Looking at Rebeca Puebla's online portfolio one of the first things that caught my attention is the ability to convey great technical skills with an original aesthetic and sense of storytelling. Not only is the modelling very well executed, but also the shading and texturing is very polished, and these elements combine to serve a quite original aesthetic.
There's a clear intention to find and express her own visual style
Most of her modelling work is put in context, in finely crafted, moody illustrations and this is quite refreshing in the modern scenario of derivative, trendy subjects when it comes to 3D art. The appeal of looking through her portfolio comes from her unquestionable technical skills, there's a clear intention to find and express her own visual style, create moods, and to also be provocative and original.
What really comes through Rebeca's portfolio, and is something that's hard to find, is the intention to transcend the technical stiffness and artificiality of the 3D medium to express ideas. I strongly recommend you try to differentiate your portfolio as much as possible from the others when it comes to 3D, and this can be accomplished in different ways.
One is definitely through contextualisation of your models, poses, gesture and lighting, even on simple subjects, these skills and attention to detail show the viewer a lot about yourself as an artist – more so than several anonymous grey-shaded models.
Words: Alessandro Baldasseroni
Alessandro Baldasseroni is lead character artist at Blur Studio. Samples of his character modelling work can be seen in several recent game cinematics, movies and commercials such as: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Thor: The Dark World, Elder Scrolls Online. This article originally appeared in 3D World issue 181.
