Roundtable:
The Artist’s
I’m a twenty-two year old artist with a keen interest in a wide range of creative fields. I’ve gone from working in digital 2D to exploring 3D a whole lot. I guess it’s mostly because of my interest in the future of 3DCG cinematics.
I mean, if GPU rendering technology continues to progress, you’ll start seeing indie developers who are wanting to make a cinematic, too. This is why I don’t want to be a 2D-centric artist, I want to be more like Ash Thorp – he’s someone I like to think of as a true all-rounder. Now, this might make it difficult to categorize what I do, but you won’t see me fretting about it. I will always be inspired. So long as I can keep looking to Blur Studio, Digic Pictures and Square Enix to remind myself of what can people have achieved in this industry.
Question: Why Do We Follow Trends?
I want to ask something about trends. It seems rather prevalent for aspiring artists to follow styles and trends too closely.
I’ve seen a lot of stuff that looks just like Naughty Dog, Vitaly Bulgarov and so on. I’m wondering if this is stifling creativity in our field, or if it’s actually a good thing to follow these popular trends so closely.
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Coming Soon:
Character Modeling with Adam Fisher
This is going to be a great month for those of you who are looking to see more 3D artists on Vox Groovy. Our exclusive interview with Adam Fisher is already in the works, and we’re excited to publish it at the end of the week! If you’re wanting to learn something new, we think you’ll be glad to hear that he’s included a detailed rundown of his workflow for the new “Vampire Noble” piece. It’s pretty exciting to see how advances in software like Unreal Engine move this industry forward. Artists like Adam can help us understand exactly how. For those of you who are yet to discover his amazing portfolio, here’s a little introduction he wrote so that we could get to know him:
Prime 1 Studio – Alita Battle Angel TM & © Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
“I’m a freelance character artist, based in Perth, Western Australia. Some of the clients I’ve worked with include Arkane studios, Deep Silver Dambuster Studios, McFarlane Toys, Plastic Wax, and Infinity Ward. I’m currently working with Creative Assembly and Prime 1 Studio.
When I’m not working, I’m usually spending time with my wife and my two young daughters. One of the best parts of being a freelance artist and working from home is the flexibility it allows to spend that extra time with my kids. It can be very challenging at times, since the line between work and home often becomes blurry, but I’m so thankful I’ve been able to be around them so much while they’re young.
Although I try to be flexible, I find that having a good set routine is really important. I have a tendency to over work myself and get lost in the work I’m doing. I try to structure my day so that I have mini goals or targets I want to complete by a set time. I’ve found that breaking down large tasks into smaller chunks helps me to not get too overwhelmed or stressed about what needs to be completed. Working at a computer all day can be quite mentally and physically tiring, so I try to fit in regular workouts to de-stress and keep active. I think it’s important to be able to step back and take time away from the computer, both for your mind and body. Keeping and maintaining that healthy work-life balance is something I’m continuing to work at.”
Stay tuned if you’d like to read the full interview. There’s some quality conversations about Adam’s past, designing collectibles like the Alita Statue, and even a description of what it’s like to work at Creative Assembly. Here’s hoping that you enjoy it.
Here We Go Again
If you’re an aspiring concept artist trying to self-teach digital art, you’re probably overwhelmed by the sheer amount of sources currently available to you on the Internet. The problem is that a lot of these online resources keep all of their applicable advice behind a paywall, usually opting to offer only the inspirational but vague bits and pieces up for free.
This is why, after the success of our 2016 “Ten Tips for Becoming a Better Concept Artist” article, we thought that we’d bring you another set of useful tips from the industry that you can start applying straight away!
Interview with Zac Retz
We’re excited to announce our upcoming interview with Zac Retz.
He is an artist who truly lives for art, and our talk with him will give you a peek at his inspiring practice philosophy. Because it’s really the thousands of hours spent hard at work that will get us into the studios we dream about, and in Zac’s case, the practice helped him to become an art director at DreamWorks. But how could we get there, too? In the interview, Zac shares an integral part of his humble beginnings:
“I was spending every waking moment taking Schoolism classes, painting outside, and making portfolio pieces. Even when I was at work, I was doing a little master study at the bottom of my monitor so my boss wouldn’t see. I did at least a of couple studies every day. I’ve heard some artists say that you have to do a thousand paintings before you do a good one. I believe this is true.”
In the past, Zac also worked at Blur Studio, Sony Pictures Animation, and Laika. He’s a brilliant visual development artist with an adventurous spirit and an eye for colour. If you come back to read the full interview, you’ll even get to hear a little bit about his childhood escapades involving trespassing in old abandoned buildings, hiding away from police flashlights, and how that shined through in his art later.
You can be sure that this particular interview is going to be a tad bit different, here’s hoping you all enjoy it!