Interview with Neil Blevins

Neil Blevins describes cities and monsters as nobody else can thanks to his uniqueness as an artist and his creative research. As the end of the "When we left Earth' challenge approaches and as Neil is part of the jury, we're happy to share again this interview with Neil

Neil Blevins loves to say, “I’ve been an artist as long as he can remember.” Raised on a healthy dose of Sci-fi and fantasy films, books, and videogames, he started off painting and drawing traditionally and got into 3D graphics while he still lived in his hometown of Pointe Claire, Quebec, Canada. After receiving a BFA in Art Design from Concordia University he move to Los Angeles where he worked for Blur Studio creating graphics for video games, commercials, TV, feature and ride films. He was also a tester for the Brazil Renderer, which was originally developed at Blur.

He now lives in San Francisco and works as a technical director for Pixar Animation Studios. At Pixar he primarily creates Environments and FX. But in his spare time Neil creates Sci-fi 3D/2D hybrid artwork depicting creatures, robots and alien landscapes. He also authors tools and writes art related lessons and tutorials to, in his own words, “give back to the community who has been so gracious at helping him get to where he is today.” We invite you to discover this remarkably talented artist.

IT’S ART: Your world is much more oriented toward architecture, cathedrals, refineries, etc., than toward characters, what can you tell us about that?

Neil Blevins: Well, actually, I feel I do a lot of characters, it's just not the usual sort of character. There are plenty of talented people out there making humans, or bipedal monsters, and that's cool, but I prefer things that are a bit more abstract or odd looking, things with tentacles, giant teeth, oddly shaped forms. I always go for the strange designs, although I try and balance that with the knowledge that if I go too strange the audience may not get where I'm going with an image. :)

IA: We can feel this sulfuric atmosphere, the yellow fog dominant in some of your works, is this related to a polluted environment?

NB: Yup, all of my environments have a certain degree of pollution to them. Think of it like a day in Los Angeles. :) I love creating thick atmospheres because I feel they give my images a certain degree of mystery. And I love adding dirt and grime because it gives the work a disturbing, decaying feel, as well as adding visual interest and detail. All of my creations live in this polluted, sick, decaying world.

IA: In Gas City 2 one can feel weightlessness, the slow motion lift of a gigantic spaceship, do you like working on matter? Is it your objective in your art work to make us feel the environment and the subject?

NB: In some ways, I sort of think of my subjects as materializing from the atmosphere, or at least walking out from the atmosphere to greet a surprised viewer. Same with this image, you're riding on a space craft, and then from out of the fog a giant tower in the sky materializes.

IA: Even though an extremely mechanical a human shape appears in Reaper IX, is it a new series? Can you tell us more about that?

NB: Well, the reaper series came from an early childhood TV experience. I remember this show (I have yet to find out what the show was!) where a group of people walked into a room and were surrounded by these pillars and all of a sudden the pillars came to life and began attacking the humans. The thing that was most creepy was that the creatures didn't seem to make noise; they were totally silent and motionless until they attacked. It was very different from most monster movies I'd seen up until then, and it scared the crap out of me! :) That image always stuck with me and it inspired the reaper series. In the series I explore different configurations of a "reaper" character. All reapers are tall, menacing, closed mouths or no mouths at all (silent) and generally have a single eye that is always staring, some have cloaks but they don't have to. This series I expect will be never ending, as I continuously come up with new ways to explore this same type of character.

IA: You use 3D tools, yet to the untrained eye your work looks like painting realized by 2D tools, is it your way of deleting the technique behind your art?

NB: This is a very conscious choice. I like the level of realism and precision that you can get with 3D art, however, I feel it can be too lifeless. I spend a lot of time adding dirt, grime, atmosphere, etc. to give the images a more organic, chaotic feeling. Also, when doing 3D, which can be a very slow, planned exercise, I miss the immediacy that 2D can bring to a piece of work so I strive to combine the two. I use the advantages of both techniques to achieve the image that's in my head.

IA: Your works prove that you master the light and the color mixture, have you studied classical painting and light and colors techniques?

NB: Thank you. And yes, I do have classical training in painting and drawing, although I started doing 3D early in my career and I feel that my digital work is far more advanced than my traditional painting ever was. I do believe having a more traditional background can help a lot because it lets you focus more on the idea, color and composition. It also helps you avoid getting lost in the tool. What I mean is that the fact that an image is 3D does not make it interesting; a good image is a good image, no matter the media. And having a traditional background can let you focus on the more important aspects of art rather than being swept up in the novelty of working in 3D.

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