Stéphane Wootha Richard is a freelance Concept Artist and Illustrator in the TV, animation, video game and publishing industries. Inspired by his father, he’s used what he learned over the years through music and software development to follow his dream of becoming an artist and is now creating works that are absolutely stunning. Stéphane tells us more about his start and how he uses KeyShot in his process.
是什麼激發了你對成為概念藝術家/插畫家的興趣?
我的父親是一位傳統畫家。因此,我從小就萌生了這樣的想法:有一天,我也會成為一名畫家。但很長一段時間都沒有朝著這個方向發展。在以音樂為生 10 年後,又從事了 6 年的軟體開發工作,直到 36 歲時,我才真正參與到數位藝術中。我最初是一名漫畫書調色師,然後是一名插畫家,現在我是一名自由概念藝術家。
你職業生涯的轉捩點是什麼?
在關鍵時刻,我遇到了很棒的人,他們真的説明我踏入了藝術行業的大門。來自 Ankama Publishing 的編輯(漫畫書著色 消磨時間, 毛利語)到電視製片人亞當·勞森(領銜藝術和廣告 泰坦斯格雷夫),或者 Powerhouse Animation 的偉人(Netflix 上的視覺開發) 惡魔城).就在我需要發生一些事情的時候,他們就在這裡。你可以稱之為運氣,但🙂當我意識到我需要回到我童年的夢想時,我人生的轉捩點發生在某種頓悟上。這很艱難,但今天我很高興我投入了幾個小時,因為這是一份很棒的工作。
你的專案方法有什麼獨特之處?
客觀地看待這一點並不容易,但我認為我作為音樂家和軟體開發人員的過去説明我開發了一種全面的創造力方法。我遠不是任何領域的專家:我不是一個好的鉛筆劃家、畫家或雕塑家。但我認為每一個新的創意挑戰都是一個需要解決的問題。我嘗試依靠各種技能和知識,如攝影、設計原理、構圖、光的物理學、光學定律、相機鏡頭、色彩腳本、視覺敘事和一般的好奇心來創造我的概念和圖像。當需要解決棘手的技術挑戰時,我會嘗試將其分解為更小的問題,以便於管理。
您的主要 3D 建模軟體是什麼?為什麼?
絕對是ZBrush。在我的工作流程中,因為我不關心拓撲,所以它是我測試過的最快、最通用的建模工具。我過去學過Maya、Modo和Blender,它們都是非常棒且非常強大的軟體包。但對於概念藝術,我認為ZBrush就像鉛筆和紙一樣直觀。
Where in the process do you use KeyShot?
I see KeyShot as my canvas. With the ZBrush to KeyShot Bridge, it makes syncing the geometry with ZBrush almost instantaneous–Ctrl+R and 20 millions polygons are updated in seconds. I set up my main camera very early in the process, with KeyShot on my second screen. I literally paint with geometry, light and shadow, syncing my ZBrush scene as often as possible. Technically, this allows me to only focus on what is seen on the “canvas”, while on the creative side, I have the same benefits as working in 2D, with and early focus on design and composition. When my scene is defined enough in 3D, I do a couple render passes: diffuse, reflection, ID (clown) and depth. These give me enough information to finish the painting in Photoshop. From 1 hour sketches to 30 hours of keyframes, it’s the same workflow.
What makes KeyShot an important tool to have?
Keyshot is by far the fastest rendering engine I’ve tested so far. And its ability to give an accurate preview of light and shadow patterns in just a few seconds is essential to my workflow as a concept artist. I need to decide as fast as possible if a stroke in ZBrush is going to translate in an interesting shape design-wise and composition-wise once projected in 2D. I think the Bridge makes KeyShot the perfect companion to ZBrush for concept art.
I also love the lighting in KeyShot, it’s just so appealing and really stimulates my creativity. Another feature I really like in KeyShot is point lights and IES lights. They have a very natural and beautiful response. From environment design to interior scenes or characters, they are very interesting creative tools. Set from the beginning, they make my sculptures evolve with the final lighting and allow me to discover shapes I wouldn’t have thought of in ZBrush alone.
你會給有興趣做你所做的事情的人什麼建議?
我認為最重要的是對藝術、視覺敘事、設計和解決問題充滿熱情。概念藝術是關於傳達思想的,無論是構圖、配色方案、形式語言、敘述、文化參考、可信度、簡短翻譯等。當然,將這個想法變成美麗的圖像是工作的一部分,但這只是冰山一角。我根本不關心競爭,但值得一提的是,這是一份令人垂涎的工作,無論是內部還是自由職業者。所以你必須準備好相應地工作,並繼續相應地工作,因為每年都有許多年輕而有才華的人離開藝術學校。但我認為重要的是發展自己的聲音,而不是用每個人都在創作的完全相同的主題和風格來填充你的作品集。我欽佩的許多藝術家,他們在這個行業非常成功,都有非常具體的印刷品,公司正是出於這個原因來找他們。