StandArt | Our Standards of Artistic Excellence Chapter III – Textures & Materiality

The Brief is complete, the geometry has been done. We’re now well on our way towards the third step in the asset production pipeline, texturing. We need to create a delicate balance between realism and visual impact. Credibility is necessary, of course, but the next learning step is to understand that accuracy doesn’t always mean visual self-sufficiency. How can we achieve that? No worries, because we’ve got it all covered in our StandArt Chapter III: Textures & Materiality!

Although this balance may seem difficult to obtain and master at first, trust us: it really comes with experience. 😊 The more you texture, the easier it will be to create an asset that is both credible and visually impactful. And, as our 3D artists always say, the more you texture, the more your perspective will change.

Texturing of “The Kiss”, original by Constantin Brâncuși.

Everything can teach us something

A simple subway ride will suddenly become a learning experience. Why? Because we have the opportunity to notice the clothing people wear and the way it interacts with their bodies and the environment. Picture this: you’re on the subway, and you see a woman sitting down listening to music. You notice how her satin dress creases when she sits down, or how it flows when she stands up.

All of a sudden, you have an “eureka!” moment and you realise how the folds on that dress asset you’re working on will look like. Even more, you now turn your eyes to the man that just got on the subway. He’s wearing an old leather jacket and boots, and you can see where the material has degraded the most, and better understand how worn leather decays.

“People might think you’re a bit weird staring at their clothes and maybe taking notes, but it’s such a valuable experience.”

Junior Character Artist Sorin Verdes
Old Worn Leather Boots

Many People, Many Faces

We all socialize, in big or small doses. And that’s perfect, because talking to people can also become a way to learn. You look at someone you speak to every day, but suddenly you focus on how their skin creases when they smile. You see how the eyeliner changes the shape of their eyes, even though it’s a bit smudged because they had an itch. But hey, now you also know what smudged eyeliner looks like! You notice what the pores on their face look like and how you can best recreate them on a character asset. And that’s the beauty of it. We notice facial features that we did not pay attention to before, and we take that visual experience and apply it to our work.

“I now can’t help but observe people’s faces and facial features and imagine how the muscles underneath work.”

Character Artist Vanessa Romascanu
Senior Environment Artist Robert Tudor smiling for the camera. 🙂