same room I'm in! But, above all that, there is this one damned annoying thing: None of the guys understand what happens when I go through PMS.

Szabo: [laughing] Those are some pretty crazy working conditions! Are you seeing any changes in the industry? Are more women getting into the field?

McLees: I can't rightly say I'm seeing any changes. There are definitely other women who work in the videogame industry. You'll often find them in the publishing side of things, instead of game development—graphic designers working on manuals, localization teams, perhaps as program managers—positions that require good organizational and personnel skills. If the recent addition of three female contractors here at Bungie is any indication, I would say, yes, more women are getting into the field.

Szabo: What advice would you give people interested in a career in videogame art, and to women in particular?

McLees: Develop your craft. Know what the job entails. Make sure you have the skills needed to be successful in that job. Companies tend to hire based on skill, not gender. However, I think large companies would lean in a woman's favor to diversify their ranks. But, would you want to work at a place that hired you based on your gender more than your skill?

Szabo: Very good point. Now, I know you also met your husband through Bungie. How do you like working together? Do you get "gamed out" sometimes?

McLees: I like working with Robert, even if it is indirectly. We pretty much see each other as husband and wife before we get to the office, at lunch, and after work, once we've left the premises. The rest of the time we are just coworkers who know each other really well. The guys seemed to have adjusted to that notion okay, but I can tell that sometimes they forget, and sometimes I get the feeling they think that what one knows, the other does—or that, if one feels one way about a particular subject, so would the other. As for "gamed out?" [chuckles] There've been times when we'd be in the middle of this discussion that started before we left the office and lasted long into the evening, and I'd just have to say, "Could we come home now?" It's really important to me that we can leave work behind and actually be a family.

Superwoman—wife, mom, artist, gamer.

Szabo: Speaking of which, you and Robert have baby boy now. Has that affected your feelings about video games and the violence often associated with this form of entertainment?

McLees: Not really. I've always felt that video games are just that: entertainment. It's awfully fun to mow down an opponent with a Warthog or shoot up another player with a shotgun. But, I don't see myself getting into our truck and running down anybody I see, or picking up a weapon and going on a killing spree. How do I distinguish fantasy from reality? I think having moral values instilled in me at a young age helped a lot. So, my little boy is in trouble. He's going to have to learn to be accountable for his actions as he's growing up. [smiles]

Szabo: Out of curiosity, what are your favorite video games? What are you playing right now?

McLees: Halo. Super Puzzle Fighter Turbo. Wipeout XL. Other racing and skill games. I'm actually not playing much lately, except Halo and Halo 2 at work. I get home so late, I don't have much time to play anymore. I love to play co-op games with Robert when we can. Oh! But we bought a couple of Gameboy SPs, and I'm at the beginning of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

Szabo: So, what do you see in the future for video games?

McLees: More realistic graphics, more co-op play. Everything will be playable online.

Szabo: Thanks, Lorraine, for your interesting insight. We look forward to seeing more of your art with Halo 2 and other Bungie games coming down the pipe!