|
 |
[Comments on the prize-winning work]
The scenes in which buildings are destroyed and another new building is being built upon the very same site... The repetition of a city's destruction and rebirth in such a way seem natural, similar to human beings' breathing the air. On the very moment when the daylight of the noisy city turns to the still of the night, another new building is being born. Just like human cells keep being reborn, a city keeps its re-birthing activity, too. This work got started from my question whether a city is "alive," too? |
|
|
What motivated you to enter the DCA?
I had come to a dead end in my production of 3D artwork at the time. I wanted to try to create something new, and I thought about giving it a try to enter a work in the DCA. |
Which part of the process of creating your winning work "Revival" did you have the most trouble with?
The base of this artwork was originally a 2D picture, drawn by pen. I tried to change it directly into a 3D picture, but no matter how I did it, it came out to be boring. What I needed to do was to re-structure it into a 3D picture, in my mind, by extracting elements, instead of remaking it while staying loyal to the original. I used MAYA to make the base part, but for adding texture to it, I did rendering without texture, and then used Photoshop to add various kinds of textures on top of each other. |
Do you have any specific theme while working on your art?
Mainly, I am producing art based on themes such as "humans" and "creation." The idea for this work originated from the question "how do I relate such themes with the theme given for this year's contest?" My goal is always to create works which provoke a story or an image within the audience's mind. |
Has anything changed in your life since you won the XX Award of DCA?
(e.g. an increased number of incoming paid work; networking with more artists)
First, the number of visitors to my web site from overseas did increase. I was moved to find people sending me, via email or to my bulletin board, messages, congratulating me on winning the award. My web site was accessed not only from the US, but also other areas, as Taiwan. Also, it has been decided that this work will be published in a magazine. It looks like there will be many possibilities in the future based on this experience. I am looking forward to them. |
What first motivated you to start working on CG?
Right now I am an instructor at a college, but I did not study computer until I became a graduate student at this college. I had been painting only with oil, and so learning the computer provided me with a series of new surprises and inspirations. The timing of this whole experience was also key. It also was around the time when I started to try some modern artistic works. I was wondering if there was any new material in carrying it out, when I came across CG. |
|
 |
Can you offer any words of encouragement to those who are planning to enter their work in the next DCA?
Well, I'm not in the place to give a lecture about it, but one thing I would suggest is to try not to be trapped by stereotypical views. If you let this happen, I think you limit the possibility of expressions in creating works while using a computer. When such fixed ideas are dispelled, is when something interesting can be born. There are only a limited number of opportunities, such as DCA, for us artists to present our artwork. I think it is important to not miss such an opportunity to present one's works, by entering contests like this. |
|
 |
| Click on each picture to enlarge it. |
|
|
 |
|
| I used MAYA to create a 3D picture. |
 |
|
| This is the black-and-white base picture after rendering. I kept creating a new layer each time for partial coloring. I used the brush to put colors on. The mode for the drawing is "soft light," and the degree of "opaqueness" is 70 % to make these layers. I usually kept the viewing size for the left one at 100 %, to make it easy to see it. The right picture shows the layer with the soft light at 70%. |
 |
|
| As the texture of this picture seemed rather smooth, I used the "texture" tool on top of the picture to create the rough feel. I used the texture from a digital photo of a concrete wall that I had taken. On the left is the photo of the texture; on the right is my artwork after the texture was layered on top, with the soft light at 50%. |
 |
|
| There were other textures that I drew myself, as well as other materials, which I layered on top of one another, to complete this work. |
|
|
