Last week, you may remember, we ran a story about The Paper Fox, a charming interactive adventure by Jeremy Kool. Well, it was so popular, we thought it only right to find out a little more about the talented creative behind the concept.
Here, Kool talks about becoming a 3D artist, his inspirations and how proud he is of his Paper Fox character.
What first inspired you to become a 3D artist?
"It's partially due to laziness, to be honest! My goal, as an artist, is to create original, inspirational pieces as quickly and effectively as possible. 3D art allows me to focus on the creative aspects of
the artwork and not have to worry about spending hundreds of hours learning how to render, light and colour by hand."
Q: How did you break into the industry?
"I worked my butt off for the year I was at the Academy of Interactive Entertainment in Australia. In addition to the school work, I asked my lecturer if he could tell me where my weakest points were in my folio, so I could improve those areas. During that year, I built up a folio of work and luckily Krome hired me later that year."
Q: Where do you draw your inspiration from?
"As many places as possible: books, art galleries, nature, games. I've found in the past that if I'm just paying attention to video games, for example, my artwork will simply be a sad photocopy from that world."
Q: Of which piece of work are you most proud?
"I think it would have to be the character of The Paper Fox. The reason being: I set myself a challenge that I wasn’t sure I could accomplish - to create a near photo-realistic papercraft look in 3D. I think my proudest moment was when people around the world contacted me asking what kind of paper I used!"
Q: What is your favourite or most-used 3D software, and why?
"I use Maya for modelling, but render in V-Ray, which I love. It took a while to learn, but I find that V-Ray gives me great, fast results every time. If your models aren't lit and rendered nicely, it's the equivalent of putting a beautiful sculpture in a dark room with a dim bulb."
Jeremy Kool is a 3D artist and graphic designer from Melbourne, Australia.
This article orginally appeared in 3D World issue 173.
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