Virtual Reality for Artists The CreativeMindClass Blog
Virtual Reality artist Collin Leix, talks about her creative evolution; From oil painting to investigating the depths of VR art.
"Before I was a VR artist, I began as an oil artist, focused on portraits. Over the years this evolved as I became 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 musician, and was astonished to discover my interest in graphic musical scores; various ways of interpreting the drawings to be musical guidance. Also, I discovered that I have synaesthesia, a condition in the brain which causes a blend of various senses, in my case, numbers, and colors. This all led me to experiment more about how I would create an image."
"In 2009, I began a Master's course that focused on Fine Arts at the University of Michigan, where students were encouraged to play with a variety of techniques. I began as a painter and finished with a thesis project that included a massive installation that was placed on the ceiling with animated images that were projected on it. The animations I started out with were simple stop-motion drawings with paper and paint, and the environment as the theme. It was so difficult as a medium I was certain that I would want to pursue it.
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 have been pretty much self-taught. I jumped into art apps, Cinema4D, and have tried a bit of cel, however I have concentrated on After Effects. I created animations direct-to-client over the course of a couple of years. I made sure to always do my own artful experiments in animation. I then uploaded them to the web.
"I had major health issues and was going through a period of depression. It was often a time when I lay on the ground with my dog. This was how I saw it. I set myself the challenge of creating something once a week regardless of whether it was only a few minutes to be able to see myself exactly where I was.
In the year 2018 I was hired from the Animation Studio Gunner in Detroit, and have been there since!"
How would you describe your style of art?
"Realism still has a place in my heart from my early years. Since then, my style includes a touch of surrealism and playfulness which is why I'm always studying the ways color communicates mood.
My style has absolutely evolved also since I joined the Gunner team. Gunner. It is common for us to work as a team to support different styles, so I have the opportunity to experiment with different styles that aren't mine personal style. Some ways of using free brushwork, outline and reducing design elements are some examples of what I've tried and then continued doing. As an example, the work "Crocus" is a mix of drawing textures on 3D forms, both by using realistic shapes and basic forms, using VR modeling as well as good old Photoshop paint."
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"One reason I like working in 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 posting to Gunner when I first started. I was looking to incorporate some surrealism in order to illustrate what it's like to be at the forefront of making music, and the images you can see through your mind's eyes and the feeling of being interrupted.
Although I was the one who did the animating and most of the designwork, my amazing coworker Ian Sigmon pushed me a LOT in the character design. I wouldn't have got to these crazy, long arms or the simplified shapes of body by myself. This led us to realize that women's bodies could disintegrate back into its forms when she starts playing again."
"I recall losing an high school art contest due to my work because it didn't seem to be cohesive or all the same style. I believed that was a curse but it's turned out to prove to be a blessing given the work I do now."
What is the key to making your illustrations?
"For me, it always comes down to a gut feeling. There's always a nugget of curiosity at the start of every new work - Sometimes it's just a color combo I'd like to explore Sometimes it's a gesture, or a quotation, or a little tale.
One thing that distinguishes my work is the fact that I'm always exploring different mediums. In the present, I'm obsessed with drawing and painting with Virtual Reality. We're also making a short film at Gunner that runs the gamut of painterly cell in Photoshop, to 3D rendering, to sculpting using VR before displaying paintings onto the sculpt. Here's a clip from the film, which is called Sync for an unofficial preview. This is Gunner's debut film that was directed by a woman, and it's about three strangers who travel on an airplane and something unexpected which happens during the journey.
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What would you advise anyone who is just beginning with VR art?
"When approaching any new tech, I always have a little image or a story of what I want to make first. This is a hint I have for those who want to increase their skill set - do a style frame or have a little sketch or story that you'd like to tell prior to folding in the new technology. Then you have a purpose - a 'why'. If not, you'll be flitting around tutorials, taking on other people's styles and stories.
Here's a piece we made for a conference called Blend at Gunner which took place in the year 2019 In which I designed and sculpted a lot of the environmental assets using Virtual Reality. I had played with sculpting at times, but when I had an answer to the question of "why" my creativity and capabilities grew dramatically. This video is a overview of the scenes I made."
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"I'm quite active on Instagram as well. I also developed an instruction on how to create your own illustrations using 3D space Tilt Brush. There is no requirement to be a VR artist yet however, you must have a VR headset to participate in the course, however I guide people through the steps from there. It was a lot of love that I put into this!"
