Episode 474 - Interview with Molly Baldridge, artist of Drained

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·14m 54s·analyzed·Nov 22, 2022

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.025

TL;DR

Molly Baldridge discusses the artistic process behind Drained pinball game.

Summary

Nicholas Backbone interviews Molly Baldridge, the artist behind Drained, a Multimorphic P3 homebrew pinball game. They discuss the extensive illustration process, artistic influences (Edward Gorey, Centaur, Pinbot), the challenges of designing layered plastic artwork, cabinet magnetism, and the collaborative family effort that went into the game's visual design. Baldridge reveals this was her first professional illustration project in 20 years and hints at future collaborations.

Key Claims

Molly Baldridge did all artwork for Drained—both digital and physical components—a departure from typical multi-artist pinball production.
high confidence · Nicholas Backbone states directly: 'Normally there are different people that handle different aspects, the physical components, the digital components, and so forth, but you did everything.'
The artistic style for Drained was inspired by Edward Gorey's pen-and-ink illustration work and macabre humor.
high confidence · Nicholas Backbone: 'I came to you and asked if you might be able to illustrate in the style of Edward Gorey... we have both admired Edward Gorey's illustration style, his artwork, and his macabre humor.'
Molly Baldridge had not done professional illustration work for approximately 20 years before Drained, focusing instead on interior design and computer drafting.
high confidence · Molly states: 'Illustration is not something I've done in a professional capacity. In fact, I really have not spent much time drawing over the past, I would say, 20 years since I was in art school.'
Nicholas Backbone deliberately gave Molly artwork in small increments rather than revealing the full scope upfront as a risk-management strategy.
high confidence · Nicholas: 'I will admit that yes, I did just give you a little piece at a time. My thought process there was that if this became too difficult or too much, then I could transition.'
The game contains 15 different vampire characters, each with unique interior castle designs to set them apart.
high confidence · Nicholas: 'With 15 vampires, the challenge was coming up with different concepts for each castle interior that would actually set them apart.'
Molly used reference photographs of herself wearing a backpack to inform the proportions and angles of the slingshot character artwork.
high confidence · Molly: 'I had Sophia take pictures of me with a backpack on. So from behind so that I could get some just ideas of, you know, the angles and everything of and the proportion of how it should look.'
Nicholas Backbone plans to collaborate with Molly Baldridge on a future game, though acknowledges it may not happen.

Notable Quotes

“Illustrating any pinball game is just a tremendous amount of work, and you did all of it. Normally there are different people that handle different aspects, the physical components, the digital components, and so forth, but you did everything. So I'm very impressed and proud of the work you've done.”
Nicholas Backbone @ Early in interview — Establishes the exceptional scope of Molly's solo contribution to the project
“With the crosshatching style, there's so many little marks, you don't have to be afraid of making a mark because there's a million other ones. So it's just feels more comfortable to me.”
Molly Baldridge @ Early discussion — Reveals Molly's comfort with the crosshatching technique and her artistic philosophy
“I had this really intricate [shirt]... There were a couple instances where that happened, where I spent many, many hours on details, and yes. When somebody changes that bumper skirt, 20 years from now or so, they'll get to see that beautiful artwork.”
Molly Baldridge @ Mid-interview — Highlights the hidden details and Easter eggs in artwork that may never be seen by players due to overlapping components
“I remember that being very complicated because different changes, there are so many different layers and it would take some time for them to save or modifications to take hold. And that caused some frustration especially later on.”
Molly Baldridge @ Cabinet artwork discussion — Describes technical challenges with magnetic cabinet artwork rendering and file management
“I just had a lot of fun making those different little drawings. And those are kind of Easter eggs. They're referencing different famous works of art.”
Molly Baldridge @ Slingshot artwork section — Reveals intentional cultural references and hidden details embedded in the minuscule portrait insert artwork
“I'm about to contradict myself because I just said I hate drawing people but I think I had the most fun... the little portraits with all the different little frames. They were just so teeny and I really enjoyed the different details that I added to that.”
Molly Baldridge — Shows Molly's personal artistic preferences despite initial resistance to human figures

Entities

Nicholas BackbonepersonMolly BaldridgepersonDrainedgameMultimorphiccompanyEdward GoreypersonCentaurgame Pinbotgame

Signals

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design_innovation: Drained employs extensive crosshatching and Edward Gorey-inspired pen-and-ink aesthetic on layered plastic artwork, a distinctive visual approach in modern homebrew pinball
high · Nicholas and Molly extensively discuss crosshatching technique, Art Nouveau details, and the integration of 2D illustration with 3D plastic stacking that reveals different imagery
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design_innovation: Drained features complex multi-layer plastic artwork where different plastic pieces stack to form complete images (e.g., vampire's face/cape/clothing), with integrated LED inserts on the back
high · Nicholas: 'I wanted the wooden portion of the playfield module to have plastics that reflected a vampire its face and cape and clothing all built into that wooden piece but stacked in a way that when assembled you get the entire picture'
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design_philosophy: Deliberate inclusion of elaborate, potentially unseen artwork (e.g., detailed shirt under bumper skirts, minuscule vampire teeth in portrait frames) as intentional creative expression even if hidden from regular play
high · Molly describes spending 'many, many hours on details' that may be covered; artist added vampire teeth to each tiny portrait frame as Easter eggs referencing famous artworks
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personnel_signal: Molly Baldridge returns to professional illustration work after approximately 20-year hiatus from art school, focusing instead on interior design and computer drafting
high · Molly: 'Illustration is not something I've done in a professional capacity. In fact, I really have not spent much time drawing over the past, I would say, 20 years since I was in art school.'
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Topics

Artistic process and illustration techniquesprimaryHomebrew P3 pinball game developmentprimaryEdward Gorey influence and macabre aestheticprimaryLayered plastic artwork design and 2D/3D integrationprimaryHidden artwork details and Easter eggssecondaryCollaborative game development with familysecondaryVampire character design and personificationsecondaryReturn to professional illustration after career breakmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.85)— Both Nicholas and Molly express genuine pride and satisfaction with the collaborative effort. The tone is warm, appreciative, and celebratory. Molly occasionally mentions frustration with technical challenges and admitting dislike of drawing people, but frames these as overcome obstacles. Overall sentiment is very favorable toward the project and hints at future collaboration.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.045

Music Nicholas Baldridge Welcome back to For Amusement Only, this is Nicholas Baldridge and tonight I have a special guest, Molly. Molly Hello! Welcome back Molly, it's been a long time since we've been on the show together. Couple years. Yeah, a lot has changed in that time, including the release of our first game that we made together. So you did all of the artwork, both digitally and on the physical components of the new pinball game for the Multimorphic P3 pinball platform called Drain. So I wanted to take a bit of time this evening to talk to you about the process and kind of how we went about it, but also before we get into that, I was curious, are you excited to see the reaction? I am excited. So for the artwork for the game, I came to you in the beginning and asked if you'd be interested in illustrating this game. When I came to you at first, were you thinking this would be the next year of your life? Certainly not, no. This is a massive project, obviously. Illustrating any pinball game is just a tremendous amount of work, and you did all of it. Normally there are different people that handle different aspects, the physical components, the digital components, and so forth, but you did everything. So I'm very impressed and proud of the work you've done. The concept for the artwork, though, I came to you and asked if you might be able to illustrate in the style of Edward Gorey. For those unfamiliar, Edward Gorey was a multi-talented creative person, but probably most well-known for pen and ink illustrations in both children's literature, PBS Mystery Hour. He did the illustrations for Intro to That. Yes, so we have both admired Edward Gorey's illustration style, his artwork, and his macabre humor. I actually found a book when doing some research for this project that we had. I had gifted it to you back in 2003. It was the Amphigore Also volume. So yes, doing something with that type of art style was very appealing to both of us. Tell us a little more about your background. I do have a creative background. Illustration is not something I've done in a professional capacity. In fact, I really have not spent much time drawing over the past, I would say, 20 years since I was in art school. I've focused more on interior design and computer drafting, basically. So this was totally different and it allowed me to explore more of the crosshatching style, which is something I've always been drawn to. With the crosshatching style, there's so many little marks, you don't have to be afraid of making a mark because there's a million other ones. So it's just a, feels more comfortable to me. Yeah, there's a ton of crosshatching involved. Very detailed, small. Very labor intensive. Yes. Very time consuming. Obviously on my side, I was very influenced by games like Centaur, the black and white art package, and also artwork designed by Python Anghelo. So he did the artwork for games like Pinbot. There a lot of 3D elements in the artwork plastics that stack in a particular way and reveal a different image So part of the thought process from the artistic direction side was that I wanted the wooden portion of the playfield module to have plastics that reflected a vampire its face and cape and clothing all built into that wooden piece but stacked in a way that when assembled you get the entire picture Yes, so the first thing you gave me was the back glass. We basically just wanted a title and set within maybe some sort of gate. Yeah, so that required a few different versions just to get that key art the way that we wanted it to look. Established. Yeah, just the style and we used that as kind of the style guide for the rest of the artwork. Mm-hmm. So the next thing was the... I actually really enjoyed that illustration, the stone steps and... We had a lot of discussion about the interior and how it should be decorated. And of course that comes into play later on. But particularly the rug, I remember there being a lot of discussion about the style for covering. I don't know if we can go too deep into this. I don't know how interesting it is for everybody. Yeah, let's... Move it along. Let's move it along. Let's move along. Yeah, so after I finished illustrating the interior of the castle for that playfield piece, we moved on to the plastics. And... He started me off small, not revealing the scope of the entire project. I will admit that yes, I did just give you a little piece at a time. My thought process there was that if this became too difficult or too much, then I could transition To serve Pantsathlon's in the playfield module have the image of the the bat, the kind of happy bat, and then the vampire escape which comes around to its face, so I wanted to speak with you specifically about that artwork and the challenge that that presented. Because me, I'm not an art person and I tasked you with something that I felt was very very difficult. But was it like how did you feel about it? The cape portion wasn't too tricky. It was, it really came down to illustrating the face because the bottom portion was flat on the playfield, the wooden portion, and then the upper part of the face was vertical and... It had to integrate with those inserts on the back. Yes, there was a lot happening in a small amount of space and I wasn't quite clear on it in the very beginning, but after a while we figured it out. So, after the vampire's face and the plastics, what was the next? I believe we've moved on to the shirt, sadly, a lot of it got covered up by I had this really intricate Ascot? Yes. I think my first time seeing a pinball, I was like, I want to see a pinball. I was like, okay, nevermind. There were a couple instances where that happened, where I spent many, many hours on details, and yes. When somebody changes that pop bumper skirt, 20 years from now or so, they'll get to see that beautiful artwork. Yes, artwork. That shirt, though, wasn't the biggest piece of that artwork, and there were a few There were two pieces of that that we had to go back and forth on in order just to get everything right There were proportions that needed to be modified because when stacked with the plastics It kind of an awkward position to have his hands Yeah I was trying to struggle a little bit with how to position the arms and how to fit everything onto the board whether it would show but ultimately I was pretty adamant that the hands needed to be on the wooden portion, and one of our discussions was that the hands should go onto the digital portion, but I kind of wanted that separation between them, so the hands beckon you into the gobble hole. We moved on to the slingshot. And the side target. Right. So I actually had a lot of fun making those tiny little illustrations of the portraits hanging on the wall. I don't know if anybody will ever notice, but each one does have vampire teeth in it. They're minuscule, but in each frame is different. And I just had a lot of fun making those different little drawings. And those are kind of Easter eggs. They're referencing different famous works of art. Yes, they are. So tell me a little more about the slingshots. So with the slingshots, I had Sophia take pictures of me with a backpack on. So from behind so that I could get some just ideas of, you know, the angles and everything of and the proportion of how it should look. And then I'd use those photos for inspiration for both figures. So in the game, for those who haven't seen it yet, there are inserts that move back and forth when you hit the slingshots and they indicate characters speaking. So all the callouts are centered around that. So the concept was that I wanted these characters to be kind of floating above, but if you look at them, it's like they're looking up at the coffin, which is on the dais or on the stairs. So it was kind of tricky to convey exactly what I wanted, but I think you did a perfect job. So after that I had you work on the cabinet artwork, and the cabinet artwork on the P3 is a little different in that it's magnetic. So there's a magnetic apron, and then the magnetic sides of the cabinet and the head. I believe we started with the apron? I think so. Yeah. And so for the apron what I did is I typed out the rules and then used the same font that was used in the game. Yeah, so you had an idea of a path walking up to a castle to see the exterior. And so that was kind of fun by just looking at different different pictures of castles and picking things that I liked here and there and selecting features that I felt went with the style that had already been established. Yeah, it's cohesive. I think it's awesome. So the cabinet artwork that was on a much larger scale. I remember that being very complicated because different changes, there are so many different layers and it would take some time for them to save or modifications to take hold. And that caused some frustration especially later on. Yes, it was one more piece of this huge massive puzzle. Overall I'm very pleased with the final product of our collaboration together. You're very kind but you did all of the artwork. Well, but you set the foundation and gave instruction. Sometimes it turned out exactly what you recommended. But you did allow me to use my creative license to make my own decisions about some of the elements in the game. But overall, it's definitely the mastermind of yours. Well, the game wouldn't be what it is without your work. Once all the physical artwork was finished, and each of these things happened in stages, so you would complete the wooden artwork and then I would take that and then apply tests. I would print them out on paper large format and then tape them to the white wood make sure that everything was the right scale and everything looked the way that we wanted Then I was able to start getting a feel for how the lights should interact with the different pieces of the artwork It was a really fun L Open ba abrir buttonxis pinball collects thatMaster invade pinball JESSIC utrd likes un use sign consulted Indust Guerra So... Yes, yes there was. I think the first thing I had you do was draw the inserts. Yes, those were really fun because it was a very small little thing and I was able to incorporate some of the Art Nouveau style that I've always admired that you'll notice in some window panes of the castle and... Some of the other details in the various aspects of the artwork. So I just added a little bit of that detail to the little insert. And the cape shot. Part nouveauinspired. Aside from the inserts, then it was time to go and decorate the interiors of each castle. And with 15 vampires, the challenge was coming up with different concepts for each castle interior that would actually set them apart. And I came up with a few, but you also came up with quite a few of them. And then definitely the artwork that you came up with for the interiors was different than what I had envisioned. But I think it's all very cohesive. It adds a little bit of humor along with the different vampires themselves, which we haven't talked about illustrating the 15 different vampires, which drawing people is my least favorite, but powered through and they, I did have fun creating different personalities for the different characters that you selected. So yeah. So one of the things that's a bit unique about the game is that it's a mixture of 2D and 3D. So the all the illustrations are 2D and then for the vampires that you illustrated I made bones for them and then made them move around and jiggle and dance and so forth. Because I refuse to do any more drawing and animate myself. So out of all the pieces that you illustrated which is your favorite? So I'm about to contradict myself because I just said I hate drawing people but I think I had the most fun I had a lot of fun drawing the little portraits with all the different little frames. They were just so teeny and I really enjoyed the different details that I added to that. So that's one of my favorites. I remember early on, Sophia and I had a lot of discussions about the different personalities of the vampires and so it was really fun to be able to collaborate with the entire family at Portions. That's one of the things I really like about developing games. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the game, but making this game was very special because we got to work together and we haven't collaborated on a game previously. So as much time as I spend making games. But this was fun. So I hope you all enjoy it. And I definitely can't wait to work together on the next game. You heard it here first. Yeah. It's a grand idea. I don't know if it's going to become a reality, but it'll be fun. I'm anxious to hear and see what people think about the game. Well, thanks for joining me tonight, and thank you all for listening. You can find more out about the game at DrainPinball.com. Thanks very much for listening, and I'll talk to you next time. Subtitles by the Amara.org community