Virtual Reality for Artists - The CreativeMindClass Blog
Virtual Reality artist, Collin Leix, talks about her artistic evolution, From oil painting to investigating the depths of VR art.
"Before I became a VR artist, I started as an oil painter, with a focus on portraits. Over the years this evolved as I became more interested in the theories involved in the making process.
The artist evolution; beginning with music, moving through classical artwork, and finally to creating the Metaverse
I'm a violinist and became interested in musical score illustrations; diverse ways to perceive drawings as musical direction. I also discovered I had synaesthesia, which is a neurologic condition that causes a blending of different senses - in my case, numbers, as well as colors. This all inspired me to play around in the way I created images."
"In 2009 I began my Master's course that focused on Fine Arts at the University of Michigan, where students were encouraged to play a lot. My first assignment was as a painter , and then finished with my thesis, which included a massive installation that was placed on the ceiling with animated images that were projected on the. My first animations that I worked with were simple stop-motion drawings with paper and paint, and the environment as the topic. The animation was so positively difficult as a medium I decided to pursue it.
After my Master's in 2012, I attended a local community college to take a course on After Effects, and since then have mostly self-taught. I jumped into art apps, Cinema4D, and have played with cel, however I have focused mainly upon After Effects. I created animations direct-to-client for several years, and was careful to create my own artistic experiments with animation, and then put them on the internet.
"I suffered from major health issues and was going through a period of depression. It often had me lying on my floor, surrounded by my pet. That was what I thought. I challenged myself to make every week a new thing regardless of whether it was really short so that I could meet my goals of exactly where I was.
In 2018 , I was employed from the Animation Studio Gunner located in Detroit, and have been there since!"
What would you say about your art style?
"Realism remains a staple in my heart from the beginning of my career. In the past, my style includes a touch of surrealism and playfulness, and I'm forever studying the ways color communicates mood.
My fashion style has changed as well since joining the Gunner team. Gunner. It is common for us to work as a team to support various styles. As a result, I am able to try out some styles that aren't necessarily my personal style. There are many ways to utilize loose brushwork, outlines or reducing elements of design are instances of things I've experimented with and continued to do afterward. For example, the piece 'Crocus' is a mixture of painting textures over 3D forms, both with realism and simple shapes, using VR modeling along with traditional Photoshop drawing."
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"One reason I love working at the studio is that the lines that define me as well as my personal style have blurred. For instance, take the clip "Interruption," for instance. I was approached to write an Instagram post for Gunner as I began to explore. I was looking to incorporate a bit of surrealism to convey what it's to be immersed in playing music and also what you may see within your head as well as how it feels to be interrupted.
While I did all the animation, and a lot of the designwork, my wonderful co-worker Ian Sigmon pushed me a LOT in the character design. I wouldn't have got to the crazy arms and streamlined body forms on my own. Then we realized that women's bodies could disappear into shapes when she begins to play again."
"I have a memory of losing in a high-school art contest due to my work because it were not all cohesive, or in the same style. I was convinced that this was the curse of my life, however, it turned out to be a blessing for the work I do now."
What's the secret to drawing your artwork?
"For me, it all has to come back to my gut. There's always a nugget of interest at the beginning of every new work - Sometimes it's just a color combo I'd like to explore or maybe it's a gesture, or a quotation, or a little story.
The thing that makes my art distinctive is that I'm constantly trying new mediums. At the moment, I'm fascinated by painting and drawing in Virtual Reality. The team is also creating a short film at Gunner that covers everything from of painting a cel using Photoshop and 3D rendering and sculpting within VR and then projecting paintings onto the sculpture. I've included a shot from the film, called Sync to give you an early preview. The film is the first directed by Gunner by a woman, and it's about three strangers on the plane and something surprising occurs to them on the flight.
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What do you suggest to those who are just starting out in VR art?
"When approaching any new tech it is always my intention to have a little image or a story of what I want to create before I begin. I guess that's a tip I would offer to anyone who wants to expand their skill set - do an art frame, or make an idea of a sketch or story that you'd like to tell prior to folding in the new technology. It's important to have a goal - a 'why'. If not, you'll be flitting through tutorials and taking inspiration from the styles of other artists and telling stories.
Here's a piece we made to launch a conference called Blend at Gunner during the year 2019 In which I designed and sculpted many of the environment elements in Virtual Reality. I'd tried sculpting a little bit before, but once I knew the proper 'why' my exploration and abilities grew exponentially. This video is a overview of the scenes I designed."
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"I'm very busy in Instagram also made a class on how you can recreate your images in 3D space with Tilt Brush. You don't have to be a VR artist yet However, you need to be wearing a VR headset in order to participate in the course, however I walk people through the steps from there. I put SO MUCH LOVE into this!"
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