Sometimes, it pays to take a step back and take stock of things. Bruce Sharp has recently done that with Pirates of the Burning Sea. In fact, the art director has taken a good look at what the art of the game was before, what it is now, and where it's heading.

For more on the state of the PotBS "ArtCo" art, (and why it's called that way) turn to the full article after the jump.

Bruce Sharp, art director for Pirates of the Burning Sea, spoke with Coldfront PotBS and well... It wasn't exactly Larry King interviewing God. It was more like off-the-wall chitchat with questions such as "What were you doing right before answering these questions for us?"  "What do you normally get up to during your off hours?" and "Cake or Pie?" Things Larry King wouldn't ask God.

But in between the friendly banter Sharp did manage to say a few inter sting things about the game that he helped develop. For instance, Sharp says working on a pirate game is like "being an imagineer in the 50s creating the Pirates of the Caribbean ride." He describes PotBS as a dazzling and Romantic genre that would make the imagine jump into hyperdrive.

Of course, being an art director he says he is most proud of the game's art design. "The new characters are smashing, the environments are amazing, the ocean is still stunning to me. Our game looks something like an N.C. Wyeth illustration - I hear it all the time and nothing could make me prouder."

In case you missed Wyeth's guest appearance on Larry King Live back in the 1930s, Newell Convers (N.C.) Wyeth painted a series of illustrations for Treasure Island, The Yearling, The White Company, Robinson Crusoe, The Last of the Mohicans, Kidnapped, and Robin Hood. Today, Wyeth's illustrations are considered modern classics. No wonder Sharp gets a kick out of the comparison.

But Sharp says the PotBS gameplay will be what people are most excited about. "I want them to have a fabulous experience when they play our game, one that keeps them coming back so that we can continue to crank out more and more content for this genre."

Oh, Sharp also says he wants the press to say "Wow, I can't believe someone as handsome as you is also so talented." For a job well done, we're leaving that line in.