Homer Glen man’s art part of video games, board games

• Reprints

Artist Paul Niemeyer of Homer Glen completed the above artwork for the playing field in the board game Napoleon in Europe. | Submitted photo

Updated: February 14, 2012 8:04AM

In his more than 20-year commercial illustration career, Paul Niemeyer of Homer Glen has melded traditional and electronic art to produce an impressive resume.

Niemeyer has created murals, storyboards, event and products rendering and package layouts for restaurants, game companies and private commissions, including Brookfield Zoo, Kraft Foods, Eagle Games, the U.S. Forest Service, American Airlines and Burger King.

Niemeyer is also the owner and creative director of ABYSS Haunts LLC, a hard-core “haunted house” open on October weekends at Dollinger Farms in Channahon. “My Ghost Story” on the Biography Channel recently featured the attraction. View it at www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahxzMqt5NTI.

But Niemeyer, who had set a goal to become an artist while growing up on a Grant Park dairy farm, especially enjoys painting flowers in watercolors, sometimes adding salt to the paint for texture.

“Flowers are colorful, beautiful and organic,” Niemeyer said, recalling the gorgeous wildflowers along the farm’s fence line. “At first I found watercolors unmanageable, but after working with them for awhile, I stopped manipulating them and let them do what they wanted to do.”

Both Niemeyer’s parents enjoyed art. His mother actually had a miniature studio in the corner of her bedroom. When Niemeyer showed an interest and aptitude for art, his parents provided plenty of art supplies. After chore time, Niemeyer wandered into the fields and drew.

Other artistic mentoring came from a Lutheran grade school, where several teachers recognized Niemeyer’s talents and encouraged his creative endeavors. Eventually, Niemeyer concentrated on sculpture, but his real art break came when Bally Technologies asked Niemeyer to design pinball and video game art.

“I worked on the first ‘Tron’ game, ‘Mortal Kombat’ and every ‘Pac-Man’ game except the first one,” Niemeyer said.

In the 1990s, Niemeyer briefly returned to his sculpture roots by creating, displaying and selling his ceramic pieces in galleries, but those efforts did not earn the full-time income Niemeyer had hoped they might.

“I was definitely deluding myself,” Niemeyer said. “Luckily, I didn’t have all my eggs in one basket, so I had something to fall back on.”

While he encourages young artists to follow their yearnings, Niemeyer quickly reminds them it’s difficult to flourish as a free-lance artist. Even if you’re highly proficient in graphic arts, he believes it’s imperative to develop skills in traditional art mediums.

“There’s still a definite need for people who can draw and sketch out ideas in meetings,” Niemeyer said. “So learn how to draw the human figure and work with perspective.”

For more information, visit www.ifreelance.com/pro/36353 and www.directoryofillustration.com/ArtistPortfolioThumbs.aspx?AID=3727.