Virtual Reality for Artists - The CreativeMindClass Blog
Virtual Reality artist, Collin Leix, talks about her creative evolution; from creating oil paintings to discovering the possibilities of VR art.
"Before I became a VR artist, started out as an oil painter, with a focus on portraits. Over the years this evolved because I was more interested in the theories behind the process of MAKING.
The artist evolution; starting with music, then classic art, to creating Metaverse
I'm a violinist and I got really interested in the visual musical scores and various ways of interpreting the drawings to be musical guidance. Additionally, I realized that I suffer from synaesthesia - a neurological condition that causes a blending of multiple 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 course of Fine Arts at the University of Michigan, where students were encouraged to explore with a variety of techniques. I started as a painter , and then finished by completing a thesis that consisted of a large installation the ceiling with animated images that were projected on it. The first sketches I began with were simple stop-motion drawings using paint and paper, and the environment as the topic. The animation was so positively demanding as a technique that I was certain that I would want to explore it further.
After the completion of my master's thesis in 2012, I attended a local community college to take a course on After Effects, and Since then I've learned a lot on my own. I started exploring art applications, Cinema4D, and have played with cel, however I have concentrated on After Effects. I developed animations directly-to-client over the course of a couple of years. I ensured that I always did my own creative experiments in animation. I then uploaded them to the web.
"I suffered from a big health challenge and had a spell of depression. It was often a time when I lay on my floor, surrounded by my dog. So this was my view. I challenged myself to make something once a week regardless of whether it was really short in order to meet myself where I REALLY was.
In the year 2018 I was hired from the Animation Studio Gunner in Detroit, and have been working there ever since!"
What is the style you use in your work?
"Realism remains a staple within my heart since my early days. My style has evolved since then. has a bit more surrealism and a sense of fun as I continue to study the ways color communicates mood.
My fashion style has changed also since I joined the team at Gunner. We are often working as a unit to promote different styles, so I am able to try out' styles that aren't my personal style. Some ways of using loose brushwork, outlines and reducing designs are a few examples of what I've tried and continued to do afterward. The example of this is "Crocus" is a mix of drawing textures on three-dimensional forms. Both with realism and simple forms, using VR sculpting along with traditional Photoshop paint."
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"One reason why I enjoy working in the studio is because the lines that define me as well as my personal style have blurred. Take the video called 'Interruption' for example. I was approached to write an Instagram post for Gunner when I first started. I wanted to use a bit of surrealism to illustrate what it's to be immersed in playing music and also the images you can see through your mind's eyes as well as what it is like to feel interrupted.
When I worked on animation and much of the design, my fantastic co-worker Ian Sigmon pushed me a A LOT when it came to design of the characters. We wouldn't have gotten to the crazy arms and simplified body shapes by myself. This led us to realize that women's bodies can disappear into shape when she is ready playing again."
"I remember losing a high-school art competition because my artworks weren't all that cohesive or had the same aesthetic. I thought this was the curse of my life, but it's turned out to be a blessing in my current work."
What is the key to making your illustrations?
"For me, it all comes from a gut-feel. It's always a little bit of curiosity at the start of every new work - Sometimes it's just a color combo I want to try out, sometimes it starts with the gesture of a quote, or even a short story.
Something that marks my artwork is the fact that I'm constantly trying different mediums. In the present, I'm fascinated by painting and drawing in Virtual Reality. We're also working on the film below at Gunner that runs the gamut of painting a cel using Photoshop as well as 3D rendering to creating sculpts within VR, then projecting paintings onto the sculpt. We've added a scene from the film, called Sync to give you an early preview. This is Gunner's debut film that was directed by a woman, and it's about three strangers who travel on the plane and something surprising that happens to them during the journey.
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What do you suggest to someone who starts out with VR art?
"When approaching any new tech that I am interested in, I have always in mind a small image or idea of what I would like to make prior to implementing it. This is a hint that I can offer anyone looking to broaden their skill set - do an art frame, or make an idea of a sketch or story you want to do before taking in the latest technology. Then you have a purpose or a "why". In other words, you're just cruising around tutorials, taking on other people's styles and stories.
This is a work we created for an event called Blend at Gunner in the year 2019 In which I designed and sculpted several of the natural elements in Virtual Reality. I'd played around with the sculpting process a little bit before, but once I knew the proper 'why' my creativity and capabilities grew rapidly. Below is a video tour of the landscapes I created."
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"I'm pretty busy in Instagram as well. I also developed an instruction on how you can recreate your images in 3D space with Tilt Brush. It doesn't require you to be a VR artist yet however, you must have a VR headset to take the class, but I will guide you through the steps from there. It was a lot of love that I put into this!"
