On August 7th, the Autumn Society of Philadelphia will be hosting its first video game themed show, entitled "8-Bit and Beyond." Over 50 area artists will be presenting gaming themed art, from classic 80's titles to much more recent entries.

In the time leading up to the show, we'll be presenting a few selections and conducting short interviews with the artists, getting a better look at what gaming fans have to look forward to. This week, we talk to Kim Herbst and Jeff DeSantis about their pieces, ranging from Zelda to Metroid.

Give a little introduction to yourself.

My name is Kim Herbst and I'm a freelance illustrator in Brooklyn, NY. I attended the Maryland Insitute College of Art and received a BFA in Illustration.  I worked in the world of casual web-games for about 1 1/2 years before deciding to go into my true love of freelance illustration. It's a wonderful feeling! (http://www.kimherbst.com)

What is the name of your piece and what medium was it done in?

I think it's officially become "We're Gonna Need A Bigger Rucksack..." based off the Legend of Zelda (And...Jaws??). That poor 'lil guy has to lug around so much stuff through Hyrule after you collect everything. Usually I work in brush 'n ink and scan the artwork in to color it digitally, however, due to time contraints, this entire piece will be made in Photoshop. The final product will be printed as a signed limited edition on acid-free archival paper and mounted on board at 13" x 19."

Why did you choose the game you did for this piece?

The Legend of Zelda is one of the most universally known games, probably right under Super Mario! I wanted to create work for something that most people would recognize, and not just hardcore gamers.  Link's been around for over 20 years, so that says something right there! There's something that's so neat about Zelda that's carried from one game into the next when they're not even the same storyline. For one, the protagonist doesn't even get to have his name in the title. Another would be the underlying themes of heroism, knowledge, and power. The basics for any person, child or adult, wanting some adventure.

Did you play games growing up?

Yes indeedy! My older brother had bought an NES system and a few games. We had the classics like Zelda (of course!), Super Mario Brothers, Mega Man etc.  Then we had some of those weirdo ones from the '80s like Jaws and Willow (you know... that fantasy movie with Val Kilmer?) that probably didn't make much sense but you just didn't care because you got to control a pixelated character running around on a screen, same as the other games. My siblings and I would then meet up with neighbors when someone else got a SNES or N64; we started competing in games like Mario Kart and Goldeneye.

Are you playing any video games right now?

Not nearly as much as say, back in college.  The last game I was truly playing was Odin Sphere for the PS2 until my room mate sold his PS2 (boooo...) and FFVII. I tried small amounts of Killzone 2, Resistance 2, Team Fortress 2 (lots of 2's...), Pixel Junk's Eden and some others.  I just don't have the time to really get into anything now.  But back in college I used to meet up with friends to play Halo each week with about three or four systems hooked up and then we'd project the screens onto the computer lab's walls.  I used that and Soul Calibur 2 for stress relief.  I ended up going a bit old-school and played Powerstone with some others, or Rez afterwards.

Were there any other games/compositions you considered?

Most definitely.  There are a lot of other games I've watched friends play and really loved the artwork and design. Street Fighter II is another classic and there are so many characters to choose from. Shadow of the Colossus has absolutely beautiful concepts and colors. The same goes for Rez, only in a completely opposite direction.  Mega Man since he recently came out with Mega Man 9 in original pixel-form.  Even FFVII, because well... it's FFVII and nothing more needs to be said on that.  But as I said earlier, I wanted to create something universal. I definitely felt more of a connection when playing Zelda than most other games.

Do you think that games can be seen as art? Why?

Of course! As I said, I used to be an artist and animator for 2d flash games. The people that come up with designs, from something as detailed as BioShock to simple forms like for Eden, is all made up of artwork.  I have quite a few friends who do concept art and 3d animation for games; the amount of time and effort put into those games is incredible.  It's also a new outlet for artists to have their work seen.  The industry provides numerous jobs for us that we originally didn't even have! I'll also be honest, if a game doesn't spend much time on its artwork, as someone who creats art, I tend to shy away from that game.  The visuals are what a person will see in a game first and foremost.  It's what I'll be staring at the entire time as I experience it!

Give a little introduction to yourself.

My name is Jeff DeSantis (aka: "BleedingEdges"), I'm a graphic designer and illustrator. I enjoy hardcore/punk rock, vinyl toys, Star Wars and cookies. (www.bleedingedges.net)

What is the name of your piece and what medium was it done in?

My piece is called "METROIDZ" because I'm terribly un-original. It
started out as a drawing in Illustrator, which is then printed and cut
out on poster paper to make a stencil, then spray painted onto a piece of canvas board. The idea behind it was that Samus was surrounded by a horde of alien Metroids. I used the same Metroid stencil multiple times in different colors to make the background.

Why did you choose the game you did for this piece?

When I was a kid, I remember the Kool-Aid Wacky Warehouse had a
promotion and for like 200 points plus shipping, you can get a copy of Metroid 2 for Game Boy. Needless to say I drank a lot of Koo-Aid that summer. I became obsessed w/ the game, playing it way more than any of the other Metroid games.

Did you play games growing up?

My parents were against buying me a NES, but I saved X-Mas and
birthday money to get one myself. It was pretty awesome, I was never really that great, but then Game Genie came along. I also had a Game Boy, and later a Genesis. I was real into Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 and GTA 3 while in college since I could play them on my PC.

Are you playing any video games right now?

Unfortunately not, the life of a starving artist doesn't leave much
room in the budget for video games. I do enjoy Guitar Hero and Rock Band, since I actually play in bands in real life.

Were there any other games/compositions you considered?

Definitely, I actually working on a much larger Mega Man piece. It's
a bit more complex, but hopefully people will dig that too.

Do you think that games can be seen as art? Why?

Oh most definitely! Even in researching the 8-bit look, I gained a
real appreciation of what some of these programmers could do with such little technology at the time. Now with CGI technology growing in leaps, games look almost like movies.