Everyone’s journey to their career is always different from someone else’s, and somehow they are the same all at once. Though our paths may differ, we all have shared experiences along the way. I remember when I was going through school it was hard to be confident in my ability to get a job in the industry after graduating. Then I talked with an artist who was in the industry, and it I was able to gain confidence from the fact that they also went through this. More recently I was able to correspond with Gnomon School of Visual Effects 2011 alumnus, Jay Machado, a modeling and texture artist from California.
Image Source: jaymachado.blogspot.com
I’ve been into art, particularly drawing, for as long as I can remember. My mom always tells a story about this game we used to play. I would ask her to draw something and she would do her best, then I’d say “no, mom, like this.” and draw my own version. She says by the time I was four I was already outdrawing her. She was always very encouraging and supportive.
GW: Looking at your Resume I can see that you were an intern at Cartoon Network while still completing your Bachelors of Fine Arts in Illustration from Cal State Fullerton while also still working a retail day job.
Hahaha yes, I was very busy in college. I actually worked at Target in my hometown and Starbucks on campus while taking my GE classes, but I quit Starbucks when my GE was done and I wanted to focus on art.
GW: Do you feel being that busy prepared you well for hectic production schedules?
Absolutely, I’ve always thrived under pressure, even if the pressure is caused by my own procrastination. But at the same time, art has always been something that comes very naturally to me, so I never found my time at Cal State to be that difficult. One of the things I value about Gnomon is that while CG was something I wanted to get into, I entered the school knowing absolutely nothing about it, so it took a lot of time effort to get into the groove of things. I think that experienced is what really prepared me for production.
GW: When you enrolled at Gnomon did you have expectations or had you known anyone who had gone through the program?
When I first looked at Gnomon, all I had ever heard about the place was the name. We had watched a few Gnomon DVDs in college and I decided it was worth checking out. At first I thought I might be able to just get by with DVDs, but my parents really encouraged me to go through the program. We went to an open house, took a tour and everything just felt RIGHT.
GW: Your main focus seems to be on 3D modeling and texturing. When and how did you become interested in 3D modeling?
Haha I’m almost embarrassed to say, but I think it’s kind of out of laziness. When I went to college I began as an animation major, so I took some intro classes and stayed up all night animating only to play back like ten seconds of actual footage. I decided “This is TOO much drawing” and shifted my focus to illustration and comic books. But even that seemed like too much drawing for me, so I wanted to get into concept illustration, which is what I focused on when I graduated. The unfortunate thing aboutCalState, which I realized after graduating, was that they just weren’t as in touch with the industry I wanted to get into as I would have liked. I remember taking a concept art class at Gnomon and realizing how ill-prepared I was for the industry after getting my BFA. After a year and a half of doing really low budget freelance and in some cases working pro-bono work with promises of a job later, all the while still working at Target, I decided I needed a change. It was around this time that I heard about this up and coming software called Zbrush, which made me think about making comics again. What if I could create things in 3D and then render and paint over them to make comics? So I went for it, sprung for a license of ZBrush, opened the program and realized I had no idea what I was doing. It was then that I started looking into returning to school. So maybe laziness isn’t the right word per se. I guess I’d just rather do all the difficult work up front and then just have fun with the creative stuff.
GW: Did you find that your previous Fine Arts degree helped you once you were at Gnomon?
Absolutely. Modeling and illustration are vastly different technical skills, but there are definite aspects that overlap. Being able to observe form, composition and even material qualities are all part of illustration that helped me with CG. It’s just a different way of communicating things visually at the end of the day. I’m also the kind of person who is constantly doodling in a sketchbook, which is not only a great way to hash out ideas but also plan how to approach a model.
Image Source: jaymachado.blogspot.com
I feel like I did know what to expect, but looking back, I am a little surprised where I ended up at the end of school. I came in as a painter wanting to do characters and organic ZBrush stuff and ended up really falling in love with the technical precision of hard surface modeling. I actually never felt at ease in the fine arts classes in college because to me art was never about expression or emotions; I’ve always drawn and painted stuff that I think is cool and just because I enjoy doing it. I feel like most CG artists have that mentality.
GW: In a fairly short career you have worked for commercial, film and the games industry, can you talk a bit about the differences in modeling and texturing between the different industries? Maybe the difference you found between larger companies and smaller ones?
Each of the jobs I’ve had so far has been completely different, and I feel lucky to have experienced so many different situations. The commercial and music video I worked on were super fast paced, long hours, and weekend work, which at the time was exhausting, but seeing the finished product really made me proud to have done something so cool in such a short amount of time.
Image Source: jaymachado.blogspot.com
Different size in companies contributes to different experiences. Smaller studios are typically populated by younger artists, so the vibe is much more light-hearted and playful. Bigger studios can seem stiff at first, because many of the artists are older and more experienced and it’s really easy to feel intimidated. It takes a while to get over that stage where you’re eager to impress but shy because these people are incredible artists. In time though you realize how much everyone in this industry has in common. We’re all huge nerds; we all like the same things and love our jobs.
GW: While at Sony Computer Entertainment America you got to work on the latest installment in the God of War Franchise, Ascension, did you play the series before hand? Are you much of a gamer? Was this also your first game published? Did you enjoy playing a game you worked on?
I am actually not a very big gamer. I was really into super Nintendo and side-scrollers when I was younger but making the jump to 3D games was difficult for me. I had never played any of the God of War games when I started, but I have now! They are a bit gory for my taste, but they’re not difficult to get into. This was my first game published though. One of my favorite parts of the job was doing play tests for multiplayer. We’d all play on our lunch breaks or for a half hour in the morning. It’s always great to have some friendly competition among your team. There were times when it was difficult to imagine the finished product, especially since a LOT of changes happen in that last month of production, but seeing people get excited about the game and having the press come and play it and seeing how they react to everything really makes you feel like you’re part of something really special. I really did enjoy playing through it though… ugh except that Gauntlet of Apollo part… I still don’t know how I made it through that!
Image Source: jaymachado.blogspot.com
ILM is incredible! The studio is full of all kinds of awesome props and models from the old model shop which I totally geek out about. You really get a sense of the rich history and impressive body of work the studio has put out. Also the weather here is phenomenal. I’ve lived near LA all my life and now when I go down to visit family and friends it feels like I can’t take the heat anymore!
It is a little strange being a new employee though. Many of the people here are extremely talented veterans who have been here for years and worked on all kinds of stuff. I really have to work hard to try to impress them when most of the time I just want to geek out. I was actually hired to work on Transformers but things here have been kind of changing as we integrate with Disney and for one reason or another they have me working on Noah, Darren Aronofsky’s next film which stars Russel Crowe. I love doing hard surface modeling, but it is definitely a comfort zone for me and I’m happy with how challenging this project has been. There are plenty more opportunities for hard surface modeling in the future though.
GW: After having a couple jobs in the industry can you talk to how well you feel Gnomon Workshop prepared you for working in the video game and film industries?
I never hesitate to give Gnomon all the credit for my career. I came to the school with no 3D experience and left a CG artist. The things I learned, the work I did and the connections I made there are the reason I am where I am, 100%. It’s been so great to be part of the Gnomon family, not only when I was a student but also now as an alumnus. I really can’t thank the faculty and staff enough!
GW: Well, thank you so much for taking the time to answer some questions for us Jay. I look forward to seeing some of your work at the theater in the future. Any last bits of advice for artists just embarking on a 3D career path?
The one piece of advice that I cherish from my time at Gnomon was from Alex Alvarez’s portfolio class. I had been working my butt of trying to become a character artist when Alex said something along the lines of “I do this stuff because I love it, I have to do it. This is the stuff that’s in my head, that I doodle in my sketchbook and in the margins of important papers. The stuff I do when it’s the weekend and I want to unwind.” I looked down at my own sketchbook which was full of cars and spaceships and at that moment, really realized who I was and who I wanted to be. So my advice is this, don’t ever do what you think people want from you, do what you love to do. Everyone has their own specialty and that is what studios value: people who not only are great at their jobs, but love doing them as well.
Image Source: jaymachado.blogspot.com