Adamodo-
Thanks for taking the time to ask me a question. I appreciate you following my work as well!
How I first got started in the industry is a good question. I have always had a huge fascination in creatures, film making, and games. I spent more time in high school learning how to make latex masks and fake wounds then I did driving, hahahaha.
I can trace back my first professional “entertainment job” to Netherworld Haunted Attractions(http://www.fearworld.com/). Netherworld is an incredibly special place. Its’s considered to be one of the best haunted houses in the US. A majority of the crew works in the film or television industry and every year they are raising the bar. At Netherworld I learned about creating a memorable experience and how much a character can leave an impression on a customer. I also met Bill “Splat” Johnson who would later become my mentor. To this day I still try and make it out to the haunt at least a few nights to become a monster and scary and entertain the crowds.
When I met Bill I was attending the Art Institute of Atlanta and was pursuing a BFA in Media Arts and Animation. My main goal though was to become a special make up effects artist. For those of you who don’t know Bill " Splat " Johnson who is an incredibly talented make up artists and has been working in films almost as long as I had been alive at the time. You can see more of his work here…http://lonewolffx.com/ Bill was kind enough to bring me as an intern. I would help him clean up the shop, make molds, do some simple sculpting, and other random tasks. It gave me expose to a real world working studio that I could never experience at school. He also allowed me to work on personal projects at the studio. Any free time I had I would be in the shop studying his work, sculpting and painting my own creations, and just trying to learn as much as possible. I still look back at this time as one of the most enjoyable experiences. I learned so much and everything was so incredibly new and refreshing.
I was Bill’s second intern, the first was an artist named Scott Spencer. Scott was also from Atlanta but had moved to Los Angeles and was working at Gentle Giant Studios. Bill introduced us to one another and Scott suggested I learn a program called ZBrush. This was during the days of Zbrush 2 and we did not even have copies or classes for it at Art Institute. So I ended up asking a professor if we could get a license. He pulled some strings and allowed me to learn the program during my animation courses. I spent a few weeks with it and really enjoyed it. I actually felt like I was sculpting. It was really intuitive for me and felt much more natural then most modeling programs. I stayed in contact with Scott and showed him some of my first digital sculptures. He was kind enough to offer me a summer intern position at Gentle Giant. I was incredibly excited and could not wait to get out to California and start this new adventure.
I have worked with many studios over the past few years but I can honestly trace my career back to these few simple beginnings. You also asked if I had any difficulties to overcome… That is a good questions. I think the honest answer would be, myself. It’s very easy to become lazy. As passionate as I am there are days I would rather play a game then sketch or sculpt. I do take time to relax yet it’s very important to me to continue to get better and grow as much as possible each day. It may sound cheesy but I feel if you lose that passion or that drive then you could be your own worst enemy.
