Like most creatives who end up working for Critical RoleCharlie Borowski was a fan at first.
Borovsky, who lives in Prague, said he started watching Critical Role's Dungeons and Dragons campaign on Twitch, a stream that remains a mainstay business teams in the world of nerds.
Ten years lateras a critical role sells out stadiums for his live performances and appearances Animated series supported by Amazon As for the broadcast he watched at home, Borowski found himself contributing to it. He is an artist Critical Role co-founder Liam O'Brien “The Cat Prince”, a 112-page children's book.
O'Brien, according to Borowski, has been aware of his work and portfolio since he began posting fan art of his wizard character, Caleb Widogast, in 2018. But more than five years passed before O'Brien approached Borowski and asked if he would like to do the art for “Katzenprince.”
“We started communicating via email in the fall of 2023, and it wasn’t until the winter of 2024 that we started the project,” Borowski said.
“He approached me about it and asked if I wanted to join, and I said, ‘Hell yeah, it’s a great fit for me,’” Borowski added.
Then came a six-month crisis for Borowsky, when Katzenprinz was the only art project he was working on. Borowski also provides art for other tabletop role-playing projects and is a freelance creative for both books and games.
“This was my life. I didn’t do anything else,” Borowski said. “I’m also chronically ill, so if I have a job, that’s all I have to do and I don’t have enough hours in the day to do anything else.”
Working with O'Brien went smoothly, Borowski said, as they quickly moved from sketches to line drawings and then finished the job.
“To be honest, Liam was very pleasant and easy to work with. I only had a few notes from him and most of them were like, 'Looks great, keep up the good work,'” Borowski said.
Borowsky said the early concept work was his favorite part of the process because he was given more creative freedom when collaborating with O'Brien's letter.
“It usually gets more difficult towards the end of the project when you just have to do the manual work of rendering and shading everything,” Borowski said.
According to Borowski, the most rewarding part of the project was O'Brien promoting the book after its release.
“It was worth it. It really warmed my heart after some of the stress of the deadline to actually see him talk about it and it genuinely seemed like he was really proud of the project,” Borowski said.
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“Der Katzenprinz” is a short story written by Liam O'Brien. Charlie Borowsky made full-fledged illustrations for the fairy tale. Insight Editions
Borowski told Business Insider that his advice can help artists whether they're hoping to land work at Critical Role or other companies.
First, Borowsky says, it's important to define your personal style as an artist. This means getting a better handle on the fundamentals of the art so that companies are convinced that you can deliver what they are asking for.
“I wouldn't recommend focusing on creating an art style that is so different from everyone else that everyone will remember you,” Borowski said. “That’s not really the point. You need a style that will work for all publishers, but is also unique enough that people will recognize it as yours.”
Secondly, Borovsky says, there is a demand for artists who not only draw characters, but also have some versatility.
“Usually you have to work not only with the characters, but also with all the other things: creatures, magical items, environments,” Borowsky said.
Borowski added that it's important to fill your online portfolio with a variety of things you can draw.
“I definitely say you need to participate in online portfolio day events and just follow art directors online,” Borowsky said.
“Sometimes art directors will post online and say, ‘We’re looking for an artist,’ and you can leave a link to your portfolio underneath the post,” Borowsky said.
If you're hoping to work at Critical Role, Borowski suggests creating more fan art to get noticed by the company's creative team, as well as continuing to hone your skills.
““Critical Role is really good at casting artists from their fan art circles, rather than assigning it to someone completely new,” Borowski said.
