The beginning

Hello everyone!

My name is Cristiana and this is the first Digital Art Contest I am participating in. 

I've discovered the CG world a year ago while looking for careers to pursue after I finish high school. I wanted something that is artistic, exciting and doesn't feel constraining. Coming from an environment that focuses heavily on engineering careers it was hard at first to embrace the idea that this is something I can do as a full-time career and not only a hobby. 

Now, after experimenting with online courses and meeting the people at GC Spectrum I am more confident than ever that I can create art and innovate styles for a living in the future. It is amazing that I have found something that fulfills me and makes me eager to discover more.

An endless world of possibilities

My first contact with digital art was through a small course that taught Blender and opened my eyes to all the endless possibilities the film and games industry has. 

In this project, I learned basic 3D modeling, what materials are, how to achieve a realistic look, and the importance of light and composition in a scene. 

At first, we were assigned to block out our scene to achieve a visually pleasing look. 

After choosing the general look of the scene we learned about basic color theory and light. This is the breakdown of the main lights and thought process.

Something wasn't working so I made some tweaks in materials, sizing and tried different lights.

This is my rendered final result where I learned about different feels you can achieve with the camera options. 

An exciting start

My next two projects were assignments in my introduction to 3D modeling course at CG Spectrum in which, were given concepts to take further and create something of our own. 

In the first one, the entire scene was done in Maya including the render, using Arnold. This process was a steep learning curve for me where I learned about hard surface modeling, and how to have a clean topology. 

Concept:

My take on it:

Final render:

For the second one, I used Maya for modeling and Substance Painter for texturing and render. During this process, I got introduced to UVs, efficient ways to lay them out, and basic texturing.

Concept:

My take on it:

Final render:

First team project

Along with some colleagues from CG Spectrum, I worked on a small game where I had the opportunity to learn a lot from people with more experience than me and about teamwork in this field. 

Concept art by my friend and teammate, Mikhail Macaranas:

My take on it:

Final render:

Thank you so much for taking the time to watch the beginning of my journey!