How did you get into the industry?
I had watched Ready Player One and adored the movie. That got me looking into VFX, which then subsequently got me into studying Game Art Animation. After finishing my degree, I did a short term contract working on the Yayoi Kasama x Louis Vuitton campaign and worked with amazing, experienced veterans in advertising.
Where are you based now and who do you work for?
My headquarters are in London, where I’m currently just working on my portfolio!
If you weren’t in your current industry, what would you be doing?
Definitely either photography or theatre acting. I’ve always had a flare for the dramatic, but I’m actually very chilled and could spend hours alone with my camera and nature.
Can you explain your creative process? What makes it unique?
I probably spend too much time on pre-production and creating technical/game design documents. I need to have every aspect of a model clear in my head before I’m able to start modelling, which is something I hope to overcome.
After mapping everything out I then move to Maya and make a rough blockout of the scene so that I know the composition will work. I then begin modelling the biggest objects or the ones that the eye is drawn to, that way I can make sure everything matches up stylistically.
After I model one object, I UV it straight away, as UV’s are the bane of my existence and doing a whole batch of them slows me down (I just get bored!). After all the greyscale models are complete, I take them into Substance Painter to texture them.
Lastly, I import my completed models into Unreal Engine to do the environment comp and render. I’d say I work quite thoroughly and methodically, but never without music in the background!
How would you describe your style?
An imitation of reality with a fantastical essence. Basically, I model and texture assets in a photo-realistic style, but set up my scenes in a way that adds a magical quality to it. Whether its through god rays or lighting, I try make my environments feel inviting and mysterious.
Which individuals do you gain inspiration from? Do you have any heroes in the industry?
The projects in the Games industry are so collaborative and large scale that its hard to pick out individuals, though I will say Yoko Taro (director of Nier:Automota) has such a unique sense of style of vision that im drawn to.
I also admire Ninja Theory, as they really resuscitated the studio with such a stigma-breaking and technologically ground-breaking game as Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. In my personal life, one of my mentors is Veno Prendergast, a lecturer at Bournemouth University who has an amazing work ethic and drive, as well as a fantastic sense of humour.
What tips would you give to aspiring creatives looking for work?
I can only pass on what I’ve been told, and that is to absolutely devote yourself to your portfolio and make one amazing showreel with approximately three pieces to showcase. And honestly, just get your foot in the door. If the title is wrong, its okay, because an in-house recommendation for another role goes a long way.
What tips would you give to other professionals to get more clients?
Network. Flesh out your online presence and reach out to potential clients to offer your services.
What kind of tools/kit/software could you not do without?
An amazing app called PureRef is a lifesaver. It works by overlaying the app with your desktop, allowing your references to always be front and centre. I use it when modelling and texturing.
The software I can’t live without is Substance Painter. Adobe really made it easy to create authentic textures from scratch. I often use one of their smart materials as a base and change/add layers from there.
What’s your secret to staying inspired and motivated?
Maintaining your hobbies and interests outside of work. For a lot of us creatives, we’ve taken the hobby we enjoyed most and made it our jobs. I hit a wall and my work slowed down to a grinding halt because I lost the joy for what I was doing after working so intensely for a short period of time.
Basically, I got burnt out. The thing I loved doing became a chore. So its important to keep that spark alive by breaking up the monotony of sitting at your desk working on 3D constantly. Wether you’re into digital art on a tablet or oil paining or taking a stick of charcoal and getting your hands dirty, just make sure you carve out time to go back to the basics.
With regards to my actual 3D work and inspiration, I love browsing ArtStation and Pinterest. Seeing other people’s fantastic concept art or photo comps is the easiest way to find inspiration for something new.
What’s the work achievement you’re most proud of?
Working on the Louis Vuitton campaign! It was such a great learning experience and we had a lot of fun.
What is the one thing that you would change about the industry?
The application process. I have had applications get rejected and the company had not even looked at my showreel. Its just interesting to see and I wonder what parameters were set to have my application eliminated.
Any websites, books or resources you would recommend?
For beginners, 3D total publishing have a wide array of books that will help to hone your software skills and improve your mental library of concepts and art to draw from.
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