Virtual Reality for Artists The CreativeMindClass Blog
Virtual Reality artist, Collin Leix, talks about her evolution as a creative artist, from creating oil paintings to exploring the intricacies of VR art.
"Before I started my journey as a VR artist, started out as an oil artist, with a focus on portraits. In the course of time, this changed because I was more interested in the theories behind the process of MAKING.
The artist evolution; beginning with music, moving through classical art, to creating Metaverse
I'm a violinist, and I got really interested in musical score illustrations; various ways of interpreting drawings as musical direction. Additionally, I realized that I suffer from synaesthesia, a condition in the brain that results in a mix of different senses - in my case, numbers as well as colors. This all led me to experiment more about how I would create images."
"In 2009 I began my Master's degree in Fine Arts at the University of Michigan, where we were encouraged to experiment a lot. I started as a painter and finished with a thesis project that consisted of a large installation the ceiling that had animations that were projected on the. The first sketches I began with were simple stop-motion drawings with paper and paint, using the natural landscape as a topic. The work was so demanding as a technique that I knew I wanted to continue to work on it.
After the completion of my master's thesis at the end of 2012, I enrolled in the local community college in order to learn about After Effects as well, and since then have learned a lot on my own. I began exploring apps for art, Cinema4D, and have tried a bit of cel, however I have was primarily focused in After Effects. I made direct-to-client animations over the course of a couple of years. I ensured that I always did my own artistic experiments with animation. I then uploaded them to the web.
"I was dealing with major health issues and was going through a period of depression, which frequently left me on the ground with my dog. This was how I saw it. I challenged myself to create every week a new thing and even if it wasn't a lot to be able to see myself where I REALLY was.
In 2018 I was hired from the Animation Studio Gunner in Detroit in the city of Detroit. I've worked there since!"
What would you say about your style of art?
"Realism still has a place within my heart since my early years. In the past, my style has a bit more surrealism and a sense of fun as I continue to study what color means to communicate mood.
My personal style has completely changed also since I joined the Gunner team. Gunner. The Gunner team is often working together in a group to help support diverse styles. This means that I get to 'try out' styles that aren't my personal style. Some ways of using loose brushwork, lines, or simplifying elements of design are instances of things I've experimented with and kept doing afterward. The example of this is "Crocus" is a mix of painting textures over 3D forms, both with realism and simple shapes, using VR sculpture and good old Photoshop drawing."
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"One reason I like working at Studio A is because the boundaries that define me my style' and'me' have been blurred. For instance, take the clip "Interruption" for instance. I was approached to write an Instagram video to Gunner when I first started. I decided to employ some surrealism in order to convey what it's to be in the flow of playing music, as well as the images you can see within your head as well as the feeling of being interrupted.
Although I was the one who did the animation, and a lot of the designwork, my amazing coworker Ian Sigmon pushed me a LOT in the design of the characters. It wouldn't be possible to achieve those crazy long arms and streamlined body forms all by myself. This led us to realize that women's bodies can dissolve back into the forms when she starts to play."
"I recall losing an high school art competition because my artworks didn't seem to be cohesive or all the same style. I thought this was a curse however it has turned out be a blessing for the work I do now."
What is the key to drawing your artwork?
"For me, it always has to come back to my gut. It's always a little bit of curiosity at the start of every new work - sometimes it's a color combination I want to try out or maybe it's an expression, or quote, or even a short tale.
Something that marks my artwork is that I'm always trying out new mediums. Right now, I'm so in love with drawing and painting with Virtual Reality. The team is also creating an animated short on Gunner which covers the entire gamut of painterly cell in Photoshop, to 3D rendering to creating sculpts using VR before displaying an image onto the sculpture. Here's a clip of the film, titled Sync to give you an unofficial preview. The film is the first directed by Gunner by a woman, and the story revolves around three strangers traveling on an aircraft and an unexpected event occurs to them on the journey.
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What would you advise those who are just starting out in VR art?
"When approaching any new tech, I always have a little image or a idea of what I would like to do prior to implementing it. I guess that's a tip I have for anyone looking to broaden the capabilities of their team - create an art frame, or make some sketchy or narrative that you'd like to tell prior to incorporating the latest tech. You'll have a reason that you can explain a reason for. Otherwise, you're just flopping around tutorials, taking on other people's styles and stories.
We created this piece to kick off an event called Blend at Gunner in the year 2019, in which I sculpted several of the natural objects using Virtual Reality. I had played with sculpting some time ago before, but once I knew an answer to the question of "why" my experimentation and skills expanded dramatically. Below is a video overview of the scenes I designed."
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"I'm quite engaged in Instagram also made a class on how you can recreate your images using 3D space Tilt Brush. You don't have to already be a VR artist, but you have to possess a VR headset take the class, but I guide people through the process from there. The love I pour to this!"
