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Jonfer Maia: freelance 3D artist interview

Brazilian 3D artist Jonfer Maia creates characters for a variety of forms check out his workflow and portfolio, and inspirations...

Brazilian 3D artist Jonfer Maia creates characters for a variety of forms check out his workflow and portfolio, and inspirations...

3dtotal: Tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you, what do you do, and where are you located?
Jonfer Maia: Hi, first of all thanks a lot for having me here! Im Jonfer Maia a 3D artist from Brazil and I do characters for games, collectibles, cinematics, and also for advertising. I live in Curitiba, Southern Brazil.

This is Jack Pumpkinhead from the Marvel comics "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." Original concept by Ed Mcguinness

This is Jack Pumpkinhead from the Marvel comics "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." Original concept by Ed Mcguinness

3dt: What was the workflow behind your latest gallery image? Where did the idea come from?
JM: My workflow was pretty simple. I started the character with primitives and I established all the forms and silhouette with a lower mesh. After that I started the secondary forms to make the character look like the concept. Then I did the tertiary forms like wrinkles and scales. I set up a lighting rig with an HDRI, one rim and a key light. For the final touches I only did a basic color correction.

Tin Woodsman from Marvel's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Concept by the amazing Skottie Young

Tin Woodsman from Marvel's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Concept by the amazing Skottie Young

3dt: What challenges did the image present? Did you learn something new?
JM: I believe it was the character expression a little bit. In the concept he doesnt have a tongue and I added it to my 3D version to make him look like a happy dog or something like that. I think his pose was a little bit of a challenge too, overall I have a lot of fun making this little dude and I learned a lot with it! I think the most important thing that I learned was the animal anatomy for cartoons.

I modeled this dude inspired by the amazing Justin Rodrigues concept. I used 3ds Max, ZBrush, V-Ray and Photoshop. Thanks!

I modeled this dude inspired by the amazing Justin Rodrigues concept. I used 3ds Max, ZBrush, V-Ray and Photoshop. Thanks!

3dt: Do you use any other software, either for work or personal projects? And how do you keep your portfolio up-to-date? Any tips?
JM: I use Mudbox, and Marvelous Designer sometimes, and Im always looking for experimenting new softwares for my workflow.

Ive stalled a long time without updating my portfolio which is a shame! Right now Im more focused than never to keep my personal stuff going on. The tips I give is to try to avoid wips as portfolio pieces or very quick sketches. Take a couple more days to refine whatever you do before posting anything, otherwise your portfolio will not look so good for the person who could hire you.

I've done this work inspired by Cristopher Uminga's concept and also Guardians of the galaxy movie. I used 3ds Max, ZBrush, V-Ray and Photoshop for this project

I've done this work inspired by Cristopher Uminga's concept and also Guardians of the galaxy movie. I used 3ds Max, ZBrush, V-Ray and Photoshop for this project

3dt: Are you a member of any social media groups? Any favorite hashtags you check on a daily basis?
JM: I have a Facebook personal and artistic page, and an Instagram. Always hashtags about 3D work, sculptures and art in general. I dont have any specific one right now.

3dt: How important is the recognition of your peers? Who are your favorite artists?
JM: I believe any type of recognition is important especially when youre an artist. The recognition makes you motivated to keep doing your work.

My main inspirations are guys like Fausto De Martini because of his incredible hard-surface works, and also Vitaly Bulgarov for the same reason. Kris Kosta (Antropus) was one of the first dudes that I saw when I was starting my journey as a 3D artist. Paul Kwon does some amazing female designs and inspires me a lot! I have so many inspirations and I would take more than a day to mention everyone here!

Likeness studying for one of the coolest characters that I like!

Likeness studying for one of the coolest characters that I like!

3dt: What can we expect to see from you next?
JM: I will keep doing simple cartoon styles but I will be 90% more focused on next-gen and other games characters. You guys will see my Dark side!

Related links

Check out Jonfer Maias ArtStation
Jonfer Maia on Behance
Grab a copy of 3ds Max Projects

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