Art Monsters - 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.

il 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.