10 Mar Meet David Macias, 3D Artist
Once again, the Futurus team expands, and our art department gains another gifted artist. It’s always interesting to hear how the artist has come to be where they are now, what has inspired them, and what personal projects they are working on. Without further ado, we would like to introduce you to our new 3D Artist, David Macias.
What game are you currently playing?
I just finished playing Little Nightmares 2. It’s a bit darker of a game than I usually play, but the art style and lighting are beautiful.
What drew you into this field? Did you grow up loving art?
Growing up, I was always drawing, but I fell away from it through high school. It was only at the end of college that I started it up again. I love making videos and short films, but it’s hard to do those things alone, and I didn’t have a way to get a team, so I turned to 3D and started trying to make things happen that way. I became very interested in painting color keys and did a couple of extra years of lessons on Schoolism and really polished my skills. My mindset was that if I can paint color keys, I can easily convey my vision and hopefully inspire a tiny team to come together. Strangely, I’ve moved away from wanting to do 3D movies, but the skills I’ve gained are still valuable to regular film projects and other areas of my creative life as well.
Can you tell us about the short film you’re working on?
The Carousel Clock is a short film I wrote with my brother years ago. I’ve transitioned the project a few times from being fully 3D to mostly 3D to live-action, to now live-action with background replacement. I did have a full animatic of the short but took it down recently to not give away the whole idea. I’ve got the rights to use the song I’ve chosen, and I’m still excited about getting it filmed and sent out to festivals now that I have a solid way to make it happen. I’m hoping to figure out a plan to shoot this summer.
What is something new you hope to learn at Futurus?
I haven’t had the chance to create something and have it brought into an augmented reality (AR) format, so I’m excited about getting to learn that process.
What has been your greatest lesson learned when creating art?
When I learned about value structure, it really changed how I create compositions. The clarity of pushing to keep around 3-4 values in a painting and pushing things into each range instantly made my work better. I also learned that subtlety creates a much more realistic image. This is an image of some of my paintings I did for an assignment.
Anything else to add?
I love to write and create stories and worlds. I finished a novel last year, A Song for a Siren, and I’m currently in the process of submitting it to agents.
