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Alejandro Treviño: 3D artist interview

3D artist Alejandro Treviño is currently working on his project, AENDOM, utilizing Blender and Substance Painter. Find out more…

Alejandro's Website

Adam

Tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you, what do you do, and where are you located?

Alejandro

My name is Alejandro Treviño and I'm The Visual Storytelling Animal, a self-taught 3D independent artist focused on making artwork tales to share the process for educational purposes in my new project called AENDOM. I love to make everything related to 3D; from characters, environments, and printables. I’m currently located in Monterrey, Mexico.

Adam

What was the workflow behind your latest gallery image? Where did the idea come from?

Alejandro

Blender and Substance Painter were the weapons of choice to make my latest gallery image, based on an incredible sketch by the artist Chaton Laser. I found it in the book Sketching from the Imagination: Sci-Fi. Seeing it was mind-blowing, so much so, that I decided to make this project into 3D.

The Junk Shop Cat

Adam

What challenges did the image present? Did you learn something new?

Alejandro

From the beginning I knew that some parts of the modeling would be hard because of my lack of knowledge. This was a very good excuse to learn some new 3D techniques. Rigid bodies, retopology, cloth simulation, and hair particle systems were the subjects that had to be learned while the project was in the making.

Adam

Do you use any other software, either for work or personal projects?

Alejandro

For my personal work I love to use Blender and Substance Painter. Blender because it is free, simple to use and also very lightweight. Substance Painter because it is very intuitive for texturing, and the best in the market in my opinion. For external work, Maya and Substance Painter are the industry standard.

The Junk Shop Girl

Adam

How do you keep your portfolio up-to-date? Any tips?

Alejandro

I’m very harsh on myself when it comes to my personal projects and portfolio, even if that means a short list of work. My biggest critique is myself, if I’m not surprised by the project it just doesn’t get in the portfolio. Every project is used to share what my newly acquired skills are.

Sky House. Study of a minimal storytelling image.

Adam

Are you a member of any social media groups? Any favorite hashtags you check on a daily basis?

Alejandro

The biggest impact I have on social media is through Instagram, it is very focused on visuals. Hashtags like #hardsurface and #conceptartist are the main ones that I tend to use. There are incredible groups on Facebook like "Ten Thousand Hours" and "Level Up" where artists post their best digital artworks, the exposure in these groups is phenomenal.

The Junk Shop Radio

Adam

How important is the recognition of your peers?

Alejandro

It is important to get recognition; for me, it means that my work has the same impact on myself as it does to others. When you show how much you value your own work, more artists will take you and your work seriously. This can mean future working contracts, free advertisement, mentoring, and even new best friends that share the same interest. The social factor of art is the most important thing.

Adam

What are your artistic ambitions?

Alejandro

My biggest ambition is to develop an independent video game. Making these images have helped me understand the basics of 3D to develop a style of visual storytelling with great impact. The next step will be to make a personal short animation; this would be a whole array of subjects to learn and eventually get to the final goal – the video game.

DJ Electro Lizard. First image of the project AENDOM

Adam

Who are your favorite artists, traditional or digital, and can you explain why?

Alejandro

A big list of mostly traditional artists, starting with Michelangelo for his business skills and going all the way to John Singer Sargent for his choice of color palettes and his brush strokes. Hayao Miyazaki for his storytelling skills, incredible characters, and picturesque landscapes. The futuristic sci-fi vision of Syd Mead and the oniric worlds of Jean Giraud (Moebius). On the digital side, Guzz Soares has inspired me to make a mix of photorealism and cartoons.

Adam

What can we expect to see from you next?

Alejandro

A great cowboy from the futures is part of the next project, where I will show not only my workflow but an in-depth video tutorial of the most important subjects. I'm very eager for the new Blender 2.8 to use the new real-time render called Eevee and hopefully master it to make some tutorials.

The Junk Shop. Second image of the project AENDOM

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