Virtual Reality for Artists CreativeMindClass Blog - The CreativeMindClass Blog

Virtual Reality artist Collin Leix, talks about her creative evolution; From oil painting, to exploring the potential of VR art.

"Before I began to work as an artist within VR I had started my journey as an oil artist focusing on portraits. In the course of time, this changed because I was more interested in the theory behind creating.

The development of an artist, beginning with music, moving on to classic art, to creating Metaverse

I'm a musician and I was amazed to find my fascination with scores for musical instruments; different methods of understanding illustrations as musical directions. Additionally, I learned that I suffer from synaesthesia, neurologic condition that results in a blend of multiple senses. For me, it was numbers, and colors. This also inspired me to further experiment with how I made images."

"In 2009 I began my Master's degree in Fine Arts at the University of Michigan, where we were encouraged to play thoroughly. I started with painting and finished with a thesis project that included a huge installation on the ceiling with animated images projected on the ceiling. The first animations I worked with were simple drawings that were created using painting and paper, with the natural world as the subject. The process was so difficult as a medium that I wanted to investigate it more.

Following the completion of my master's thesis at the end of 2012, I attended an area college for community colleges to get a better understanding of After Effects as well, and since then , I've mostly self-taught. I began exploring the art software, Cinema4D, and have made a few attempts at cel as well, but concentrated upon After Effects. I developed animations directly-to-client for a few years and ensured that I always did my own experiments with animation, and then put them on the internet.

"I was suffering from a major health problem and suffered from a bout of depression. The most frequent episodes were me lying on the floor with my pet. It was this way I perceived it. I set myself the task of creating at least one thing every week regardless of whether it wasn't a lot of time so that I could see for my self in the position I was.

In the year 2018 , I was appointed as an Animation Studio Gunner in Detroit located in Detroit, the capital city Detroit. I've worked there since!"

What style do you employ in your job?

"Realism is an element that has been throughout my earliest days. My style has changed since then. It incorporates a hint of surrealism as well as amusement as I investigate what color can mean to convey mood.

My style of dressing has evolved over the years since I joined my Gunner team. Gunner. Gunner. Gunner team often works as a unit to promote different styles which means I can explore styles that aren't necessarily my personal style. There are a few methods to employ loose brushwork, lines and reducing elements of design are examples of what I've tried and continued doing. For instance I've used the piece "Crocus" blends drawing and textures in 3D shapes that incorporate realistic shapes and basic designs that utilize VR sculpture and the traditional Photoshop drawings."

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"One reason I love working in the studio is that my lines of defining my personal style as well as me are blurred. As an example, consider the clip "Interruption" for instance. It was my job to make an Instagram video for Gunner at the time I first started. I chose to use surrealism to demonstrate the experience of having a flow when playing music. I also wanted to show the pictures you see in the mind's eye and the sensation of being interrupted.

Although I was the one responsible for animation, and a lot of the designing, my wonderful co-worker Ian Sigmon pushed me a great deal in the design of characters. It wouldn't be possible to have these crazy, arm lengths or the simpler shapes of body by myself. We came to the realization the possibility of women's bodies disappearing into forms when she starts playing."

"I have a memory of losing in a high-school art contest because my paintings didn't seem to be cohesive or in the identical fashion. I thought it was a curse on me, however, it turned out to be an advantage in the work I'm doing now."

What are the most important things to consider when creating your drawing?

"For myself, it all will boil to an instinctual feeling. It's not uncommon to find a spark of interest at the beginning of every new work - sometimes it's a color combination I'd like to test out. There are times when it's an expression or a reference, or maybe an interesting story.

Something that marks my artwork is the fact I'm always experimenting with different media. Right now, I'm fascinated by drawing and painting with Virtual Reality. We're also working on the film below at Gunner which covers the entire spectrum painting cells in Photoshop and 3D rendering to creating sculptures in VR and then projecting the image onto the sculpture. Here's a clip from the film, titled Sync for you to get the first glimpse. The film is the debut of Gunner with a director who is one woman. The film is about three strangers who travel on an airplane and an unplanned event which happens during the flight.

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What suggestions would you make to people who are beginning their journey with VR art?

"When trying to make sense of any technology that is new I'm always armed with an image or narrative of the idea I'm trying to create prior to implementing it. It's an idea I would offer to anyone who wants to expand their skill range - create an art-related frame, or sketch out sketches or a story that you're thinking of writing before taking in the latest technology. It's essential to establish an end goal you can articulate a rationale for. In the absence of this, you'll find yourself playing around with tutorials and taking inspiration from other styles and telling stories.

Here's a piece we made for the event Blend at Gunner during the year 2019 In which I designed and created sculpts for many elements of the world's assets using Virtual Reality. I'd tried sculpting some time ago before, but once I knew an answer to the question of "why" my experiments and skills expanded rapidly. Below is a video which gives an overview of the various landscapes I made."

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"I'm quite busy on Instagram and Twitter as well. I also developed an instructional class to recreate your illustrations by using 3D space tilt Brush. It doesn't need you to be a VR artist, but you have to have the VR headset for the workshop. I will guide students through the steps. It is my heartfelt desire to do these people!"

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