Meet the Team Monday

Christina Andriano, Lead Artist

This week I got to interview our amazing lead artist, Christina Andriano!

Question #1) What do you do at Petricore?

I’m Lead Artist at Petricore and I do anything art related. Besides all the art and animation for our games and contracts, I also create our marketing materials.

Question #2) Where are you from, and where did you go to school?

I’m from New Jersey. I came to Massachusetts to study game design at Becker College, where I graduated with a B.A. in Interactive Media and Design (Becker’s game design major). I also have a B.S. in Criminal justice that I got at Kean University in New Jersey. If you count an Associates degree in liberal arts from my community college I have 3 degrees. 

Question #3) What do you like to do outside work?

I do a mix of playing games, watching anime, reading manga, watching tv shows and movies. I haven’t done too much drawing these days but I recently picked it back up along with writing with a friend.

Fruity Rainbow Palette

Question #4) What are some of your favorite colors to use in your work? (or combinations of colors)

I haven’t found a way to use it yet for work but there’s a color palette I was known for during my online digital artist days. I always called it “fruity rainbow.” In terms of games at work, I like the palette I used for Gelato Flicker, with its pastels, but I also enjoyed using dark and neon colors for Battery Boy.

Question #5) If you didn’t work in games or any kind of software anymore, what would you do instead?

I would have been doing Criminal Justice related things, I enjoyed that a lot and graduated with the goal of doing Forensic Science. After graduating I had decided I wanted to go back to school for Game Design, which was another job I was interested in. If I had to leave software entirely I’d go back into Forensic Science.

Question #6) If you could have a mundane superpower, what would it be? (ex. photosynthesis, reading really fast)

I would like the ability to recreate what I see or imagine in my head directly on paper. I think that a lot of artists can visualize something clearly but find it difficult getting it out onto paper. For me at least, it will never look as good as I imagined it in my head. (Editors note: they still look very good)

Question #7) What’s a fond memory you have from the first year of Petricore?

We all took a chance together at the beginning – that was cool. We were confident enough in each other that we were able to jump in together. We worked out of our apartment for a bit but once Becker allowed us to use one of their classrooms to work from, I remember leaving every morning with the rest of the team, carrying all of our stuff down the street. We couldn’t keep our equipment there since we couldn’t lock it up so we brought our monitors and computers back and forth each day. I carried my drawing tablet under one arm and my monitor under the other.

Final Fantasy IX Splash Art

Question #8) What are some of your favorite games?

My go-to #1 is Final Fantasy IX, I’d live and die by that game. I also like the Kingdom Hearts franchise despite the plot being so convoluted. I’m a fan of the Phoenix Wright games too. Those are my top tier games. I like all of them but Final Fantasy IX is my game.

Question #9) What inspired you to become a game developer?

Back when I was drawing I thought it’d be cool to make games. I thought: people must have to do art for these games I’m playing. I also liked creating stories and I associated that with making games since it’s a story you can play. I don’t know when I decided I wanted to do Criminal Justice instead, it just kind of happened.

Question #10) If you had to have one song stuck in your head for the rest of your life, what would it be?

I don’t have a song specifically but something kind of upbeat, like in the Eurobeat genre. I like listening to that as background music. I’d always be boppin’ around. When I roll over in my grave at least I’ll be bumpin’.

Question #11) If you could acquire a hidden talent, what would it be?

If I was to redo my life I would learn to dance and do martial arts. Right now I think they’re really cool and I’m sad I didn’t learn them growing up. I wish I kept up with learning tap dancing too, I feel like that’s not very common and I did enjoy it as a kid.

Howl and Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle

Question #12) Who are some artists or art styles that inspire you?

I don’t draw in this style but I really like all the Studio Ghibli movies. I like how soft all his art looks. Those are gorgeous films. I like the art direction in the movie Paprika as well.